Tuesday, March 28, 2006

Tapping Out

For those of you who remember from A1E, Captain Suleimon is far from a new character. I debuted him in A1E early in 2001 to much fanfare, and he did have a high-profile feud with a then wet-behind-the-ears character known as Gladiator. Outside of a win in the first match over Vince Russo (yes, someone ran a character called Vince Russo who was a caricature of the real thing), he jobbed merciliessly.

I got so disheartened with the jobbing that I retired him and made him the punchline of any jobber joke in the A1 E-fed OOC forums. Back in the day, I was very, very immature in regards to my reactions to wins and losses. It was a big reason why I changed up JA's character so drastically after the Cyber Title loss to Chip Friendly at the first numbered Golden Dreams.

Truth be told though, I still get those feelings sometimes. It's very hard to change completely and stay changed all the time. And I admit, I feel them from time to time, and I've felt a little disheartened as to my stay in AWC so far, and not for anything else but that I haven't been winning matches a whole lot.

As an aside, this doesn't have anything to do with how AWC is run; I stand by Hyde's A that he got as AWC fedhead, and I still think shows and angles there are very entertaining. You NEVER base a fed's quality on whether you yourself do well in it, because that is the height of selfishness and petulance.

Anyway, back on target, it really isn't just the losing that gets to me. It's just that no one really gives me a whole lot of feedback on things I do unless I prod them for it, and while I understand the squeaky wheel gets the grease, I see a lot of other folks get feedback on their stuff unprovoked and it gets to me. It makes me feel that people don't appreciate what I do there.

I mean, it is getting better. I can see I've gained at least one person following what I've been in Fergus (Jack Murphy's handler), who has commented on stuff I've done for the past month or so. But it's like that's all. I mean, I see predictions threads and everyone picks the guy whom I'm facing. I mean, I understand that Darcy Crisis is a fan favorite character in AWC. He's also among one of the best characters in the fed and one that I follow as well. Nathan (his handler) is also a cool guy and a hell of a writer. But for not one person to think that I might win the match... I mean, it's not a good feeling.

And I know that I really shouldn't be expecting wins out the wazoo here. I mean, I've been in two feuds with two of AWC's best wrestlers (Crisis and Red Rock), and it's really not a big deal that I lost to them. And considering the alternative isn't something I'd be satisfied with (that being facing a bunch of scrubs, no-showers and fed-quitters, padding my W-L with meaningless wins and not pushing myself to get any better), I know I shouldn't be too discouraged.

And finally, Suleimon is a character whose heat can stay ultra-strong even in the face of jobbing all the time. I mean, he really is a fool-proof character.

So I know I need to stay the course. But this is where I think I've changed since I started. I might have quit by now five years ago. But really, I think (or at least I hope) I've learned that RP e-fedding is so, so, so much more than wins and losses. I hope I've also learned that patience is a virtue and that it pays to be patient if you keep improving yourself and putting your best foot forward.

So I guess this is the lesson. Don't quit on an e-fed just because you aren't winning right away. If you do, you'll sell yourself short like I did all those years ago.

10 comments:

Josh Ray said...

You hit the nail on the head as far as my experience with A1E so far. I've tried not to get discouraged because, let's face it, I haven't had the greatest win loss record despite my perceived talent. My pride and competitiveness gets in the way... but, that's why I have been trying extra hard to work with all of you behind the scenes to tell a story and have really tried to step up my RP-game.

Hang in there. You definitely have the talent and the work ethic that will move you into the win column more often in the near future. Sorry I'm not able to check all of the other feds to really follow them or give feedback, but you can count on me to hit you up on AIM and bother the hell out of you until I get those one liners of "yeah" that mean I need to shut up... similar to what I should be doing now.

Hang in there. I totally relate.

Anonymous said...

I found taking a lost isn't as hard when you find ways to make the lost work for you.

Example: In UWF I was running my main character Chris Storm. I was in Contest of Champions, their last PPV. It is basically their King of the Ring with the winner getting a World title shot next PPV. Now I actually made it to the finals against Clyde. I ended up losing though and being the runner-up. I'll admit I was dishearted about it because I really wanted to pull out a big win with Storm. But than I started thinking and I saw countless angles I could run from that lost. Soon I was actually a bit glad I lost because I had so many wicked cool ideas.

But yeah, one thing you need to remember is that Fwrestling and PTC are two different beast. They require a different style of writing. So it shouldn't be surprising that you're not doing hot in PTC. You need to find your groove and adapt. For now, don't worry about W-L and focus more on improving. And should you ever need any feedback on your work, just email it to Planet_Trader@hotmail.com. I'll take a look at it and give you some tips. I'm not the best by any means and my spelling/grammar as poor but I am willing to offer tips.

Anonymous said...

Yeah Holz, it's like Guy said (and sorry Guy, I don't know if that's your real first name and if it's not then I don't know your real first name, so don't hit me over the head with a bourbon bottle :D) and what I said the other day in IMs: FW and PTC are two totally different places with two totally different writing styles. It's going to be hard to transition from one to the other, and I'm not sure how PTC-ers would fare in our RP environment given the nature of the style that they write in. It may be easier for them, and it may not.

But you're a good writer. You wouldn't have won the Pier Six if you weren't, you wouldn't have won Handler of the Year if you weren't, you wouldn't have been accepted into EPW and NFW if you weren't and you wouldn't have been accepted into AWC if you weren't. You just have to find your groove. :)

Anonymous said...

Names Bobby, and I can tell you first hand PTCers wouldn't be hot shot here. Take a look at the TEAM Tournament. I used a very PTC style of roleplaying that focused on telling the story of Joe Average rather than what my opponents did, trash talk. And I ended up losing to Beast. It's all about preference.

Jeffrey Paternostro said...

"I've tried not to get discouraged because, let's face it, I haven't had the greatest win loss record despite my perceived talent."

Yeah, it's not that worse than mine, and I am supposed to be, you know, pretty decent at this. So hang in there.

Anonymous said...

Oh Bobby, right, I knew that. :) I SWEAR!

I liked what you did with Joe Average in the TEAM tourney.

Anonymous said...

I'd just like to point out that I (AWC's fed head) don't discriminate against any particular style of writing. I've just got a lot of talented writers...

Tom's doing a good job in AWC and has picked up some fans along the way. Don't be discouraged if you're losing as much as you're winning, because you're mixing it up with some top class opponents and, crucially, are building a not over-the-top but steady on-card presence that means Suleimon is slowly establishing himself as an AWC staple. Success doesn't come to everyone straight away, even if they're the most talented writers. Look at how long Nick Worrell took to get to the main event stage in Core Wrestling. Just keep working hard like you are, and you'll get back what you put in.

Anonymous said...

I believe Craig Miles has a 1-10 singles record in CSWA.

Which was before his fWo run.

--JK

Anonymous said...

First off, I'd like to say I've read some of your Suleimon stuff, on card and in roleplays. It's quality. It really is. I'm actually surprised you've lost as many matches as you have.

The thing is, I really think you shouldn't be disheartened at all by any of that stuff. But maybe that's me and my view of e-wrestling, which is just a method to keep my writing. If I knew a community that had a different type of environment that I enjoyed and had an RPing interface like e-fedding and found it first, you more likely than not wouldn't be seeing me here. But I found e-fedding. At first, it was about the wrestling and the marking out. But after a while (i.e. jumping into PTC), it became about the writing, the writing, the writing.

Now, I think I'm speaking on an apples and oranges perspective here, as you seem to love the actual wrestling aspect of the whole shebang. But, as you said, RP fedding is much more than wins and losses. I ultimately feel that it's about improving as writer in an atmosphere where you're constantly pushed.

Saying all that, I can honestly say that, while I was in the AWC, I think I'd still be writing with the Fists even if I went 0 and a trillion. Why? Because I felt like, for almost all my RPs, I was writing to the best of my ability, and then still trying new stuff. I think that and absolutely loving wrestling are the most legitimate reasons for being in a fed. You seem to have the latter, and I hope you have the previous.

Just don't stop, Tom. You're doing good, and everyone has room to improve. I could definitely see you competing for the relentless title, at least :)

--Sam

*hopes that what he was trying to say wasn't muddled...*

Anonymous said...

I've always had a thought that when a low carder bigs up a main eventer, week in and week out, they're looking to make friends and so their feedback is null and void. The only feedback that ever seems to mean anything is when people considered higher in the card give criticism to those (s)he looks down on. Most of the feedback in PTC feds doesn't mean a shit, so you're not missing out really, but when it's proper criticism and not "you are so good and great and flawless!" then hold onto it.

I've always thought a system where to get feedback you get feedback works (as in, a person reviews the last one to review)was fairer and should ne enforced (YOU SHOULD BE LISTENING HYDE!) That way those who want feedback will get it but they don't have to give it to everyone else in the fed first. Honestly, i'm sure Jack Murphy and Adam Dick could do without getting their ass licked ten times in one feedback thread.

You've a great character and your feud with Red Rock (one of my favourite efed characters) was thoroughly entertaining. You're doing great so don't worry and if you ever want some feedback, I always give it to those who ask on AIM (unless your a proper knobhead :P)