How far in advance do you book?

[hurricanendp]

I've fallen prone in the past to just "book on the fly" with alot of my shows, wether they be for my diary games or normal ones. However i've found myself jotting down notes and writing in my book (i plan my shows, write out the segment names/matches etc with times n stuff, hope i'm not the only one? :p) alot more than usual lately.

I've planned out a few long term storylines that i hope can pan out, but i've booked (from October that i'm in now) parts of shows from the back end of October, right upto June's PPV. Now obviously anything can happen in the game that will been correcting workers that have to be removed for whatever reason.

I was just wondering, am i the only one that books this far in advance? or do you like to plan everything so you can effectively just look at a page of notes and know exactly what each week will look like so it's easier to run in game?

[Tempest Kane]

I tend to book in blocks of 3 months, i start my new storylines following a huge PPV on the next TV show and then allow for 2 PPVs worth of build up (ushally highly regarded) leading into a historic or legendary PPV (or atleast one im pushing to increase as such), this means i end up with 4 big shows a year with filler PPVs in the middle to build up the overall story arc.

I ushally open notepad.exe and plan the next "block of 3" at the end of the last PPV, sometimes even useing that last legendary ppv to set the ball in motion for the next set.

Thats just with my current game anyway

Ushally i will aim for 2 big ppv's a year (january and march) like the WWE in real life and base the full year around getting people ready for the big january push to march

But i found my current tactic is getting more people over and creating alot more great ppvs , and i dont tend to get so bord with a long story arc.

[CQI13]

I try to divide the year into quarters (like Tempest).

I have an Excel workbook (more like a little diagram, it's just empty blocks to write in) divided into 5 space. Four spaces for TV, 1 for PPV. I'll label the columns to correspond with TV/PPV (since PPV isn't always after your fourth show). In the beginning of the game, I'll start off at that month's PPV with some matches I WANT to have. From there, I'll work my way back. First PPV tends to be pretty easy to figure out, since you're just going by starting momentum/character stories, etc. That finishes off the first month.

I'll move onto month 2, and plan the PPV matches I want. Depending on what I choose there, it helps me determine who wins in month 1. There are some matches I had in month 1 that I know what I want in month 2, so it works either way. Again, after filling in the PPV, I work backwards to the first show of the month.

It also helps that I usually have an overriding storyline (Invasion, nWo, mastermind, whatever) that will run over the course of at least 6 months, though usually 9. I remember on an earlier game, I had an overriding storyline that covered 1 year. That REALLY helps, because those are at least 12 matches you have booked. The further out you go, the less specific you can get. If you decide to get specific going that long, make sure you have several back up plans.

i.e. The earlier game was on EWR, back in 2002. I think it was right after Heyman betrayed Lesnar and aligned with Big Show at Survivor Series. At that point, I remember in real life Angle & Benoit had a series of matches for the #1 contender who fought Show in December. Well, instead of Show losing in December, I had him retain. And for the first several months, he was going to do so thanks to someone interfering (before or during the match), as Heyman built a stable of mostly big men. I think I had it as Big Show, A-Train, 1 or two other big guys, and Shane Douglas. So one way or another, Show would end up retaining until the following Survivor Series (I had the main challengers lined up for several months). When he finally lost, Heyman and his crew would turn on him, setting up a decent storyline of revenge on the part of Show. The key to that though is to have a few viable contenders at any given time. I can't hang my hat on RVD beating Show at Survivor Series, not focus on building anyone else up, and in late October have RVD get injured.

Wow that was longer than I thought. Haha.

[Terminator980]

For me, I find it harder to advance book when all I have is TV and three "big shows" a year. I need to do a few things to my product so people will care about interview segments and stuff other then bikini contests and my woman's champion making out with another hot worker in order to boost ratings.

I know once I get a PPV deal then I will start booking better shows because I'll have something to look forward to and book my title matches at.

[Briskout]

In games I tend to book a month in advance, and even then I sometimes throw together matches.

In diaries, I do keep notes. I once booked two years in advance on pen and paper for an EWR diary. Of course, at the time I was in High School and I had more time to do that kind of stuff.

[lazorbeak]

I have never understood the mindset of booking more than three months in advance. The biggest problem is that storylines need to be flexible for any number of reasons. I look at how WWE books their big shows. They get a general plan of where they want to end up, but it's not set in stone months in advance, and for good reason: Cena/Batista was predicted to be a WM match, but both men ended up being hurt, so there wasn't any way to build to it. Or take Jericho vs. Rourke: Mickey backed out of the match, and there was talk about getting Austin involved somehow. Hogan was considered to work a match with Cena (probably because Hogan wouldn't put over Jericho). There were a lot of variables, and while things didn't work out that well, it shows that booking months ahead doesn't get you to your destination any faster.

In an SWF game I'm two years into, right now Jack Bruce and Dan Stone Jr. are two of my top babyfaces, and Stone just won the title from a heel Steve Frehley. Supreme Challenge is 7 months away, and right now the plan is Bruce continues to be second fiddle for another two to three months while Stone takes down all comers. Then Bruce turns heel and goes on a bit of a win streak to earn a title match at the Supreme Challenge, where he ends Stone's 8 month run (although I may hotshot the title once to meet Vengeance's contract demands). The two worked an A match on TV in September that didn't have a clean finish and revealed the two had good chemistry, so I've made sure of that. But there's still things that could go wrong: Bruce's heel turn could flop, and it may be a pain to get him back to where he needs to be to win a big-time match. Stone has missed time with a knee injury in the past, which delayed a plan for him to win the title at the 2009 Supreme Challenge, and could easily end up hurt again. Both men are in their late 30s, so injury and retirement is always a consideration. Someone else may come along on such a hot streak that it wouldn't be fair to them to take away their shot at a main event feud (Randy Bumfhole has become a main eventer without anything other than two more tag team title runs).

One of the biggest problems with booking months in advance is that it doesn't take into consideration that there could be somebody new that could become a huge star with a high profile match. One of WWE's biggest problems right now imo is that they refuse to add anybody to their list of "top guys"- Cena, Orton, Batista, HHH, HBK, Edge and Undertaker have headlined nearly every pay per view in the past four years, and nobody has really made room for someone new. Jeff Hardy, Jericho and CM Punk have gotten close, but it became clear after the Royal Rumble that none of them were going to be in a "high profile" feud, since all the franchise stars were immediately paired up with one another.

I guess what I'm trying to say is don't set things in stone way ahead of time, since so much could go wrong. What if you test a match and there's bad chemistry? What if you try a sample booking of the match and your champ refuses to job? What if your #1 contender gets a movie career or signs with a bigger promotion?

[CQI13]

Lazor, I totally agree with you. That's why anything beyond 3 months has to be purely tentative. You may very well envision a super match a year from now. Will it come to pass? Maybe, maybe not.

That's why I like to make a list of possible contenders sometimes, to build people up concurrently. That way if Main Event Face 1 (challenger to the title) gets busted for drugs, or gets a movie deal or whatever, you have Main Event Face 2 to take their place. Maybe a Heel in the upper midcard is ripe for a turn/gimmick change that allows him to leapfrog the other two, given the storyline allows that.

I remember watching interviews with bookers, and some of the things that stand out as helpful advice is to use the two months prior to a title match to build up the next contender.

i.e. Say you're in October, and you have a program between Orton & Triple H (title match being in October). Hopefully you've used all of October & will use all of November to build up whoever will challenge in November. Maybe even start it in September, that build up.

And again, the further out you go, the less reliable you should think your plans will be. Sure, Eric Tyler may retire this month, but the odds increase every month. So if you're planning on giving him a title shot next year, be sure to have a back up plan.

Also, as an aside, I remember hearing JJ Dillon mention how Vince was at that time when he was there (and probably still is to a certain extent). I think he arrived the second year they ran WM in Atlantic City (WM 5, I think). So he wasn't involved in planning that one. But he said when he arrived, Vince already had an idea of what he wanted in WM6. I do remember him saying that it wasn't set in stone, as things happen, but he's not planning for WM right before the Rumble.

[Bigpapa42]

I'm at the start of September 2008 in my SWF diary game, and I'm planning into the new year already. When I started the diary, I basically just had a vague plan of how things would go. Now I'm at a point where I have a document with each A show and PPV for about the next year layed out, and I gradually fill in further and further into the future. Its gets more tentative the later you go, obvioulsy, but I have title changes and major feuds laid out for a long way at this point.

At this point, I have most of my PPVs for the rest of the year sketched out. Not in full detail, but I know the main matches. I know a few of the main segments, if its a turn or reveal. That allows me to plan out the main segments for each TV episode, so everything times right. It also helps in terms of writing - if I know two guys are six months away from feuding and they have a match now, I can try to set things up for later with the match now. Or I may decide against a match now if there is a feud coming down the road, simply to avoid the repetative booking penalty. The degree of planning I do helps me juggle a roster as big as I have and helps out with maxmimize show grades. It is not absolutley necessary, but it sure is helpful.

[slack]

For the world title, I'll book pretty far in advance. Especially when it comes to building a a superstar. I'll look at it like, "Ok, I want Superstar X to meet Superstar Y at Spectacular Wrestling Show 74".

Maybe I don't exactly know how it will transpire, but I have a good idea usually where the storyline will end.

[The Final Countdown]

I do next to no advance "planning", as far as writing things out. That doesn't mean I don't think ahead, of course; in my ROH diary game, I have certain main events for major shows, storyline and feud developments in mind that wouldn't be taking place for, say, a year and a half. But I don't like writing things out in advance, for whatever reason. If/when I get a TV deal I'll probably do a rough outline for each week's show at the beginning of the month, but that's as far ahead as I can see myself jotting things down.

[Tempest Kane]

sounds like we all book ahead longer than the WWE atleast :p

[crayon]

Depends what sort of game I'm planning. If it's supposed to be SRS BUSINESS booking ahead is a must to achieve a good payoff, but if I'm just booking for lols I'll come up with it on the day, as I tend to wind up with far more nonsensical ideas when flying by the seat of my pants, and drama is rarely given any thought.

[Gypsumstack]

I go into a game with a general idea of the main things I want to do over the next year. I usually book my PPV title matches for the next year or so, just to give me a road map to follow. For example, in my current WWE game that started after Mania 25, I booked both world title's through Mania 26. Nothing is set in stone, but it does give me an idea of how and when to push certain people. Right now my plan is to have Wrestlemania main events of Cena vs. Taker and Orton vs. MVP.

[Scotland]

I usually plan what a matches I want to have on my upcoming PPV's then I work the booking of my TV show's around the storyline's that I want to have heading into the PPV. ( I hope people understand what i mean by that)

As far as how far in advance i book. When I start a WWE game I usually start in January then work out the matches I am going to have at Royal Rumble, No Way Out and WrestleMania. After WrestleMania has come and gone I would then tend to work out what matches I want to have at the next 3 PPV's and work towards that.

hope this helps and that people understand what I mean.

[Genadi]

I always book a few matches 12 months ahead for my biggest event of the year, of course I don't know what the headline matches will be that far ahead but I book my 2 or 3 biggest stars in 1vTBA matches. Then around 3 months out I'll know what the top of the card will be so I add accordingly. I have no idea if the extra nine months of Cornell vs TBA helps boost anything but it's something I've always done.

For people who were saying WWE don't adavance book too far ahead, the style I use is taken from them. Before Wrestlemania has even finished adverts are played hyping next years.

[ampulator]

I'm at the start of September 2008 in my SWF diary game, and I'm planning into the new year already. When I started the diary, I basically just had a vague plan of how things would go. Now I'm at a point where I have a document with each A show and PPV for about the next year layed out, and I gradually fill in further and further into the future. Its gets more tentative the later you go, obvioulsy, but I have title changes and major feuds laid out for a long way at this point.

At this point, I have most of my PPVs for the rest of the year sketched out. Not in full detail, but I know the main matches. I know a few of the main segments, if its a turn or reveal. That allows me to plan out the main segments for each TV episode, so everything times right. It also helps in terms of writing - if I know two guys are six months away from feuding and they have a match now, I can try to set things up for later with the match now. Or I may decide against a match now if there is a feud coming down the road, simply to avoid the repetative booking penalty. The degree of planning I do helps me juggle a roster as big as I have and helps out with maxmimize show grades. It is not absolutley necessary, but it sure is helpful.

See? That's why I call you a great booker. Screw Russo - you should be the Booker for TNA! They certainly need someone like you. ;) On a more serious note, can you show some examples of your behind-the-scens booking?

[Bigpapa42]

See? That's why I call you a great booker. Screw Russo - you should be the Booker for TNA! They certainly need someone like you. ;) On a more serious note, can you show some examples of your behind-the-scens booking?

Thanks. But I also realize that the circumstances of the promotion I run allows me that kind of planning. It would be much harder, possibly impossible, to do the same with a cult or smaller promotion, as you just don't know when your top guys are going to get stolen. not something I really have to worry about...

What exactly do you mean by examples? Like what the booking document I use looks like? Or the process I go through? I'm willing to share, but just want to be sure of what you're wanting.

[ampulator]

I would like to see the process you go through - booking in advance seems a little bit... hard.

[Bigpapa42]

I have no problem, but I'm hoping no one views this as hijacking the thread. Just giving a sample of how I do things...

I'll use a fictional example of putting together one storyline. Now this is just one storyline - the same process is used to put together all the major storylines. The minor storylines usually get less work.

Below is the basic outline format I use. To keep things simple, I'm just using the one TV show. The template I use now would have the weekly Legends show as well. Each month is laid in this manner, usually covering for approximately the next year.

July

Week 1 Supreme TV

Week 2 Supreme TV

The Supreme Challenge

Week 3 Supreme TV

Week 4 Supreme TV


Now the first thing I look at with a given storyline is who should be involved and what the results should be. Do I want one of the workers to look particularly good or get over? Is there a title involved, and if so, where should that end up? Who do I want involved beyond the main workers?

So let's say my storyline is a feud between Eric Eisen and Money. I have them in an alliance, which I want to break up, culminating in Eisen taking Money's North American title. I also want to turn Eisen face. I'm going to make it a standard length - three months, giving them three PPVs to bring this to a conclusion. I also have to decide how I want them portrayed. Money is perfect as the c*cky heel, and has great Entertainment skills. I want Eisen to be the plucky underdog overcoming the odds. I would usually consider what kind of segments I want the feud to revolved around - probably a lot of talking for Money, as he's good at it and it seems his kind of deal. Less in the way of talking for Eisen, if just because he's not as good at it. The idea with this storyline would be to establish Eisen as a main event player, without having Money look bad while he still loses his belt. That could be a catalyst for him to go after the World title (as it was in my diary).

The first thing I would look at is the major events of the feud - the matches, the catalyst, and the finale. Well, I want the finale to be Eisen getting the win over Money, and I want it to be at the Supreme Challenge. Since its covering three PPVs, I want three matches between the two. Match 1 will be a Money win through dirty means, match 2 will be a tag match, and three will be the finale. The catlyst event in this one is easy, since we know Eisen is getting booted from the alliance they had, which can also be the event that turns him face. Now I start by plotting out these major events of the storyline on my grid.

Once those are in, I can start filling in the weekly events that push the storyline along. This doesn't have been done as far in advance, and its also easily adjusted. One thing I would decide as I'm filling in the individual segments is whether this storyline should be prominent enough to feature every week, or just every other week. In this case, we'll go with it as a feature storyline, thus it gets play pretty much every week.

Now, we're going to have the storyline start after the World is Watching PPV in April.


April
Week 3 Supreme TV
Money alliance promo - turns on Eisen - beatdown + kicked out

Week 4 Supreme TV
Eisen promo - face turn - underdog speech + request to face Money

May

Week 1 Supreme TV
Money promo - outlines why Eisen wasn't worth keeping around
Authority - match made for PPV

Week 2 Supreme TV
Eisen vs ??? - disqual win for Eisen when Money interferes

Master of Puppets
Money vs Eisen - Money win (questionable finish)

Week 3 Supreme TV
Eisen promo - wants another shot

Week 4 Supreme TV
Money promo - why beating Eisen again would be a waste of time - Eisen has no friends

June
Week 1 Supreme TV
Authority - makes match + tells Eisen to find partner
Money promo - buries Eisen

Week 2 Supreme TV
Eisen promo - picks partner
Eisen d. ??? - Money interference

Times of Trouble
Backstage attack - Eisen's partner attacked + saved by Eisen
Money + ??? vs Eisen + ??? - Money team wins (cheating)

Week 3 Supreme TV
Money promo - mocks Eisen
Encouragement - Eisen gets encouragement from a star
Eisen d. ??? - decent win

Week 4 Supreme TV
Eisen d. ??? - notable win - overcomes the odds

July

Week 1 Supreme TV
Authority - match made as cage match so no interference
Money d. ??? - Eisen comes down to ringside but no interference

Week 2 Supreme TV
Eisen promo - he vows to take down Money

The Supreme Challenge
Eisen d. Money - cage match - title win


In a basic sense, that kind of planning isn't necessary. But I find it helpful. I can make sure I'm telling the story I want to tell and that nothing is missed. Its not fool-proof, and things can always change. Of course, being a diary game, the booking is only half the challenge - its then the process of trying to tell that story to the reader.

Another way that booking in advance helps is that I can tease stuff. If I have this planned out, at least in a basic sense, while Money and Eisen have their alliance, I can tease this. Hint at Eisen wanting the belt, or maybe Money being unhappy with Eisen's role. For example, I knew for quite a while in my diary that Money would end up mentoring Newton, so I teased it here and there with Money praising Newton while doing commentary months before.

Anyway, that's the basic process I follow in planning out a major storyline. i repeat the process, basically, for the major storylines. Which isn't to say I have every TV episode planned out complete months in advance. I have the major segments and maybe a couple of the bigger matches planned out awhile in advance, and then most of the segments decided on with at least a few weeks to spare. As I get closer to that show, I can fill in the midcard matches, so by the time I actually have to book the show, I have most of it laid out.

[ampulator]

Holy moly - that's incredible! Man, your document must be huge.

[hurricanendp]

that's a good read there bigpapa, helpful and incentful, can definately help out any new diary writers.

For me i just tag in the title matches, but maybe not neccesarily the champions. The Heavyweight Champ is the no brainer, i don't like to fling the title around that often so the champs stay the same for a while, i struggled to decide who would be the champ after Mania, but i've started to tag in storyline points in my book.

Other champs i have plans for, then i short change them to another superstar who i think would be able to work the story better.

I've planned out a storyline that runs from w4 in December (although it kinda starts w1) in full blown mode and involves a hell of alot of superstars and runs right through to the week after WrestleMania where it involves only a couple of the original workers as the others break off for their own storylines.

The beauty of this storyline is that it's non-active workers that are the primary players, so they have less chance of being unavailable, and the active workers that are in this are easily replaceable.

[Bigpapa42]

Holy moly - that's incredible! Man, your document must be huge.

Its pretty big at this point. I do, however, take out each show as I book past it. It goes in a separate document, which I can use as a past reference if needed. So the document remains only future shows.

that's a good read there bigpapa, helpful and incentful, can definately help out any new diary writers.

Thanks, and that was my hope.

[The Final Countdown]

Thanks. But I also realize that the circumstances of the promotion I run allows me that kind of planning. It would be much harder, possibly impossible, to do the same with a cult or smaller promotion, as you just don't know when your top guys are going to get stolen. not something I really have to worry about...
Exactly. That's precisely why I don't write things out too far in advance with my ROH game. There's always the chance that somebody bigger could swipe one of my top guys at a moment's notice.

[ampulator]

Exactly. That's precisely why I don't write things out too far in advance with my ROH game. There's always the chance that somebody bigger could swipe one of my top guys at a moment's notice.

That makes me wonder - is Cult harder than Regional?

[shadowmaster]

Lately I've been getting raided for workers - still only cult - so, I only do two shows in advance.

[The Final Countdown]

That makes me wonder - is Cult harder than Regional?
No clue--in the 2002 mod that I'm playing, ROH is a Regional company, as well they should be. I haven't played as a Cult company yet.

[CQI13]

I would think cult might be harder, simply because of all the costs you are incurring (if you've worked your way up from Regional, as opposed to starting out at Cult).

[The Chosen One]

I almost always Advance Book matches The NIGHT of my show... Does that make any difference?

[Terminator980]

I almost always Advance Book matches The NIGHT of my show... Does that make any difference?

I do that sometimes as well. Now I'm curious...

[Derek B]

I almost always Advance Book matches The NIGHT of my show... Does that make any difference?

No.

But it also means you won't get the chance to improve the advanced booking heat for the match over the course of previous shows. So while this might work okay for some of your top matches, it's going to hurt your lower matches which can in turn lower the buy rate for your cards. At the same time, it also means you can't damage the heat for your big matches... so it can go both ways.

[lazorbeak]

No.

But it also means you won't get the chance to improve the advanced booking heat for the match over the course of previous shows. So while this might work okay for some of your top matches, it's going to hurt your lower matches which can in turn lower the buy rate for your cards. At the same time, it also means you can't damage the heat for your big matches... so it can go both ways.

This is a good point. If you're dealing with a Lex Luger vs. Buff Bagwell feud, you probably want to list the match at the last minute because their promos and matches might end up draining heat off the ppv match.

At the same time, if you want to put a midcarder on ppv in a reasonably high-profile match, list it early and have a number of strong segments leading up to the ppv so you can get the heat to decent levels.