Can you guys give me a C-Verse Crash Course?

[AndyDuke]

Been playing the series since around EWR 1.4, and have purchased TEW 04, 05, and 08, but I have never really gotten immersed in the CornellVerse(I know, for shame, but let's not dwell on it). After reading the development diaries for TEW10, and discussions of how they'll effect the CVerse, I'm pretty excited to play as that DB. But, I'm pretty much brand new to the database, so I feel I'd be missing out on a ton.

So, any websites/text files or just any facts I should really new. I'll probably tinker around on 08(and maybe 05 if I'm super bored) until 10 comes out to get accustomed to it all, a little.


Thanks a lot, in advance.

[Nedew]

http://www.greydogsoftware.com/cornellverse/

:)

[MrCanada]

http://tew.wikia.com/wiki/CornellVerse

by the "fans". Some fan folklore inthere which helps fill out some of the data.

[Bigpapa42]

If you have specific questions, ask away. I'm sure everyone here will be more than willing to answer.

[Self]

The TEW Dynasty Forum is always useful. If, for example, you decide to play as TCW, there are at least 2 really good TCW diaries in there you can look at for research. In seeing how others book the characters, maybe you'll get a feel for the world and your own imagination will fire up.

[LoganRodzen]

It's all about personal opinion. I was in the same boat as you until I started playing the C-Verse in TEW07. Since then I only gander at real world mods... but find myself uninterested in them. The reason the C-Verse is so epic is because there's so much that isn't known about the universe. Adam created it and it's his creation, but every save game is different and it becomes your creation.

[MrCanada]

It's all about personal opinion. I was in the same boat as you until I started playing the C-Verse in TEW07. Since then I only gander at real world mods... but find myself uninterested in them. The reason the C-Verse is so epic is because there's so much that isn't known about the universe. Adam created it and it's his creation, but every save game is different and it becomes your creation.

The problem I see happening, and it happened to me as I only started playing after TEW 08, is as the universe gets more diverse it gets harder to catch up or discover things. I mean, guys who have played the cornelleverse since day 1 have seen stars grow and evolve and get hired/fired ext.

[NWO4until01]

Long time reader, but compelled to be a first time poster on this topic. As someone who only got into the tew series a few months ago, I think there should be a more devoted history to the C'verse.
The idea of releasing TEW05 as freeware was to entice a new wave of people to the upcoming TEW10 game, which it has done. But these people who skipped 07 & 08 have missed C'verse evolve and jumping into '10 from '05 might be too big a step. Even prior to 05, the history is ok (C'verse section on this website) but could do with more depth, especially on some of the major players. eg, the universe is named after Tommy Cornell, but I've barely come across any valid history about him. I saw a line somewhere about him having a 4 way brawl which resulted in a split, but thats about it????

It just seems standard to have a good history in place before TEW2010 is released. otherwise, a new user could end up overwhelmed.

[Blackman]

It's all about personal opinion. I was in the same boat as you until I started playing the C-Verse in TEW07. Since then I only gander at real world mods... but find myself uninterested in them. The reason the C-Verse is so epic is because there's so much that isn't known about the universe. Adam created it and it's his creation, but every save game is different and it becomes your creation.

Exactly. And everyone would find several things 'wrong' with a real world database. Sure, you can change all that, but it takes a looong damn time.

The best way to get accomodated with the cverse is by reading all the profles off your workers. Get to know them as you play with a small promotion. Pay attention to what happens in the world, and you'll be just fine. :)

[cappyboy]

Something I like to do when the new game comes out is just book mentally first. That is go into the profiles or, since I'm a veteran, peruse the roster changes and try to figure out interesting talent combinations based on things like gimmick and personal history and stuff like that. Very few if any of these ever get played because that's not the point. Even better stuff will usually come to you in time as things become more familiar. It's just to get you seeing all the possibilities. If you go back and read my gut reactions to the 08 C-Verse, you'll see I was really harsh on the setup for TCW in particular. This was because there were so many new people there that it was distracting and threw off the process. That and the creation of the Syndicate tied up another bunch of people that threw my mental booking off even more because they were "unavailable" for unrelated pairings. Luckily, we all think differently and others were able to see possibilities I wasn't

[Nedew]

I don't really play TEW as such anymore. I just love pouring through the CornellVerse, reading diaries, etc etc. And I buy it because, well occasionally i'll have a tinker. But mainly to keep it going :)

[Mr T Jobs To Me]

The long and the short: Big Smack Scott is a compendium of all of the best traits and assets of the real world wrestlers, and then there's about 2,000 filler characters that are varying degrees of awful.

[shamelessposer]

Something I like to do when the new game comes out is just book mentally first. That is go into the profiles or, since I'm a veteran, peruse the roster changes and try to figure out interesting talent combinations based on things like gimmick and personal history and stuff like that. Very few if any of these ever get played because that's not the point. Even better stuff will usually come to you in time as things become more familiar. It's just to get you seeing all the possibilities. If you go back and read my gut reactions to the 08 C-Verse, you'll see I was really harsh on the setup for TCW in particular. This was because there were so many new people there that it was distracting and threw off the process. That and the creation of the Syndicate tied up another bunch of people that threw my mental booking off even more because they were "unavailable" for unrelated pairings. Luckily, we all think differently and others were able to see possibilities I wasn't

The interesting thing about TCW, I think, is that what you complained about was exactly the point. The TCW roster as of 2008 is basically Adam saying "So, you wanted a ton of talented workers on your roster. Okay, you've got them. Now what?" It was sort of a commentary on TNA or latter-day WCW's tendency to pick up some very talented guys and then proceed to do nothing of value with any of them.

[LFC_chris]

Long time reader, but compelled to be a first time poster on this topic. As someone who only got into the tew series a few months ago, I think there should be a more devoted history to the C'verse.
The idea of releasing TEW05 as freeware was to entice a new wave of people to the upcoming TEW10 game, which it has done. But these people who skipped 07 & 08 have missed C'verse evolve and jumping into '10 from '05 might be too big a step. Even prior to 05, the history is ok (C'verse section on this website) but could do with more depth, especially on some of the major players. eg, the universe is named after Tommy Cornell, but I've barely come across any valid history about him. I saw a line somewhere about him having a 4 way brawl which resulted in a split, but thats about it????

It just seems standard to have a good history in place before TEW2010 is released. otherwise, a new user could end up overwhelmed.

I don't think the history is too bad - there needs to be certain things left a bit blurry to allow people to take things in their own direction, or interpret them in their own ways.

Each worker has a reasonably detailed bio, all the title histories are in place and of course there's the CornellVerse web-site which lists most of the major talking points in the past. I think the bit you're on about with Cornell might be the Cornell vs. Nemesis match in SWF, which is mentioned on the web-site IIRC.

Maybe in some places a little more information would be nice, but often it may get in the way - the way it is at the moment it allows you to fill in the blanks how you see fit.

But really the best way to get into it is to spend a little time reading the wrestler's little bios and you'll soon pick up bits of information, discover workers who interest you and work out where you want to go from there.

[D-Lyrium]

The thing about the Cornellverse is, I don't think it's intended to be a fully fleshed-out world building exercise on Adam's part. It started out as a load of fictional, picture-less entries in a database. We, as a community, have added a hell of a lot of stuff to it over the years (KK's first few Poser renders turned into everyone having a picture eventually, some little bits and bobs in the Cornellverse are taken from (directly or otherwise) dynasties and of course there's the Alt. Thread...).

Sure, it's Adam's work that's created the world, but a lot of it - most if it, really - is down to us. There doesn't need to be a complete history, because we can just make it up. And once we've made it up, that's what happened. In your mind, or in your dynasty, you can dream up whatever you want and that's the way it went down. That's the beauty of it. Nobody can say you're wrong (except derek_b ¬_¬).

[Bigpapa42]

The thing I've always enjoyed most about the CornellVerse is the creative freedom it allows. I know everyone approaches the game differently, but I've always found Real World games to be limiting because I always get stuck in the rut of attempting to keep some context of reality. So if I'm playing a current day WWE mod, for example, and simply do away with all the current aspects that I dislike about the WWE, it feels forced and lacking in reality... But if I book within those current confines, I get annoyed by them and don't enjoy it. The same happens even in historical games - I get caught up with "I want to sign so-and-so, but they had a falling out with the owner, so its not realistic", and then up being annoyed whichever direction I go.

The CV is so much more open. There are a few such relationships, but far fewer. I like that there is backstory, but only so much. So unless it directly contradicts some piece of canon or the basics of the game, I'm okay with doing most anything. The CV gives a fair amount of freedom in terms of how you envision a given promotion, and a fair bit of freedom with how you envision a given worker. Whether you use some real world basis or not.

[Bombstriker]

Very cool, thanks for posting this I also am in need of a crash course. The website has some good info :). Who updates that page btw?

[Bigpapa42]

Very cool, thanks for posting this I also am in need of a crash course. The website has some good info :). Who updates that page btw?

Adam Ryland only, I believe.

Another suggestion I might make is to find a real world correlation for some of the CornellVerse. Which seems to contradict the "creative freedom" idea of the CV in some ways, but whe you just getting into it, can be an effective hook.

For example, its obviously very easy to connect the SWF with the WWE. #1 promotion in the world, sports entertainment, visionary and controlling owner... But its not the WWE. So if you want to make that connection, you have the freedom of chooisng. Is it 80s cartoony WWF, edgy Attitude-era WWF, or maybe current-day PG WWE? Maybe its more like WCW instead...? You have that freedom, but finding your basis can really help I find.

The same goes for workers. Not that you have to say "this CV worker equals this real worker worker" for whatever reason, that connection can help off the start. Even if there really is no link whatsoever.

[Remianen]

Long time reader, but compelled to be a first time poster on this topic. As someone who only got into the tew series a few months ago, I think there should be a more devoted history to the C'verse.
The idea of releasing TEW05 as freeware was to entice a new wave of people to the upcoming TEW10 game, which it has done. But these people who skipped 07 & 08 have missed C'verse evolve and jumping into '10 from '05 might be too big a step. Even prior to 05, the history is ok (C'verse section on this website) but could do with more depth, especially on some of the major players. eg, the universe is named after Tommy Cornell, but I've barely come across any valid history about him. I saw a line somewhere about him having a 4 way brawl which resulted in a split, but thats about it????

It just seems standard to have a good history in place before TEW2010 is released. otherwise, a new user could end up overwhelmed.

Can't agree with this. C-Verse history (at least the major parts of it) resides largely in worker profiles. However, the incident you mention about Tommy Cornell is detailed on the C-Verse website. It's what made two major promotions (one of which still exists).

Adam Ryland only, I believe.

Another suggestion I might make is to find a real world correlation for some of the CornellVerse. Which seems to contradict the "creative freedom" idea of the CV in some ways, but whe you just getting into it, can be an effective hook.

For example, its obviously very easy to connect the SWF with the WWE. #1 promotion in the world, sports entertainment, visionary and controlling owner... But its not the WWE. So if you want to make that connection, you have the freedom of chooisng. Is it 80s cartoony WWF, edgy Attitude-era WWF, or maybe current-day PG WWE? Maybe its more like WCW instead...? You have that freedom, but finding your basis can really help I find.

The same goes for workers. Not that you have to say "this CV worker equals this real worker worker" for whatever reason, that connection can help off the start. Even if there really is no link whatsoever.

Can't agree with this either. Maybe it's because I'm a creative sort by default but I think equating workers and promotions to real world ones robs a less creative person of the ability to do what they wanna do. I mean, if Chris Caulfield is Tommy Dreamer to someone, they'll start looking for a Raven instead of creating something they just happened to come up with.

I mean, I started with TEW05. At first glance, I said 'Sensational Ogiwara is Jaguar Yokota, without the legacy'....but I didn't book her like that (that would be lame IMO). Personal preference, I guess.

Besides, it's always funny to se newbies ask things like, "Why does everyone hire Steve Flash/Hell Monkey/American Elemental all the time? :p

[Self]

Ultimately, the C-Verse is best with total freedom and disassociation from "real work equivalents" but to begin with, it's helpful. My very first C-Verse promotion was NOTBPW, and it was incredibly helpful to relate it to Stampede wrestling, with Stones = Harts. Then you throw in random stuff like Dark Angel = Sting. Harrison Hash = AJ Styles (he has a hood!) and so on. Eventually the characters take on a life of their own, but to begin with it's a way of making it all less daunting.

[Bigpapa42]

Can't agree with this either. Maybe it's because I'm a creative sort by default but I think equating workers and promotions to real world ones robs a less creative person of the ability to do what they wanna do. I mean, if Chris Caulfield is Tommy Dreamer to someone, they'll start looking for a Raven instead of creating something they just happened to come up with.

I mean, I started with TEW05. At first glance, I said 'Sensational Ogiwara is Jaguar Yokota, without the legacy'....but I didn't book her like that (that would be lame IMO). Personal preference, I guess.

Besides, it's always funny to se newbies ask things like, "Why does everyone hire Steve Flash/Hell Monkey/American Elemental all the time? :p

Ultimately, the C-Verse is best with total freedom and disassociation from "real work equivalents" but to begin with, it's helpful. My very first C-Verse promotion was NOTBPW, and it was incredibly helpful to relate it to Stampede wrestling, with Stones = Harts. Then you throw in random stuff like Dark Angel = Sting. Harrison Hash = AJ Styles (he has a hood!) and so on. Eventually the characters take on a life of their own, but to begin with it's a way of making it all less daunting.

Self basically clarrifed what I meant. I don't think trying to correlate entirely between CV and RW is necessary or even a good thing - it can restrict creativity. But I did find it an effective way to get into the CornellVerse. When someone first looks through the CV, it can feel... disconnected... Its a bunch of characters and promotions that you don't know.

The first time I ever tried the TEW 07 demo, I liked the basic game but the CV just seemed random. Sure, there were histories and bios and everything, but it didn't hook me at all. I started playing as CGC. Interesting but still no hook. I ended up looking at it as Stampede (grew up in their touring territory) and the DeColt's as the Hart's and suddenly it clicked. Does that mean I still only look at CGC and the DeColt's that way now? No, not at all. But at the start, I found it helped.

[alden]

I tend to book a company like how it's real world equivelent would book. But i don't book bruce as jericho or gilmore as jericho.

[wrestlingfan#1]

Just like George Washington said " I can not tell a lie... ", I bought TEW 08 mainly for all the great real world mods that I played for one month at a time on the trial version of 07. There was a slight delay in mods from time of release however so I dabbled in the C Verse looking to jump into the ECW equivelant I had come to love (DAVE) only to find out it went under. That swayed me from any long term game for a while. Then the mods started rolling out. I was quickly turned off from that when I recieved this message: " Ric Flair and Ricky the dragon Steamboat have awful chemistry" and then again when the same message was returned for Flair and Funk.

So I returned once more to the C Verse. It doesn't have any real history ( no offense) so if Tommy Cornell ( the C in C-Verse by the way ) and Rick Law have awful chemistry it might be dissapointing (if you were trying to build a feud for the world title) but not as bad because they don't have a long history of matches you recall watching while you were growing up.

The absolute best thing about the C-Verse is freedom. The wrestlers might resemble certain real world stars (to you) but they could remind someone else of some one entirely different. So they don't have to be locked into certain gimmicks or mannerisms, which is great for diary writing.

Which brings me to my next point, diary writing. Its the quickest way to get accustomed to the C-Verse. You don't have to publish it if you choose not to. Do a watchers diary (select no promotion and start the game ) and see how things pan out. You can get a feel for promotions owners/bookers amongst other things.

Lastly I would like to add yes Chirs Caulfield is Tommy Dreamer. Thats how i've always looked at him and thats how I've always booked him. Now I don't go to the extent of scouring(sp?) the C-Verse looking for that perfect Raven counterpart just that I book him as the epitome of Hardcore.

[BHK1978]

Which brings me to my next point, diary writing. Its the quickest way to get accustomed to the C-Verse. You don't have to publish it if you choose not to. Do a watchers diary (select no promotion and start the game ) and see how things pan out. You can get a feel for promotions owners/bookers amongst other things.

Lastly I would like to add yes Chirs Caulfield is Tommy Dreamer. Thats how i've always looked at him and thats how I've always booked him. Now I don't go to the extent of scouring(sp?) the C-Verse looking for that perfect Raven counterpart just that I book him as the epitome of Hardcore.

Yeah I would have to agree with that, writing a diary is a better way to get a feel for the promotion that you are playing as. When I started my NYCW diary I had only played as the promotion once or twice. And I hated the starting roster. However, after playing with the roster for a while I grew to love the starting roster. Also, by doing a diary it helped me play the game longer then I had ever played it before. In fact I learned that Tommy Cornell has a cousin who has no star power what so ever something that I never knew before.

And yes Chris Caulfield is totally Tommy Dreamer. To me that is the most obvious real life comparison that the game has. I mean come on the dude wrestled in DAVE (ECW) and usually signs with SWF (WWF) right away. What other proof does anybody need?:)

The long and the short: Big Smack Scott is a compendium of all of the best traits and assets of the real world wrestlers, and then there's about 2,000 filler characters that are varying degrees of awful.

A truer statement has never been made.