The Inner Circle
Each company can now have an inner circle; this is a series of optional roles that you can hand out to people on the roster. The benefit of this, outside of the effects specific to each role (which we'll get to in a moment), is that it can improve your relationship with the person chosen, positively impact their morale, and build loyalty. However, like the booking team, removing someone from a role will hurt their morale and can lead to ugly scenes, and you'll also have to deal with the politics of people getting upset if they're not chosen, if someone they dislike gets a plum role, etc. The roles are:
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- Locker Room Leaders: You can have up to five different locker room leaders, and this replaces the old system whereby locker room leaders happened outside of your control. The LRL are the core workers who are known to have the booker's ear. Their impact on the locker room is heightened, which can either be a pro or con depending on who they are and their current status. Having two locker room leaders who have become rivals can be really damaging to the locker room environment as they jockey for prominence. Good LRL tend to be well-respected, positive role models and the booker generally will take care of them because of the potential negatives if they get unhappy. They also need to have experience of being in the ring, so they should be an active wrestler or a retired one.
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- Chief Enforcers: You can have up to three enforcers and they are the ones who impose discipline on the backstage area, which if they're doing it well will have the effect of lowering the chance of fights breaking out, people turning up late, etc. The downside is that the power may go to some people's head and negatively impact their behaviour over time. On top of that, they're more likely to fall out with those who misbehave. Good enforcers need to be tough and should be well-respected.
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- Head Of Talent Relations: The HOTR is effective a buffer (or human shield!) between you and the locker room. If the position is filled, they automatically handle all but the most major locker room incidents on your behalf and any blowback goes to them, not you. The major downside is that you hand over some of your autonomy; you no longer get a choice of how most incidents are handled and so you may end up with outcomes you wouldn't have chosen (although they'll never suspend or fire anyone without consent). Additionally, by their nature, the HOTR has an outsized effect on the backstage area and if they're doing the job poorly it can have massive ramifications. A good HOTR should be well-respected, have a professional or people-oriented personality, and not have an active in-ring role. Due to the added responsibility and workload, holding this position brings about much higher wage demands.
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- Morale Officer: The morale officer is in charge of keeping the backstage area happy. The benefit is that their own positive impact on the locker room is amplified, they lessen the penalties of anyone who feels isolated, and they increase the chance of positive events happening. The downside is that if they become unhappy it will have a much worse impact than usual and can spread quickly to other people. Also, they may clash with unhappy or negative people. Good candidates have people-oriented personalities and strong morale.
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- Senior Road Agent: The SRA is in charge of the road agent corps and making sure the booking team's instructions are carried out (if you only have one road agent then this position has no effect). The person chosen gets regular morale boosts for being in power and will tend to develop positive relationships with the booking team. The downside is that the power can go to some people's heads. A good SRA is good at their job and has a professional or people-orientated personality. Due to the extra workload, this comes with higher wage demands.
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- Senior Referee: The senior ref is in charge of the referee corps and is responsible for making sure the ring crew sets everything up pre-show. If you only have one referee, this position has no effect. The person chosen gets regular morale boosts. There aren't really any downsides unless other referees get jealous. A good candidate is skilled at their job and has a responsible personality. Due to the extra workload, this comes with higher wage demands.
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- Head Men's Trainer and Head Women's Trainer: The trainers are responsible for running pre-show training drills for the less experienced workers in the respective divisions. This can help boost basic skills and makes it more likely that they'll take on a mentor role. Good trainers need to be solid in-ring workers and generally have professional or people-orientated personalities. They do not need to be part of the division that they're training. Due the extra workload, this comes with added wage demands.
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- Travel Organiser: This role is responsible for arranging the travel and accommodation for workers who are not local. The benefit is that they get regular morale boosts for being given responsibility. The downside is that they may annoy other workers if they are irresponsible or screw up. This role is only available for Medium sized companies or smaller as bigger companies have admin staff to handle this. A good candidate has a steady personality. The role comes with added wage demands due to the extra work.
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- Stooge: A 'secret' role, the stooge is the booker's eyes and ears backstage. The benefit is that the stooge can report on happenings that otherwise might be invisible to you and they are likely to develop a bond with the booker. The downside is that they must be kept happy, as if their morale becomes low their relationship with the booker may deteriorate and they can start spreading hurtful rumours. There are no particular skills needed for this role, but as it's an underhanded position finding someone willing to take it on can be problematic...and you have to be careful who you ask!
This feature is another that adds to making the backstage environment and politics more lively and engaging than in previous games, and adds some extra decisions, wrinkles and knock-on effects for the booker to have to deal with to keep things interesting. Note that this is not limited to the player-controlled companies, the AI will make use of this too and you'll see regular stories on the website as the positions change or lead to incidents.
Elimination Order
Road agent notes can now be used to give precise instructions for the order of elimination in matches. This includes battle royal style matches like the Royal Rumble. You can either fill in every single elimination (e.g. getting compete control over exactly who the eliminations unfold) or just fill in a few and let the game fill in the rest. This has been heavily requested in the suggestions forum and gives those who are detailed-oriented the extra control that they want.
Increased Name Sizes
By request from several database makers, the maximum name size for companies and alliances has been raised from 40 to 50 to allow some real world situations to be correctly handled.
Generic Venue Capacity
Generic venues now have an in-built capacity figure based on the region that they're located in. This was by request from several people, and means that venues in smaller regions, such as Hawaii, can no longer get unrealistically huge attendance levels. Note that this applies to
generic venues; you're still able to create your own custom venues that break these capacities if you want them to.
Enhanced Promises
Workers can now promise to put other people over in angles as well as in matches, giving more flexibility to the system and adding some extra detail to the booking section of the game.
Team Bonding
A new team bonding option has been added when addressing the locker room prior to an event. This brings together the key members of the roster (you, the major stars, the stars, and the locker room leaders) to try and build team spirit. This can build strong friendships and loyalty in a good environment with the right personalities, but if there are any cracks in any of the relationships then this can expose them and make things worse.
Independent Show Frequency
The frequency of independent shows in each game area can now be adjusted, both at the database level and during individual save games. This includes being able to disable them, selecting from a range of options going from Very Infrequent to Very Frequent, or choosing to use a Smart Selection which creates an optimal level based on the number of available workers in that area. This was another change that has been heavily requested in the past.
Vocal Fans And Company Size
When deciding whether the fans will turn against a worker, the company size is now taken into account; this means that smaller companies will have slightly more tolerant fans and not expect such high minimum standards. This is something that was requested by a few people.
Owner / Booker Narratives
New narrative requirements have been added that allow a narrative to only be triggered if a certain worker is owner or head booker of a company. This allows things like company name changes linked to who is in charge at that point in time.
Extended Bankruptcy Grace Period
New companies now get a grace period of three years from their founding, not one, before their financial performance becomes relevant to any bankruptcy calculations. This makes it fairer for newly-generated companies as they have more time to become established and start to turn a profit, and is better for the gameplay as I don't think anyone particularly likes seeing new companies come and go so quickly.
