REC.SPORTS.PRO-WRESTLING.FANTASY, FAQ VERSION 2.2 Maintained by Jeff Berry, nexus@panix.com Corrections, comments, and additions welcomed Last Update: 1/12/99 PART 1 Overview Table of Contents 1: Opening notes 2: Charter 2.A Comments on the charter 3: What is Fantasy Wrestling? 4: How do I play? 5: Polls 6: Glossary of some terms 1: Opening notes Earlier versions of this FAQ made an attempt to keep a list of the various e-feds in existence. This has proved impractical for a number of reasons. Instead, the reader is advised to peruse the newsgroup itself, make use of one of the independantly maintained lists of federations or use the e-Wrestling Home Page. This FAQ is archived off of the e-Wrestling Home Page: http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/Arena/7148 2: Charter Below is the official charter for R.S.P-W.F taken from the vote announcement. CHARTER REC.SPORT.PRO-WRESTLING.FANTASY will be an unmoderated group dedicated to participants of fantasy wrestling. Its purpose is to provide a public forum for play-by-E-mail (PBeM) leagues and public fantasy leagues to post their FAQs, events, updates, interviews and statistics. The following is a rough list of what should be included in the new group: Should: - Wrestling reports (weekly taping results, "supercards", etc.) - Administrative stuff, notes to members, etc. - New league creation - Advertisement for existing leagues 2.A: Comments on the charter While the charter contains no "Should Nots", common sense dictates a few: Should Not: - Which league is the best (they're all different and it's a very subjective topic.) - Arguments about which type of league is the best, the "simmed vs. booked" debate. It's been done to death. The answer is "it depends on what you like." - Anything about real pro-wrestling, use rec.sport.pro-wrestling In general, communication from wrestling federation heads to members might be considered fair game for the list. Notes from individual members to federation heads should go via e-mail. This is simple netiquette. The newsgroup should serve to supplement the traditional methods of running a fantasy wrestling federation, not replace them. For many of the functions of fantasy wrestling, an e-mail mailing list is still superior. 3: What is fantasy wrestling anyway? Fantasy wrestling is any type of wrestling which does not reflect actions in the real world of pro-wrestling. Within that, there are many different variations. Some federations create wrestlers out of whole cloth, some use real wrestlers in unreal situations; some are booked, some use dice to resolve matches, some use computerized games, some go by vote; and so on and so forth. All are there for the enjoyment of the players and readers, and there really are not too many other generalizations possible. 4: How do I play? That depends a lot on the specific fed or organization. Usually, though, you can begin with a query to the person in charge and ask for more information. 5: Polls There is no such thing as an "official" poll. R.S.P-W.F. is an unmoderated Usenet newsgroup, and as such has no governing body or organizational structure. Some polls have gained respect by being the oldest, best run, or least biased. The RSPWF Top 200 is probably the best know example of a long running poll that is generally well-respected. I do not know if the RSPWF Top 200 is archived anywhere, but if it is and somebody tells me where, I'll add that information here. 6: Glossary of some terms Booked - Refers to a type of fed where a booker or booking comittee decides upon the outcome of matches. The decision is often based on quality and/or quantity of interviews and roleplaying interaction. Contrast with dice, gamed, simmed. Diced - Refers to a type of fed where a dice game is used to resolve matches. Somewhat of a misnomer, since many dice games are actually resolved via computer programs. The actual distinction between "diced" and "simmed" is that in "diced" the full mechanics for match resolution are usually known to the player, whereas in "simmed" they are not. Contrast with booked, simmed. Compare with gamed. Do the job - see Job Face - short for "babyface", a good guy wrestler. Contrast with heel. Fake Wrestler - see Original Wrestler Gamed - Refers to a type of fed where some kind of game is used to resolve matches. In other words, a non-booked fed. Diced and simmed feds are both gamed, as are rules sets that depend on limited knowledge, or guessing games. Contrast with booked. Compare with diced, simmed. Heel - a bad guy wrestler. Contrast with face. Job - In the broadest sense, to lose. In a narrower sense, to lose to another wrestler in order to get that wrestler or an angle over (see Over). Often used to mean losing badly, as in "The entire WCW was jobbed to Hogan." Original Wrestler - a wrestler which is created out of whole cloth by the player. Not a Real Wrestler. See Real Wrestler. Over - working, accepted by the crowd (where "crowd" in e-wrestling usually means the other players). A face is over if the crowd cheers, a heel is over if the crowd boos. Real Wrestler - a character based wholly on an existing wrestler in real life, eg. Ric Flair. Most real wrestler feds tend to be computer-simmed, possibly because many computer-sims have Real Wrestler profiles as part of the package. See Original Wrestler Rules-Based - (thanks to Francois-Dominic Laramee for the coinage of this term). A rules based fed is a gamed fed where the rules are known to the players. Note that most diced feds are rules-based, but that they don't have to be. Note also that most computer-simmed feds are not rules based, but that they could be. Simmed - Usually refers to a type of fed where a complicated computer game is used to resolve matches (eg. TNM, WLS). The important feature of this type of fed is that the match resolution is a "black box". The players have no idea of the underlying mechanics which govern the match resolution. Contrast with booked. Compare with diced, gamed, rules-based.