Need to vent...

[Guest Grand Slam]

OK, so with King out of it for the show and Thugg having other things to do, I told Stubby I would step up and mark some matches. So I clear my afternoon, putting off some errands so I have time to give the matches the time they deserve. I figure they are due around 1pm my time and I won't see them until almost 5pm at the earliest, so I can give some extensions.

 

The extensions go far beyond my afternoon. So here I am, staying up far later than I should after watching a pretty good episode of Raw so I can grade matches.

 

So I hop online... and let out a sigh of disgust...

 

I was assigned three matches, which should be six matches. Now, I was told that two of the people were collaborating, so I am down to five. How many matches are in my box? Two. Two freakin' matches...

 

Now, as it turns out, this works out well for me. I get a decent night's sleep instead of staying up the two hours it would have taken me to read the matches and mark them fairly, but the part of me that is a proud former World Champion is more than a little disappointed.

 

Now, I will be the first to say I no-showed occasionally. Everyone does. Shit happens and there's nothing you can do. But I have a hard time believing that the five people I didn't get matches from couldn't write anything.

 

To be fair, I did get a note about one of them, and that makes me feel a a little better, as I understand the situation. Like I said, things happen.

 

I guess the purpose of this is to ask this: Is this how it is? Is the no-showing that bad? And if it is, why? I am looking for answers, not flames, although I have a feeling that will happen too.

 

I'm not mad, I'm not annoyed and I am not calling for a revolution here. What I am is disappointed. Very disappointed and sad...

 

Is this the state of the SWF??

[Guest chirs3]

Well, I can say for a few matches recently (Me/Mercury, Me/Magnifico), it has almost been disaster with noshows or double noshows.

 

For me, the problem is two things, one of which doesn't apply to others, I don't think:

 

1) My dad. He likes to make plans for me then tell me about them two minutes before they happen. I can't tell you how fun it is to have Saturday morning cleared off for writing, then I sit down and hear "Hey Chris, we're going to Generic Museum #326136127. Get in the car." I mean, if he told me about these things, I could make extra time on the side to write. But he never does. Ever. And more often than not, these things happen the night before or the day that matches are due.

 

2) College stuff. The first week it was nothing, and then aaaaall this stuff just started piling on. I've had to get extensions for a few weeks straight, and have had many very-near noshows. I may switch to a light schedule (SWF, not college - I don't love you guys that much). Only Storms or only Smarkdowns, with promos for the other shows. Something like that.

 

Yea. That's my story.

[Guest 5_moves_of_doom]

I can relate completely. I too get quite dissapointed when people no-show for no reason, blowing possibly big wins. I myself have no-showed ONCE, with an 103-degree fever to boot. Not to name any names [and if I DID, they would be Silent, Merc, and JD...wait...I just did] but a lot of potential people agree to be booked for shows, and then simply no-show. If you KNOW you won't show, then ask not to be booked. If you've been uninspired recently, then ask for a gimmick match or something different. One person, Z actually, no-shows chronically, simply because he is put in uninteresting matches constantly, that he can't work with his character. I mean, our cards ARE filled to the brim here, so asking a show off won't be the end of the world, and I think that, if you think you'll no-show, then you should just go ahead and ask not to be booked. Anyhoo, there's my 2 cents, and I hope I've added maybe SOMETHING to the conversation, heh.

[Guest 5_moves_of_doom]

1) My dad. He likes to make plans for me then tell me about them two minutes before they happen. I can't tell you how fun it is to have Saturday morning cleared off for writing, then I sit down and hear "Hey Chris, we're going to Generic Museum #326136127. Get in the car." I mean, if he told me about these things, I could make extra time on the side to write. But he never does. Ever. And more often than not, these things happen the night before or the day that matches are due.

Doesn't EVERYONE have this problem? Hehehehe...

 

Seriously though, Dad's are random in their "Hey! We're going on a 6-hour walk without notice! Let's go!'ness"...heh.

[Guest Kibagami]

Yeah, I've done a lot to curb my no-showing since my return a couple months ago, and barring a rough two or three-match streak a week or two ago, I've done pretty well. But things do pop up, a LOT, and I usually end up getting my matches in late.

 

Honestly, I think that no-shows are just an inevitable part of this fed. 3500 words is a lot to write on a regular basis when you factor in work and school and life and a bazillion other things on top of it. I guess this sort of occasional burn-out and more-occasional gaping plot holes are the cost of having such complete control over the way our characters develop.

 

Ho hum, and all that.

 

S.

[Guest HVilleThugg]

Well Mark, to be honest with you...you should just die. Just kidding..

 

In all seriousness though...This isn't something that's beeen goig on for a while...just a few weeks or so. I knew it would happen because we had been on a very good run in the WF, but with school starting back up and everything, people started to find less time to write, and the little things that come up are starting to mean no shows instead of extensions. It was bound to happen, and I didn't expect it to stay the glorious summer forever. Who's at fault...everyone....no one. I mean, like TNT said...if you know you can't write, ask for the show off...which people HAVE been doing very well...at least with me. I mean, it's bbecoming more difficult to book SD with all the requests for shows off, but I'd rather have that than the alternative which is a poor show due to no shows. So, I'll commend everyone right now for being on top of things enough to ask for shows off. As far as things happening, well...we'll just have to take that in stride. That's not an exuse to no show...so don't. And if you are, it's a nice courtesy to PM your marker telling him you willl not be submitting a match. The worst thing as a booker is to be waiting on King or Stubby to send their matches, then to find out they were waiting for matches that never show up. So, please...just drop us a line if you aren't writing. I don't know about Stubbs, but my time is very limited right now, so the more I know about what's going on, the better.

 

The state of the fed? Still good I think. People are still, for the most part, writing...so, I don't think it's time to call an emergency yet. However, I can see this turning into a situation like we had 6 months ago when nobody was turning in matches...so, I think we all have to do our part to keep it from getting back to that. As a booker, I'll try to keep the word limits down and give people days off...as a marker, I'll try to give more extensions (but not many more because like I said, my time if very limited right now)...and as writers, try to be as informative as possible...that's all we ask. Let us know if you aren't showing up...let us know if you need more time...let us know if you need shows off.

 

We'll all work together to make sure we can still put on quality shows during a time when everyone is very busy.

 

Da "fuck...class in 30!" H

[Guest Ace309]

(Y) @ extended breaks in the middle of every day... too short for homework, just long enough for promoing~!

[Secret Agent 0]

I may be a newbie around here, but i have a thought.

 

If writting all these matches is so much of a problem for some people why not have only one show? Or you could even book people only one show a week giving everyone a bit more time to pull out these monster matches. Just a thought.

[Guest Grand Slam]

Welcome to the show Secret Agent... but you're wrong.

 

Seriously, every time the no-shows go up, this discussion of "one show a week" starts. I don't think two shows a week are the problem for most people. Heck, I've known of situations where people had over ten days to write a match and still managed to no-show. Why? Well, by and large, we are procrastinators. We put the matches off until the last minute, then when things come up at the last minute, as they are wont to do, we no-show. I don't think one show a week would change this, and I don't think the roster (while better than it has been in a long while) is deep enough to do two "split" shows a week.

 

And for everyone who says the matches are too long, I disagree. I made a career (and a pretty good one by the looks of it) on matches that were consistantly 1000 - 2000 words under the limit. 3500 words is not that hard to write, and you can tell a good story in that amount of words. It is often better to be thrifty with words than overly generous. And yes, before anyone mentions it, I have been responsible for a few matches that broke the 10,000 word barrier, but those were epic PPV matches (Clusterfuck and the GSMS/Edwin retirement match come to mind, and Edwin/GSMS was a joint match). Just because the limit is 5000 words doesn't mean you are disqualified if you go under 4500. Quality not quantity.

 

Just my $.02...

 

P.S. to Secret Agent - In all seriousness, thanks for contributing. The only way this fed had become what it is was with the suggestions and initiative of new people making suggestions that may or may not improve the Fed. In general, for every three or four ideas not used, there is one that is and makes a big difference.