I think this is something that should be done once at the first round of every cycle instead of every round. It's a good way to build new stories and add intrigue but I think everybody RPing in one thread every round slightly takes away to fun of talking about a specific opponent you may be facing. I also think it's kind of unfair for anyone new trying to join to just randomly put something up every round without a solid opponent hoping for the best. It's still good though, definitely something that should be done more often.
Yeah I agree, which is why I think that not every match would be like this, I think the average amount of times per cycle you'd RP in the main thread would be 2, one time you'd know your opponent for whatever reason and the other time because its a PPV. Tournaments and other things should be announce ahead of time obviously.
I get what Miko is saying. It's weird to RP for a match you know is going to happen and then when the show starts your character is totally unaware that he's getting booked in a major match against a big name. It would definitely free up space to be creative on both the sides of creative and the RP'er.
I especially like that it forces the RP'er to focus more on a story arch for their character and less on an individual match. I think it would lead to more RP'ers have a greater understanding of their character and its motives, goals, and what makes them tick.
It might be hard to implement, but it would be a really cool thing to work in.
Perhaps this is more of a personal thing, but it'd remove the need to talk about your opponents because a) it costs you when you don't and b) the current system favours the more normal characters because there is far less to exploit about them. Plus, if you lose your title because you didn't know it was going to be a title match, well, tough shit? See, it'd force people to put their best foot forward at all times.
I can understand about not announcing certain parts of the match until the shows come up but randomly RPing in a thread without knowing your opponent? We reserve those times for when we actually intend for you not to know your opponent because there is meaning behind it. These would be the "Someone vs. ???" or the Roulette rounds as you mentioned.
This is where I think creative comes at this from the wrong angle entirely, you say there is more meaning to an RP without knowing your opponent, I think it should be the other way around, with there being more meaning behind actually knowing your opponent because you're feuding with them currently. Most of the rest of the time, well, its completely down on you to make an interesting story or an RP, not going through the motions attempting to exploit your opponent.
The mystique behind these makes people come out of their comfort zone but for the majority of the matches around here, I think we all appreciate knowing who our opponent is because I've read some RP's where people exploit their opponent really well and it turns out to be amazing read... and they aren't even feuding with them that round. We've also encountered people addressing the issue that leaving certain aspects of a match a secret until the show results in a negative outcome overall because should they have known these matches existed with a certain stipulation attached, they would have RPed differently.
For now, I think we can save the "Leave it until the shows" idea for the important matches/rounds like the Roulette Rounds. If we feature them more often then the interest in these rounds dies off quite quickly.
I fall into the category of "I couldn't give a shit who my opponent is," probably because I am attempting a story arch and I find the necessity of finding filler material about your opponent to be a drag more often than not. Take the last round for example, there is a lot more I could of said about K.O, most of it regurgitating what's been said before by other people, and I think this is often the case with a lot of people, for every RP that wonderfully exploits an opponent, there are 10 that go through the motions, I get that more often than not that is the most effective route to a win, but I think its an idea that can really force some actual creativity from people. I say save knowing your opponent for the feuds, when you really do have something to say about them.
The roulette rounds still have meaning as well, because they are still the only rounds that truly are random, lets face it, if you're in a feud, or a certain position you can get a good idea of who your opponent is going to be. The roulette rounds are still the only time the newest member of the roster is going to be challenging the World Champion for his Title in a Tables match.
I get your argument, although I still maintain that not a lot will change, it will just remove what I consider the mere formality of "addressing your opponent." But to keep everybody happy, there would still be plenty of matches where people do know in advance and can RP accordingly, I think the key is to good balance.
I will add that we will look into this later on but for this cycle, I think we will wait until a later date.
Can't ask for more than that.