Post by Jeremy King on Jun 30, 2016 11:50:33 GMT
I’m writing this to help everyone potentially improve their arguments in match roleplays. No waffle, let’s dive right into it.
TEARING DOWN YOUR OPPONENT AND “BURYING”
We’ve all seen it. You write a piece that tears your opponent’s chances of victory to shreds and they hit back with “Oh my God, you buried me!” like this is real life or something. I’ll be brief here: we’re portraying legitimate fighters, engaging in legitimate fights in an environment that’s not kayfabed in any way, shape or form. It is therefore not your job to build your opponent – it’s their job. Your job is to build the fight by telling me why you’re gonna knock the shit out of the guy you’re facing, and how I’d be a dumbass to miss it. Competitive e-wrestling is more akin to UFC hype than WWE hype. We’re selling tickets by promoting a brutal fight, not by telling people how much we love our opponent and how good they are.
BAD ARGUMENTS
They’re everywhere in this game. 99% of feds out there want to see trash talk and if you sit and talk shit about your opponent, you’ll breeze this category. In Engage, as it is with every fed I’ve run, this is not the case.
Here’s some examples of bad arguments:
- “You suck, plain and simple. You’re nothing but a bitch with a bad haircut and I’m gonna slap the taste out of your mouth when we meet in the ring this Sunday.”
- “You’re a certified bimbo; a whore; a slut who’ll sooner sleep her way to the top. That’s why I’m going to beat you.”
- “You’re so ugly. You hide behind a mask because you’re ashamed of that face. You’re pathetic.”
- “Nobody likes you – not the fans, the guys in the back or even the management. You’re worthless and you have zero chance of beating me this Sunday.”
- “You said that I said this. Umm, aren’t you listening? What I actually said was this: [insert something that has absolutely nothing to do with wrestling, the match or why you’ve got an advantage over your opponent]. So get it right, asshole!”
In all five examples, there’s nothing – not one shred of material – that tells me why your wrestler has a legitimate advantage over their opponent.
“You suck”, “You’re worthless/pathetic”, “You have zero chance of beating me” – why? You’re not showing me any evidence to support that, so it’s trash talk.
“You’re nothing but a bitch with a bad haircut”, “You’re so ugly” – what does that have to do with your ability to beat them? What is this? A beauty contest or a fight?
“I’m gonna slap the taste out your mouth” – are you? How do you know? Your opponent might be faster, stronger, taller, more skilled than you are. How do you know you’ll get a single lick in?
“I never said that, I said this [insert irrelevant thing]” – Okay, but again, why does that matter? You’re not telling me or the audience anything.
GOOD ARGUMENTS
Quite simply, a good argument is one that does the following:
1. Tells me why you’re going to beat your opponent
2. Does so using facts (things I can see evidence of; things that can’t be disputed)
3. Does so using valid points (reasons why the facts you’ve used matter)
4. Doesn’t rely or focus on facts from one area, but rather, several different areas.
Here are some examples of good arguments from five different areas:
- “I’m easily 9 inches taller than you and have 95 pounds over you. It stands to reason that I’ve also got that reach advantage, so the second you come in swinging, you’re ripe for the picking. I can still get my licks in from a safe range – what have you got?”
- “The fact is this: say what you want about your own abilities, but we both know that my conditioning for this fight is far greater than yours. You’ll gas out quicker than I will and once you’re treading water in the middle of the ocean, what’s left to do but drown? The longer this fight goes – and I intend to make it last – the more you’re in my yard, kid.”
- “How can you win this tag team match? I’m genuinely asking you to help me figure it out here, guys, because I’m stumped. You’re both seen as lone wolves, you both have gone on record as admitting to hating tag team fights. How can a team like that work in harmony against my partner and me? Two people who have grown up together, worked together for years, know each other inside and out.”
- “I’ve seen you on social media, man. You’re out there talking about who you’re facing in the next round and you’re totally overlooking me. You’re putting the cart before the horse, brother. That underestimation is exactly the kind of shit that gets you caught off guard, out of nowhere, and before you know it you’re on your ass, staring up at the rafters wondering who put you there.”
- “I saw you dodge that fan question on Grilled. They asked you how you expect to beat me and you swerved the answer like a politician. You know who refuses to answer questions, don’t you? People who don’t have the answer. That’s the reality, isn’t it? You don’t have an answer. You don’t know how you’re going to beat me. Well I know how I’m gonna beat you. Are you sitting comfortably? Let me begin.”
In all five examples (each from different sources available to you to use), there’s the use of a fact to make a valid argument. It’s so easy.
1. 9 inches taller (fact, proven by contract), 95 pounds heavier (fact, proven by contract), so it stands to reason I’ve got that reach advantage (valid point, based on the facts), I can get my licks from a safe range and when you come in swinging, you’re ripe for the picking (valid point using the facts to make a good argument).
2. “Both know my conditioning is greater than yours (fact, proven by attributes – stamina, also endurance and recovery in a way), You’ll gas out quicker and the longer the fight goes, the more you’re in my yard (valid point, using the fact to make a good argument).
3. “How can you win this tag fight? You’re both lone wolves (fact, proven by the application profile), you both hate tag matches (fact, proven by the disliked matches section), how can you work in harmony against my partner and I? Two guys who have worked together for years and know each other inside out? (possibly facts depending on proof, but definitely valid points based on the first facts).
4. “I’ve seen you on social media, talking about who you’re facing in the next round (fact, proven by social timeline comments), You’re underestimating me and that’s dangerous (valid point, using the fact to make an argument)
5. “I saw you refuse to answer the fan question on Grilled about how you’re gonna beat me (fact, proven by response to question on Engage: Grilled), people who don’t answer usually don’t have the answer, because you don’t know how to beat me (valid point, using fact to make an argument).
Now, these are just ONE example of how to make a valid point using a fact from FIVE different sources. The reality is that you could squeeze out at least 2 or 3 facts from each of those five sources as a minimum.
Moreover, those are just five sources. There’s also match records (more prominent as time goes on), personality traits, press conference comments, match roleplay comments and content. There’s so many avenues for people to go down when it comes to forging their arguments.
Nobody should struggle to score points and nobody should fear repetition. It’s all there to be used, so explore, get creative, think outside the box and have fun with it. There’s nothing more satisfying than putting together a piece that you know will have your opponent sweating.
Hopefully this helps people who have not been able to score a single point for argument thus far. Don’t rely on the trash talk. You’re better than that.
