What You Want, What You Need

This will be the last PTC-related post I make. I'm not very happy about how GCW was treated recently, and I'm a bit bitter. But no matter how hard I try, I can't hate PTC. It was my home for a very long time, and I still have a lot of friends there.

I continue to lurk around the forums, mostly because I need to know what's going on with my members. But I'm encouraged to see that people are starting to get more interested in sparking new activity in the community. The trouble is, a lot of the ideas are a bit too idealistic. I think it's great that people are starting to work for something new (finally!), but the key to success is separating what you want from what you actually need. I've seen far too many projects fall apart in this game because people have tried too much too early, skipped the basic steps, and faltered for lack of foundation.

There's talk of a new PWA-style academy, there's talk of other ways to make PTC a bigger hub of interfed activity. Those are all good ideas, but people are still forgetting about the initial steps you have to take to make such things possible. Perhaps some day soon some of these things can be implemented, but if you really want PTC to work, you've got to start at the beginning. That starts with realizing that none of this is going to work if the feds continue to know nothing about one another. Fix that first.

Since most of PTC seems to have vilified me without even knowing why, I doubt many people will read this or be interested in my opinion. But for those of you who realize all I've ever done is try to help this community, I'll submit for your consideration my blueprint for fixing PTC.

1. Build a Website!
-This is the crucial first step. It's not sexy, it's not exciting, it's not new. But how can an interfed function without a website? As of now, the only place you can get fed news is through a poorly spotlighted sub-forum via RSS feeds. The news should be featured, should be one of the most important parts of PTC. And that goes hand in hand with the feds posting more of it.

The first step is getting everyone familiar with one another. You don't need an encyclopedic knowledge of each fed's angles and history, but you need to know who their wrestlers are and what they're all about.

Back when PTC was at its best, it was great because it had so many recognizable brand names and characters. OSW, FSW, PCW, PWC, NTICW, RUSH, PURE, and on and on and on. Those were top-tier feds filled with recognizable names. Boda, Meanstreak, Ivan Stanislav, the White Mexican, Kid Wonder, High Flyer, Scott Taylor, Angelo Deville, Ming, Timo Bolamba, The End, Clyde, El Diablo, Alan Kriegman, Xavier Kannon, those are all just names I can come up with off the top of my head without even thinking about it. And it's not just names I remember, it's gimmicks. I never even worked with most of those guys, but I knew them because you couldn't help but know them. If you spent time in PTC, you knew those guys.

But that's because the feds promoted them. They were identifiable as gimmicks and as members of specific feds. Nowadays people know the PTC feds just fine, but there are times when a good portion of the community doesn't even know who's running them. And sure, I could name most of the important characters in the community, but I couldn't give you a good read on the gimmicks or what they've accomplished in their feds. I just don't know. And if I wanted to know, I'd have to go to the fed's website and dig. The information just isn't out there.

Building a website is a big step, but all that does is give you a place to hype the characters and feds of PTC. The website should be a place where anyone can post news and opinion, but its success will hinge on step two:

2. Promote, Promote, Promote
-There's so much energy being dedicated to PTC right now, but it's not carrying the community very far because it's not focused in the right direction. Rather than trying to help PTC, help your own fed first. I wrote an entire post about this a few weeks ago; what PTC needs more than tournaments, more than titles, more than interfed matches, is strong member feds. I know people love PTC and love the interfed competition, but the community will benefit greatly in the long run from people directing their energies to their homes. PTC has become such a popular entity that it inspires just as much loyalty as its constituent feds. That's not a bad thing, but it does detract from the bottom line.

Rather than trying to throw together interfed matches and promoting the hell out of them, promote the hell out of your home fed! I didn't do a very good job of this myself during my time in PTC, so I'm certainly guilty of it as well. But recent events have made it clear that the thing PTC needs most is a sense of itself. How can you have really great interfed matches when you don't really know anything about the characters involved? It's become more about the matchup of handlers than the matchup of characters. That's actually a perk of the evolution of the game, but at the same time, it's easier to know a character than to know a handler's writing. I bet most of PTC hadn't actually read my work, but damnit, people knew Kimbusa. So whe Kimbusa was booked against Ivan Stanislav in OSW, people came rushing in to check it out. Not just because of the writing battle, but because it was a great story.

Promote your characters. Work hard in your home feds to create badass storylines and incredible matches. The more people know about the characters, the more interested they become in them. Jonathan Rhine vs. Clinton Sage should have been bigger than it was in PTC, but people were only vaguely aware of it. I know a lot of the characters in PRIME, but I couldn't even tell you what they're doing right now. People just go about their business in their home feds and their PTC activity seems to be separate. Combine the two, make PTC an extension of your work in your home fed rather than a side project.

Use the website to let people know what's going on every week. Get someone to recap your fed's show each week. Spotlight your character and let people know why they should be watching. Then, when we see Andy Murray vs. Devin Shakur, it'll mean even more. Promote, promote, promote.

3. Draw Clear Borders and Protect Them
-I think wrestlers appearing in other feds is taken too lightly. It can and should be done, but it should be a major occurrance when it happens. One of my biggest reservations about the Elite Title was having to host the matches. I can't promote the Elite Title above my home fed's belt, so if an Elite Title match were to happen in GCW, it couldn't be promoted as well as it should be. And what's more, it's clear that at least one of the competitors would be from another fed. If I can't promote that very well, then the fact that an SCCW or PRIME wreslter was in GCW wouldn't have its optimum effect.

Remember the WCW-WWF wars? That's when wrestling was at its best, and there was zero cooperation there. The feds wanted to destroy one another. Now, I'm not advocating open warfare among the feds, because the cooperation is awesome. But there's too much of it!

An interfed isn't just about handlers vs. handlers. It's about feds against feds. Hell, the fed versus fed battle is the foundation of the interfed. When two handlers go at it now it's just about the one on one battle. But add in a huge SCCW vs. PRIME rivalry and suddenly such a match takes on an extra dimension. GTT3 wasn't just the biggest tournament of all time because of the quantity of wrestlers, but because everyone wanted to represent their home fed. It's about bragging rights, it's about pride, but most of all, it's about pushing one another to do better.

Right now, when the feds all cooperate and collaborate on everything, everyone ends up settling in at more or less the same level. Everyone's working to fairly promote the Elite Title, which is good, but that necessitates an obsessive level of commitment to the concept of fairness. There need to be some aspects to the interfed where it's not about being fair, it's about getting ahead. Competition is a good thing. Trying to be the best is a good thing. The PTC fedheads apparently are communicating very well, so use that. Don't tell each other everything. Push one another to be the best. Stop sharing talent and focus on pushing your own product.

Draw your borders and protect them. Do whatever you can to make your fed tops in PTC. Just keep it clean.

4. Let Things Happen Organically
-The fourth step in PTC's evolution would be... nothing. Just sit back and let things happen. There's an understandable inclination to want to manufacture things to spark new activity in the community, but that's the wrong way to do it. This takes patience and foresight, and I know people want things to happen right now. But you need to slow down, implement the previous steps, and then let it do what it's meant to do without trying to mess with its natural progression.

Give the feds time to get to know one another, give the rivalries time to blossom, and let them simmer. Great rivalries can't be flash-fried, they have to stew. You can't simply stand up and say "Right, SCCW, PRIME and EPW all want to be tops, so they hate each other." It doesn't work that way. You actually have to let the rivalry breed on its own.

Don't force anything. Don't try to make it happen artificially. If you put the PTC feds in one place (the website) and let them promote themselves, and establish them as unique brands rather than as one big conglomerate of PTC feds, the interfed activity will spark to life on its own.

5. Now Take Action
-Once things have developed on their own, say three or four months, you can start taking action. Now your Elite Title really starts to mean something, because it's more than just a writing prize for individual handlers. It's about massive bragging rights. Now you can have your tournaments and interfed shows. But use PTC for all of this; maintain your borders.

Now that the feds know one another and are pushing one another, you can harness that energy. If you've developed the right kind of interfed, you can then take some of those more advanced steps. Here are some options:

5a. PWA
-The Primetime Wrestling Academy worked great back in the day, but there were tons of handlers wanting to get better and break into the big feds. Such a thing simply won't work today, so don't even try it.

But if PTC wanted it, it could create something that would work. Now, while I've advocated hard competition between the feds, the cooperation for the greater good can be used here. When you get an application that isn't good enough but might show promise, you could suggest that that person join the PTC Developmental fed. This fed would need its own fedhead, would be its own fed. It would have shows, RPs, segments, matches, all the same things the PTC feds have. But it would be a place to learn. It would require some help from the community to give feedback to help people grow.

Every member of this fed would be a free agent, free to sign anywhere. I know the concept of a draft is both exciting and awesome, but it won't work. Because it assumes the ultimate authority of the feds to dictate where these people handle, and that's not fair. Assume someone has spent four months working hard to improve because they really want to get into SCCW, but they get drafted by PRIME. They won't be happy, and they won't work hard for PRIME because it's not where they want to be. So you can't have a draft.

But everyone would be a free agent, free to sign with whatever fed they like whenever they like (perhaps mandate that they spend at least two months there or something). It's been suggested, then, that a problem might arise if a fed needed a lot of members and attempted to restock by hiring a ton of people out of the developmental fed. Well, that's a potential problem, but again, this is where competition comes into play. If a fed needed members that badly, odds are there are better feds in PTC. So it would be on the handler to decide if they wanted to go to a "major" fed right away, or hold out for a better offer. So make your fed a place people want to be, and you won't have to worry about a massive exodus of developmental people to some other fed.

5b. Tournaments
-Tournaments are fun. But they're far better when they have the added context of interfed rivalries. Yeah, it's a great opportunity to try out a new character, but it helps the community so much more when the tournament is populated with the wrestlers of the member feds. It's all about squeezing the hype out of these things. Archibald MacGreggor was a great storyline, but when it was over, what did it help? Ryan's the only one that benefitted, because Archie Mac never appeared in a fed. I'm not knocking Ryan, because I loved the whole thing, but at the end of the day it's wasted heat.

Granted, the heat from that situation was mostly sparked by the fact that he wasn't in a fed, but what if he'd popped up in FUSE the next week? How much would that piss off the other feds? That's the kind of thing PTC needs. Andrew did some great stuff with Iblis, but that only helped him, as Iblis never had a real run anywhere. PTC has become too handler-oriented. I'm not saying individuals shouldn't get credit for their accomplishments; there are some amazing writers in PTC and they deserve the spotlight. But the handlers need to represent something bigger than themselves in order to make PTC what you want it to be. As long as it's handler-specific, PTC will be its own fed and not an interfed.

This is what I envisioned for the Caldera Invitational Tournament. Keep it linked to the feds. Make it about fed-pride and bragging rights. Keep it kayfabe.

5c. Titles
-See above.

6. Don't Stop Being Elitist
-Some have said it's tough to break into PTC because it's a bit elitist, and it's set in its ways. That's not necessarily a bad thing. PTC is different from EWZine and F-Wrestling, and it needs to stay that way. If you try to be more like someone else, you lose your identity.

But PTC does need to be more accommodating to people who want to get involved. It's intimidating, because there are so many great writers in PTC and the community tends to put them on a very high pedestal. With the developmental fed, you'd have a place where anyone could join with hopes of getting noticed by their PTC fed of choice. How many applications do PTC feds routinely shoot down and never hear from again? Each one of those is a potential new member of the community, even if it means they join another fed.

Plus, with the promoting tools in place, it will be easier to get to know the community and get involved with it. As it is, it's pretty much impossible to know who everyone is on the forums. It's impossible to know anything about the feds unless you've been there for a while. That doesn't make newcomers very comfortable. Put the information out there, tie the website to the forums so it's easy to know who is who, and you might see a few new people start creeping in because the door will be open and a light will be on inside.

So that's my blueprint. You've got to be patient, PTC. Don't skip the first little steps. They're tough to do, because you don't see results right away and there's nothing tangible about it. But believe me, this is how it needs to be done.

And I still think PTC needs a leader to drive these things. Someone who knows how PTC worked back in its heyday and can steer it in that direction. Ross can do that for you, if he's willing. If not, someone else needs to be given the car keys. Ross doesn't think PTC needs a dictatorial leader like Ron, and he's probably right. All I'm saying is that everyone's in the same car, but nobody's driving. PTC just needs a driver who knows the right roads to take.

But I'll caution the community about this: keep your minds open. Don't rush into something just because it promises immediate results. GCW just got cast out, one of PTC's cornerstones, and nobody really seemed to notice or care. But the more you sacrifice your foundation in a search for the quick satisfaction of your immediate desires, the more you dig PTC into a hole. Ask questions, don't assume something's right just because it looks right. Think about what I've said, and hopefully you'll start to see that PTC needs to go back a few steps in order to move forward.

The Elite Championship

http://community.primetimecentral.net/showthread.php?t=40525

Craig, former head of the PTC Unified Title division, has announced the start of a new title in the community. The Elite Championship will effectively replace the Unified Title, a title that died under some unpleasant circumstances that I certainly had a role in.

For the record, I never thought Craig did a poor job with the Unified Title. I did, however, take exception with how certain aspects of the division were permitted to appear. Appearances count for a lot in this game, especially in an era where we lack truly neutral leadership. Fortunately, judging from Craig's introductory post, he's taken some of my advice to heart, and he's clearly taken input from a number of sources to create a new and improved title division. Everything I wanted to see from the division before appears to be accounted for now, so props to Craig for learning from the last division and applying that to the new one.

I've got a few gripes, though... neither about Craig's introduction, but about a few elements surrounding it.

First is... this title division doesn't seem to be all that different in spirit from the Unified Title. So why is the Unified Title dead? I guess the answer to that is that the Elite Title is not an official PTC belt, it simply exists between the feds. Well, fine, that makes sense. But with PTC still being the meeting ground of choice, will things really be all that different? My criticism here is of Ross's decision to kill the Unified Title. Again, I'm not trying to be confrontational here with regards to Ross; I'm just trying to make an honest analysis of the situation.

If I have a criticism of the PTC community, it would be the community's unflinching support of Ross. I'm certainly not trying to start some sort of revolution here; rather, I'm suggesting that any leader needs people who will challenge him to make sure his ideas are the best. Ross has earned the respect he has, and deserves it. When he makes a decision, it's good that the community falls in line and doesn't fight. But at the same time, it's completely acceptible (and downright necessary) to question your leader when you don't understand what's going on. And in this instance, I don't understand. Unfortunately, many of the responses to the death of the Unified Title thread were in support of Ross's decision. Why? Because he's Ross, and people don't question him. That's a criticism of the community, not of Ross. Ross can't help that people love him, they just do.

I did have a point... And that point is that the Elite Title feels like a bit of a rehash to me. I'm not suggesting there's anything Craig could have done differently to change things, because it was out of his hands. But the Elite Title will forever be compared to the Unified Title, as they're effectively the same thing. I just don't understand why the entire division had to reset just so that it would no longer be an "official" PTC title. There doesn't seem to be much "official" about PTC any more at all.

My other gripe comes from this notion that the Elite Championship, or any interfed title, should be considered "bigger" than the "regional" championships.

Ryan, you know I love you, but in this instance, I want to strangle you.

I hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, HATE this idea, I always have and I always will. And I think this idea is symbolic of the fundamental philosophical problem with PTC right now. There's this inherent desire to make interfed competition more important, more heavily weighted, than what happens in the feds. People support the idea because, logically, winning a title that spans all the feds should naturally mean more than a title of only one fed.

But why should that be? I work extremely hard to raise the importance of the GCW World Title. It's an extremely difficult title to obtain, and we've had some great champions lately. Why should this new title, which has zero history whatsoever, mean more than the GCW World Title? Frankly, I think an interfed title is a hell of a lot easier to obtain than the GCW Title (or any other fed's title, I assume), and therefore I will always consider an interfed title to be an entirely different type of belt.

To win a fed's title you actually have to dedicate yourself to a place, you have to invest a lot of time and work with other people. These are, to me, among the biggest parts of being a successful e-fedder. When you win an interfed title, you bypass all the teamwork, all the storylines, and you win with a one-off writing contest. Sure, you usually end up with some stellar writing talent, but does that make it more prestigious? I think not. If given the choice between a Shakespeare-calbier writer that has no clue how to write a segment and a solid writer that writers killer segments every week, I'll take the latter ten times out of ten, because that's how you run a successful e-fed.

Personally, I think this sort of thing should be organic. Why do people have this desire to put labels on titles, to issue some edict as to where everything lies? Again, I think it has to do with the state of the game today. The community has had this instinct in the past few years to put a great deal of emphasis on interfed competition as a way of getting glory. Fair enough; I was happy to be Global Champion a while back, it was a great experience. But when everyone from every fed gets together to compete for individual glory, you no longer have an interfed; you have a fed. PTC, to me, has begun to look and operate more and more like its own fed over the years, and that's not the proper direction for it to be heading in.

To suggest that the Elite Title, or any other PTC title, is inherently more important than the GCW Title doesn't fly with me, and I'd never support such a move. And that's not sour grapes, it's because if you're not dedicated to your home fed and trying to make it the most important thing in the community, what the hell are you doing? Again, this is my biggest criticism. Home-fed loyalty is on the decline as people spend more and more effort trying to build up PTC. But the entire purpose of an interfed is to take a handful of stellar feds full of enthusiastic handlers and pit them against each other in fed vs. fed competition. Because competition drives us to do better. If your motivation isn't to represent your fed and make your home base look better, you're not helping the community.

Now, I'm not trying to point fingers here (Ryan). And I'm not trying to guilt-trip anyone for wanting to accomplish things for themselves. That's all good, you should want to do that. But the most important place to compete is in your home fed. If people chased their home fed titles the way they did PTC titles, think of how much stronger that would make the feds. Well, that's what I try to do with the GCW Title, and that's why I think it's ludicrous to declare that any interfed title is superior to the rest. An interfed title is no more than a place to test your writing chops against others; but at the end of the day, an interfed should be about feds pushing one another to be the best, not individuals.

The Elite Title could be good, and I hope it is. I'll support it however I can. But if anyone tries to suggest that it's bigger or better than the GCW Title, I'll feel a whole lot differently. I'm glad it's getting a good response so far, but I firmly believe that the entire community needs to shift directions, otherwise the entire game will suffer.

Anyway, another long-winded post, I apologize. But I haven't been on the radio in months, I needed an outlet. Feel free to respond.

Why I Left

I'm not entirely sure if anyone will see this; I can only assume that this blog will still appear in the PTC RSS feed, though Ross is well within his rights to block it. But I'm sitting here in need of a break from coding the new GCW website, and I felt now might be a good time to elaborate on why I departed from PTC a few weeks ago.

For anyone hoping to read some big flame-fest or angry tirade, you're going to be disappointed. I was never really angry, and my departure was not due to any real strife. It was simply a personal matter. And because it's a personal matter, and because I still have a great deal of respect for the people involved, I'll be judicious in what I reveal and what I do not. I'll leave it to you to read between the lines to gather any information I don't offer you here. But there was some confusion with regards to my departure, and so I guess this is not only my way of offering my side of the story, but also of alleviating any fears anyone might have that there's something insidious going on at PTC.

To put it mildly, I've always been a pretty ambitious person. This is compounded by the fact that I consider myself to be a natural leader; I simply feel more comfortable at the front of the crowd leading the way. That's why I'm a fedhead, that's why I haven't handled in an actual fed since OSF in 2002. I like working with people, I like hearing their ideas and I like being the one people come to for guidance. So when it comes to my role in the community known as PTC, ever since I first came to the interfed back in 2001 or so, I've always wanted to be part of the leadership.

Anyone that read this blog while it was still active knows that I was pushing to rekindle the spark of interfed spirit in PTC, and I put a lot of energy into that campaign. I did a couple PTC Radio shows that I thought were great successes, and had plans to run a tournament this summer. Perhaps some of that was too ambitious, but that's simply the way I am. I can't do something halfway; if I'm going to spearhead an effort, I'm going to do what I can to make it the best and biggest it can possibly be. That's how I run my fed, and that's how I wanted to run PTC.

Now comes for the delicate part, and the reason for my leaving the community. I had been part of PTC for many years, and had even been co-President of the community for a time back in the Ron days. It's a little-remembered part of PTC history, back when WO started and tried to steal PTC's thunder (and largely succeeded), but the fact remains that I've done pretty much everything in this game. Hell, during the PTC-Fedwars blowup (back when Fedwars was moderately relevant), I was a moderator on both forums, and even moderated a few direct meetings between Ron and... whoever it was that ran Fedwars. I like to think that I've carved out a reputation as someone who is fair, honest and trustworthy. I can completely understand how some people would have reservations about my impartiality given the zeal with which I promote GCW. But when it comes down to it, I'm concerned for the health of this game; if I can help the game, that will help GCW in the end.

In the last year especially, PTC has experienced the loss of some of its key leadership figures. First RJ lost his job as an admin (a decision I'm certainly not condemning, but the fact remains that he's gone). Then Pete left. And it wasn't just PTC admins; the feds began losing their fedheads. Sebs is gone. It's become a fairly common trend among PTC feds to change leadership fairly often, and the job moves from handler to handler. Now, I"m certainly not trying to slight some of the handlers who have made sacrifices in both stature and time to help out their feds, because I think that's an incredibly honorable thing to do. I've certainly had moments where GCW's become too much for me and I've had to pass the responsibility off. But the fact remains that, in terms of real leadership experience in this game, there isn't much left. The only admin left is Ross, and the only long-tenured fedhead left is me.


Unfortunately, my estimation of my role in the community was not shared by Ross. Now, I'm certainly not pinning all of this on him; I think this is mostly the result of a series of differences of opinion. Ross has certain ideas for how PTC should operate, and mine did not always align with his vision. I completely respect Ross's right to run his community the way he sees fit, and he continues to do a great job with it. The level of respect he commands is the most valuable currency any leader could hope to have, and it's what makes him an effective leader even at a time when his own involvement in the game is waning.

The primary obstacle that arose, I believe, came out of my desire to take on a greater role as community leader. I believed that PTC needed someone that was directly involved in the game in order to create new interfed activity. Ross might have agreed with this, but he insisted that this leader, whoever he or she may have been, be unaffiliated with any of the PTC feds. My position as GCW fedhead, he (fairly) reasoned, would make it a challenge for me to run interfed events.

There's much more to the story, but it's largely irrelevant. It will suffice to say that we both held firm in our convictions, and it led to a bit of an impasse. It came to the point that I no longer agreed with the direction PTC was heading, primarily because I was not going to be part of the leadership. In a sense, I felt that my years of service to the community and the game gave me a skill set that is unique to the community today, and that those skills were best spent helping to lead a new era in PTC. Due to my all-or-nothing nature, I simply didn't feel I could sit around and watch.

Again, I'm not trying to condemn Ross here. I still think he's a great guy and a great leader, and PTC will continue to do just fine under his leadership. He and I are still communicating regularly and working together on the new GCW website, so it's not like there's some angry rift forming. But, to be completely honest, I felt like my experience was being discounted, and therefore I decided that my time was best dedicated towards my fed, which I could direct as I saw fit. Now, there is much, much more to the story, including the demise of the Unified Title division (which my actions no doubt played a role in), that led to the impasse I referred to earlier. I completely understand why Ross made the decision he did. I do not agree with it, but it was his decision to make. Unfortunately, I felt at that point that I should have been the one making the decision, and without the ability to affect positive change on the community, I no longer felt like I had a place in PTC. If I cannot be of service to the community, I have no purpose there. So I retired to GCW, where my purpose is clear.

This is, to me, a completely acceptable compromise. I am having the best run I've ever had with GCW at the moment; things have never been better. I'm trilled to be putting all my effort into it, and to be able to focus on my home completely. I've spent some time looking back at GCW history rather than forward at PTC's future, and it's been very rewarding. But I thought now, with some spare time, I might muse about PTC for a moment.

The lack of leadership is no doubt a problem. Probably PTC's biggest problem. But effective leadership is only half of the equation; a leader can set the world on fire with great ideas, but if the population doesn't rise up to impliment the ideas, they're worthless. And, while the energy in the individual feds seems to be relatively high, the interfed activity simply isn't keeping pace. People still talk with dreamy nostalgia about the good old days and how they should come back, but nothing much has come of it. I have a few theories as to why this is, and what can be done to fix it. If you're not really interested in my ideas and were just here for my explanation, you may stop reading at this point.

In essence, I think the spin on the leadership problem has been all wrong. Ross has made repeated calls for people to step up and take charge, and there have been numerous instances of people answering that call. But the fact is, the community doesn't need all that many leaders. After all, there aren't that many people to be led any more. You only need a couple strong, experiences people at the top to steer the ship. And that's the problem; you've got dozens of people standing up and saying "I'll run a tournament" or "I'll run this division" or "I'll help out with anything," and yet so few people standing up and simply saying "I'll provide the content." What the community needs to be successful is not people to run tournaments, but people to participate in them. Not division heads, but competitors. Not people willing to do whatever odd-job is offered to them, but instead to simply show up when an event is on.

The correlation here is my theory that there are too many feds. I've backed off that notion a bit lately as it seems the newer feds springing up are in good health and have sizeable rosters. But I still think there are too many people pondering new fed concepts rather than new character concepts. I know it's tempting to want to run your own fed, but given the state of the game, we should be consolidating, not spreading out. If you're an idea person that wants to run a fed, join a fed and take that energy to the roster instead. The game will benefit much more from the benefit you give to the fed than from any new entity you could create.

I'm certainly not trying to stomp on anyone else's ambitions, especially after explaining how high my own always have been. But during the last month or so, when my only e-fedding interest has been GCW, I've looked at the incredible strides we've made and determined that this is where the revoution should begin. The "big three" PTC feds of the past year (GCW, PRIME and SCCW) are all solid feds, but at no time have all three been stable at the same time. For a while in 2005 GCW was the toast of the town; then PRIME rose again. Then FUSE showed up and stole all the thunder. Then PRIME again. Then PRIME began switching fedheads often, and GCW began to rise again.

Look back to those good old days and you'll find that PTC was most successful when it was rooted in successful feds. The community was such a roaring success because it had PCW, OSW, FSW, PURE, PWC, RUSH, NTICW and a myriad of other feds (like GCW) backing them up--all of which were not just stable, but flourishing. At no time in PTC's recent history has it had more than two feds in a simultaneous upswing. We've tried to spark interfed activity during this time, but nothing has taken hold, probably because the foundation for such activity simply wasn't there.

So, even though I'm not participating in PTC any more, I'm still doing what I can to help out by giving it a great, high-caliber fed as one of its cornerstones. I'd encourage everyone over at PTC to start thinking about the community in these terms as well. I'm not suggesting anyone else abandon the forums like I have, but simply to ponder your priorities. I know there's a lot to love about interfed activity, and I hope it can come back some day, too. But until GCW, PRIME, SCCW, and now some of the other feds that are popping up, are all riding high, it'll be virtually impossible to achieve some of those goals. I still think that, with the right leadership, PTC as presently constituted could offer a fun array of activities and competitions to keep people interested. But the good old days aren't coming back until the feds are blossoming, and at the moment that isn't happening.

So my message? Don't ask what you can to to help PTC. Ask what you can to do help a fed, because in doing so you'll help PTC. Don't open a new fed, there are enough of those. Don't try to come up with the next great interfed gimmick. Take that energy, that creativity and those ideas, to one of the feds. It's a smaller stage, yes, and you'll get less glory for it. But, while the game needs leaders, it needs contributors as well. GCW's filled with people who lead on a daily basis; people who step up and put forth that same energy every day into their fed, and the fed has benefitted immensely from it.

For an interfed event to really succeed, it needs to be populated with great, established stars representing great, competitive feds. The basis for this is in place; this remains an incredibly talented community with great history. But I think the call for leadership, the call for bright new ideas, needs to come from within the feds, not from PTC.

It takes something really special to lead a place like PTC; that's why Ross has done it so long, and why nobody else has been able to take his place. And that's why I feel Ross's expectation that someone do his job like he does is unfair. Nobody can do it like him, so it's a standard that will never be met. Me? I can't do it like Ross does, but I felt I could do it my way, which would be pretty damn close. But there aren't many that can do that job. For the moment, though, there are a ton of people wanting to help. I'd urge those people to find themselves a home and put more energy into it. There's a lot of people who handle in multiple feds, and that's fine, but I'd encourage people to do more with less. Focus on one or two goals and really make them great. We're never going to make this game work through quantity any more. If this game is going to flourish again, it will come through the quality of our work. So if I have any parting advice for you, PTC, it's this: just be. Don't worry about answering the call to lead, because that's not what the community needs. It needs handlers. It needs people dedicated to their craft and dedicated to their fed.

The better you make your fed, and the more loyal to it you become, the more interesting the conflict between those feds will be. And that's how you make a great interfed.

I miss you all. If you need me, you know where to find me.

We're Going Hi-Tech

This blog isn't seeing much action lately, but with good reason. I've gone audio!

Anyone interested in hearing me rant and rave, opinionize and sensationalize may catch me every week on GCW Radio. Just head over to the GCW Forums for updates on showtimes and links to the broadcasts. Hope you'll tune in.

New Year's Resolution

I've got a new New Year's Resolution, only 24 days late.

As it has become quite clear that the game is winding down (in scope if not relative activity), I think it's important to try to archive what we've accomplished in our time in this game for posterity. I, for one, can't forsee myself heading up GCW for another seven years, but seven years from now I fully intend to have gcwonline.net up and operational. I want to make sure to get everything we've ever done archived and online so that anyone, at any point in the future, can come back and see what they've done.

But why stop there?

Obviously, getting GCW in order will be step one. But after that, I think it would be really great to create some sort of general archive where absolutely anyone can enter their information and their writings to be saved for good. PTCpedia is a step in that direction, but I'd like something that goes even deeper.

Of course, I have no clue how to make such a thing practical, so I'm open to suggestions. But with people beginning to transition towards other goals and interests, I think it would be nice to have a place for everyone to stash their writing online so that, when we each leave the game, we'll have left a little bit of ourselves behind.

Just a random thought here at 2:51 AM.

Quick Hits

Just some random ramblings from a frenetic mind.

-As some of you might know, I went to New Orleans this weekend to see the BCS Title Game. As a Buckeye, I'm rather bummed about the result, but I won't delve into that here. I do, however, want to comment on the city itself. One doesn't hear much about post-Katrina New Orleans any more, but we wanted to check it out. So we had a private car take us through the 9th ward. It looked like a third-world country, and was no doubt the most ruinous place I've ever been to (and I've been to Peru, Haiti and Jamaica). The issue is by no means so cut-and-dry that I can make a sound-byte summation of it, but it will suffice to say that I was saddened by how bad things still are. However, most of the residents of the ruined homes have set up shop in other cities and won't be coming back. Though the ruins remain, the people do not, and most of the residents I spoke to seemed to think New Orleans is destined to become little more than a tourist town. There were signs of progress, but mostly as a result of the action of non-profits and volunteer groups. I'm not making any sweeping statements here, but it would have been nice to have seen some sort of government presence in the area making an attempt to help put the city back together.

-On a less serious note, I'm fairly positive about the overall state of the game at the moment. In particular, I love how successful Dave's Creative Writing Tournament has been. I plan on writing a full review of the event after a couple of rounds and at its conclusion, but for now I'll just make some preliminary comments. I noted in a previous post that I felt the tournament would reshape the game, but I feel that's a good thing. People will inevitably seek other outlets for their creative juices when e-wrestling has runs its course for them, and I'm really pleased that people are stepping up to provide such an outlet within the community. So while stalwarts like Ryan might be dropping out of the game, it is my hope that PTC will remain in operation to house our joint efforts under our common thread, a love of writing. That's the destiny of this game. I remain a committed and energized fedder, but I'd rather see us blaze a new trail rather than simply fade away.

-With regards to fedding itself, with Global gone, PTC is down to four feds. Anyone out there know what the story is with XUW currently? I know they were nearing their last match, and it was my impression that they were closing at the end of 2007. I wish I'd followed it more through the years, because the talent there is quite good. But with XUW meeting its inevitable end, the game will be down to three feds.

But GCW, FUSE and PRIME appear to be in good health. It's been said that three feds might not be enough for all the fedders left in the game. And it's fair to say that, as all three are reality-based feds, the fantasy characters of the Global/UWF tree might not have homes. But I'd suggest that three feds is a good number given the current state of the community. One must consider not only the population of the roster pool, but also the number of potential leaders out there. This isn't intended as a knock on the guys who ran Global or any other fed that's closed down, but there's a definite lack of leadership in the game today. Even FUSE and PRIME have shuffled fedheads quite a bit in the past several months. So, while there might be some need for another fed, the fact that such a fed doesn't exist speaks volumes to the current capacity of the game.

I won't speak for FUSE and PRIME, but I think GCW has the structure in place to be able to handle a larger roster. I think condensing and consolidating the game a bit could be good for it. But the fact remains that it's extremely difficult to maintain a stable fed, and I think the game is going to have to make do with the three feds it's got left.

-I've been asked about the wisdom of seeking out new connections with other communities such as EWZine. The game is certainly still thriving in parts. But personally, I'm quite content to remain part of our smaller, "elitist" community. PTC is home to the best people and the best writers in the game, and even as a fedder I'm still concerned with the pure writing we do. I'm not taking any personal swipes here because I don't know any of the EWZine leaders, but nothing I've seen there can compare to what we do in an average week at PTC.

-I still think innovation can unlock some unexplored territory for e-wrestling. If GCW, PRIME and FUSE are to be the last feds standing, the connections in place there can open some new doors. I'm not counting on any sort of resurgence from the game, because that's clearly not in the cards, but I would still like to offer some fun new features to those still playing. Many of the plans we made with regards to PTC a few months ago are being restructured to work on a smaller scale. Don't expect anything earthshattering, but with the growing power of the internet I think we can, at the very least, make the game easier than ever to play and offer new tools for interaction. While it may be on a smaller-than-ever scale, I hope that e-wrestling's latter days can be the most fun any of us have ever had.

-Some GCW notes: Our first show of the year will be up this weekend and it should be a good one. Things are going really, really well right now. As GCW's fedhead, I don't think it's out of bounds to suggest that GCW might reclaim its spot as top dog in PTC. But the chase to be the best isn't so much about gaining a competitive advantage, because such a thing isn't of much value any more. I do hope FUSE and PRIME join in the battle for the unofficial top spot, because that competition will keep things fresh and frisky and ensure that everyone's working to make each fed the best it can possibly be.

-I think PTC's forums need a makeover. Perception is 9/10ths of reality. I think the PTC forums are actually seeing a decent amount of activity, but they're still configured for a community of many hundreds. Let's trim things down a bit: Fed & Character News, E-Wrestling and Advertising can all be one board. Pro Wrestling and Sports can be consolidated. Sure, these are just superficial changes, but I think condensing our activity into fewer categories will make it easier to see that there's a bit of life left. While I may have backed off my chase for a return to e-wrestling glory, I remain hopeful that we can keep making adjustments to our expectations to match the flow of the game.

-I'm giving some thought to doing weekly show reviews for GCW, PRIME and FUSE. I'd really like to give all three feds equal coverage. Still, that's a tall task. Anyone interested in helping with such a project can get in touch with me.

That's about all I've got for now. I'll be back with some more news and thoughts in a few days.

Pete

As you might have seen over on the PTC forums, the game has lost a giant. Pete has made his farewell post, effectively ending an impressive stay in the game of e-wrestling. As someone who has worked closely with Pete over the years, I feel I’m reasonably equipped to run down his career in honor of his departure. Now, as anyone in GCW will tell you, I have difficulty remembering things that happened ten minutes ago, much less seven years ago. So consider this fair warning that this post will likely contain glaring omissions, factual errors, and liberal use of creative license. Oh, and it wouldn’t be a post about Pete if I didn’t unabashedly slander him (actually, it would be libel, but slander sounds better).

I first encountered Pete some time in 2001. I don’t recall the exact date, though I quite fondly remember the character. Pete initially joined GCW as the Ticking Timebomb JNightmare. The character had a nervous “tick” that Pete would implement when writing him. I searched long and hard for a JNightmare promo but was unable to find one, much to my disappointment. The character was ludicrous, but Pete did bring with him a few friends. Jeff Wylde, Bryan Mayhem, The Almighty Kippo (and perhaps others) were all part of a former fed that had closed, a fed I remember very little about and will leave Pete to describe to you.

It didn’t take very long for Pete to retool himself. Come to think of it, Pete could have used a few more retoolings in his career. But he transformed himself into The Dark Messiah Jason O’Neil, and a star was born. During 2001 O’Neil captured the Tag Titles twice, but that’s all the gold he’d see in GCW.

It wasn’t for lack of talent. Pete simply stood out among the roster as a leader, a guy who was never suited for life among the masses. I had been searching for a right-hand-man for a long time, privately to train as a replacement for my impending retirement in 2002 (ha!). Pete was it. As O’Neil Pete took part in some memorable feuds, including one of my all-time favorites that saw O’Neil have sex with NBK’s mother and then throw him off the roof of an arena. God, that’s good stuff. He also (mercifully) ended the Tag Team reign of terror (and by terror, I mean complete, unadulterated crap) of Double Cool.

But Pete really distinguished himself as my partner, and without his service GCW would not have been as good as it was in 2002. He did a ton of work during this time in GCW, as much if not more than I. Pete was there for all of our initial successes, and fondly remembers all my greatest leadership miscues (yeah, I’m still haunted by the Ghost of Register).

GCW during this first run was a really unique place. Never before have I seen a fed so close-knit, so truly involved with one another. Pete recently related a story on PTC Radio about September 11^th, 2001, and what was perhaps GCW’s defining moment. That day the entire GCW roster, both American and otherwise, came on to the forums to make sure everyone was safe and sound, that their families were safe, and to share in our mourning. One of the first instincts we all had was to jump online and make sure our fedmates were all right. That was special, and that’s the kind of family Pete helped to build.

Around the middle of 2002, when GCW was still riding high thanks is large part to Pete’s efforts, we began to collectively burn out as a fed. We’d been working closely together for a long time and really shared the same journey. Consequently, our torrid pace led to the inevitable end. O’Neil joined The Establishment and Badger Benandanti went heel in an attempt to change things up, but it was not my better work and things slid downhill. I remember very little of what happened during the “dark ages” of 2003-4. I did, however, get the chance to work with Pete in an environment where neither of us was in charge.

We both landed in FSW for a time, along with Jeff and some others. As Kimbusa I got to work with Deville and O’Neil, two guys I still hold in very high regard. Alas, it didn’t last long, as Pete was forced to step away for a time and Jeff promptly wiped the floor with me. Still, for a few weeks we got to work together and I seem to remember having a pretty good time of it.

There was a long stretch where Pete wasn’t around at all. He just up and disappeared, and the game seemed somewhat empty without him. I don’t recall precisely where he went (I’m fairly certain he volunteered for government testing of chemical weapons, resulting in the disfigured face he wears today). Pete and I weren’t always especially close, and there have been times when we’ve been at odds, but it did seem quite strange to participate in the game without Pete out there somewhere.

Pete returned and took part in tSC, and later ran his own fed, RPW. He’s also headed GCW solo, as well as PRIME and, no doubt, others. But other than a two-week stint in RPW, I never worked under Pete. I can’t really speak to his fedheadding abilities, though I do have observations. The results were no doubt mixed; Pete’s initial tries at running GCW were a huge success, but his later attempt in 2006 was a failure (not his fault, the fed sucked). RPW was a runaway success for a while, and the fed itself is deserving of its own biography. But there are those out there with a much better knowledge of the subject, so I leave the telling of that story (and of tSC) to those who were there. I certainly hope you’ll comment below to help fill in these blanks.

But what most of you reading this now will remember is the Pete who helped to run PTC these last few years. In this capacity a new Pete was seemingly born. Pete was always capable of being a complete and total prick (a necessary quality to have as a leader), but PTC Pete made use of this quality early and often. He alienated people and made no apologies for it. But please don’t read that as a criticism; in truth, to effectively run such a large organization one must be willing to be unpopular. Ron was the most hated guy in the game’s history, and also the most successful. That isn’t a coincidence. Pete never reached Ron’s level of megalomaniacism, but he was a major success for a reason.

I won’t speak for him, but I suspect Pete became much like me in the sense that he simply needed to lead. I still fondly remember my days as an active handler, but I cannot imagine myself participating in this game in any capacity other than a fedhead. Pete stood out early and distinguished himself as a man with ideas, ambition and gumption. This is why I am not terribly surprised that his recent return to handling was so short-lived. The game is not as we remember it, and Pete was never meant to just be one of the guys.

Pete is not a smart man. He’s not very charismatic and his radio voice mimics a less enjoyable Gilbert Gottfried. He’s abrasive and reclusive and very difficult to get to know if you don’t know him already. Nobody likes him, and his friends have been plotting his death for the better part of the millennium. That punch to the face from Lindz? Just the beginning.

But despite these obvious truths (read: slight exaggerations) Pete retires as one of the most influential people in the history of the game. Why is that? Ironically, it’s his heart. Despite his rough exterior Pete, I believe, has always had a soft spot in his heart for the game. He wanted it to succeed and he wanted to help other people enjoy themselves. Sure, he’d never admit it, and I’ve no doubt some part of Pete enjoyed the power, but I really think his true motivation was a noble one. He liked this game and he wanted others to like it, too.

Pete remains something of an enigma to me. I must confess that the above paragraph might have completely missed the mark and I’d never know. There are those he’s encountered in this game since his arrival in GCW that he has come to know better than me. We spent quite a long time out of contact and even now don’t speak terribly often. Yet I think, despite our ups and downs, Pete and I have always shared a mutual respect dating back to our first ventures into the larger structures of the game. It’s because of that that I’m disappointed to see him go.

Still, it’s time. Pete’s heart has not been in it for a while now, I fear. This is the comedic inevitability all leaders must face. Pete served PTC with distinction and selflessness, but those are trying traits to have. Eventually they weigh you down and drive all shreds of enjoyment out of you. Leading like Pete has led is certainly the most thankless job imaginable. He sacrificed all personal goals in the game to help maintain PTC, and without him our last ties to the glory days of e-wrestling would have long ago been lost.

I hope you’ll all send Pete your thanks. Even those who are newcomers to the community (if there is such a thing), or those that never worked with him, owe him gratitude. PTC is in a steady state of decline and the game is waning, and I feel this is due, in part, to the lack of strong leadership figures on the landscape. There are few with the drive, the willpower and the wisdom to stand above the rest and affect the direction of an entire community. Pete did that for a long time, and his loss is an ending of an era.

There are many who don’t like Pete and never will. I can certainly understand that; hell, there are times when I didn’t like Pete myself. But I always respected him, and that’s the key. I’m not asking you to like Pete. But if you don’t respect him, you don’t know anything about this game. If you’re one of those who ran off to create the “I HATE PETE” Fed, or if you go to sleep at night dreaming of his gruesome death (well, in all fairness, I do that one), you don’t truly understand the nature of our community. Even in decline PTC remains the best community there is, home of the best writers this game has ever seen, and that world exists due in great part to Pete’s efforts.

Oh, and Pete was a pretty good writer, too. *tick*

Pete hasn’t always been successful in this game. He’s taken some licks and made some decisions many would deem questionable. Yet at the end, looking back on it all, I hope Pete will view his time with us as a success. I know I do. Ultimately I think Pete will be viewed as the greatest caretaker the game has ever seen. He never really had a fed of his own, and he was never the man in charge of PTC. He was always the second guy, or the top guy operating as a stand-in. But that’s to his great credit, because it shows again how selfless he truly was. He was never in it for his own personal glory. He was always willing to help out, to do what was necessary and never spoke a word of anger when the thanks were given to someone else. Much of the credit for GCW belongs to Pete yet I am the one who reaps it. And when PTC goes Pete’s name will never don the list of those who stood at the helm (and, cruelly, mine will). But Pete’s name sits in the background of all those lists of top leaders, and in that respect he has had more to do with the success of this game than most of us will ever dream of. So I hope this serves as an appropriate tribute to one of the game’s great contributors, because I guarantee you that whatever you think Pete did for this game, he did more.

Thanks, Pete, you curmudgeonly asshole.

(Addendum: Pete, I actually found an RP you posted titled “Rivero, we are one and the same.” Ain’t that the truth?)

Breaking News

I've just been informed by an anonymous source (codename: R. Guile) that Global Wrestling is closing its doors.

I haven't officially confirmed this yet, nor do I have the full scoop. I haven't followed Global a whole lot over the years, at least not like it deserved. It turned out some amazing talent and ran for the better part of the decade, which is an amazing feat.

But I gather James has been away for a while, and the instability has caused problems. They've also had issues with their hosting, which I can attest can drive a man insane.

If this is confirmed (I'll follow up on this with more details as I investigate) it'll simply be another step in the inevitable decline in PTC. However, much as I truly am sad to see Global go, it might not be an entirely bad thing. With interest in the game waning it might actually help strengthen the game to consolidate the talent in it into fewer feds. If those still interested in the game move to GCW, PRIME and FUSE, those feds will only benefit and what was a failing fed will have ultimately empowered the game.

Again, I'll try to dig up the full story on Global's passing. It's a shame to see it go as it's been such a big part of the game for a long time, but I suspect this is the sort of thing you'll be seeing in the months to come. Still, I think it's all just one step in the evolution of the community; not a creeping death but a restructuring.

New Year, New Era

I'm baaaaa-aaaack!

The last few months haven't seen any posts, primarily due to a rise in school activity. But I'm proud to say that we've also seen a spike in activity and success in GCW, and that has also drawn my focus away. I'm having a great deal of fun with the fed right now, so much in fact that my interest in doing anything else at all has waned.

This doesn't mean I won't continue to strongly voice my opinion on the game, I'm just going to alter my approach (again). It seems quite clear to me that PTC, as an e-fed community, is in its final moments and any attempt to salvage it or create something new is futile. This doesn't mean the game won't continue on, but the day of large-scale superstructures is finished.

So I'll continue to blog, and I'll try to update everyone on the goings-on in e-fedding and e-fedding related areas. So come here for news and opinion on the game; I'm the Bill O'Reilly of e-wrestling, without the fuck.

--First and foremost, Tom Holzerman is stepping away from his blog for a while. It's a shame, as he's the innovator of the e-fed blogs (of which now this appears to be the only one). I feel quite inadequate if I am, in fact, the last blogger standing, because Holzerman's the big dog of this concept and I'm merely a follower. I won't in any way claim to be capable of filling his void in the blogosphere, but I will do my best. Hope to see Holzerman back soon and I wish him all the luck in the world with TEAM.

--Dean has officially, permanently stepped away as fedhead of FUSE, leaving Josh in charge. I have several members on my roster who have worked with Josh in the past and have had complementary things to say about him, so I'm sure the fed is in good hands. But rapid-fire leadership changes tend to harm a fed in the short- and long-run. I still like FUSE and I really don't want to see any fed close its doors right now, because the game is thin enough as it is. However, they've got their work cut out for them, because as of now I struggle to tell you what FUSE's identity is now. I know Rhine and Rhine is awesome, but beyond that I'm lost. I fully plan to get better informed, and I hope this situation galvanizes the roster.

--I have no earthly idea what's happening in PRIME right now. That's probably a good thing.

--Dave's creatively named Creative Writing Tournament is shaping up to be a huge success over at PTC; if you're somehow reading this blog and have never heard of this, hit the PTC forums and check it out. The talent drawn to that event is sensational, and I'm sorry I didn't join in.

And it's also going to kill a chunk of e-wrestling. As people in this game are maturing, more and more I'm finding people who are losing interest in e-fedding and would prefer to simply focus on writing without gimmicks and strings attached. So, while the tournament is going to be a great success, it's also going to shift the landscape of this game of ours.

But that isn't a criticism. In fact, it's the highest compliment I can pay it. Any one tournament that can have that great an effect over such a large group of people must be doing its job. The game is in a state of flux, anyway, and the fact that Dave's had such a great turnout shows that it was both timely and inevitable. Those left in this game who want to remain a part of the community without participating in e-fedding now have the ability to do so. I think it's time to simply call PTC a "writing community" and nothing else, a place now frequented by people with a common interest not in e-wrestling, but writing alone. We e-fedders would therefore continue to have a home there, while the creative writing group could split off without leaving the community entirely. It is my sincere hope that the people who choose to leave the game do not choose to leave the community, because I've had the pleasure of getting to know many of them and I would appreciate the opportunity to continue to read their tremendous work. Here's hoping that whatever Dave's tournament leads to remains a part of PTC.

--NC-17 is posted over at GCW and it was a great show. It is a great sense of sadness I experience right now in knowing that there are few left outside of GCW with the interest to read it. However, I feel GCW is in a unique position right now to update the concept of the e-fed a bit. The fed has some wildly talented writers in its own right, and while they still love e-wrestling they, too, are experiencing a desire to broaden their writing skills. In GCW I'm hoping to emphasize those skills more as this year progresses. Either way, I feel that NC-17 demonstrates how the e-fed can remain relevant at a time when our community is going through a period of progression. GCW is going to have an amazing year in 2008, and I hope that even those of you who are losing interest in e-fedding will check it out... and perhaps join us, because it would be impossible not to have your juices flow again while working with the people on that roster.

That's about all I've got for now, but keep checking in. When I get news stories from around the community I'll fill you all in. In the meantime, thanks for reading this blog, GCW, and everything written by any community member. Let's stop worrying about the logistics of PTC and just focus on trying to keep the group of people that make it up together. We don't all have to be pursuing the same goals to work together and appreciate what we're producing. What a writer wants more than anything else is a reader, and in PTC we have a group of people willing to support everyone in their common goals. I'm done trying to force the issue; let's just reduce our goals to having fun in whatever capacity we desire and go from there.