New Poll: How do you play Title Bout?

[Jim Trunzo]

In our ongoing desire to give you more of what you want, we are posting a number of polls to determine how you, the most influential group of players, use the game, etc. This poll is designed to get a better feel for you actual method of play. You may choose multiple answers if you use one choice in combination with the other.

[rastak]

Auto scheduler for all fights but Title defences (dice rolls on a chart I created to set those up...)
Manual fights for fighters I control with random element for scheduling.

[Rocco Del Sesto]

I use the autoscheduler for simming a large number of fighters which is a GREAT tool when working on ratings for new fighters. Then fight single matches between selected fighters for replay purposes of certain fighters.

[dempsonny]

I use single match a lot but I will be going to fight card mostly when I get going.

Gus

[David Myers]

In my Thirties replay, I am doing much what Rastak says (above) that he does. I use the autoscheduler for all but title defenses and matches between the top contenders. For those, I use the fight-card module.

Consequently, more control over the autoscheduler would come in handy. As I suggested to you, Jim, in a private message, it would be great if we could schedule bouts only between fighters at the same career stage. (Of course, to do this, the autoscheduler would have to load our saved settings, which it fails to do at present.)

[vistaman44]

Jim;
I use them all, and generally appreciate them all. I begin with tourneys and autoscheduled bouts to build records and rankings, go back and sim career matches not yet included in the results, then use single bouts and cards for championship matches.

When the new patches with the 32-fighter brackets and the autoscheduler tweeks come out, those will just be added bonuses for me. Thanks for continuing to improve an already excellent game.

[swampdragon]

I generally use single matches. That could be made easier, as others have suggested, by not resetting the date to 2004 every time, and by enabling random referees and judges.
I would use the Fight card much more if I did not have to fill the entire schedule. I plan to run some round robin tournaments when that option becomes available.

[Rasmuth]

I use the auto-scheduler. My new and improved IPBA is a random mix of fighters from all generations...and new fighters will be added and retired as time moves on. Who gets pulled into the universe is a mystery only known to the IPBA top executives.

When I'm finally simming title bouts then I will use individual single fights with the champions not eligible for random auto-scheduler bouts.

[Claybor]

I use them all about equally depending on the situation. I will usually auto-schedule a large group of bouts per division to get everyone some fight time, then run a few tourneys in which the winners get lined up for either a contenders match for a title shot or a title match. Then after I've done this for a couple of different weight classes, I set a fight card with the contenders or title fights.

[Kevin]

I use the scheduler, but not the auto portion. I usually select 15 to 20 fights at a time by selecting them based upon my own criteria and then let them sim. For each such group I assign a venue, referee and set of judges.

[couriers]

I didn’t vote since there wasn't an All of the Above option to select. My universe uses every method available for scheduling fights dependant on region and time of year. My personal stable has custom fight cards set up for each fighter each month. The 12 regions in my universe use the auto scheduler for each month and then there are regional tournaments in November to determine who goes from each region to the World Tournament in December. Lastly, single matches are used whenever I want to add a bit of something out of the ordinary to the universe for a certain fighter. This would include single fights for quick rematches or even for quick fights for the lesser fighters in my stable.

Point is, chalk one up for All of the Above.

[wildhawke11]

Couriers i agree.
Each and every option is an asset and needed in the Game.

[Antonin]

Originally posted by wildhawke11
Couriers i agree.
Each and every option is an asset and needed in the Game.

I agree strongly. I use the auto scheduler to sim large numbers of fights in order to get ratings. But I also use it to arrange 2-3 fights at a time for a single fighter (usually one of my "created fighters"), and then I watch/control/interact with those fights individually. I LOVE the randomness that the autoscheduler allows. Sometimes my 4 rated created boxer will wind up fighting a 1, and then the next fight will face a 9.

I've set up fight cards a couple of times and bet on them (lots of fun!), and I've set up a couple of tournaments as well.

I use single bouts to decide championships, but sometimes I use them for fights between two guys I read about in The Ring or Boxing Monthly, just "to see" who will win. Sometimes I just want to watch a boxing match and pick two fighters at random.

[ThBeatnik]

At the moment I'm running through from the 1880s, autoscheduling fights once each quarter.

What I'd like to eventually do would be:
1>At the start of each new year, go through and sort out all fighters debuting that year. Check their history in boxrec.com, and note in their bio page the date and record at the time of their first fight against significant opposition. When that date comes up, manually adjust their record to reflect their historic record at that time; delete fights autoscheduled against these rookies until that date arrives.
2>As before, use the autoscheduler once per quarter to schedule fights. Delete rookie fights as mentioned above, examine and alter title bouts as seems appropriate.
3>Break the resulting matches down into several fight cards. Select, manually or randomly, a different set of venues, refs, and judges for each card. Assign dates to the cards.
4>Play the cards, betting on occasion. Note significant events in the appropriate bio pages.
5>At the end of the quarter, browse the various organizations' rankings. Note appropriate contendors to be used when manually altering title bouts.
6>Repeat until the year is over. Advance the date, go to step 1, continue.


Given this, the autoscheduler is of the greatest use for me, followed by the fight card system. Things that would help me greatly, and that I will therefore root for seeing in upcoming patches would be:
1>A randomiser for venues, refs, and judges. I know this will be done in time, and am looking forward to it.
2>A means to save multiple fight cards before playing them, to save an autoscheduled list of fights before playing them, or a means to transfer fights from the autoscheduler list to a fight card.
3>Making organizations recognize title holders from rival organizations in their rankings- this would help me decide when a title unification is in order.
4>Adding more earlier fighters in the lower weight classes. The heavyweights seem to work about right once one gets to 1885 or so; middles/welters/lightweights less so. Perhaps, given the nature of the early times, an option in the autoscheduler to preselect available weight variance (so that a middleweight might be scheduled against a welterweight, but a heavyweight would have no chance of facing a bantamweight) might be helpful.

I know this has gotten a bit long, and parts belong more in the wishlist forum; I'm hoping that by being detailed I'm giving Jim, Tom, and Andreas more useful information.

[Cap]

As I am busily updating individual fighters, I haven't really gotten around to getting my universe up and running again yet, but I intend to use all of the available functions of TBCB, present and planned.

Cap

[RANGER11JP]

Jim,

My answer is all of the above and not enough! I would like to be able to use all of these tools and have better control of the career stage and the date of the event. For myself, I like to follow some kind of history and the drama of a rising newcomer or an ageing champion. I can't get into 60+ bouts being fought on the same day by 16 fighters. Maybe we could assign a date for each bracket? Or if autosked could pick fighters by date of last fight (if we could set a date for our universe) or by career stage.
I am finding this game harder to manage than 2001 because I can't print anything.

But I am very pleased with the results of the fights and the overall feel of the game. I'm sticking with you guys because I know you will get it all together by the final round!!!

Thanks for the great effort.

JP

[yabanci]

I prefer to use the fight card, but I mostly use the autoscheduler for the randomness of it. One of the things I wish for is the ability to autoschedule a fight card, with the AI being able to order the fights on the card in a rational way. Sometimes I use autoscheduler to make a list of bouts then manually enter those bouts into the fight card.

[kcjoe]

So far I use all three modes as needed. Autoschedule to build up fighter records;individual fights to pursue one career;and tournament as title eliminations. Great so far!

[Malcom987]

In addition to the hours of enjoyment the game provides, I used it as THERAPY when I was at odds with an employer. I would give him the most fantastic endurance, recovery and ability to absorb punishment. I would then allow him to go a few rounds with a few of the "boys". Our entire unit would cheer him on to his 0-25-2 record. It was a wonderful stress release until he was eventually transferred and the fun of watching him take his 'medicine' ended of the unit.

[Lee]

I use the Auto-Scheduler for setting up the universe history, then it is the fight card.