The LumberChat
Coming on the heels of this year's Lesbian Wrestling Ring Tournament is the 2nd edition of The Wrestling Ring Tournament! Today, we'll be talking with one half of the TWR development team and pick their brains a little on the mode, and his thoughts on the coming competition...
EroFights: Hey Lumber. Are you excited for this year's TWR tournament?!
LumberSnack: Oh wow, putting me on the spot 🤣 How can a maintainer not be excited? Last year's tournament was an absolute blast to watch. I can only imagine that the competition will be even more fierce this year!
EF: Any memories from last year that stick out to you, then?
LS: While I won't name names, I will say that the action was hot and heavy often, people going over the top with wrestling costumes and a good build up going into matches.
EF: Since last year's final, has the team made any tweaks and additions to the mode? How useful was the tournament for you in terms of improving TWR?
LS: Well, last year's tournament proved to be an excellent way for both Ben and myself to see the balance of the mode when people were playing competitively over a larger sample size.
It actually helped quite a bit in letting us know that we could introduce 69 battle, which was something we held back before the tournament last year. Besides that scene being introduced, I can't quite recall what our old action count was...
But if I had to guess we added somewhere around at least 500 new actions since the last tournament.
EF: Take us through a little tour of the 69 battle... and what you'd expect to see of it in a tournament context. Will it change how matches are played?
LS: 69 battle functions as an alternate path to round 2. It's meant to be a risk/reward kind of situation. It currently serves as both the only way to unlock "finisher" moves and the only form of health regeneration available in TWR.
It is not and will never be a requirement to playing a game of TWR, but for those bold enough to take on the risky challenge, the rewards are plentiful.
EF: That reminds me — when you start a game in TWR now, there is a button marked "DO NOT CLICK". What's that about? And obviously, if someone clicks it during the tournament, what should be done? A replay?
LS: I will disable that before the tournament begins 🤣 all tournament games should be played using the first move "Round 1" as that's the true TWR format.
The "do not click" button was designed for the testing purposes and brings players right to 69 battle with some stats that would be proper for around the time of the game that would pop up if played traditionally.
Just like we have a "skip to round 2" button, I will eventually rename the other and give players the option to start in a different manner.
EF: So should the "skip to round 2" button be prohibited from use for the tournament as well?
LS: Correct and I'll either disable them or ask them both to be prohibited.
To create an "ideal game", playing from the opening move round 1, and all the way through the mode should be the way that it is played for tournament purposes.
I would also say that no skipping over tap-outs should also be enforced.
EF: What's the recommendation of playing a short game, both in and out of tournament matches?
LS: If you are referring to the double damage option pre game...
I actually haven't done a ton of testing with that setting on, I'm sure it would function fine for people who wanted something quicker.
It would honestly probably be great for those wanting to create a "best of series" scenarios as you would get more complete matches in.
Would not recommend for tournament play, as the mode is primarily balanced around the default LP values of a standard game.
EF: We've seen maintainers join (and lose) tournaments for their respective modes. Are you thinking of joining this year's tournament?
LS: I haven't decided yet. I feel like maintainers are put into an awkward position of... "You know the mode in and out and you should be able to be untouchable".
However the reality of it is, if we are doing our job correctly... The match odds going into it should be relatively even.
I have joined one of the newer leagues that are popping up, so let's see if I can work off the ring rust before the tourney begins.
Special Shoutouts to the:
Tournament of Nations
T.W.A.T. league
Kinky couple wrestling club (KCWC)
(If I missed any others I apologise )
Love the fact that there are so many fun wrestling leagues popping up, and that the mode is seeing more play.
EF: Final word then - what are your hopes for the mode, for the tournament, and for EF in general?
LS: TWR has come quite a long way since I started working on it with Ben. We have a couple final systems to put in place and we will feel like the mode is finally complete. (Until I hatch up some crazy idea and change everything all over again ) I hope that the players are enjoying the mode and having fun while playing it, as that's what it's all about. To those in this year's tournament, I wish you all the best of luck, I'd say don't fight dirty... but that's encouraged around here 😂
