Ok, now i'm reallly annoyed. (How Universe Mode just screwed me over.)

Remember when Marcus Stephenson said that you could have a WWE Universe completely made up of CAW's if you wanted to do it that way? Well, I just decided to finally do the big thing... and move ALL of the current WWE Superstars to a Paint Tool brand of the Raw Logo, and a paint tool Smackdown logo.

I did this so that I could take every CXA character and move THEM onto Raw and Smackdown and turn the WWE into the CXA basically. The titles all given to CXA guys, and an all CAW roster.

Except... wait....

Suddenly, when I get to the last bit, after having to delete all the WWE stables and teams (cuz you can't move stables while they are in the stables) and having to give everyone belts... I begin to take Morrison and R-truth off the brand and UH OH, I get this:

"Both Raw and Smackdown must ALWAYS have at least 2 Male Superstars (not counting Created Superstars) on each brand."

WHAT.

I just stared at this message for about 3 minutes straight, in disbelief. After I eventually picked my jaw back off the floor, i'm still pretty aggravated about this for a number of reasons.

First... What, exactly... is the fucking point of this?? NO FUCKING REASON FOR THAT. CAW's are eligible for the rankings all just the same as everyone else is, if you assign them to the brand, so I ask, and excuse the language, but.....

what the fucking hell is the fucking point of this fucking shit? Why do I have to have at least 2 WWE in-game superstars on each brand? WHY?? Why the fuck should I? Any reason? No? Just to screw me over and force some WWE guys to be on the game even though I clearly don't want to do it that way?

And secondly.... Yeah, I totally remember when Marcus and therefore THQ in general pretty much said you can have a all CAW Universe. Well that was bullshit, apparently.

And y'know... I need to say this... While I do often get annoyed at the trolls who keep calling THQ liars about this and that and things that people expected but didn't get, and putting words in THQ's mouth that they never said, I do distinctly recall, when paying a great deal of attention to ALL the pre-game podcasts about this issue, and well as all the shows and FAQ's, and Q&A sessions that said that yes, you can have an all CAW Universe.

So on some level, even though I am really bitching a lot about this, this does come as a real blow to me and what I wanted to do, and what i've worked for this whole time, but also the fact that this was lied about, causing me to actually believe otherwise until this moment, I think I have a good reason to be kinda pissed off right about now.

I mean, I am quite honestly crestfallen at the moment, that Marcus and THQ really did think that they have to lie this time. Openly.

It was bad enough that they led people on about how RTWM backstage worked, and then after the game came out, started apologizing about that, not to mention their promises up and down about online, that you can't defend titles in Universe when you want to, and likewise all of the glitches and problems, and the removal of an incredible number of moves, also for no reason that they utterly refused to mention or acknowledge ANY OF THIS (even when asked point blank by community leaders) until after they had all their money and sales secured, when to be perfectly honest, the game SHOULD have been tested more thoroughly than it was, or thought through better, even if it is a yearly title.

But this. This takes the cake, for me.

And yes, sure, i'm positive that this lame bullshit with not allowing us to have an all CAW universe, when THQ assured us we could was another one of WWE's stupid fucking egotistical mandates that they forced on THQ (and thus I do admit that THQ isn't fully to blame for how it turned out this way), but jesus fucking christ, what's the point of this? And besides that, what was the point of openly lying about it?

Yes, seems that WWE yet again, wanted to make damn sure we can't make the game 100% our own. Why? I dunno, but this one, as well as most of WWE mandates makes no real other logical bit of sense other than they want to just screw anyone over who wants customization freedom with this series.

It amazes me that WWE really cares THIS MUCH about what we do with our own copy of the game when we pay for it, that it FORCES us to play with at least 4 (2 on each brand) in-game characters? Surely they know all of the complaints people have about these idiotic and moronic limitations in each years game that always keeps it from fully being up to it's full potential every year, but it's almost like they do this to THQ in spite of it, or to spite the players.

And yes, quite honestly, THIS... is what I was looking forward to do with Universe this whole time. This is why the mode was exciting to me. This is why I wanted to do Universe, and why I was saving it for all this time.

And if I can be PERFECTLY honest, this was one of the reasons why I even called this forum what I called it. CXA Universe. Because I knew that I wanted to do a project where I can help celebrate our combined creations and all our characters, and pool them together for a simulated fed experience, just like I used to enjoy doing years ago (and which helped bring about the CWA to begin with) for all this time.

And now the game is telling me.. I can't do what I want to do with it. No reason. I just can't. Must have 4 in-game Superstars at all times. While THQ assured us that wouldn't happen. And now I feel like a duped sucker.

Yes, I know I can just take a few WWE in-game midcarders, plop them into each brand, and then set them on the Raw and Smackdown brands and never use them and replace them everytime the pop up in the card generator, but I really shouldn't have to do that. It also still causes some problems anyway.

With only about 10 CAWS on each brand (but still enough to carry it), i'm still going to see Vance Archer and Chavo, for instance, popping up on my rankings when I don't want them to, and I'll have to repeatedly and explicitly tell the game to slap them back down.

I wanted to be able to look at the rankings at any given time and just see CXA guys. But no. Can't do that. because WWE's ego forces me to have Vance or Chavo or someone popping up at all times. That's honestly a load of crap. And I wouldn't mind so much if it weren't for the fact that all this time, I was led to believe this wouldn't be a problem.

Plus, I wanted to be able to look at the Universe Superstar Management roster and say "I made this my own." Can't do that, I guess. Some simulation experience this is. Pfft.

Now of course, Smackdown vs Raw is still a good game. I'm not the kind of typical SvR troll idiot who lets this one thing make me turn on a dime and say "Smackdown vs Raw 2011 sucks!! it's broken now and I hate it all wahh!"

And, yes, I still can't stand all of the people that put the entire game down because of one or two things they didn't get no matter how much bullshit they may be.

But I still have to say that unless THQ can stand up to WWE's tyrannical bullshit, and tell them to stop imposing these ridiculous fucking things like Crotch Blur, not allowing us to update Superstar Attires, not letting us keep the game up to date, limitations on CAWs, limitations on Uploading, limitations on what you can and can't say in Story Designer, limitations on naming CAWs after half of the real wrestlers out there (like censoring Mick Foley), stop fighting with THQ on letting us make our own arenas and such, or just merely customizing the game to our own specifications, then this series will NEVER be the "Simulation Game" like Madden, or NBA2K, or the UFC games that THQ wants it to be.

And at the very least, THQ could honestly stop lying about limitations and stop candy coating the things that are wrong with it, until everyone's everyone's bought the game and it's too late to realize that deal breakers and idiotic limitations that make zero sense creep into every year's game somewhere.

The thing that makes me sad that, as a huge supporter of Smackdown vs Raw series, they don't HAVE to lie, candy coat, leave out certain truths, or two-facedly talk out one side of the mouth to get me to buy the game. I just wanna sadly say to them "Guys, you didn't have to lie to me. I would have bought it anyway."

Because, yeah, I'd already buy it, anyway. Even if they were forthcoming about these flaws, limitations and things, they still would have gotten a sale from me. Because the rest of the game does make up for it. It honestly would have given me more respect, and I would have bought the game and still looked forward to the next one anyway. But now I just feel like they really don't trust the consumer like me enough to not give me bullshit and herd me like a sheep when I'm not an idiot and I didn't need to be manipulated like that.

But yeah, I really would have fucking liked to know about this "4 WWE Superstars In Universe At All Times" thing before I just went and overhauled the entire management, fucked the current rankings over, did all of this work for this, and deleted all the stables. -_-

Would have been so nice to be informed about that, instead of being told for months "Yeah, sure you can do whatever you want in Universe." After doing so much and waiting so long to get to this point, from the months before the game came out to the nearly 2 months AFTER I got the game leading up to THIS, tonight.

Anyway, sorry if that's a bit pissy or ranty. But even as one of the biggest supporters of this game, when WWE pulls crap like this and THQ outright lies to the consumer about it, it brings me just a little bit closer to understanding where some of the naysayers and bashers are coming from when they complain about things like this constantly every year.

update: Wonderful. Just to pour salt on an open wound... I finished up the nessessary changes and added two other guys from the game to fill in for each brand, that i'll never play as.

And what do you know... it automatically lists the 2 WWE guys I picked instantly as the bonified #1 contender for the WWE title, the United States title, the World title, and the Intercontinental title, thereby assuring that no matter WHO I pick, that WWE guys automatically get a title shot at the next PPV more than any CAW does, and if I pick anyone else, it changes the match into a normal match.

It's like it's openly telling me now "Fuck all your stupid CAWs. They are stupid and dumb. Our WWE guys are better. They get title shots and none of your dumb caws can have them nah nah nah nah nah."

So now, on top of everything else, I have to do my very best to absolutely bury all four of these guys, but even then it'll give them title shots anyway.

It honestly is going to sit here and tell me that Mr. McMahon or Vance Archer deserves the US title, the Intercontinental title, the WWE title AND the World title more than any of my CAWS do, and fuck me if I try to change it.

Yeah, to hell with this. I'm done with this for now. I've got other things to do. I'll come back to the game some other time. . >_>

Just do what I did: have two nobodies from WWE and proceed to bury them. They'll drop off the rankings and shows in no time.

Exactly.

aaaannnnnnndddd........breath Mike.

Now, feel better?

Seriously, that was a bit of a rant for something which 1) Has a logical reason to it and 2) Really isn't that much of a problem in the first place.

1) The logical reason - It makes perfect sense for a game working the way this game works to demand that you have a couple of WWE guys on the roster. The game needs to establish a ranking system and to them monitor that ranking system. So it needs something to measure that ranking system against. It knows nothing, comparatively speaking, about your CAWs. Who is the jobber, who is the superstar, who underperforms for his stats, etc. So it demands you have two figures from which it can take a baseline (initially based on stats, later based on gameplay) and then work rankings based on how CAWs do fighting the WWE guys. It also gives the game a point to focus around by making the WWE guys the initial contenders for the titles to get the ball rolling. If it didn't do that, you'd be on here moaning that it made your Joey the Jobber CAW number 1 contender instead of your top Mr Awesoman CAW.

2) As Chris has said, it really isn't a problem. After one month, maybe 2, of the WWE guys getting jobbed to hell and back, losing number one contender matches/title shots, getting removed from booked cards, etc, the game will learn you don't want to see them, and they will drop down the rankings and never get booked. Then your game does become an all CAW affair, as I currently have on both RAW and Smackdown. So no-one at THQ lied to you, or went out of their way just to piss you off. Vince McMahon doesn't sit there sticking pins into a Mike Alkire doll and no-one hates you. Its simply a mechanism to make the game work.

Have to agree with DS. Yes, it's annoying when games make claims when they don't deliver but it's not the end of the world. There's usually a way around it Oblivion has a character in who has dialogue is based solely on what people expected from that game after Morrowind.

End of the day if you're really annoyed don't buy their games!

ha ha ha....

epic rant :!:

On one hand, I feel a bit compelled to mention that I had said there that I knew about the workaround for it but that it was more the princible of THQ having said otherwise and that they stilll appear at all, when i'd rather they not, that I don't really see how the WWE guys can be used as a barometer since, for instance, i'd never used or played as say, McMahon even once..

...As well as I'd say that I'm still convinced THQ did directly mislead and lie to people by directly stating you could do the exact opposite of what the game actually did to me here....

...But yet on the other hand, I am also totally going to admit that I really went on and on and on and on about it in this thread WAY more than I needed to. And that this problem really was not worth multiple angry paragraphs from me about it, when a more fitting response of mine would have been to just say "Aw, dammit!" and then get on with it. >_>

So, I kind of half expected that I was going to be disagreed with though, and I do sorta deserve a bit of razzing for going on and on, and felt guilty about the long-ass post after I finished finished such a lengthy rant on an issue that isn't quite really the worst thing ever, actually.

And in the end, I have a big feeling after i've slept on it, that I in fact, should really just pipe down and do what Chris suggested, anyway. ehe.

Yeah, I can still be annoyed about it, and it still kinda sucks but in the end, it's really not as big a deal as I made it out to be, and I just gotta get over it, and play the mode, and job out the guys and try to just ignore that they exist on the rank listing.

Still, I was pretty careful not to bash the game over it. Because it's really a minor thing and I still enjoy the game immensely (hell, it's still the only Xbox 360 game that i'm currently playing, still.)

But I do apologize if this whole thread and the original post had a really bitchy vibe to it.

No harm, no foul Now where's the Baileys...

Its cool man.

You should be able to rant and rave on here when you feel like it. I thought it was kind of funny actually.

True. I do think my complaints in this case were a bit over the top, though.

I have ranted about things before with the intent to provide a humorous slant to it, before, however. I don't do it as much these days but I may do it again sometime.

In fact, one of the presents I got for Chrismtas (it was a gag gift) was a DVD of that Super Mario Bros movie. I watched that hilarious godawful trainwreck over last weekened for a laugh. I actually do have some surprisingly in-depth thoughts about the film more than just simply saying "it sucks" although it is the kind of film that deserves to be flayed like a fish.

But I might do one of that, sometime.

The presence of the WWE is a barometer based on the computer AI which has been programmed for the character in the game, regardless of whether you have used them. Its a measure by which the AI can judge the effectiveness of your characters in how they beat the AI.

And no, THQ didn't directly mislead by stating the exact opposite of what is in the game. It is perfectly possible to operate Universe Mode without ever once using a WWE wrestler in a match - it just may not be possible to do it from day one the exact way in which you wish to do it with all the match options you wish to invoke. That is not directly misleading, as its only one personal interpretation which does not accord with their presentation of what are actually the facts.

Trust me, studying the law around misinformation and disinformation is basically what I do for a living for the British Government.

It's the old Obi Wan quote about everything being correct from a certain point of view!

I'd do the Mario Bros review. It should be fun! I'd be tempted to pick that up at some point. Yes, it's awful but I don't mind owning an awful film or two when they fall in my 'genre'...

Actually...that gives me an idea for a thread in General Conversation...