Overall Core Game Rules (updated: 12/06/2023)

[Admin]

Please read over the privacy and terms of use/service here: https://creaturewrestling.com/privacy-tos.php


** First of all, this e-Fed always aims to be Toxic and drama free.

Our age rating is: MA-17 with restrictions:
1) You cannot show/use pictures, such as NFSW, with graphic nudity/genitalia body parts.
2) You are allowed to use swear words as long as they are not overly offensive.
3) Usage of innuendos is ok- but be mindful and respectful of your target audience- I'd rather that you reserve that type of thing for the S2B brand since that brand is specifically designed for that sort of thing (poking fun/parodies).
4) The only time in history where these stipulations were lifted was during Chapter 12. It is very unlikely that we will do that again.

* we reserve the right to change the age restriction if in the event this gets abused.

---

CORE GAME RULES
1. DO NOT USE THIS E-FED IN ANY WAY TO BRING / CAUSE PERSONAL DRAMA OR UNFAIRNESS OF ANY KIND.

2. NO Obsessive swearing and X-Rated Profanity*.
* The ONLY exception to rule #2 is if on rare circumstances your STORY can benefit from shock-value/effects. That is why the rating system for this site is PG-17 w/ restrictions. Always inform readers before they open a post up- you can place a marker such as (Mature) in the subject header to WARN readers what to expect. Therefore, you do not need to read posts you know for sure may be R rated.

3. NO Racial slurs, and not limited too- using the chat to bully others (hating on other posters).
And, respect one's political beliefs that they possess- for example, if they want to vote for so and so- or don't want to vote at all... do not attack their beliefs in anyway on or off the e-Fed. Do not hide behind "your opinions" when it is obvious you're a jerk. I have ZERO tolerance and I will bring out the ban hammer very quickly.


4. NO remarks or using your character in-game to stain the reputation of this e-fed, including, criticizing this e-fed, comparing this e-fed to other e-feds in a negative light or any negative criticism aimed at any player or staff. You can say whatever you want at home in your personal space, but do not use our resources to spread that here.


5. DO NOT HIDE behind "Ohhh I was just in-character" as an excuse to still break the rules. It does not give you a magical protection badge to get round the rules.


6. DO NOT THREATEN any members, staff, or this e-Fed, period.


7. DO NOT go into "God-Mode" or create a god-like character without permission*:
This game is unique from most other e-Feds I have personally came across in that we accept wrestlers with supernatural abilities and wrestlers that do not have supernatural abilities. Making a character with supernatural abilities does not give you an edge in anyway in this entire game especially in matches. In fact, all matches prohibit the use of magic unless the match stipulation allows it. Furthermore, you MUST have a balance in this game when you are fighting someone- aka you must "sell their hit." If you do not do this, I will personally contact you to ask "what is going on?!" because that is not fair to your fellow posters. I will even suspend you on the spot if you are found to be unfair.

* The game DOES have certain "god-like" characters if they are pivotal for the use of a story which is fine and to some extent the exception to the rule but those "god-like" characters serve as the main story-line's main or supporting antagonist or protagonist, And even so- the main storyline's "god-like" characters have an expiration date- they are intended to be defeated at some point or rendered their "god-like" abilities neutralized. You can make a "god-like" character but please consult me first and be prepared to explain your gameplan with how they are going to be used and if used in matches... but always "sell the hit"... have a weakness not just a strength.


8. "Powers-that-Be" characters are for story-line purposes and are temporary*:
PTB are regarded in the same way as "god-like" characters- first they have to be approved personally by me and have an expiration date. PTB characters should only be used for storyline purposes only and they can either be a staff member or a regular player. ONLY "The Promoter" is not temporary* and its control by the actual e-Fed owner because "The Promoter" outranks all PTB characters and typically is the one that decides on the booking of the matches in-story. Also- btw- just because you are a PTB character does not mean YOU ARE THE ACTUAL person of that title in real life LOL! PTB characters are characters used for the sole purpose of storylines and nothing more. I reserve the right to tell someone to conclude their PTB character. The golden timeframe for that would be at the 4 month mark or at the conclusion of a main storyline/angle/chapter.


9. Using other player's characters:
There will come a point when you have no other choice but to enact as a fellow player especially when you match write (when you are replying and must write out what your opponent does or says). I do not expect that you will totally "nail-it" and act exactly as the original author- that just is not going to happen. However, there is a big issue if you are abusing other player's characters/inappropriately. For example, say if I created a post and I am calling out "Jake"- I write my intro but then also write in Jake coming out to address the challenge and I speak for him through my post- not allowing the player who controls "Jake" to respond. Obviously, that is an issue. On the absurd end of the stick, in someone's post, they write that a champion drops the title belt to them without ever consulting the actual champion and the staff about it!!! Well of course that is grounds for suspension or banning.

Also, remember, what you post here you do not exclusively own (see the disclaimer for that down below and again don't get into a hissy-fit because it’s not saying you do not own your stuff) ... this means that what you post on here stays on here, what you post on here others can use. This allows for others to enact as you at appropriate moments, so we have a flow (i.e., role-playing, matches etc). There ought to be an equal, respectful, and mutual balance. Best case scenario is that you communicate with a player and ask their permission to enact as them as needed. But that can't be always the case.

So, my guidelines and suggestions, especially if you are a new player trying to get involved, are:

1) Post an exposition / promo (like you would see in real life wrestling: an introduction to a new wrestler)
2) Post an actual introduction- maybe go to the ring and "lay some smack." Maybe even prior to that you contact someone on here- even using the OOC board. In the introduction you are establishing the foundations of a feud. Take turns posting and decide how it ends. Either the face or heel will end that segment whether they left the ring unharmed or harmed.
3) Balance out posting. Have another confrontation. Maybe in the intro the heel got the last word in and attacked. Maybe for the next post the face got the last word and attacked.
4) Arrange a match. Decide who wins in that match or consult a staff for that decision. Write the match out to play it.
5) Rinse-and-repeat.


10. No necrobumping, trolling or post out-of-character on boards not designated to be ooc.
Although this board will bump your post to the top if it gets replies- please be mindful of the date of the your posting thread. It is feasibly possible that a posting thread, like a saga-type or main story post, will be quite old- as long as it makes sense and that other surrounding posts, events etc aren't too far along then necrobumping isn't an issue. Just please use common sense and don't necrobump a thread that is obviously ended. Please also do not troll on the board and please keep out-of-character posts off of the main boards... if you need to leave a quick ooc message within the posting body- then please use: (ooc: your message) at the top or bottom of your body post.


11. Please be kind and not act like a spelling or grammar Nazi.
I don't expect that anyone on here is going to be producing content without an issue in spelling or grammar- it is going to happen. A player might be new at this- and when I look back in my past CWF posts- man oh man wow I, and lots of people, was horrible at spelling or grammar. So please show kindness. Don't criticize or laugh at them. Allow them to grow and become stronger. If you care so much about this topic- then help them with their spelling and grammar on the side in private. If you are acting like a jerk, and its obvious, about this, I am going to ask you to stop and if you do not stop- well, there is the door.

---

Other/FAQs:


- How many character am I allowed to make? Unlimited with stipulations. First, in order to create unlimited characters, you must exist in the e-Fed with steady activity for at least 2 consecutive months. Second, you will be allowed to create up to 3 characters at first, then at your 1 year mark you are allowed to create an unlimited amount of characters. Third, you cannot fight against yourself using your own characters unless you are given explicit permission by the e-Fed Owner.


- Can we role-play on Discord or fight on WWE 2k 23 (or whatever year is current lol) instead of writing so much? the short answer is, YES. I am very very open to other ways to enjoy and expand CreatureWrestling. Keep in mind that I am a veteran web developer and I have seen enough adaptations throughout the internet to say that you have to adapt to the latest trends and needs of the audience. If in the event that there is a need for adapting the role-playing onto different platforms (and also keep in mind that this e-Fed once started on the Network54 board, moved to a custom-unordered list board and went back and forth to a phpBB board)-- then I am open. CWE does have a discord setup. The only things I am asking here are 1) if you move onto other platforms- they must be setup by CWE or moderated to make them official... 2) if you intend to use games to simulate matches- you must record those fights and submit them to us to post on YouTube to make that match official and we will post them on the PPV. 3) All of the rules we have apply to those platforms as well.

** note if there is ever a time when there is a distinction (those that just want to win matches via writing VS on a game or discord)-- then we can always adjust this game's titles and divisions (i.e., have a specific top title for gaming/twitch- whatever... I am open).


- My personal philosophy is an open community that works together through stories up to matches and on occasion voting. It is also a game "soft" rule. You can close posts simply by stating "closed" in the subject header or elsewhere but please do not abuse this and close every post you make. This discourages and defeats the concept of an open community working together and generating unique and spur of the moment events.


- It's fun to write a lot but please have a balance (i.e., approximately 1000 words per a match post). Other e-Feds limit the amount of word counts. Here, it is another "soft" rule, especially for your matches. Please be mindful that quantity does not necessarily equal quality. And you cannot simply write an 80-page essay and expect that you deserve a title belt just for that alone. Titles are awarded through various means- anywhere from player decisions to decisions by the staff to voting decisions. And these decisions ought to be based upon not just what you write but how well you write, how entertaining it is, how much media you used and how well you are performing on the RPG board.


- Goals for Matches. I'd rather see 50 pages worth of content if the players are going back and forth writing and its interesting and progresses the match logically and you finish it within a couple of weeks. However, there ought to be a cutoff point and you need to finish the match. Please try and finish your matches no more than 1 month from its posting. Ideally it should be no more than 2 weeks, but I realize that this e-Fed is not a gigantic roster filled one and we all have lives. I won't bug you until 1-month elapses. By 1 month I will then ask to finish the match, or I will make a determination at that point and make a finishing post resulting likely in a draw or an outcome you may probably do not like.


- What is the golden rule for how long a match is to be in terms of content/amount of replies before someone writes an ending? If you and your fellow opponent are having fun writing up a long match- I won't stop you unless you go over a month then I will strongly encourage that you finish it up very soon because the show must go on. But my suggestion is to wrap things up if you reach page 4 of your initial posting block.


- We primarily post by taking turns.... however, please be mindful that the show must go on within a reasonable time especially when it comes down to matches. Do give your opponent several days to a week to post (but ensure that you contact your opponents to discuss if they need extra time and inform a staff member in that case). If they do not hear from them and they have not post and its been a week since they did- then just go right ahead and post again. If another week elapses, then we will consider that your opponent no showed. When they no-show, either you edit your last post to include an ending or reply again to you post to write an ending... or a staff member can do it/make a match determination at that point. A staff may simply state that you win as a result of a no-showing.


- If a player no-shows.. Honestly this is frowned upon in this e-Fed because the etiquette is simply to contact with your opponent(s) and the staff members to tell them ahead of time that you cannot participate in the match for whatever reason you have. But if you disappear from the face of this Earth (figurative language here) and then come back and act like nothing happened + expect to pickup where you left off in terms of your progress- well guess what? No. You will have a penalty against you and you cannot partake in the next event or able to earn a title for a penalty period of 1 month.

- Do we have a discord? Can I make a discord?
Our official discord channel is: https://discord.gg/PNZuf5Mgsm

You cannot make a discord channel concerning CreatureWrestling. If I find out that you did, you could be suspended or banned until you dissolve your discord.


- Out-of-Character board or any other means of communicating out-of-character.
Our OOC board is meant to prepare/plan and set up angles or to waste time if you want. ALL the rules in this e-Fed exist on the OOC board. Use common sense and be respectful and kind to each other using the OOC board. Show respect. If you don't agree with them, then just don't say anything.


- Why is one of the disclaimers (the bit above saying we don't exclusively own our characters/content on here seen above) saying we are just visitors/guests?

In layman's terms: don't get into a hissy-fit and think that you're screwed and what you post you don't own such as your characters and ideas-- no, those are yours. You can also take your character to other e-Feds- I don't care- that is your business. But what you write on here stays on here. What you write on here, others can use- which also makes sense since there may be a need to use your character in a promo, narration, or storyline. The only exception to what I just said is if there is an issue with another player personally- such as if they are bullying you, if they are ruining your story using your characters (see the rule about "using other ppl's characters above) etc-- then you can explicitly ask the Staff and roster to please not use your character in other people's story-lines/matches but you have to have a very good reason. Finally, just because you write on here you do not own our game mechanics and original game concepts or "CreatureWrestling."


- But but but I get to do what I want, when I want, how I want waa waa... this is ours because... um... we post on the e-Fed... this is my time/my work...

I also totally "get it" that one thinks that you're pouring in all of your time for the betterment of this e-Fed and yourself, and that it is the community which is keeping the e-Fed alive on resources that they did not make—yes, yes, the community places a pivotal role, but this is still an internet company and the other side of the hemisphere is that the e-Fed owner pours in massive amounts of time and money in operations and maintaining the place and developing brands, media, original game mechanics, etc that was not developed by anyone else.

Does this mean that I am not aware or grateful. I have always been well aware that players are important and I mostly have great relationships, and grateful. I wouldn't hold on so long if I wasn't. The problem is, the original generation gotten older and most original players are 30-40+ years of age, and most people able to do this sorta thing are in their late teens/early twenties and an e-Fed like this one, requiring immense imagination and writing is not as favored as some other e-Fed which is generically based on typical life wrestling and they rather have someone else do all of the writing (the matches) for them... and on top of that, people prefer title-centric e-Feds with as little writing as possible with bi-weekly events-- I guess nowadays less writing and have someone else do your work for you is preferred... go figure. To me quality and quantity go hand in hand. At this stage, I bet I can out write most e-Fed wrestlers and e-Fed heads, even "veterans." So, if you really want a title to be proud of, maybe try CWE? Just saying... lol.

But, anyway, I love playing with other players, and I promote the heck out of your characters, work with storylines, and take all of the heat when something does not go one's way. But its also disrespectful and unkind to treat me poorly. I learned to accept that its not always the case all players are good players, that is why I am totally fine if I am here alone or if there is a very small roster. I'd rather be surrounded by good people VS bad ones.

So going back to reality- CWE is not yours, just because you post on it. And, by extension, you DO NOT get to do whatever you want anywhere from stealing our game mechanics and ideas, to develop your own version, to cause all sorts of drama. If you think by ripping off CWE to make your own e-Fed will get back at us, I got news for you, its been done and it all flopped because the dolts who did that had no idea what they were getting themselves into, they did not possess the necessary skills to operate a website and their lack of creativity and skills were astonishing, and when issues arose they, of course, drowned.

So if that doesn't deter you- let's put it into perspective, to get started on a website to compete you would have to pay for the register of a website every year (~17.00/yr), then, purchase a web hosting company. I spend $300 bi-yearly for a cloud server. You may get a shared hosting company cheap for like $3.75 a month but they always want a package for 36 months. So expect to cough up a good $130 up front... but then they jack up the price after that introductory year. A shared hosting package gives you just enough to run a website but the bandwidth becomes a problem if you have too many visitors so you may have to pay more, and SSL certificates (which we have) can cost upwards $60 a year.

After you shell out cash to your website creation, you then have to actually MAKE THE WEBSITE (days upon weeks of work right there just to make a decent looking one and that's not counting ongoing maintenance), then decide on the platform to run your message board. Sorry, there's no Network54 anymore to make a free account on, or pay money to take off ads-- so you can't simply rip off my idea on that message board anymore. Unless you know PHP and SQL to install a PHPBB like this one- you're pretty much screwed- but there are free message boards out there, but they, of course, have ADs which means you still have to pay extra (typically that's $35 or more a year). So, so far the math is showing you you are paying for about $350-400 just to get started... and that is ongoing yearly.

Then, there are the authoring programs, and the training which I went to college for (and that costed me years and tens of thousands of dollars in tuition), that you would need to operate your e-Fed. It's no secret, I use the industry standard programs from Adobe Creative suite. I pay with a discount because I teach: $19.99 a month ($59.99 if you are not in education).... so, that really screws you up... now you are paying $719.88 a year JUST to use the same software that CreatureWrestling is using... hey, you wanted to compete since you believe by posting on here you own the e-Fed, right? (But I guess stealing is cheaper). And now, imagine paying for all of this for 24 years, and, ensuring you have the time to manage the entire e-Fed anywhere from the coding, database, producing news, post on social media, and then run your own characters (I have about 25 characters) and make PPVs (and trons). I know I am likely leaving out a ton more but I think you get the picture, hopefully, by now.

And the craziest thing about all of this is, never once have I ever profited from running CreatureWrestling. I do it because writing is a passion, I find it very fun and creative to do this, and I get to practice what I learned throughout my life. IF I were to ever sell CreatureWrestling, you're looking at least $9,600-$12,000 (to cover the years of hosting at least) for a decent bid JUST to make this sorta breaking even (but that does not take into account the countless hours producing graphics/branding logos, motion clips, and writing).


- I think I get it. Although I am a player and I get to play on a free-website that I don't pay a penny for amazing services, and get praised, but are you still opposed to expanding the e-Fed?

Here is the weirdest, and perhaps saddest thing, never have I ever came across a moment when a player who legitimately wants to adapt everything that was built here somewhere else for the sole purpose of preserving "Creature" e-Feds. I know there will come a point, because we are all human, that I won't be around... so adapting CWE but in the right way would be something I would be interested in and take a part of. Sadly, the times when this game was "adapted", but more accurately, stolen, resulted in effects that damaged the entire fragile player base.

So what would be the "right way." For once, actually, come to me about your ideas and respect my decision about it going forward- I am basically giving you permission to use my stuff. Give credit to CreatureWrestling and don't burn your bridges. Respect and honor go a long way... and be open for collaboration and don't use your e-Fed as a launching pad for drama and sabotaging the other. So basically, use common sense.


- Okay. Okay... Okay..... I get it, but why do we need rules?!

What I learned as an actual teacher in real life is: your choices have consequences. It can either be a good choice or a bad choice and the consequences follow. Make good choices. This e-Fed is far from perfect- all human beings are not perfect. I may make a decision which sucks... but I own up to my failures and learn from it and make a better choice. The e-Fed has structure for a reason, and this is not kindergarten, which means, I assume, that we are all adults by now and understand how to act like one.

We have to have rules so that there is as much of a fair balance as possible. Does this mean there will be screw ups? oh yeah, there will be screw ups. But I'd rather that you come to me and explain what is bothering you than for you to keep it all to yourself and that festers and boils down the road.

At the end of the day, the e-Fed owner deals with all of the consequences anywhere from script failures to carrying onward the e-fed into the future. Although I don't have too, I repay you not just through all of my hard work making this place etc, but I provide praises, images/trons for you, and provide credit whenever I can of your contributions. But the e-Fed will always be here as long as I will it or dead lol.

The e-Fed company will fight if it has too, we have a legal right to enforce our copyright claims and protect this place from being sued or threatened- just like any other company, but I will most likely ignore you because I have better things to do with my time than to discipline babies.


- Okay... I have questions about copyright...

The nitty-gritty is that when any intellectual production of work that is created is automatically protected under copyright law:

"Copyright exists automatically in an original work of authorship once it is fixed..." Source: https://www.copyright.gov/what-is-copyright/