Skiing world tour? (Interest/Discussion)

[Savojarna]

The idea of a big skiing competition has been raised after the last Olympics (partially by me, as Ficiscia) but been dropped due to the fact it was summer. Now, with Winter Olympics not too close yet, but somewhere behind the horizon, I believe it is time to take some action and organize stuff if there is an interest. My suggestion is a world tour, similar to what we see in real life. This could work about like this:

- every participant can submit bids for events, which could consist of a single race (say, a men's slalom) or multiple races (say, men's and women's downhill and GS). There will be a calendar that should have similar numbers of all disciplines (except Combination, maybe), similar to the FIS World Cup.
- I suggest a long-running competition with one event for men and for women (can be combined or separate - as a realism-liker, I'd do it separated at different venues but that is not necessary) per weekend. That way, people have a week to RP and should be able to get one in even if they have a busy time in RL.
- Scorination shall be based on RP bonus and skill (obviously). Skill should be assigned based on the ranking and a skill modifier similar to what we do for Olympics, in order to give users a chance to influence which of their skiers are best, and in which discipline. I suggest a basic skill that then gets modified by results throughout the season.
- Scorination should be happening by the person who hosts the event, or by a replacement if desired. The host of an event should be responsible of finding a replacement if they do not think they can host, or RL gets in the way.
- For World Tour rankings, we should use the FIS point scale. There should be a final shortly before the Olympics, where only the 30 best ranked skiers compete (like the FIS world cup finals).

The main idea of this is to give context to alpine skiing, and to try out whether this format would be useful for other sports. Given that apart from hockey, there is little to nothing in the Winter Olympics that has RP'ing outside it, there is often little context. For some countries (like Ficiscia used to be) this means there is only international competition every 4 years, which means that previews and sports-focused RP is somewhat random since we do not have a way of knowing what our athletes are worth in international competition IC'ly. Additionally, this format could give people the ability to host minor events in a larger framework.

I do not claim we will rigidly do the proposal above, and given my limited hosting experience (the Ficiscia Sixdays, basically), I am more than open to aid with turning this into a working system. Especially with calculating RP bonus, and I believe that should be done the same way for each event with a common grading system. If you are interested in taking part (not a signup yet!), or helping, or have feedback, please comment in this thread!

[Schutzenphalia and West Ruhntuhnkuhnland]

I was going to try to do another Alpine Skiing World Cup this December, although I was waiting for the GCF Test cricket season to finish (an odd combination of sports, perhaps!). It's entirely my fault the second was incomplete, as I suffered a computer failure halfway through and stupidly hadn't backed up the data. A mistake I have learned from.

I would certainly be interested in another ASWC or similar tournament. I do think the format Kelssek devised - where a skier is, instead of given an absolute skill modifier, given a dual skill-speed modifier, worked really well, so if you plan on running one, I would recommend looking into that.

[Mattijana]

Definitely Interested, will try and get involved a bit more once Hockey World Cup 17 is over.

[Liventia]

I'd welcome the return of the Alpine Skiing World Cup, but would prefer, just as the first two editions were, that the entire season be scorinated by just one user running the entire tour (while nations may bid to host individual legs of the tour ICly).

I have recently been contemplating doing something similar for cycling, but with regards to that I think it's more likely I'll host an overarching World Championships in all disciplines (the third of its kind) rather than a tour.

[Gregoryisgodistan]

I was going to try to do another Alpine Skiing World Cup this December, although I was waiting for the GCF Test cricket season to finish (an odd combination of sports, perhaps!). It's entirely my fault the second was incomplete, as I suffered a computer failure halfway through and stupidly hadn't backed up the data. A mistake I have learned from.

I would certainly be interested in another ASWC or similar tournament. I do think the format Kelssek devised - where a skier is, instead of given an absolute skill modifier, given a dual skill-speed modifier, worked really well, so if you plan on running one, I would recommend looking into that.

How does that work with the scorinator though?

[Schutzenphalia and West Ruhntuhnkuhnland]

How does that work with the scorinator though?

The host converts it into a score out of 100 to input into the scorinator, dependent on the event. S2T8 would convert to a low score for the Downhill, but a high score for the slalom.

[Savojarna]

I would have given every skier four modifiers (one for each discipline). I didn't really consider doing it any other way, since RL skiers are often specialists for one or two disciplines. Realistically, a lot of the best Giant Slalom athletes or Slalom athletes never win anything else (think Blardone or Byggmark - did any of them ever do other disciplines apart from Combi?).

@Liventia: I don't mind either, not sure if I wanted to host it though in that case (my weekends often consist of debating tournaments, and my weekdays contain a ton of work, especially with exams every two months). I thought it may be a good idea to give people chances to host, but if a majority thinks one person should do OOC hosting, I am fine with that.

[Schutzenphalia and West Ruhntuhnkuhnland]

I would have given every skier four modifiers (one for each discipline). I didn't really consider doing it any other way, since RL skiers are often specialists for one or two disciplines. Realistically, a lot of the best Giant Slalom athletes or Slalom athletes never win anything else (think Blardone or Byggmark - did any of them ever do other disciplines apart from Combi?).

That's exactly why giving the skiers one modifier works well.

If you give them four modifiers, people could choose 100 for each discipline, which is (other than Bode Miller) unrealistic.

If you give them one modifier across all disciplines, it reflects their specialisation. As I said, "S2T8 would convert to a low score for the Downhill, but a high score for the slalom."

I thought it may be a good idea to give people chances to host, but if a majority thinks one person should do OOC hosting, I am fine with that.

What we did last time was one person hosted it, but people could submit courses from their own nation.

[Savojarna]

I would have given every skier four modifiers (one for each discipline). I didn't really consider doing it any other way, since RL skiers are often specialists for one or two disciplines. Realistically, a lot of the best Giant Slalom athletes or Slalom athletes never win anything else (think Blardone or Byggmark - did any of them ever do other disciplines apart from Combi?).

That's exactly why giving the skiers one modifier works well.

If you give them four modifiers, people could choose 100 for each discipline, which is (other than Bode Miller) unrealistic.

If you give them one modifier across all disciplines, it reflects their specialisation. As I said, "S2T8 would convert to a low score for the Downhill, but a high score for the slalom."

I thought it may be a good idea to give people chances to host, but if a majority thinks one person should do OOC hosting, I am fine with that.

What we did last time was one person hosted it, but people could submit courses from their own nation.

Ahh, that does indeed make sense. The solution to prevent super athletes would obv have been to say "you can distribute (for example) 200 points between the disciplines, with max. 100 per discipline", but yours actually sounds more realistic. Also, it offers the cool possibility to vary courses like in RL, say, more technical or more glider-downhills. After all, winning in Kitzbühel takes somewhat different qualities than winning the Lauberhorn, even if they're both downhills.

[Schutzenphalia and West Ruhntuhnkuhnland]

Also, it offers the cool possibility to vary courses like in RL, say, more technical or more glider-downhills. After all, winning in Kitzbühel takes somewhat different qualities than winning the Lauberhorn, even if they're both downhills.

We didn't include that last time, but now you mention it, it's a really good idea.

[Savojarna]

So, who would actually be interested not only in participating, but also in (co-)hosting? I dare to say I could do it myself, but for the benefit of the competition, I guess it would be better to have a more experienced person involved.

[Liventia]

So, who would actually be interested not only in participating, but also in (co-)hosting? I dare to say I could do it myself, but for the benefit of the competition, I guess it would be better to have a more experienced person involved.

I'd definitely take part; I wouldn't rule myself out of helping to host but I would be more willing to provide advice and guidance to the hosts rather than a hands-on role, given my previously-mentioned plans for a cycling world champs.

[Schutzenphalia and West Ruhntuhnkuhnland]

I'd be willing to try hosting again, though I'd completely if given my failure last time a different host would be preferred. I'd certainly contribute in whatever way I could to help.

[Savojarna]

I am sorry for being out over the weekend, I was at a debating tournament and caught a cold. But I feel better now! So, generally I would be willing to host myself or give it to Schutzenphalia (or to someone else?), and if I was the host, I'd be very willing to accept other people's help. However, given that only three people responded in this thread, are we enough?

[Kep]

I'd possibly join, however, I don't know much about skiing

[Liventia]

I am sorry for being out over the weekend, I was at a debating tournament and caught a cold. But I feel better now! So, generally I would be willing to host myself or give it to Schutzenphalia (or to someone else?), and if I was the host, I'd be very willing to accept other people's help. However, given that only three people responded in this thread, are we enough?

I suspect that you'd get your fair share of 'sign-up for the sake of it' signups if you went ahead with a signup thread, but for what it's worth I think it's a good way to get some hosting experience should you want to go ahead.