The World Cup Discussion Thread (OOC, Version IV)

[Hapilopper]

It was a joy to participate in the World Cup with everyone especially with the old guys overachieving. Good luck to those remaining.

Congrats on qualifying, by the way. The old guys seemed like a pretty cool idea, to say the least.

[South Covello]

This has been alluded to in Discord, but I wanted to mention it here that this isn't really a ban-worthy offense. I don't think anyone has been banned from entering a World Cup ever, even. The only ban I can think of was Qazox being barred from the WCC for puppet fraud.

just adding to this that as Mriin said, I don’t see it as a ban worthy offence. I believe that if Xanneria simply acknowledges what’s been happening and changes his RP, then it should be fine.

He doesn't even have to delete it completely, he could just reframe it as the plot of a darkly satirical movie or novel rather than something that really happened IC-ly.

[Xanneria]

I have also deleted the offending post, just because it was poorly thought out in general

[Sarzonia]

Back when I hosted World Bowl XIV, Voltronica posted a RP which involved violent repercussions against my country or my team. I announced publicly that I would ignore it because it violated my permissions box.

I don't remember if I docked any RP bonus for that, but I don't think a Godmode like that warrants a ban. Perhaps calling Xanneria out and his subsequent decision to delete the RP in question is punishment enough.

With that said, I am MUCH more irritated about anyone proposing Xanneria be banned being called a dumbass whether it was a joke or not. THAT'S the real offence here in my book.

Address the Godmode, resolve the situation, then move on. Address it more specifically if the need arises. But let's NOT make a bad situation worse by flinging insults against people who suggest something you don't like.

[Blouman Empire]

See you all in a couple months for the next WCQ, my run in the CoH has come to an end glad I picked up one win to gain some KBP points out of it. Until next time, was fun being back

[Xanneria]

See you all in a couple months for the next WCQ, my run in the CoH has come to an end glad I picked up one win to gain some KBP points out of it. Until next time, was fun being back

Why not AOCAF?

ALso it's nice to finally meet some oldies.

[Sylestone]

See you all in a couple months for the next WCQ, my run in the CoH has come to an end glad I picked up one win to gain some KBP points out of it. Until next time, was fun being back

Why not AOCAF?

ALso it's nice to finally meet some oldies.

When will the next AOCAF run?
Also, when will signups start up again?

[Alasdair I Frosticus]

Ha, beat this record NSWC!

Twitted - the imperial social media network

Holy Empire Football Association
@HEFA

Holy Empire extends amazing record of most Round of 16 losses by any team in @World Cup history! A mighty 20! A record that will take some beating! Congrats to @Sir Barsy and the whole team!

#WC85 #R16-20! #MakeLemonsFromLemonade #SirBarsyIsHot #SayNoToCocoaBo

Silk purse - sow's ear, etc.

Congrats to Zwangzug for the win, though - and many thanks to Ko-oren, without whom I never would have known just how much of a record I was holding onto (however unwanted).

[Blouman Empire]

See you all in a couple months for the next WCQ, my run in the CoH has come to an end glad I picked up one win to gain some KBP points out of it. Until next time, was fun being back

Why not AOCAF?

ALso it's nice to finally meet some oldies.

Yeah true should get back into that as well.

[Recuecn]

I'm out, so I'll get my thanks for hosts in early here: I really enjoyed this edition, perhaps my favorite so far. A couple cycles ago, it was really exciting to qualify and make it to the world cup against my expectations, but now that I've had time to develop history against some teams there's a lot more depth to it, and being drawn against the nations I was made it a lot of fun. Thanks to Zwang, Kelssek, Mriin, and Farf for a very enjoyable tournament (special thanks to Farf for putting up with me nagging him about cutoff times the last couple days). Obviously this is a stressful period for everybody, which I think translates to more pressure being put on the hosts, and they handled it with grace.

Also, congrats to Valanora! After your recent form I'm happy to even have scored a goal against you.

[Mavinet]

As my first cycle came to an end yesterday, I wanted to thank all of the hosts of the competitions (Delaclava, Ethane, Appalachian Nation for the BoF; Mriin, Farfadillis for the World Cup; Zwangzug and Kelssek for the CoH) for the hard work they put in hosting. Also many big thanks to the participants who have been contributing to the vibrant RP scene in these competitions. It has been a pleasure participating in this cycle and getting introduced to the good people of NS Sports. I'm looking forward to playing in the next cycle, and many more to come.

[Kelssek]

You're welcome, and it's been a pleasure hosting this cycle.

As regards the ongoing dialogue, it was never my intent to even suggest someone being banned because of a) what they RP or because of b) poor RP etiquette. This was something I should've been more explicit about. The Heysel comparison was to emphasize the gravity of the situation being roleplayed. Although taking advantage of the fact that you can't suffer such consequences might be seen as also a kind of godmodding, though that's just my own musing...

I don't think hosts or anyone should have to explicitly say "you can't godmod damages to someone else". It should always be taken as a default that you cannot. Making this clear is probably more of something for the stickies, maybe adapting a kind of community expectations from what other forums already have. The thing is, the principle is broad enough that it isn't really all that different whether you're in International Incidents, NS Sports, or doing tabletop RPG.

Even so, those who tend to do such things tend not to be the type to read stickies or permissions boxes, or care about other players, anyway.

[Terre Septentrionale]

Why not AOCAF?

ALso it's nice to finally meet some oldies.

When will the next AOCAF run?
Also, when will signups start up again?

I'm not the best person to answer that, but if I look at last cycle:

-The sporting World Cup was held shortly after the World Cup and Cup of harmony. It's also known as under 18 cup. I believe signups should open soon. On another hand, there's already competitions in gridiron, baseball, lacrosse and rugby league will start soon so maybe they will wait, idk. That was started by the Free Republics but last year Taeshan was in charge of it.

-Then is the prestigious Di Bradini Cup also known as under 21 cup. Last cycle signups opened when the World Bowl was in playoffs phase and Valanora was in charge of it.

-Finally, about two weeks after the conclusion of the DiBradini cup, signups for regional competitions such as the AOCAF opened.

-And while regional competitions were ongoing, signups for the World Cup opened.


This cycle will be somehow different, first we'll have the olympics that will be held at some point in this cycle, and idk if it affects other sports such as association football. Also, many peole thinks the cycle is too long and wants to shorten it, which means signups for the World Cup will be open sooner this cycle.

But hopefully we won't omit smaller competitions like the Sporting World Cup, DiBradini Cup and regional competitions like the AOCAF.

And by the way, I'd also like to thank all the hosts for this World Cup, from the Baptism of Fire, where I had a puppet, to the World Cup and even the Cup of Harmony even if, for the 1st time, my nation was too good to take part of it. Thank you all for well hosted tournaments. My goal was to qualify for the World Cup, then in the World Cup I didn't know what to expect and I'm really glad with my 3rd place.

[Sylestone]

When will the next AOCAF run?
Also, when will signups start up again?

I'm not the best person to answer that, but if I look at last cycle:

-The sporting World Cup was held shortly after the World Cup and Cup of harmony. It's also known as under 18 cup. I believe signups should open soon. On another hand, there's already competitions in gridiron, baseball, lacrosse and rugby league will start soon so maybe they will wait, idk. That was started by the Free Republics but last year Taeshan was in charge of it.

-Then is the prestigious Di Bradini Cup also known as under 21 cup. Last cycle signups opened when the World Bowl was in playoffs phase and Valanora was in charge of it.

-Finally, about two weeks after the conclusion of the DiBradini cup, signups for regional competitions such as the AOCAF opened.

-And while regional competitions were ongoing, signups for the World Cup opened.


This cycle will be somehow different, first we'll have the olympics that will be held at some point in this cycle, and idk if it affects other sports such as association football. Also, many peole thinks the cycle is too long and wants to shorten it, which means signups for the World Cup will be open sooner this cycle.

But hopefully we won't omit smaller competitions like the Sporting World Cup, DiBradini Cup and regional competitions like the AOCAF.

And by the way, I'd also like to thank all the hosts for this World Cup, from the Baptism of Fire, where I had a puppet, to the World Cup and even the Cup of Harmony even if, for the 1st time, my nation was too good to take part of it. Thank you all for well hosted tournaments. My goal was to qualify for the World Cup, then in the World Cup I didn't know what to expect and I'm really glad with my 3rd place.

thanks for the heads up.
Thanks to all hosts and everyone who participated for creating a fun environment. The Appliances are looking forward to participating in many future World Cups and the such.

[Mriin]

Hey all; just a quick note that I was a bit overeager on the cutoff, knowing Turori was the last team that needed to RP in my half and scored about half an hour before the listed start of my cutoff window. Cutting off early when everyone has RPd isn't an uncommon thing, but I do consider it a bit rude and would have waited until the window had I thought it over more beforehand. So this is a small public apology for that.

Thankfully, it seems the affected parties are fine with it as-is.

[Valladares]

With the involvement of the Valladar national football team now over for this cycle and now former manager Paulo Oliveira retiring, I can now announce that the Valladar Football Association is searching for a new manager for the cycle that is scheduled to start with the next Copa Rushmori.

Interested parties may submit a brief biography of their candidate including -but not restricted to- managerial career (preferably with previous experience with national teams), tactics, preferred formations, style of play, and other miscellaneous information you may consider helpful or you want me to consider for purposes of RPing of the character. If you are interested, please send any offers via TG to Whirl Islands or drop me a DM on Discord (I'm there as Val|WI).

[Chromatika]

Due to the disastrous record posted this World Cup Cycle, the Chromatik Football Federation has announced the immediate release of Konrad Evans and Kathleen Everdeen from their Managerial Staff and are looking for a new Manager to head the team ahead of the next AOCAF.

Interested parties may submit a brief biography of their candidate including -but not restricted to- managerial career (preferably with previous experience with national teams), tactics, preferred formations, style of play, and other miscellaneous information you may consider helpful or you want me to consider for purposes of RPing of the character. If you are interested, please send any offers via TG to Chromatika or drop me a DM on Discord (I'm there as Chrom).

[Kelssek]

To keep poking at the sense that we need to speed up the World Cup cycle and translate it into action, I'd like to point something out. In a week's time, we will have completed the first WC cycle of this calendar year. We have only just managed to get 3 cycles within the past 12 months.

WC83 qualifiers MD1 was August 1, 2019.
WC84 qualifiers MD1 was December 14, 2019.
WC85 qualifiers MD1 was May 23, 2020.

We are in a situation where to maintain a 3 cycles/year pace we need to make up for the gap between 84 and 85. Ideally WC86 should start within 4-5 weeks (already a problem since BoF has to happen too) and we should have WC87 qualifiers in full swing or even the finals underway by Christmas.

I am looking forward to the Olympics and hopefully tournaments in sports that aren't football. But let's get the BoF and qualifiers for WC86 going! RP what you feel like RPing, don't sweat it if you can't participate to the extent you wish you could. We can have qualifiers start during the Olympics and have other tournaments active at the same time, let's get over this phobia. We can decide that today I'm gonna do this tournament and not that one, or decide that I'm not feeling like it today and I'll just see what Margaret brings. We can walk and chew gum at the same time.

[Equestrian States]

Hey all,

First off, my sincere apologies for my inactivity this cycle. As some of you are aware, my family has been dealing with a couple covid-19 cases and all the problems which come with that. Fortunately, everyone is well on the road to recovery there, which I hope will mean I'll feel more up to being more active on NS in the next couple months. Anyhow...

*dons president hat*

From the PMs and TGs I've gotten, as well as a couple discord chats I've been pinged on lately, there seems to be a growing desire to start the next cycle sooner than later. With that in mind, I'd like to ask y'all directly when you would like to see the WC86 signups start. I have no problem with opening signups immediately after the WC finishes, if that's what y'all want, but if you want a somewhat delayed start, I would also be fine with that. Feel free to respond here, but if you prefer to keep your opinions private, you can also PM or TG me your thoughts and I'll take that into consideration as well.

I'll be trying to catch up on what all I've missed in the last month or so over the next few days, so I might post some further thoughts here later.

Cheers,
EQS

[Farfadillis]

I think that, considering the rather exceptional RL circumstances (and fully acknowledging I'm very biased here), opening signups as soon as the final is scorinated is the way to go.

[Huayramarca]

Hey all,

First off, my sincere apologies for my inactivity this cycle. As some of you are aware, my family has been dealing with a couple covid-19 cases and all the problems which come with that. Fortunately, everyone is well on the road to recovery there, which I hope will mean I'll feel more up to being more active on NS in the next couple months. Anyhow...

*dons president hat*

From the PMs and TGs I've gotten, as well as a couple discord chats I've been pinged on lately, there seems to be a growing desire to start the next cycle sooner than later. With that in mind, I'd like to ask y'all directly when you would like to see the WC86 signups start. I have no problem with opening signups immediately after the WC finishes, if that's what y'all want, but if you want a somewhat delayed start, I would also be fine with that. Feel free to respond here, but if you prefer to keep your opinions private, you can also PM or TG me your thoughts and I'll take that into consideration as well.

I'll be trying to catch up on what all I've missed in the last month or so over the next few days, so I might post some further thoughts here later.

Cheers,
EQS

First of all, I hope your family will beat it soon! Nothing to apologize, today, more than before, RL > NS.

As a suggestion, would be better in terms of timings getting sign-ups opened a week after WC Final, so we have enough time to develop the regional tournaments and allow some terrain, meanwhile, for the bids without sacrificing time for their planning nor rushing them for that. We could have a time compensation for some weeks and perhaps begin mid August or early September to keep the tidal wave of participants coming off nicely.

[PotatoFarmers]

I was thinking of like opening signups after the IFCF cutoff, which gives us ample time to get the regionals and domestic cycle going. That way, we are probably on course for a faster IFCF/WC cycle

[Free Republics]

I would like to see signups for WC86 opened no later than 1 week after the last match of the WC or CoH and would be fine with signups opening earlier. Given that we have tons of momentum right now from this WC, reports on Discord of newbies TGing WC hosts asking when the next WC is and many have lots more time than usual thanks to the current state of the real world, it makes sense to try speeding up the pace of NS Sports as a whole right now.

When we had 4 WCs a year, we had signups (and at least 1 bid) for the next WC by a week after the previous one ended so if we want to get back to 4 per year, that's the way to do it. Maybe we all collectively miss the goal of 4 per year and end up at 3 per year but that would still be better than the ways things have been over the past few years. I believe 4-5 WCs a year should be the goal because that's how many we had back when all of the pre-covid records for RP activity in tournaments were set and the reduction to 3 and now 2 WCs per year brought with it a decline in activity.

Whatever you decide to do though, it should be communicated to everybody and the organizers of the various non-WCC tournaments that aren't already started or in signups should time their signup threads accordingly (meaning we need to get an IBC and WCoH in before the next WC starts plus the full slate of regional and youth tournaments).

[Vdara]

Quite frankly, I just want the WC86 signups to open as quickly as possible. I don’t mind if that’s a minute after the WC85 finals or a week after the finals, I just want em quickly.

[Mriin]

Hey all,

First off, my sincere apologies for my inactivity this cycle. As some of you are aware, my family has been dealing with a couple covid-19 cases and all the problems which come with that. Fortunately, everyone is well on the road to recovery there, which I hope will mean I'll feel more up to being more active on NS in the next couple months. Anyhow...

*dons president hat*

From the PMs and TGs I've gotten, as well as a couple discord chats I've been pinged on lately, there seems to be a growing desire to start the next cycle sooner than later. With that in mind, I'd like to ask y'all directly when you would like to see the WC86 signups start. I have no problem with opening signups immediately after the WC finishes, if that's what y'all want, but if you want a somewhat delayed start, I would also be fine with that. Feel free to respond here, but if you prefer to keep your opinions private, you can also PM or TG me your thoughts and I'll take that into consideration as well.

I'll be trying to catch up on what all I've missed in the last month or so over the next few days, so I might post some further thoughts here later.

Cheers,
EQS

Thanks for the update, EQS. I know it's been a difficult time for you especially, so taking the time to drop by and check on our favorite internet hobby is especially appreciated. The discussion was dangerously close to ouroboros-ing itself and having presidential input into it should hopefully make things straighten out a bit from hereon.

And, despite what I said earlier on discord (I've been in a wonky mental state today and should have talked significantly less), I don't actually have that strong an opinion on when signups should go up. Sometime in the next month would be nice, I suppose.