Baptism of Fire 58 Host Bid - Equestrian States and Mizuyuki

[Mizuyuki]

The ponies from the Equestrian States and the Mizuyuki-jin have once again teamed up - and this time, it's to bring the multiverse another taste of quality football! The Hoofball Association of the Equestrian States and the Imperial Football Association of Mizuyuki hereby present, for your consideration, an official host bid for the latest edition of the Baptism of Fire!

With fifty-seven editions of this prestigious tournament already behind us, it's once again the time to welcome a whole new generation of nascent footballing nations to the top table of multiversal football - and your prospective hosts will look to do just that as we seek to host the fifty-eighth edition. Whether it be in the temperate climes of the Empire or the magic-rich lands of the Equestrian States, new teams on the WCC footballing scene will be guaranteed to get a taste of the magical, electrifying atmosphere accompanying a nation's first steps in a Baptism of Fire.

IC Information

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The Equestrian States is generally thought of as one of the stranger countries to partake in the international sporting community, with even denizens of the Dreamed Realm considering them somewhat unusual. Inhabited primarily by magically-gifted sapient equines (commonly referred to as ponies) and numerous other species thought only to exist in mythology by many human-dominated states, the expansive island nation is no stranger to top-level international hoofball - as the multiverse's most popular sport is called by locals - having hosted the World Cup and Di Bradini Cup twice each and a Cup of Harmony in recent years.

Located in the far north of the Pony Lands region, the Equestrian States is officially a constitutional monarchy ruled by Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, though the royal family and Princess hold considerably more political power than in most constitutional monarchies and play an active role in the nation's government. The country also boasts numerous, largely-autonomous, overseas colonies and has strong ties with the Crystal Empire and Magical Equestria, the historical homelands of most of the species which inhabit the Equestrian States.

Home to more than 700 million sports-crazed sapients, the nation today is technologically advanced after rapidly undergoing modernization several decades ago after a centuries-long period of isolation, though the typically-devastating environmental impact of industrialization was virtually eliminated through the fusing of magic and technology. As a result, the Equestrian States has retained its stunning environment, which the massive tourism industry has benefited from immensely and also thrives thanks to the numerous major international tournaments regularly held in the country, drawing hundreds of thousands of visitors from throughout the multiverse to Equestrian shores.

The Empire of Mizuyuki is perhaps one of the more ... eccentric nations that currently exist in the boundless region of spacetime that we call our multiverse. While there aren't any stray deities roaming the streets at night, nor are there sentient jellied serpents swarming our candy shops, the land of the blessed snow is very much a deliciously unique entity.

Situated in the region of Aeneas, the empire is in effect an amalgamation of twenty separate prefectures into a single unitary state, formally recognised as the Empire of Mizuyuki, the Empire of Suisetsu, or, in some cases, the Shirane Empire - after the reigning Imperial Family. The Empress of Mizuyuki, Shirane-no-Kirino - or to give her her formal title, Shirane-no-miya Kirino, Asuka I - is the reigning empress.

Mizuyuki has been an absolute monarchy for more than a millennium, and this practice extends to the present day; the empress, while not directly involved in the day-to-day administration of the empire, maintains absolute authority over her dominion. A select group of ten individuals elected by popular vote - collectively known as the Executive Committee - are tasked with exercising the empress' powers in her name, and they are effectively the leaders of the empire and the empress' advisors.

In terms of total land area, Mizuyuki ranks amongst the larger nations in Aeneas, with a population density of more than 150 individuals per square kilometer. Fully four percent of the country's territory is composed of water, with such landmarks such as Lake Kagami (the lake of mirrors) and the Kiri River (the river of fog), both renowned for their exotic natural beauty.

Mizuyuki is a nation of approximately 72 million people - and to use an appropriate analogy - the population is about as homogenous as a pancake - more than ninety-five percent of the population are Miraian, with a smattering of other minorities floating around the place. From a technological perspective, the empire remains a multiversal leader in research and development - with an annual research and development budget totaling in the trillions of aurorae, Mizuyuki is very much a researcher's dream. As a direct consequence, the empire can lay claim to being ever-present on the bleeding edge of innovation, and nowhere is this relative superiority better reflected than in the multitude of sporting innovations that have originated from the empire's laboratories in recent years.

Scorination, Roleplay Bonus and Tournament Format

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For scorination, we propose to employ xkoranate with the NSFS formula; this is so that the randomness associated with the SQIS formula can be negated somewhat.

The tiebreakers are as follows -

• Points
• Head-to-Head Points
• Head-to-Head Goal Difference
• Overall Goal Difference
• Head-to-Head Goals For
• Overall Goals For
• Drawing of Lots (The result of which will be determined by a scorinated playoff with RP bonus taken into account)

While the exact grading scale will not be disclosed, we will always be looking to award bonus rather than take it away. As is usual for the Baptism of Fire, roleplay bonus will be fairly generous in order to reward quality roleplaying, and will be cumulative throughout the course of the tournament.

As World Cup signups have only just been posted, we cannot estimate the number of signups for the Baptism at this point in time. However, we will definitely be sticking to a conventional group stage and knockout format, and will be looking to include as many participants as possible.

RP Opportunities

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If our bid is chosen by the EWCC, we would look to offer several roleplay opportunities to participants:

As has become common in recent Baptisms of Fire, the hosts will name a Tournament XI of the best RPed players that would face a team comprised of internationals from the host nations in a post-tournament friendly match. It should be noted that the players selected wouldn't necessarily be the ones with the best stats as, for example, a well-written player with an interesting character who might not even be the most talented on his or her team would be given priority over another nation's bland and poorly-written über-star.

Aside from the Tournament XI, however, the hosts will also assign each participating team a liaison officer from whichever nation their group stage matches are held in. The officer's name, age, gender and - in the case of the Equestrians - species will be provided to participants for them to interact with however they choose. Whether they are used as an interpreter, tour guide, scapegoat, or anything else really will be left entirely up to the participant they're assigned to. As both bidding nations are somewhat unusual, they might also serve as a local for the team to interact with and play a role in an RP which might include a player reacting to their potentially unfamiliar surroundings, whether its coming face-to-nuzzle with a pink-furred pegasus for the first time or being baffled by Mizuyuki-jin technology, they're there to be used as a character by the writer. And if a participant isn't interested in using their assigned companion? Then they're welcome to completely ignore their existence; nobody will be penalized for not including them in an RP if they don't want to.

Host Experience

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The proposed co-hosts have worked together in the past, as part of the four-person team that ran the World Cup 70 qualifiers, and both Equestrian States and Mizuyuki have multiple WCC tournaments under their belts. If selected, there would be no shortage of experience between the two hosts.

Equestrian States can safely be considered one of the NS Sports community's veteran hosts, most notably co-hosting the 67th World Cup alongside Cassadaigua and the 70th World Cup with the assistance of San José Guayabal, Mizuyuki, and Felix. Other major tournaments the user has hosted include the 57th Cup of Harmony (also co-hosted with Cassadaigua), 25th and 29th World Baseball Classics, 21st World Cup of Hockey, 29th and 32nd Di Bradini Cups, and the ongoing 25th World Bowl. Lesser-known tournaments hosted by the Equestrian States include Market Cup VI, Runner Cup 3, Quidditch World Cup 5, and all four editions of the Equestria Cup. Finally, the user is currently serving his first term as the President of the World Bowl Assembly after previously serving as its Vice-President, and has been responsible for the maintenance of the tournament's rankings since April 2013.

Mizuyuki is no stranger to WCC tournaments either, as the user has successfully worked with Kinitaria to host the 60th Cup of Harmony (as Kazamatsuri) and with Felix while hosting the 62nd Cup of Harmony after assisting in the running of the 70th World Cup qualifiers. The user's non-WCC hosting portfolio includes several notable tournaments, such as the World Hoops Showcase and the two most recent International Basketball Championships in partnership with Electrum, and a solo-hosting of the International Firestorm Cup.

Many thanks to Yttribia for the logo.

[San Jose Guayabal]

A good couple here, and extremely good hosts, with good dedication in this, good bid while reading the overall details but I have something to ask.

Considering that we have now two bids, what does this bid look different if we compare the details with the other bid, which are the strong points of this?

[Equestrian States]

Considering that we have now two bids, what does this bid look different if we compare the details with the other bid, which are the strong points of this?

Though I feel that this question somewhat presumes that the questioned bid was made in response to a competing bid (which is certainly not the case here as Mizu and I have been intending to bid for the BoF since last September) as it is generally asked only of the bid posted after the initial bid, there are several aspects of our bid which are considerably different from the one made by Gregoryisgodistan and Star United States.

The most obvious difference from a technical perspective is that we would be using the NSFS formula with xkoranate instead of the SQIS formula, which we feel would be the better choice for the BoF as its reduced randomness would allow active RPers to be better rewarded for their effort as they'd be somewhat less likely to find themselves knocked out by a no-RP no-roster nation. This observation of reduced randomness is one which I've made when scorinating my own domestic leagues and cup, as the SQIS formula has tended to produce noticeably more upsets than the NSFS formula. Aside from the scorination formula, we also have different tiebreakers from the other bid, with ours favoring the H2H results over GD and GF.

Furthermore, while no disrespect is meant towards Gregoryisgodistan or Star United States and we feel they'd be perfectly capable of hosting a successful tournament, from a purely objective point of view both Mizu and I have considerably more hosting experience, including multiple WCC tournaments each compared to none. Though some might not deem this the most important aspect when determining which bid to vote for, it is worth at least noting when comparing two or more competing bids.

[Starblaydia]

Certainly my preferred bidding option at this stage.

Considering that we have now two bids, what does this bid look different if we compare the details with the other bid, which are the strong points of this?

The most obvious difference from a technical perspective is that we would be using the NSFS formula with xkoranate instead of the SQIS formula <snip> as the SQIS formula has tended to produce noticeably more upsets than the NSFS formula.

Yes! Finally other people are starting to believe. SQIS is always screwing someone over, I just wish this would translate into WC bids, too. Definite plus point, for me.

Aside from the scorination formula, we also have different tiebreakers from the other bid, with ours favoring the H2H results over GD and GF.

I've only come around to H2H over GD relatively recently, once you realise how the scorinators actually generate results (i.e. they decide who wins and then decide the number of goals in said result). GD first leads to more style modifier inflation than is otherwise necessary, actively punishing teams who are, ICly, defensive-minded in the eventual tables. The inner real life football fan in me rages against H2H, but in the context of how we play in NS Sports it does make a lot of sense.

[Vilita]

Aside from the scorination formula, we also have different tiebreakers from the other bid, with ours favoring the H2H results over GD and GF.

I've only come around to H2H over GD relatively recently, once you realise how the scorinators actually generate results (i.e. they decide who wins and then decide the number of goals in said result).

FWIW, That's not how my scorinator works.

[Free Republics]

Yes! Finally other people are starting to believe. SQIS is always screwing someone over, I just wish this would translate into WC bids, too. Definite plus point, for me.

Is it? I've always felt NSFS was more random, although that may be because I'm more familiar with the baseball version, which is designed to emulate 162 game MLB seasons and thus extremely random. Were there fewer upsets when NSFS was the more popular formula for WCC events?

At the moment, this is my preferred bid because I feel that experience is more important for BoF bidders than it would be for CoH bidders.

[Starblaydia]

I've only come around to H2H over GD relatively recently, once you realise how the scorinators actually generate results (i.e. they decide who wins and then decide the number of goals in said result).

FWIW, That's not how my scorinator works.

'The scorinators' being, of course, xkoranate. Mine doesn't work that way, either

Yes! Finally other people are starting to believe. SQIS is always screwing someone over, I just wish this would translate into WC bids, too. Definite plus point, for me.

Is it? I've always felt NSFS was more random, although that may be because I'm more familiar with the baseball version, which is designed to emulate 162 game MLB seasons and thus extremely random. Were there fewer upsets when NSFS was the more popular formula for WCC events?

To me, it seems like every cup where either a team with no chance of winning matches ends up qualifying, or someone with every chance of winning the cup doesn't make it out of Qualifiers. Someone is always completely screwed, or completely boosted every time SQIS is around. Starblaydia making the WC Final in '63 without posting a single RP from a rank of... however low it was (60s?) is a personal example. I never had that feeling with the NSFS formula. YMMV, of course.

[San Jose Guayabal]

Is it? I've always felt NSFS was more random, although that may be because I'm more familiar with the baseball version, which is designed to emulate 162 game MLB seasons and thus extremely random. Were there fewer upsets when NSFS was the more popular formula for WCC events?

To me, it seems like every cup where either a team with no chance of winning matches ends up qualifying, or someone with every chance of winning the cup doesn't make it out of Qualifiers. Someone is always completely screwed, or completely boosted every time SQIS is around. Starblaydia making the WC Final in '63 without posting a single RP from a rank of... however low it was (60s?) is a personal example. I never had that feeling with the NSFS formula. YMMV, of course.

Well, I'm not so familiar with NSFS, but I think that it's almost sure that SQIS and NSFS will always produce situations of "completely screwed nations" like FFR in last WC and boosted like it happened with Darmen some WC's before and HopNation in the latest one, sincerely I don't think less randomness from NSFS, what I can expect is ridiculous scorelines like the ones I had when I scorinated my top tier there, with thrashings over 6 goals and even a 13-0, while SQIS doesn't generates such trashings, who makes a heavy damage to some nations in GD tiebreaker.

[Gregoryisgodistan]

A good couple here, and extremely good hosts, with good dedication in this, good bid while reading the overall details but I have something to ask.

Considering that we have now two bids, what does this bid look different if we compare the details with the other bid, which are the strong points of this?

EQS is absolutely correct that this question should have been asked of both host bids, not just his, so I'm going to reply here too. Yes, SUS and I do not have as much experience as this bid, though I do have experience hosting the Baptism of Iron twice, which is the gridiron equivalent. Both tournaments were highly successful and had active RP, aside from me getting temporarily banned during one of them, forcing a delay in the tournament. (I'm not going to comment on the merits of that ban, since I don't want to get banned again, but use your own judgment in whether or not it was my fault. I will point out, however, that it was retroactively changed to a warning.) I understand the BoF is a lot bigger than the BoI, but the most recent BoI had 32 users, which is about how many signups there currently are for the BoF. While neither of us has WCC experience, I do have experience with tournaments of similar size and target and am more than capable of co-hosting the Baptism of Fire. Additionally, our bid will involve a teaching experience in that all new RPers will receive helpful advice and constructive criticism to guide them in the NS Sport future. The Baptism of Fire isn't just about ranking points and winning - it's a learning experience for new users. Our bid would help with that.

Finally, I have a question for EQS - how will you ensure that you do not have the same computer access issues that you have had in the World Bowl twice so far and had previously in other tournaments? A delay in the tournament would be far more discouraging for new users than it is for people with NS Sports experience, and may lead them to get discouraged and give up. Nobody with months or years of experience, like the vast majority of the people in the World Bowl, is going to get bored and quit because the tournament is delayed for one day. But someone with a week of experience, participating in their first tournament, might.

And since I had a tournament delayed before too due to my ban, I will say that the fact that I am co-hosting with SUS means that in the unlikely event I am banned again (which I don't plan on), I can TG the results from my side to him and he can post them.

(For the sake of completeness, I am going to cross-post this on my bid thread.)

[Equestrian States]

Finally, I have a question for EQS - how will you ensure that you do not have the same computer access issues that you have had in the World Bowl twice so far and had previously in other tournaments? A delay in the tournament would be far more discouraging for new users than it is for people with NS Sports experience, and may lead them to get discouraged and give up. Nobody with months or years of experience, like the vast majority of the people in the World Bowl, is going to get bored and quit because the tournament is delayed for one day. But someone with a week of experience, participating in their first tournament, might.

The RL-caused issues that have led to the two World Bowl delays aren't ones that I'd expect will present any problems in the next month or so. The issues that have led to delays in past tournaments have mostly been caused by technical problems with my aging laptop that weren't exactly predictable. In the event that I do have technical problems, I'll likely do what I've done in the past and use another computer (probably one of my roommates') to scorinate and post results, as I've kept my RP bonus tables and other files backed up on a flash drive for recent tournaments just in case.

That said, I very much doubt a one day delay in a tournament would lead to a mass migration of newer users away from NS Sports who would otherwise have become the next Wight. For a tournament like the BoF, they'll have likely already been waiting at least a couple weeks after signing up before even having a chance to post a roster; a gap which, IMHO, is likely to have weeded out any of those who'd lose interest over a delay.

[Gregoryisgodistan]

That said, I very much doubt a one day delay in a tournament would lead to a mass migration of newer users away from NS Sports who would otherwise have become the next Wight. For a tournament like the BoF, they'll have likely already been waiting at least a couple weeks after signing up before even having a chance to post a roster; a gap which, IMHO, is likely to have weeded out any of those who'd lose interest over a delay.

I don't think it would be that extreme either, but I don't want anyone to lose interest over a delay, even if it's just one person. And I think we can both agree that users in their first tournament are far more likely to lose interest in the whole game over a delay of one day than established users would be. Maybe if there were multiple delays, the experienced users would lose interest in that particular tournament (as happened during the recent WBC) but they're not going to give up on the whole site because of it. A new user might assume (falsely) that those issues are representative of every tournament and give up. Perhaps that one user who might leave would have become the next Wight. On the other hand, it's equally likely they would have become the next Menukten, in which case it's probably for the best they left. Most likely, they' would have wound up somewhere in between, like everyone else. That being said, if you're confident there won't be any delays, I trust you. Our bid won't have any either if selected.