Baptism of Fire 58 Host Bid - Equestrian States and Mizuyuki
Posted: Tue Jan 27, 2015 12:55 am
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
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
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
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
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.