SPAWK (Bid for BoF LXV)

[Spaam]

INTRODUCTION
One of the oldest nations in the World Cup (Spaam) will be teaming up with one of the newest nations (Drawkland) to host the premier competition for first-time nations. As two unranked nations that qualified for the last World Cup, who better to host the next generation of stars?

SPAAM
Spaam was once a massive empire, but was destroyed in a cataclysmic war. The remnants escaped to a neighbouring region and refounded Spaam on three islands about a hundred years ago. Now a thriving, yet small, nation, it has started to make its mark on the multiversal community yet again, qualifying for the World Cup on its first try in almost two centuries. The Baptism of Fire will be held in four cities: the capital Paatukar, a thriving metropolis of over 4 million people in the north of the main island, Skaganes, a beautiful city on the south of the main island that lies on the great Lake Galaxy, Nilmenas, a city with elven influences in West Spaam, and Highbay, a small harbour city of around 800 thousand in East Spaam. Spaam itself is a cheerful nation that is passionate about its sport, with a proud elven and human heritage, though society has become more segregated, and very devout in its following of Margaret. As long as you follow the laws and respect the beliefs and customs of the people, you are sure to have a great time in Spaam.

DRAWKLAND
Drawkland, on the other hand, despite being new to the realm of international sports, is still a rather old nation, and like the Spaam of old, is a truly huge Empire which stretches into the reaches of space. In its first foray into the World Cup Cycle, their team made 3rd place in Baptism of Fire 64, and managed to qualify for World Cup 77 on a last-matchday miracle. For this side, Drawkland will host using 4 of its famous cities, outside of the “Big 2” of Metropolon and Drawk City. These cities selected to host are Kayo, the territorial capital city on a small peninsula on the eastern reaches of Drawkland and around a large lake; Bellator, the territorial capital on the other side of the nation situated at the base of a larger peninsula in the plains; Cove Port, the large northern harbor city which is renowned for a colder climate and its tough citizens; and Archifel, the district capital of a large tropical archipelago off the southern coast which is known for its laid back atmosphere. Of course, mainland Drawkland is very large, encompassing a continent, and the host cities are referred to often as “The 4 Corners,” as they're the largest cities at each corner of the land. Thus, free transportation will be provided for teams who have to travel to another city for the knockout rounds. Drawkland’s citizens are full of national pride, and the love of music, physical activity, and food stems from this. And they strive to impress tourists, which means they'll be accommodating for almost all guests they meet.

FORMAT
The competition shall be split into two halves - the Spoon Side, hosted in Spaam, and the Fork Side, hosted in Drawkland. Each half will initially be split into four groups (we are assuming a multiple of 8 nations in the competition), and within each group the teams will play each other once (round-robin). After that, the top two nations in each group will progress to a knock-out until there is only one nation left in each half. Those two nations will then fly to Drawkland for the Grand-Final, while the second-placed team in each group will fly to Spaam for the Third-Place Match. During the round-robin, teams will be ranked by Points, Goal-Difference, Goals-For and Head-To-Head.

THEME
In order to encourage role-play, our theme is FOOD. With each hosting city having an individual flavour, there is much cuisine to try during the Baptism of Fire. And naturally, you will want to eat it with your commemorative BoF LXV Spork! Each matchday there will a food-related RP fodder that will give each nation some ideas for their role-play (and of course, any nation that meets that challenge will receive a higher RP bonus!) Here at SPAWK, we are hungry for new nations, and we know these new nations are hungry for success and silverware!

RP BONUS & SCORINATION
As this is primarily a role-playing competition, we will be rewarding regular, high-quality RPs. Each RP will be given a score out of 5 - where 1 is “well, at least they posted something” and 5 is “if they continue like this they will win the World Cup!” Quality is rated more highly than quantity, so no nation can receive more than 5 on any particular matchday. The RP bonus will be cumulative, starting with the roster and pre-matchday counted separately, and scaled to a number out of 5.
Scorination will be with xkoranate using the SQIS formula and additive style-modifiers, and will use the RP bonus as the rank.

EXPERIENCE
Spaam has hosted numerous sporting competitions over the years, including Baptism of Fire XIX and four Cups of Harmony. Drawkland is of course most famous for co-hosting numerous American sports tournaments, WB XXIX with Frenline Delpha, IBC 21 with Royal Kingdom of Quebec, as well as being a conference host for NSCAA and NSCF. Most recently, he hosted Handball World Cup 18, his first solo venture. Both Spaam & Drawkland have a proven history of reliable hosting here in the community.

Please ask us questions!

[Drawkland]

Tagging as the co-bidder.

[Vilita and Turori]

Nice.

[Gregoryisgodistan]

Is "SPAWK" pronounced the British way (like "spork") or the American way (rhymes with chalk, and possibly with rock depending on where in the country you're from)?

[The Iron Syndicate]

Looks like a good bid with qualified hosts, but my only concern is that it looks like getting the full RP bonus is dependent on completing a challenge. I've tried to use host challenges in the past but sometimes this doesn't work out depending on what I'm writing, and I might already have a storyline planned for the BoF depending on how the DBC goes and what times other tournaments fall at. That's just something to think about for the hosts, because not all posters might be able to work a challenge into their posts and it seems unfair for them to not get the same RP bonus as someone that does.

[Darmen]

[Drawkland]

Is "SPAWK" pronounced the British way (like "spork") or the American way (rhymes with chalk, and possibly with rock depending on where in the country you're from)?

That's an interesting question.

I pronounce it like rock or chalk (to me they're the same). But I know Spaam lives in a different country than I do so it may be different for him.

Just saw the question from IS as I was writing this, I'll talk with Spaam and answer in a moment sometime soon. For me at least, I do understand your concern, but most of our RP fodder will be about food, which I can't imagine in an incredibly difficult thing to work in (which is one of the reasons we went with it). We do hear your concern though, and we'll talk about it more in depth later today.

[Spaam]

As an Australian, I of course pronounce it the British way, so it does sound like Spork. I hope that alleviates your concern

Thanks for the question, IS! If you write a great RP (which is what we're expecting from you, no pressure) then you will get the max bonus. The BoF is all about encouraging role play from newer nations. The fodder is for giving nations ideas to make that easier, and we will be kinder in our rating of their RP if they include our challenge. If you are talented enough to include a set challenge in a role play, then you should reap the benefits, but you won't be penalised if you don't.

I hope that makes sense and answers your question.

[Valanora]

My only critique to the bid is it's choice of SQIS, though I have publicly poor opinion of that formula so perhaps a bit a bias is in my eyes. If you could perhaps explain your reasoning for that formula, I would be much appreciated, otherwise looks like a nice, standard bid and nice stepping stone for a good potential host in drawk.

[Spaam]

My only critique to the bid is it's choice of SQIS, though I have publicly poor opinion of that formula so perhaps a bit a bias is in my eyes. If you could perhaps explain your reasoning for that formula, I would be much appreciated, otherwise looks like a nice, standard bid and nice stepping stone for a good potential host in drawk.

Honestly, we picked one and went with it. But if there is more call for NSFS, we are happy to make the change.