AOCAF Cup LXI - Discussion (Signups Closed)

[Timuria]

In if it's feasible.

[Semarland]

In, if possible

[Krytenia]

Signups updated to... *double take* ...Semarland. Huh.

Remember, you have around 23 hours to vote for the tournament host. TGs to Logria please.

[Krytenia]

The voting is closed, the votes have been counted and verified, and the results are as follows.

Equestria: 10 votes
Maccian & Northwest Kalactin: 3 votes
Re-open bids: 1 vote

By a clear majority, Equestria are the hosts of AOCAF Cup 61. Congratulations, EQS, and commiserations to Maccian and Northwest Kalactin.

[Yesopalitha]

Entering as a puppet of Chromatika. (Yeso was here about a year or so ago...)

[Chromatika]

Entering as a puppet of Chromatika. (Yeso was here about a year or so ago...)

Confirming, though this is mostly to try to get to 48.

[Lindmark]

Entering as puppet of Semarland just, to make up the numbers (feel free to leave out if it comes to that)

[Equestrian States]

Thanks to everyone who voted for my bid, and commiserations to Northwest Kalactin and Maccian.

With Yesopalitha and Lindmark's entries, we have 48 participants, which is a nice, easy number to work with. However, I would accept one more last-minute puppet or main from an AO native to replace Xannerian Sunbelt Islands as it's a second puppet of a non-native. We could also cull a few of the other numbers puppets if there are any further last-minute entrants.

Otherwise, I'll be looking to get the thread up sometime in the next 24 hours, with the group draw following whenever the rankings are updated. Once the thread is posted, y'all will have one week before MD1.

[West Pocono]

West Pocono would love to be that last minute entrant!

(Newmanistan's puppet)

[Demot]

Put us in if you need to, leave us out if it makes the numbers shiny.

(Valanora puppet)

[Atlantian Oceania]

BBB :: AO Bowl; AOBC & AOBS Announcement

With the AOCAF Host vote out of the way, Signups continue! This Cycle we will be debuting the "long-awaited" "Light Competition" format in an even lighter format.

By virtue of the poll results, the following sports will be part of the Light Competition Trial Run: American Football, Baseball and Basketball. This is how it will work:

1) Signup for the tournament(s) either by posting in the AOBC/AOBowl/AOBS Signup Thread on the AO Forum or by sending a TG to Atlantian Oceania indicating which sports you want to be included in

2) Post your ROSTERS in the sport-specific threads on the AO Forum

• AO Baseball Series - Rosters & Scores
• AO Basketball Championship V - Rosters & Scores
• AO Bowl III - Rosters & Scores

3) Post your RPs in the AOCAF Thread! RPs specific to the Light Tournaments are not required but you are welcome to include them in your AOCAF RPs. All tournaments will use the same base RP Bonus based on all contributions to the AOCAF Thread with the exception of Roster Bonus which will come from each individual tournament thread on the AO Forum.

---

• You do not have to be signed up for the AOCAF itself in order to participate in the Light Competitions, but you do have to be in Atlantian Oceania
• You may enter more than 1 puppet if you so desire and have a rationale for it
• You do not have to enter any of the tournaments if you do not wish to
• No nation that indicates a desire to participate will be excluded, which may result in uneven Groups, which is fine since the whole Group Stage will be scored and posted at once
• Your AOCAF Roster will be the only RP Bonus from the AOCAF Thread that will not carry over
• Do NOT post your Light Tournament rosters in the AOCAF Thread. They will not receive any credit for either tournament if posted in that thread
• Note that this is a first time thing intended to be fun and perhaps an opportunity for a nation that might get eliminated in the AOCAF Group Stage to still have other regional success during the cycle on a more even playing field
• Teams that are successful in the 3 sports on the NS Forums may receive preferential seeding, but scorination will be largely driven by random and RP bonus

Will Legalese and Krytenia avenge their Final Defeats in AO Bowl I and II respectively to finally lift AO's most Shiny Gridiron Ball? Or will a new challenger arise? Finally, we will soon find out. GOOD LUCK ALL!

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[Torisakia]

Due to the ongoing "Kiragate" investigation with the Ministry of Sports & Recreation, Torisakia formally withdraws from AOCAF Cup LXI, if at all possible. We expected this whole situation to be cleared up by now,

[Cerulean Isles]

I withdraw.

[Equestrian States]

Torisakia and Cerulean Isles withdrawals have been acknowledged.

[Savigliane]

In (if you need me, feel free to kick this nation out first otherwise).

[Verceola]

Verceola, a previous competitor in AOCAF and a puppet of Delaclava, will return to international football as a separate entity, if needed.

[Legalese]

EQS, I remember you giving a schedule update in the discord but I can't seem to find it. Do you mind updating here for this guy confused by all the newfangled technology?

(No complaints from me on the timing -- definitely happy for an extra few days, personally)

[Equestrian States]

EQS, I remember you giving a schedule update in the discord but I can't seem to find it. Do you mind updating here for this guy confused by all the newfangled technology?

(No complaints from me on the timing -- definitely happy for an extra few days, personally)

Yeah, sorry, meant to cross post it here, but I didn’t.

Anyhow, AOCAF MD1 pushed back to Sunday evening, assuming I get the time to post the draw today. If not, it’ll be at least 48 hours after the draw, which would be absolutely no later than tomorrow.

[Equestrian States]

SIGNUPS ARE NOW OFFICIALLY CLOSED

The group draw, fixture list, and finalized schedule have been posted in the everything thread. Venue assignments will be posted tomorrow. MD1 will be ~48 hours from the time of this post.

[Delaclava]

With 72 hours passed since the anticipated Round of 16 cutoff, and the start of the World Cup qualifiers quickly coming up, there has been some discussion on Discord that we thought best to bring here. At this point these are our options on how to proceed:

- If EQS checks in rather soon, we can proceed with EQS finishing up the tournament;
- A non-involved third party takes over the remainder of the tournament - whether that is an eliminated AO nation or a non-AO user entirely;
- Abandonment.

The general sentiment in the Discord discussion was to find a way to continue this tournament, as long as there is an experienced user who is willing and able to take the mantle, re-compile RP bonuses and scorinate the remaining rounds. Any opinions from the AO participants and especially those remaining in the Round of 16, as well as potential suitable volunteers to take over, would be appreciated at this time.

[Pasarga]

As someone with a vested interest in the outcome of the tournament due to my narratives, I would greatly emphasize finishing the tournament. While not eliminated currently, I would be willing to step in if needed and getting a 3rd party for my match(es). Otherwise really just need to get this done as quickly as possible with the WC Qualifiers just over the horizon, but a host with the trust of the community is a must for such a delicate situation.

[Sylestone]

I could do it as a last resort

[Strike]

With 72 hours passed since the anticipated Round of 16 cutoff, and the start of the World Cup qualifiers quickly coming up, there has been some discussion on Discord that we thought best to bring here. At this point these are our options on how to proceed:

- If EQS checks in rather soon, we can proceed with EQS finishing up the tournament;
- A non-involved third party takes over the remainder of the tournament - whether that is an eliminated AO nation or a non-AO user entirely;
- Abandonment.

The general sentiment in the Discord discussion was to find a way to continue this tournament, as long as there is an experienced user who is willing and able to take the mantle, re-compile RP bonuses and scorinate the remaining rounds. Any opinions from the AO participants and especially those remaining in the Round of 16, as well as potential suitable volunteers to take over, would be appreciated at this time.

I don't know why "Abandonment" is on the list. There is no issue with the competition being continued if EQS is unable to return but as there were no TG's sent to them until yesterday and there had been repeated comments from users stating they were online and in the forums, It seemed like the more prudent thing to do would be to wait for a TG response instead of talking about "Abandonment".

The whole argument from "Must go faster must go faster" crowd is that we don't need an offseason for the regional tournaments and that they used to be run without such a schedule. In some alternate universe where we wait a full week at this point for EQS to return, and the WC RP thread which doesnt exist yet shows up, the WC Draw magically appears this weekend and has MD1 announced as just 3 days later, then I'm sure the 4-8 users involved in the final rounds of the AOCAF competition would gladly prefer the two championship level matches to take place coinciding with MD 1 & 2 of the World Cup rather than being abandoned. There is a 0% chance of Abandonment. No need to stir things up unecessarily

[Delaclava]

I don't know why "Abandonment" is on the list

The post was meant to reflect the Discord conversation and that was an alternative that was brought up - by a remaining participant, no less. I personally do not support it, but it was fair to include it in case others felt the same. That's why it's there.

[Strike]

Well, for some reason Discord decided to exclude me from #international-sport at the time these discussions took place, so I was not privvy to any of them and still don't see them



As I've already graded RP throughout the tournament for all those participating in the extracurricular tournaments, I'm not concerned in the slightest about the 'ability to finish the tournament'. I assumed we'd give EQS a galactic standard week to re-appear and if not we could move forward with any of the plethora of alternative options that do not include arbitrary abandonment.