The marriage of the hot and the cold is at the heart of this bid, as the tropical island nation of Sylestone teams up with the White Winter Queendom of Græntfjall to host the “Baptism of Fire and Ice”. (Or, more prosaically, the 74th Baptism of Fire.) With Græntfjall already having hosted the Copa Rushmori this cycle, it’s not practical for them to host during the summer, meaning that through a combination of indoor arenas (or outdoor arenas with roof facilities and underground pitch warming) and laying on lots of coats and gloves, they are aiming to host during their coming winter. And who better, then, to team up with than a sunny island nation, whose temperatures will offer an appealing alternative for those brave souls slugging it out in the frosty winter dark?
Technical details
We aim to begin by 1 December and end by 1 January. By then our current hosting commitments will be over. The tournament will likely last, depending on format, about 10 days, spread over 2 weeks with off-days. Although December is a busy time for everyone, we want to get the tournament wrapped before the New Year. A few days’ lead-in will be given from when IC details are first posted to when first scorination occurs.
Scorination will use SQIS with additive multipliers. Scorination will take place every 24 hours, with a couple of off-days built in. We will arrange scorination to occur at around the same time, although owing to time difference there will be a small gap. There will be a large RP bonus available each day on a cumulative, non-degrading basis. There will be a roster bonus equivalent to at least 1 full MD; a BoF roster is the start of a nation’s entry into the World Cup community so we want to reward those that put effort into theirs. Given the nature of the tournament a roster penalty will not be used. RP bonus will not be public, but feedback can be asked for.
Format will depend on eventual number of signups. With 29 at present it’s hard to look past 32 as an ideal number, but of course we don’t have absolute control over this. All eligible nations that have signed up will be included, of course. The BoF is by its nature not a good competition to include numbers puppets in, so we will not seek such unless last-minute need rears its head. A full and thorough check that signups are accurate will be done prior to any decision to close signups. All confirmed entrants will be notified by TG.
With 32 teams we would have 8 groups of 4 playing double round robin. With 40 or 48, 8 groups of 5 or 6, playing single round robin. The top two teams from each group would proceed to a seeded Round of 16 (with immediate group stage repeats avoided).
With 30, 36 or 42 teams we would have 6 groups of 5, 6 or 7 playing single round robin. The top two teams from each group, plus the four third place teams with the best records, would proceed to a seeded Round of 16 (with immediate group stage repeats avoided).
The groups will be divided into two halves, one half played in each nation. Note: Quemorr Isles will be placed in a group in Græntfjall. As this is an unranked tournament this does not affect seeding. Details about the country, locations for each match including stadium info, and other necessary RP background will be provided. Tiebreakers will be: points, head-to-head results, head-to-head goal difference, goal difference, coin flip (OOC: RP bonus), actual coin flip.
The playoffs will be single elimination and include a 3PPO. Should Quemorr Isles reach the playoffs, Græntfjall will scorinate all of their matches.
Your eyes have probably glazed over reading all this; you’ve read it a hundred times before in a hundred previous bids, good and bad. There is nothing novel or original in the format we propose. We don’t want there to be: we want the BoF to be an experience that’s rewarding because of the roleplay elements foremost, and not harmed by odd or unusual formats being new players’ first introduction to NS Sport.
Roleplay details
Sylestone is a tropical island nation located in the region of Esportiva, just to the west of Cyborg Holland on the map. It is called home to 25 million people, mainly clustered in the cities of Avondale, Chamberley, Betham, Cleorough, Pesfield and Halpenley. Sylestone's economy is run by the tourism industry as the nation is considered a natural "paradise", with beautiful beaches, rainforests and reefs. Sylestone's technology is also relatively advanced, enough for everyone to have a comfortable time without too much stress.
Græntfjall is incredibly not tropical. A large nation spanning the northern half of the Komodo Channel peninsula, its physical geography is dominated by the Græntfjaller Alps, which make up the bottom half of the country. It lies north of Tikariot, with whom it shares shores on Lake Viljan. Recently emerging from a century of communist oppression, with a newly restored royal family and a booming economy spurred on by aggressive deregulation and an at times somewhat less than nurturing attitude to the environment…the rest of this sentence has been drowned out by a sound of a chainsaw felling a tree and heavy moving equipment moving in to scour for uranium beneath.
Each day when cut-off is posted, some small RP snippets will be posted. Newspaper headlines from around the country, details of dignitaries attending particular games, small storyline responses to developing events, are all possibilities. The aim is not for the hosts’ RPing to overwhelm players’ and of course players are free to ignore these prompts and focus on writing about their games or own stories, but they will provide fodder for those searching for inspiration, or stuck trying to write up a 0-0 draw against a rosterless team.
There will also be an ongoing competition to choose a “Hot XI” and a “Cool XI”, who will play an exhibition game at the tournament’s end. The hosts will each select an XI of players from the teams participating in the tournament, based on the RP throughout. Participants could interpret “hot” to mean a hot run of goal scoring form – but it could also be about having a fiery temper, while “cool” players could be those with individual flair and skill – or icy composure under pressure. This will give an opportunity for participants to put focus on some of their individual players, as well as rewarding those who write great RPs but fall foul of an unlucky result. Of course the eventual exhibition match will be unofficial and players are under no obligation to participate.
Behind the scenes
The two users running this bid are:
- Graintfjall. Recently co-hosted the Copa Rushmori 36 with Tikariot. If I listed all my sporting aliases here we’d be here all night, but under the name Quintessence of Dust, previously hosted Baptism of Fire 38 (the last nation to solo host a BoF!). Under this name and others has hosted various other tournaments including 3 World Cups of Hockey, 2 International Basketball Championships and a Rugby World Cup, and co-hosted events including a World Baseball Classic and a T20 [cricket] World Championship.
- Sylestone. Sylestone co-hosted the Cup of Harmony 78 with Ethane, and was host of the first International Football Cup (IFC). They recently hosted the Second Aussie Rules World Cup, and run their own domestic sports newswire.
- We are based in different time zones, but that’s no bad thing as it should mean at least one of us will be online at any one time, in case emergency issues arise. We will be able to liaise daily and will arrange scorination at a time that allows us to cut-off as close together as possible.
Edit 1: Added clarification re: Quemorr Isles
