Independents Cup 14 Sign-Up Thread

[Abanhfleft]

I really waited this long so my signup post is the first post in the second page of this topic.

[Sajnur]

More disappointment for Sajnur

[StrayaRoos Barrier Islands]

am i allowed me puppet of 1 in big four but in Enadia?

[Kriegiersien]

in

[Garbelia]

In.

[Eshialand]

am i allowed me puppet of 1 in big four but in Enadia?

Yep! You can sign up ^-^

[Kingdom of Atlantia]

We would like to sign up.

[Silver Beach]

In

[TJUN-ia]

1) I guess this counts as a bump

2) We're on 32 signups on my count, so do we have a timeline on when we can get a tournament going?

[Berdeng Bundok]

We sign up. We are puppets of Montaña Verde and can be excluded if numbers don't work with us in.

[Montana Verde]

Confirmed ↑

2) We're on 32 signups on my count, so do we have a timeline on when we can get a tournament going?

When we get a host

[New Zhengguo]

Signing up! Puppet of Muralos.

[Muralos]

Signing up! Puppet of Muralos.

Confirmed.

[Belnegau]

Hartwig, by the grace of the Lord God Landgraf of Belnegau and servant of His Majesty Ludwig, Emperor of Rome, to the illustrious sovereigns rightwise ruling over that grand tournament of Independents, fond greeting. We wish you health and the benediction of our Lord, now and always. Among many matters weighing on our mind this indeed lies heaviest, that this splendid display of knightly skill and noble bravery has yet not begun, so great is our anticipation. We are moved to offer the fields of our own Belnegau for the staging of this competition, our most learned counselors having informed us of the great difficulty with which you have searched for a suitable venue. Humble beside the grand arenas of hallowed Rome or storied Constantinople, Belnegau shall, regardless, open her arms to the world, that this tournament might no longer be delayed, and the day hastened when we may all together enjoy the spectacle of great feats of athletics. We eagerly await your response. Given at Ziegelstein in Belnegau in the year of the incarnation of our Lord one thousand three hundred and twenty-eight.

About Belnegau
Belnegau is a fictional Landgraviate (middling principality) located in a mostly historically accurate version of medieval Germany. In Belnegau, it is the year 1328, and the current ruler is Landgraf Hartwig von Belnegau. His overlord and Holy Roman Emperor is Ludwig IV of the House of Wittelsbach. Its economy is overwhelmingly agricultural and largely non-monetary. The vast majority of Belnegauers are Catholic Christians, though a minority, particularly in towns, are Waldensian Christians. Further IC detail will be published along with optional RP prompts.

About the User behind Belnegau: Squorn
Squorn has had two stints as a member of NSS. The first lasted from 2003-2009, the second has lasted from 2018 to present. His only prior international hosting credit is the sixth edition of the Cherry Cup, a precursor to the World Cup of Hockey, which took place in 2004. He will be the first to admit that it was a disaster, though multi-day power outages due to hurricanes that year played a role. More recently, he has overseen the SCFA domestic league system, which he would like to think is at least reasonably well-regarded in the community.

Scorination, Format and Other Technical Details
Matches will be scorinated using the latest version of xkoranate, with the NSFS formula and additive style mods of ±5. The IAC Rankings will be used for draw and team skill purposes. Nations not posting a roster by the first scorination cutoff will have their rank set to 0 until their roster is posted. A cumulative RP bonus will be awarded for each scorination window, and weighted such that an unranked nation receiving maximum bonus would have skill equal to the highest rank of any nation by the end of the tournament. Should this bid be accepted, a rubric describing the likely characteristics of high-scoring RPs will be published as part of the Everything Thread. The preferred format will be 32 teams divided into eight groups of four for a first round group stage, with the top two teams in each group advancing to the knockout rounds. Alternate formats for 28, 30, 36, or 40 teams are also being considered, depending on signup numbers.

Schedule
The tournament would start at the soonest opportunity, in order to avoid or at least minimize overlap with the Baptism of Fire and be concluded well before the start of World Cup Qualifying and the IFCF cutoff. In the interest of time, group stage scorinations will take place on consecutive days, with single off days prior to each knockout scorination. With this schedule the tournament should take roughly two weeks in total.

I welcome any questions or suggestions.

[Squornshelan Remnant States]

^ Yeah this is me

[Drawkland]

Per IAC tradition, we don't necessarily have to hold a vote for this bid. In the interest of getting things moving, I'm inclined to accept Belnegau's bid and begin IAC 14. If anybody has issues with this bid or perhaps a counterbid, you have 48 hours to raise such affairs. Otherwise, Belnegau will be given hosting access and the tournament will begin on their timeline.

[Omerica]

The United Republican Soccer Federation presents:
A bid to host the thirteenth fourteenth Independent Associations Championship

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[insert bid title here]
There isn’t any in-character guff to be said for this bid. But yes, I am once again forcing a vote. No, I do not lack confidence in Squorn’s ability to host the IAC. Yes, this bid is actually serious. No, this is not a joke. So as threatened last cycle…

Experience
While not the most experienced bidder for the tournament by any means, the user behind the mask of Omerica has nevertheless hosted the fourth Coupe d’Esquarium, the nineteenth Handball World Cup and the Xth Independent Associations Championship. Additionally, KitKat is now on the tenth season of the Omerican Professional Soccer League, ninth season of the Saltsteadish Football League and too many seasons of HSOWAliga.

Scorination
If this bid is selected, IAC 14 will be scorinated using the latest version of xkoronate with the SQIS formula and additive style modifiers. Home field advantage will be turned off, however, the host nation will receive a small bonus approximately equal to the bonus a nation would get with the home advantage option. As usual, participating teams may choose a style modifier from –5 and +5.

The interim IAC ranking system will be used for seeding and bonus purposes, with the proviso that the hosts (Omerica), the reigning indie champions (Indusse) and the titleholders of any WCC competition (i.e. Trolleborg) will automatically be seeded in Pot 1 by right. However, in line with a worthy IAC tradition, nations will not receive their ranking bonus unless and until they post a roster, which must include a minimum of a starting XI and RP permissions.

RP bonus will be cumulative and generous and will favour quality over quantity. The bonus scale will set with the goal for unranked nations to be competitive with rank-coasters by the end of the group stage. RP bonus will be available on bye days if 5-team groups are used.

Cut-offs will be at approximately 22:00 Eastern Standard Time (03:00 next day UTC) give or take 30 to 60 minutes. Scorinations will take place every 48 hours, though an extra day may be pencilled in to ensure that IAC cut-offs alternate with Baptism of Fire cut-offs (advance notice will be given when and if this occurs).

Format
If this bid is selected, IAC 14 will consist of a single round-robin group stage, followed by a single-elimination knockout stage. [*insert shock and horror here*] Formats with six or eight groups will be preferred. In the unlikely event we reach 48 sign-ups, the group stage will feed into a Round of 32, with the top four teams advancing from each of eight group; otherwise, the knockout stage will start with the Round of 16.

Teams will be ranked in their respective groups by [1] points, [2] head-to-head points, [3] head-to-head goal difference, [4] overall goal difference, [5] games won and [6] drawing of lots (OOCly accomplished via a scorinated playoff without rank bonus); if two or more teams are initially tied and a criterion only breaks part of the tie, the ranking procedure will restart, considering only results between teams still tied (this being the default xkoronate procedure).

The overall group stage ranking will be based on [1] group position, [2] points, [3] goal difference and [4] games won. If two or more teams are tied on all of these criteria, results against the lowest-ranked team in their respective groups will be discarded and the teams compared again. This procedure repeats until the tie is broken or all results are exhausted, in which case the tie will be broken by drawing of lots (i.e. scorinated playoff without rank bonus).

Teams from the same group will be kept apart in the knockout stage for as long as possible. If a six-group format is used, the knockout bracket will be set according to the Qopa XXXII system; if an eight-group format is used, the knockout bracket will based on the one used in IAC X. If Omerica/HSOWA advance to the knockout stage*, a third-party scorinator will be scorinate any of their matches, with preference given to persons not participating in the IAC. (*Which is not a given. #FirstIACHostToMissTheKnockouts)

Closing remarks
As with IAC X, I welcome any and all questions. Bon courage à tou·te·s!

[Hot Skitty on Wailord Action]

Guess who’s back, bitches…

[Omerica]

Guess who’s back, bitches…

Unfortunately… (._. );

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I will also note that the KPB adjustment in the interim IAC ranking has been buffed to ⅓ this cycle, prompted by the current Amendment 1 over in the WCC. There may be a future adjustment in the event that a more radical change to KPB is adopted, with the aim of keeping the two scales as comparable as possible.

[HUElavia]

Bumping this to see if we can take a vote for IAC 14 hosting duties.

[IAC Organising Committee]

Fine,

If you're signed up for this IAC and have participated in a previous IAC with any of your nations, you are eligible to vote for the host of IAC-14. The options:

Belnegau bid
Omerica bid

Send votes to this nation. You have three days from the posting of this message to vote. Go

[Recuecn]

In.

[Saterun]

We're in

[New Lusitania and the Algarves]

Vamos lá.
In the tournament, once more!

[Toluiwa]

We're in.

Withdrawing my participation and use my other nation, Cakranegara instead.