About the Free Republics
The Federation of Free Republics (FFR) is a vast federation of Republics, spanning 4 continents, that pride themselves on being, from their perspective, the freest nation in the multiverse. In most of the Free Republics, you are free to do almost anything, so long as you have the money to pay your own way. Laws do very greatly between Republics, so be sure to read up on the local laws before entering a Republic. Republics are forbidden from restricting a number of basic freedoms, such as the absolute freedom of speech, the right to carry open or concealed firearms in public and the right to due process. Laws do exist against crimes such as theft and murder and there are laws against non-consensual assault, but one should keep in mind that the Free Republics defines consent in a broad manner.
The security of any World Cup held in the Free Republics will be assured, as the Free Republics boasts the substantial military might that you would expect from an affluent nation with a population in the billions. The Navy of the Free Republics even styles itself as Republica's Navy: A Universal Force for Good, so they can be counted on to safeguard the security of the World Cup facilities.
On the pitch, the Free Republics have a tradition of excellence in soccer. Although Rule Theriault's teams are run more like a domestic club than a conventional National Team and therefore do not necessarily field the nation's best players, the Free Republics have already compiled an impressive record in international competition. They have competed in the last 3 World Cups, losing a playoff in World Cup 67 to New Sideburn. Had The Sarian not arrested both Theriault and team captain Kyle Bolton at halftime of a match in that country, allowing The Sarian to pull off a second half comeback after taking a 3 goal deficit into halftime, the Free Republics would have qualified for World Cup 67. In Cup of Harmony 59, the Free Republics made it deeper into the tournament than Saintland before falling on penalties to West Angola, in the quarterfinals. In the Di Bradini Cup, the Free Republics have set the standard for youth soccer excellence, having finished 2nd, 1st and 3rd in DBCs 27 through 29. While a less experienced than usual Republican U-21 team under-performed at this year's 30th DBC, that does not dim the glory of what the previous generation of Republican U-21s accomplished.
The FFR has previously hosted World Korfball Classic 3 and co-hosted Cup of Harmony 58 (with Falcus) and World Bowl XXII (with Saintland). World Bowl XXII used the "Holy Casaran" format and was the most successful World Bowl, in terms of quantity of posts in the threads used for RPs, rosters and results in the History of Modern NS Sports, even though it was shorter than a typical World Bowl. The FFR's neighbors at the North Pole have previously hosted the Saintland Triple Crown, Beach Cup IX, the 27th World Baseball Classic (with Maklohi Vai), the first edition of the UWCFA Gold Cup, which also used the Casaran format, the aforementioned World Bowl XXII and are currently hosting World Cup of Hockey 23, which is expected to conclude prior to the start of the IX Winter Olympics and well before the likely start date of Baptism of Fire 55, let alone World Cup 68 (OOC: Additionally, the user between Saintland and Free Republics scorinates the Confederations Cup, which is held between the BoF final and the draw for World Cup qualifying).
About Legalese
Legalese is a nation originating from the hallowed North East of Atlantian Oceania. Formed nearly three centuries ago by a confluence of three tribes, the nation’s early rise was stunted by apathy, political collapse, and the eventual occupation by Starblaydi forces in what would become known to the world as Operation Galactica. After the war, the pieces of the Legal society started to return, focused on the concept of service and joint commitment to survival. On the pitch, this has taken shape with the performance of the Legalese National Team, who have become a semi-regular presence in the World Cup. Their organizational abilities have also been well-known, having hosted two AOCAFs, two Cups of Harmony, six Baptisms of Fire, and a World Cup (OOC: also, an additional CoH and WC as Novapsolu). The nations of the world have spent some good times in Legalese, and the Federation of Association Football looks to welcome them back.
Format
The World Cup Finals will follow the traditional 32-team format, with all of the usual accoutrements, but we all knew that, right? What you’re really after is the qualifying format, and we won’t fail to disappoint those of you that expected us to bid with the Casaran format again.
For qualifying, we will be using the conventional double round-robin group stage, with the hosts automatically qualifying for the World Cup. While the format will depend upon the final signup numbers, we would prefer to use groups of 6 or 8, if possible, providing for a qualifying that lasts either 10 or 14 days. Invariably, a playoff of some sort will be used.
With 180 signups (not counting the hosts), we would use 30 groups of 6. The top 2 finishers in each group would advance to a two round home-and-away playoff, which would be held under a double-chance system. The 30 group winners would be drawn against one another in the first round of the playoffs, with the winners qualifying for the World Cup. The 30 runners-up would also be drawn against one another in the first round, with the winners advancing to the second round of the playoffs and the losers being placed into consideration for a Cup of Harmony invitation. The 15 group winners that failed to qualify in the first round of the playoffs would face runners-up in the second round, with the winners qualifying for the World Cup. This means that a second or third seed would still have a realistic shot to qualify for the World Cup even if they drew Polar Islandstates as the top seed in their group, but importantly, the group winners would hold a sizable advantage, having a double-chance.
Should signup numbers reach 192 (not counting the hosts) we'll go with 24 groups of 8. Under this format, the top 3 in each group would advance to the playoffs, which would also use the same system and would also be home-and-away. The group winners would, once again, face off in the first round of the playoffs, with the 12 winners qualifying for the World Cup and the 12 losers advancing to the second round of the playoffs. Meanwhile, all of the second place teams would be drawn against a third place team, with the 24 winners advancing to the second round and the 24 losers being placed into consideration for the Cup of Harmony. The second round would, like the first round for the second and third placed teams, be seeded with the 12 group winners and the top 6 remaining second or third placed teams being seeded against the other 18 remaining teams. The 18 winners would qualify for the World Cup.
The exact format may differ depending upon the final numbers, but will generally look something like one of those possibilities, if possible. During the playoffs, there will be no group stage rematches.
Scorination & RP Bonus
We will be using xkoranate, with a slightly tweaked version of the SQIS formula, designed to reduce randomness. To balance things out, we will be using an RP bonus that is cumulative in raw score, but comparative in factor, and quite generous. Based on the factors we will be using, the bonus should kick in early, but continued RPing will be required to maintain the high bonus throughout qualifying. During the Finals, the bonus will be adjusted accordingly to compensate for the shorter length, however a small carryover in raw score will occur. Style modifiers will be the standard -5 to +5, with the positive modifiers indicating a focus on attack, and the negative as a focus on defence.
Tiebreakers
We will, generally, use the RL-approved FIFA tiebreaker rules. Those are goal difference, goals scored, HTH points, HTH GD, HTH goals scored and HTH away goals (for 2-way ties in the qualifying group stage). If still tied, we'll do a neutral site tiebreaker playoff. Should we determine that uneven groups are necessary, and require a need to sort between teams from groups of uneven sizes, the results against the worst team in the larger groups would be dropped for purpose of the tiebreak, but otherwise follow the above provisions.
Anyways, looking forward to questions below.