World Baseball Classic 34 OOC Thread (Signups CLOSED)

by **Nova Anglicana** » Sat Aug 01, 2015 6:54 pm

As WBC Council President, it is my duty and honor to open signups for the 34th edition of our beloved baseball tournament. Please sign up and place your host bids below. All other discussion save for questions over host bids should go in the WBC Discussion Thread.

There has to be a deadline for host bids, so at the moment, that deadline will be 19:00 EST (UTC-4) on Saturday, August 15th. Host bids are recommended, but do not necessarily have to resemble past bids. Here are some examples of previous winning bids.
The winning bid from WBC 33, Gregoryisgodistan.
The winning bid from WBC 32, The Northern Union/Patistan/Jeckland.
The winning bid from WBC 31, Nova Anglicana/Imota.

Puppets are allowed at a maximum of one per nation and must be confirmed by the master nation, but in the end, it is up to the host whether to include them or not.This post also acts as a signup for Nova Anglicana.

Host Bids:
Royal Kingdom of Quebec
Saintland

by **The Royal Kingdom of Quebec** » Sat Aug 01, 2015 7:22 pm

Quebec's back. There'll be a host bid coming up.

by **The Royal Kingdom of Quebec** » Sat Aug 01, 2015 7:25 pm

WBC 34 Bid: Royal Kingdom of Québec

Thehe Québec Baseball Organisation, on behalf of the Royal Kingdom of Québec, submit the following host bid for the 34th edition of the World Baseball Classic:

I. About Royal Kingdom of Québec

Located in Northern AO, Royal Kingdom of Québec is a nation known for its environment, rich cultural diversity and claims one of its region's most educated and cultured population. Led by His Imperial Majesty the Jacques IX, the country is a semi-constitutional monarchy, with both the royalty and the democracy playing a huge role in Quebecois politics. With a high HDI rating and affluent economy, Royal Kingdom of Québec is an advanced nation with long years of peace and stability within the nation, while still allowing for societal and economic progress over the course of its history. With a beautiful environment, advanced economy, state-of-art infrastructure and love of college and pro basketball, Royal Kingdom of Québec is your place to go for your once-in-a-lifetime voyage that welcomes every traveler with smile and cheer.

Royal Kingdom of Québec has a long history of baseball being played. While it's often played by the youth and adults as a recreational sport, its popularity on pro level and generally, has been much less so than other main sports such as hockey, gridiron, basketball, association football, etc. To improve the image and popularity of baseball, the nation of 57 million has decided to lodge a bid to host the WBC, right on Quebecois soil.

II. Format

When it comes to format, I also believe that the most ideal format would involve a multiple of 8 nations. The past 2 WBCs we've experienced some huge decline in signups, so unless there's a sudden influx of signups or withdraws from the competition the most likely numbers for the format would be in 48 or 56 teams. However, it should also be noted that there are many puppet nations in the competition as well.

So, if elected, I'll most likely cutoff the signup at 48, with flexibility available in case of more signups (preferably 56 in that instance). These teams then, using pots, will be divided into 8 groups of 7 each. Should it be a 56-team format would be a single round robin format, with all games being played in Québec. If it's 48 team format, it'll be double round robin, with all games still held here. Top 2 teams per group will advance into the playoffs after qualifying stage, where then they'll be seeded using 1-16 seedings. The playoffs will be a best-of-three bracket, with the finals being best-of-five.

III. Scorination/RP Bonus

The NSFS setting of xkoronate will be used will be used for scorination. The RP Bonus will be cumulative, generous, non-degrading and will emphasize quality over quantity while remaining fair to all styles. We feel that an especially generous RP bonus is necessary for the WBC due to the RP-dependent nature of the tournament and the need for getting RPers interested.

IV. Tiebreakers

For this WBC bid, I've decided to agree on using the same tiebreakers as Gregoryisgodistan back in last WBC:

1. Position in group (When comparing teams in different groups to determine seeding in the knockout round)
2. Wins
3. Run Differential
4. Runs Scored
5. H2H Record
6. H2H Run Differential
7. H2H Runs scored
8. One-game Head to Head Playoff if necessary to determine advancement, otherwise coin flip.

V. Experience

When it comes to hosting, Royal Kingdom of Québec is no stranger as well. Royal Kingdom of Québec has hosted or co-hosted the World Bowl XXIV, World Cup of Hockey XXV&XVI, Baptism of Fire LVII, International Basketball Championships 17, and is currently hosting Cup of Harmony LVXIV with Krytenia. The user behind the nation is currently the President for the World Cup of Hockey Federation and a longtime member in many sporting committees, as well as formerly organising the NSCAA Ice Hockey Competitions. He also has hosted many seasons of domestic hockey and football leagues, and has been working on to scorinate a full front of 8 collegiate sport leagues on top of leagues in 6 pro sports.

We are open to your questions. Feel free to ask!

by **San Llera** » Sat Aug 01, 2015 7:54 pm

San Llera is in.

by **Gregoryisgodistan** » Sat Aug 01, 2015 7:57 pm

In! Bat Slaves!

by **Maklohi Vai** » Sat Aug 01, 2015 8:19 pm

We're in.

by **United States of Devonta** » Sat Aug 01, 2015 8:27 pm

3rd place is in!

by **Cinnapa-Lussadria** » Sat Aug 01, 2015 9:27 pm

We're in!

by **The Sword Bloke** » Sat Aug 01, 2015 9:59 pm

The witch is dead, everybody. The witch is dead.

by **Ko-oren** » Sun Aug 02, 2015 12:41 am

In again

by **Alastonia-** » Sun Aug 02, 2015 12:45 am

Alastonia is in.

by **The Jeckish Union** » Sun Aug 02, 2015 1:41 am

Hey! It's me! Everyone's favourite baseball person! Stop throwing things! Please! Is that a cow?

works? · by **Abanhfleft** » Sun Aug 02, 2015 3:58 am

I can only do so much before I finally succumb to the temptation of going back in for another dip at the World Baseball Classic.

by **Saintland** » Sun Aug 02, 2015 8:06 am

In. For some reason, every time the WBC comes around, it seems I'm tempted to bid for it yet again...

World Baseball Classic 34: Saintland
A Home Run of a Return

What is the Kingdom of Saintland?

Saintland is an island kingdom of roughly 600,000 souls located in the polar portion of Rushmore, founded in the year 966 AD. Earlier this year, the once-proud Kingdom of Saintland was thrown into turmoil, following the assassination of King Paulus XV in the Free Republics. In the final months of his reign, the international image of Saintland was severely damaged by an ill-advised (OOC: IC-only, as you may remember.) boycott of World Cup 67 after their host bid for that World Cup was rejected by the WCC in favor of a bid from Cassadaigua and the Equestrian States.

The new King of Saintland, Petrus XX, has adopted a more conciliatory approach than that of his father. King Petrus XX has been intent upon improving the image of his Kingdom and of the Church of Saintland, the established Church in Saintland (which shares power in Saintland with the King's Government), around the world. However, after attempting to institute democracy in Saintland, he was overthrown by his brother Andreas while in Electrum competing in World Bowl XXVI. Following his restoration by an invading army, King Petrus XX decided to permit Feministvs Sanctvsterra to enter the World Baseball Classic on his Kingdom's behalf.

Saintland entered World Baseball Classics 25 through 28, but King Petrus XX chose not to enter the 29th or 30th editions of the tournament as the former Saintland National Baseball Team were notorious underachievers and the King lacked the time to select a new National Baseball Team, due to his focus on other matters. Feministvs Sanctvsterra sent a team on behalf of Saintland to the following 2 editions of the WBC. Then, in WBC 31, the Sanctii team was caught up in a cheating scandal and banned from the World Baseball Classic for rampant use of performance enhancing substances. Feministvs Sanctvsterra appealed this ruling and were granted permission from the WBC Council to represent Saintland starting in WBC 34.

Saintland has previously hosted quite a few international sports tournaments. The most significant among them are the 59th Baptism of Fire (with Star United States), 27th World Baseball Classic (with Maklohi Vai), World Bowl XXII (with Free Republics) and the 23rd World Cup of Hockey. The latter 3 of these were, by some measures, the most successful editions of those events (OOC: In terms of number of posts in RP/Roster/Results threads). The Kingdom of Saintland also hosted the King Paulus XV Memorial Games.

(OOC: The user behind Saintland has also, as Free Republics, co-hosted the 58th Cup of Harmony and the 68th World Cup, among other events and hosted the X Winter Olympics. As Noburu Taiyou, the user behind Saintland hosted the 6th edition of the International Baseball Slam.)

What format will this bid use?

The format will consist of a group stage, followed by a series best-of playoff series. In the group stage, a double round-robin home-and-away 3 game series format will be used, scorinated at a rate of 1 series per scorination. After the group stage, the remaining teams will travel to Saintland for the remainder of the tournament. For the remainder of the tournament, the format will consist of best-of-5 game series, with the exception of the third place series and any play-in rounds (if necessary) which will be best-of-3 and the finals which will be best-of-7. Playoff series will be scorinated at a rate of 2 games per scorination, with the obvious exception of those decisive games where the winner moves on and the loser goes homes. The exact format will depend upon the final numbers:

24 nations: 4 groups of 6 (top 2 advance)
30 nations: 5 groups of 6 (worst 4 second placed teams to play-in round)
36 nations: 6 groups of 6 (worst 4 third placed teams to play-in round)
42 nations: 7 groups of 6 (top 2 third placed teams advance as wild cards)
48 nations: 8 groups of 6 (top 2 advance)
54 nations: 9 groups of 6 (worst 4 second placed teams to play-in round)
60 nations: 10 groups of 6 (worst 8 second placed teams to play-in round)
66 nations: 11 groups of 6 (worst 2 third placed teams to play-in round)
72 nations: 12 groups of 6 (worst 8 third placed teams to play-in round)

OOC: Why did you choose this specific format?

The surest way to reduce randomness is to increase the sample size. You can reduce randomness by altering the scorinator to be less random, but the most effective way to do so is to increase the number of games played so that everything evens out. The baseball scorinators that we have available either produce very good results over the course of a full season (though even then, unmodified NSFS produces leagues slightly more competitive than RL MLB) or produce results that are so predictable that they are unrealistic for the sport of baseball (for example, in the WBC where the xkoranate formula was used, #1 ranked Super-Llamaland went undefeated over the course of around 40 games!).

One means of lengthening the group stage would be to increase group sizes and have the tournament last 14, 18 or even 22 matchdays. This was, in fact, done in WBC 19, which used an 8 groups of 8 format. However, group stages throughout NS Sports have tended to become shorter over recent years because long group stages tend to increase burnout and given the lack of RP in the WBC over the past few editions, I don't think its a good idea to lengthen the tournament.

That leaves the x-game series format, which is generally utilized in RL baseball in the form of the 3 game series, as the best means to control randomness. By scorinating an entire series per scorination, the tournament remains the same length OOCly while it is lengthened ICly. This makes it more likely that the ranked and/or RPing teams will advance. By also lengthening the playoff series in the same level, it is more likely that the stronger team (by rank+RP bonus) will advance.

OOC: How will you scorinate? What RP bonus scheme will you use? How will you grade RPs?

I will use the latest version of Xkoranate with the modified version of the NSFS3 formula that I created several months back. RP bonus will be non-cumulative and will be a 5-day degrading bonus with a 50% degradation following each matchday. This will permit the RP bonus to have a greater immediate effect without causing max points-related randomness issues. Roster bonus will count as a day of RP bonus, allowing teams to earn 2 days worth of RP bonus prior to the first scorination, and will degrade over the course of the tournament. The bonus scale will be 0-2, meaning that teams will be able to obtain up to 3.875 points of roleplay bonus if they earn the maximum bonus for 5 consecutive matchdays (putting roleplay on a near-equal basis with rank). Bonus will only degrade for nations whose teams are playing on that given day. While the host will be ineligible to accrue RP bonus, a home advantage of 2 points will be awarded to the host nation (thus, Saintland will have a value of 2.65 in the scorinator for all matchdays). Third party scorination will be requested should Saintland reach the playoff rounds.

Do you have enough stadiums to handle this format?

We will be using a total up to 8 stadiums for the World Baseball Classic, located throughout the Kingdom of Saintland. Of these stadiums, 4 of have previously hosted WBC action (Royal Park, Royal Stadium, Via Damascus Stadium and King Paulus XIV Park), while 3 others have previously hosted international competition (Civitate Dei Stadium, Progress Stadium and Amphitheatrum Confessiones). All games from each playoff series will be played in the same stadiums.

What tiebreakers will you use? What will you do regarding seeding?

To break ties (where advancement is in question), a tiebreaker playoff will be used and will take place in Saintland. For a 2-way tie for a single spot, a one game playoff will be used. To break a 3-way tie for a single spot (or 2 spots), a single round-robin will be used. To break a 4-way tie for a single spot, a single elimination mini-tournament will be used. To break a 4-way tie for 2 spots, the 4 teams will be drawn against an opponent at random and 2 one game playoffs will be held to determine advancement. Single elimination mini-tournaments will also be used if the number of teams tied is more than 4. The seeding tiebreakers will be used to determine seeding, for single elimination mini-tournaments. In the event that a 3-way single round-robin tiebreak results in a deadlocked outcome, the MLB tiebreakers will be used on the following day. The top team based upon the seeding tiebreakers (counting the previous single round-robin tiebreaker) will receive the bye and will face the winner of the first game between the other 2 teams. Under the worst-case scenario, tiebreakers would only require 4 days and will be scorinated at a rate of 1 game per day. Results from tiebreaker games will not be counted for seeding purposes.

Pots will be used to seed the groups, with the initial group draw seeded based upon ranking. The playoffs will be seeded based on (in order) record, HTH results, run differential and (finally) the rank+bonus values used for the final scorination of the previous group stage. Adjustments will be made to prevent rematches from the group stages (where possible).

If anybody has any further questions, feel free to ask them.

by **Gregoryisgodistan** » Sun Aug 02, 2015 8:34 am

What IC basis is there for scorinating a potentially infinite number of three-way tiebreakers? I personally have no problem with the IC-ly long tournament, but it should at least have an upper bound, which this doesn't. Granted, the scenario is unlikely enough that it really doesn't impact my vote that much, but I'd still like to know.

On that note, in terms of three-way tiebreakers, if all teams finish 1-1, will the other criteria be used or will we play a (potentially infinite) extra tiebreakers the next day?

Edit: Why not use the MLB tiebreaking procedure for three-way ties? Since the scorinator doesn't actually give home field advantage, there would be no reason to have teams choose their designation of A, B, or C which would complicate things. Just give whoever wins the criteria spot C (the only team that only has to play one game), the second team spot A (win two games, but both at home, not that that matters) and the third team spot B (win two games, one on the road and one at home.) And use the procedure for three-way tie for two wild-card spots to determine it if there are two spots available.

by **San Llera** » Sun Aug 02, 2015 8:39 am

Isn't it true that eliminating roster bonus will incentivize nations to just post a list of players instead of a detailed roster?

by **Banija** » Sun Aug 02, 2015 9:12 am

We'll sign up

by **The Central Shadow Nation** » Sun Aug 02, 2015 9:14 am

Hold on,lemme get into this.

https://www.nationstates.net/nation=the ... /id=427120

by **Saintland** » Sun Aug 02, 2015 9:31 am

Gregoryisgodistan wrote:What IC basis is there for scorinating a potentially infinite number of three-way tiebreakers? I personally have no problem with the IC-ly long tournament, but it should at least have an upper bound, which this doesn't. Granted, the scenario is unlikely enough that it really doesn't impact my vote that much, but I'd still like to know.

On that note, in terms of three-way tiebreakers, if all teams finish 1-1, will the other criteria be used or will we play a (potentially infinite) extra tiebreakers the next day?

Edit: Why not use the MLB tiebreaking procedure for three-way ties? Since the scorinator doesn't actually give home field advantage, there would be no reason to have teams choose their designation of A, B, or C which would complicate things. Just give whoever wins the criteria spot C (the only team that only has to play one game), the second team spot A (win two games, but both at home, not that that matters) and the third team spot B (win two games, one on the road and one at home.) And use the procedure for three-way tie for two wild-card spots to determine it if there are two spots available.

I've elected to use the MLB procedures in the event of a deadlocked outcome, as it ICly makes no sense to delay the tournament indefinitely while 3 teams play each other over and over again until somebody can win 2 games in a row.

San Llera wrote:Isn't it true that eliminating roster bonus will incentivize nations to just post a list of players instead of a detailed roster?

Not particularly, since rosters are usually cut-and-paste from the previous edition of the tournament (or previous tournament in the same sport) with minor (if any) changes anyway. It'd actually be more work to cut a detailed roster down to just a list of names. Most first-time participants don't read host bids and generally tend to go by what everybody else is doing for a roster. That said, I would treat highly detailed rosters that weren't obvious cut-and-paste jobs from the previous IBS or WBC thread as an RP. The reasoning behind eliminating roster bonus has to do with the sheer number of teams that have attained fluke results due to roster bonus in previous WBCs. By eliminating roster bonus, the balance of the 3 Rs is tilted slightly more toward the nations that are actively RPing (or that, at the very least, have a decently high spot in the rankings).

by **Nova Anglicana** » Sun Aug 02, 2015 9:37 am

Saintland wrote:
San Llera wrote:Isn't it true that eliminating roster bonus will incentivize nations to just post a list of players instead of a detailed roster?

Not particularly, since rosters are usually cut-and-paste from the previous edition of the tournament (or previous tournament in the same sport) with minor (if any) changes anyway. It'd actually be more work to cut a detailed roster down to just a list of names. Most first-time participants don't read host bids and generally tend to go by what everybody else is doing for a roster. That said, I would treat highly detailed rosters that weren't obvious cut-and-paste jobs from the previous IBS or WBC thread as an RP. The reasoning behind eliminating roster bonus has to do with the sheer number of teams that have attained fluke results due to roster bonus in previous WBCs. By eliminating roster bonus, the balance of the 3 Rs is tilted slightly more toward the nations that are actively RPing (or that, at the very least, have a decently high spot in the rankings).

What would you do in the event that an individual decides to RP with something that has nothing to do with the WBC? They want to tell their nation's origin story, or the latest war they're in, or whatever, where the roster is ancillary (or even unnecessary) given their RP storyline. Would you still give them no RP bonus?

by **Gregoryisgodistan** » Sun Aug 02, 2015 9:44 am

Nova Anglicana wrote:
Saintland wrote:

Not particularly, since rosters are usually cut-and-paste from the previous edition of the tournament (or previous tournament in the same sport) with minor (if any) changes anyway. It'd actually be more work to cut a detailed roster down to just a list of names. Most first-time participants don't read host bids and generally tend to go by what everybody else is doing for a roster. That said, I would treat highly detailed rosters that weren't obvious cut-and-paste jobs from the previous IBS or WBC thread as an RP. The reasoning behind eliminating roster bonus has to do with the sheer number of teams that have attained fluke results due to roster bonus in previous WBCs. By eliminating roster bonus, the balance of the 3 Rs is tilted slightly more toward the nations that are actively RPing (or that, at the very least, have a decently high spot in the rankings).

What would you do in the event that an individual decides to RP with something that has nothing to do with the WBC? They want to tell their nation's origin story, or the latest war they're in, or whatever, where the roster is ancillary (or even unnecessary) given their RP storyline. Would you still give them no RP bonus?

But the roster still helps others RP. It isn't that hard to post one.

by **The Central Shadow Nation** » Sun Aug 02, 2015 10:00 am

Nova Anglicana wrote:
Saintland wrote:

Not particularly, since rosters are usually cut-and-paste from the previous edition of the tournament (or previous tournament in the same sport) with minor (if any) changes anyway. It'd actually be more work to cut a detailed roster down to just a list of names. Most first-time participants don't read host bids and generally tend to go by what everybody else is doing for a roster. That said, I would treat highly detailed rosters that weren't obvious cut-and-paste jobs from the previous IBS or WBC thread as an RP. The reasoning behind eliminating roster bonus has to do with the sheer number of teams that have attained fluke results due to roster bonus in previous WBCs. By eliminating roster bonus, the balance of the 3 Rs is tilted slightly more toward the nations that are actively RPing (or that, at the very least, have a decently high spot in the rankings).

What would you do in the event that an individual decides to RP with something that has nothing to do with the WBC? They want to tell their nation's origin story, or the latest war they're in, or whatever, where the roster is ancillary (or even unnecessary) given their RP storyline. Would you still give them no RP bonus?

*pokes*
Signnneeeedddddd upppppppp

by **Skeckoa** » Sun Aug 02, 2015 4:15 pm

Skeckoa - Sign's up, no host bid though

by **Frenline Delpha** » Sun Aug 02, 2015 4:32 pm

Hell yeah. "I've been waiting since breakfast for this." -Cyborg
Also, this sign-up came out on my birthday. Yay.

by **Equestrian States** » Sun Aug 02, 2015 5:59 pm

Eh. Sure, why not. Maybe one of these tournaments won't be a total disaster...

World Baseball Classic 34 OOC Thread (Signups CLOSED)

World Baseball Classic 34 OOC Thread (Signups CLOSED)

Who is online