WCoH XLII (42) Signups (OPEN)

[Gergary]

In just to keep sucking at the bottom of groups

[PotatoFarmers]

In, hopefully RPing this time

[Recuecn]

In!

[St Saratoga]

In!

[United States of Devonta]

In

[-Anthor-]

Got some redeeming to do, let's do it!

[Gyatso-kai]

Of course we are back

Hope to redeem ourselves after the embarrassment of last round >.<

[Srednjaci]

Hello

in

[Grey County]

Grey County will attend the WCOH for the first time ever

[Graintfjall]

World Cup of Hockey 42
Græntfjall Host Bid
Life, the Universe & Everything

Introduction

In celebration of edition 42 of the World Cup of Hockey, Græntfjall’s bid will have the theme “Life, the Universe & Everything”. We promise to keep references to dolphins modest. The White Winter Queendom of Græntfjall is a Rushmori nation known for its wintry climate, Nordic naming traditions, love of beer, heavy metal and opera, the instability of its governing coalitions, and the perpetual fear of krakens exhibited by almost its entire citizenry. Ice hockey is the second most popular sport in the country and the national team has competed in two prior WCsoH and the Olympics, all without any kind of success despite great enthusiasm.

Format

The tournament will be divided into three phases: Life, the Universe, and Everything.

In the Life phase teams will be randomly drawn into 4 groups from seeded pots (Græntfjall will not be given Pot 1 status and will be seeded as normal). Because only 4 groups will be used, the total number of entrants is fairly flexible and works with any multiple of 4; if an exact multiple is not reached, the addition or subtraction of puppets (assuming some sign up...) can be effected to produce a desirable number. Each of these 4 groups will play single round-robin. If there is an even number of teams in each group, there will be an off-day approximately halfway through; if there is an odd number, each team will have a naturally occurring off-day. All of these games will take place in Græntfjall, with information to be provided about arenas and national culture. Games tied in regulation will go to overtime; games tied in overtime will go to shootouts. 3 points for a win in regulation, 2 for an overtime/SO win, 1 for an overtime/SO loss, 0 points for a loss in regulation. If two teams are exactly tied on points, the tie will be broken on their head-to-head result. If three or more teams are exactly tied on points, the tie will be broken by, in order: total points obtained during games between those teams; total goal difference from games between those teams; result against best ranked team outside these teams; result against next best ranked team outside these teams. If it is still not possible to break the tie a shootout will be simulated between the affected teams. This is based on my interpretation of the RL IIHF tiebreaker rules minus goals scored [given the ability to choose style modifiers in NS].

In the Universe phase the top 4 teams from each group will be seeded into a single elimination 16 team bracket. Group winners play 4th placed teams and 2nd placed teams play 3rd placed teams. These games will all be played in Northwest Græntfjall at the site of the new GANAX Cosmodrome development where Græntfjall is constructing a new spaceport. At the conclusion of this phase, an (unofficial) All-Universe Team, based on performances during the tournament, will be posted.

In the Everything phase the semi-final winners will return to Háttmark while the losers head to Laafjörður, to play final and 3PPO respectively. In both Universe and Everything phases all games are one-off (no series).

Scorination

I will be using the SQIS modded formula. I ran some tests (2 lots of 4 x 500) and, compared to NSFS, they produce very similar win rates. However, the goal distribution under the SQIS formula is much more realistic. xkoranate style mods will be used from -5 to +5.

Roleplay bonus

On each day’s cutoff a small piece of information about Græntfjaller life (and, come the universe phase, space programme) will be provided and a prompt offered to those who wish to respond with information about life in their countries (though there is no penalty for ignoring this and instead RPing a conventional – or, indeed, unconventional – match report). The aim of this is not to dictate people’s RP, but provide additional inspiration. We are about to hit an avalanche of non-WCC tournaments and there may be those who want to participate but find themselves unable to think up RP topics for five different tournaments. And if everyone ignores the prompts, then nothing of value is lost. Based on a probable tournament length of around 12 – 17 games, RP bonus will be set fairly low to prevent ranks being swamped but will be cumulative, non-degrading, and generously applied to rosters to a maximum of 2 MDs.

Experience

As other nations, I have hosted three prior WCsoH (11, 12, 31) and a previous WJHC. I have hosted various other tournaments in various sports with this and other nations. With another nation, I am currently bidding to host the Campeanato Esportiva. However, I am not concerned about the overlap of these two tournaments: I have hosted overlapping tournaments before (including three last year) and the CE should be done before the WCoH Universe stage, should I win both bids.

Other details

I am comfortable solo bidding and have hosted all prior WCsoH solo, but am happy to discuss co-hosting with anyone who has a compatible vision. Questions/bribes welcome.

[World Cup of Hockey Federation]

Signups updated to this point, and the bid is linked in the OP.

[Taeshan]

yeah

[Mapletish]

Yes

[Mercedini]

Jumping in for this one!

[Xanneria]

Haven't done this in a while, so Lets Go!

[Peoples Republic of Xabia]

Xabia will enter a team.

[The Grandest Empire]

I'm in

[Fluvannia]

Yes hello

[Savojarna]

Yes pls

[Suimede]

sounds fun let's DO it

[Pius Desurongcrandis]

In

[Omerica]

Let’s have a go

[Fluvannia]

WCOH XLII - FLUVANNIAN BID

Hosting Experience
Fluvannia hosted WJHC 15; in unsanctioned international action, the nation also developed their own hockey tournament last June, open to nations from several embassy regions in order to foster good relations via sport. They’ve also overseen the scorination of a domestic hockey league, currently in its second season.

IC Info

On the far eastern coast of the continent of Poyoinen, on the western shore of the Sarasta Ocean, lies the Federated Principality of Fluvannia. A federal constitutional monarchy and the home of several different ethnic groups, Fluvannia plays home to an impressive display of global manufacturing and industrial enterprises, and as a result the standard of living is relatively high. Relevant to this bid, hockey is the national religion sport and is the most popular in terms of both spectators and revenue; its less-expensive derivatives of broomball and inline hockey see larger participation numbers, however. During warmer months, Fluvannians are also keen participants in the national summer sport of hurling, along with more regionally popular sports such as soccer and baseball. Motor sports, especially rally driving, are popular year-round.

On the ice, the Fluvannia Hockey League represents the top level of domestic competition. Ten teams compete for the Union Cup. The Fluvannia Intercollegiate Athletic Association also draws high viewership for its championship tournament each March; most members of the national team currently play in the FHL, with a few in the FIAA.

Scorination

Scorination will be done using xkoranate, using the SQIS Modifiers and no shootouts. In the group stage, wins will be worth 2 points, ties 1 point, and losses 0. Single-elimination games will be played using overtime. Style modifiers may range from -5 to +5. RP posts and rosters will be graded qualitatively, mainly on the basis of creativity. RP bonuses will be cumulative. Home ice advantage will be turned off to represent the tournament being played at a neutral site (even for the hosts).

Scheduling

The everything thread will go up once the host is determined. Based on the current schedule (including the fact that the signup period has no deadline yet) I would try to target MD1 for Monday, March 22, with groups decided either the Friday or Saturday before. RP cutoffs would be around 10 PM Central Daylight Time (UTC - 5:00) on match days.

Format

Based on the number of participants in previous World Cups, I would expect to have somewhere in the high-40s to low-50s in terms of participants. For the sake of discussion we will assume a count of 64; the format can be adjusted as necessary.

Participants would be separated based on WCOH rank into eight pots of eight, which will in turn be used to draw eight groups of eight. While the number of groups will be minimized to maximize participants per group (and increase number of group stage games for participants), I'd like to avoid going over 10 teams per group if possible. As with WJHC 15, groups will be weighted slightly (for example, two Pot A teams in Group 1, and none in Group 8, and two Pot H teams in Group 8, with none in Group 1). I felt this kept each group reasonably fair to both returning participants and newcomers, while also preventing new teams from being steamrolled and losing interest in future tournaments as a result.

With 64 teams, group play would be done in a single round-robin stage. Using the tiebreakers below where necessary, the top three teams from each group will advance to the knockout round, where they will be seeded using those same tiebreakers (all group winners as the top eight seeds, all group runners-up as seeds 9-16, third place teams as 17-24). Teams 9-24 will play a round of play-in games (9 vs. 24, 10 vs. 23, etc.), with the winners advancing to the round of 16. In each round, the highest remaining seed will play the lowest remaining seed, etc. -- the bracket is not "fixed". For the purposes of the WCOH rankings, I think it's reasonable to treat the top 8 seeds as having a "win" during the play-in games to represent their bye to the next round; this will keep everyone on the same number of games played for the tournament.

Tiebreakers

Ties in the points standings and initial knockout seeding will be broken using the following criteria, in this order:
- Head-to-head Points
- Goal Differential
- Head-to-Head Goal Differential
- Goals Scored
- Head-to-Head Goals Scored

Misc.

I am open to a joint bid with another host if an agreement can be reached.

[Sannyamathland]

Jumping In !

[Graintfjall]

As with WJHC 15, groups will be weighted slightly (for example, two Pot A teams in Group 1, and none in Group 8, and two Pot H teams in Group 8, with none in Group 1). I felt this kept each group reasonably fair to both returning participants and newcomers, while also preventing new teams from being steamrolled and losing interest in future tournaments as a result.

Fluvannia, can you explain specifically how this will work?