The World Cup Discussion Thread (OOC, Version IV)

[PotatoFarmers]

And the curtain draws on a great cycle...

A huge thank you to our WC hosts (Tae and Ethane), as well as our CoH hosts (Cass and NWK) for hosting such wonderful tournaments. There may be some issues that occurred along the way, but overall it was generally a job well done. The CoH was held smoothly and with some high standards despite the size of the field, while the WC was hosted nicely even though the scorinator produced some weird issues in both the qualifiers and the group stage.

Congratulations to Nephara and Mriin respectively for their WC and CoH titles. For Nephara, it is a well deserving title after the heartbreak of the last 2 finals, while for Mriin, it would be a nice way to retire the nation from WCC tournaments. At the same time, commiserations to Ko-oren and Eura.

Apart from that, I would like to offer my congratulations (as well as a virtual cookie) to the winners of the WC/CoH knockout stage prediction competitions. For WC, it was a tie between Electrum and Recu at the top, in terms of the number of points, while the CoH one was won by Newmanistan. You can refer to the results: WC87, CoH79 respectively.

Now I guess it is time for the regionals to take over, and for the domestic RPs to start coming out (note to self: must. start. early.)

Till we meet again in the next WCQ

[Banija]

Thank you to our WCC hosts for this cycle, and congratulations to our champions, especially Nephara! Third time's the charm.

A fun cycle indeed.

[Nephara]

Green is mathematically the strongest colour. Thanks to our hosts, who besides hosting a seamless World Cup proved beyond doubt that double scorination is the way to go going forward. Commiserations to Ko-oren - the curse is broken, and going forward the Dragonflies will be serious contenders. And thanks to the community - this only matters because of us, because each and every one of this made it matter.

[Equestrian States]

Post-WC87 SRS+ rankings update is now available

Key: 7 points for winning the World Cup. 6 points for second place. 5 points for third place. 4 points for fourth place. 3 points for elimination in the quarterfinals. 2 points for elimination in the second round. 1 point for elimination in the group stage. 1 additional point for co-hosting World Cup finals.

The nation with the most points not yet in the World Cup Nations' Hall of Fame following World Cup 87 is Ko-oren, an active nation with 28 points from 15 finals appearances. As such, Ko-oren joins the Hall of Fame as the WC87 inductee.

Additionally, following the responses received via survey last cycle, I have decided that both Apox and Wight will be added to the World Cup Nations' Hall of Fame as special inductees in recognition of their contributions to the NS World Cup community. I will also note here that the old SRS rankings formula has been amended to award one additional point each cycle to those nations which co-host the World Cup finals.

Congratulations, Ko-oren, Apox, and Wight!

As always, if you catch any potential errors, please shoot me a TG or PM so I can fix them.

[Commonwealth of Baker Park]

Green is mathematically the strongest colour. Thanks to our hosts, who besides hosting a seamless World Cup proved beyond doubt that double scorination is the way to go going forward. Commiserations to Ko-oren - the curse is broken, and going forward the Dragonflies will be serious contenders. And thanks to the community - this only matters because of us, because each and every one of this made it matter.

I won NS $$ 1 Billion!!! on Neph winning!!
All drinks on Ichi Tuzzio's tab...in perpetuity!

[Independent Athletes from Quebec]

Thank you too all 6 of our WCC cohosts this cycle, and congratulations to Nephara and consolations to Ko-oren! Both nations have broken their own streaks- former by making the third time her charm, and latter by breaking the Ko-orenite Streak of Second Round. Congratulations once again!

Green is mathematically the strongest colour. Thanks to our hosts, who besides hosting a seamless World Cup proved beyond doubt that double scorination is the way to go going forward. Commiserations to Ko-oren - the curse is broken, and going forward the Dragonflies will be serious contenders. And thanks to the community - this only matters because of us, because each and every one of this made it matter.

I won NS $$ 1 Billion!!! on Neph winning!!
All drinks on Ichi Tuzzio's tab...in perpetuity!

With that.....I am going to bet N$$ 1 billion on you and Chromatika making the SRS hall of fame before I do.

That would still imply my possible induction by end of WC90, which delights me either way.

[Ko-oren]

Thanks all, from the hosts to the opponents to those I didn't run into this time around!

Congrats Nephara, a dynasty now rewarded with a title. I was only here because of Margaret's blessing, and all of a sudden all the good results came out at once.

[Commonwealth of Baker Park]

Thanks all, from the hosts to the opponents to those I didn't run into this time around!

Congrats Nephara, a dynasty now rewarded with a title. I was only here because of Margaret's blessing, and all of a sudden all the good results came out at once.

Congrats on the HOF, my fellow "GSW (!)" cohort.

[Wight]

Post-WC87 SRS+ rankings update is now available

[snip]

Additionally, following the responses received via survey last cycle, I have decided that both Apox and Wight will be added to the World Cup Nations' Hall of Fame as special inductees in recognition of their contributions to the NS World Cup community. I will also note here that the old SRS rankings formula has been amended to award one additional point each cycle to those nations which co-host the World Cup finals.

Congratulations, Banija, Apox, and Wight!

As always, if you catch any potential errors, please shoot me a TG or PM so I can fix them.

How entirely delightful - sincere thanks to EQS and anyone who was kind enough to endorse their proposal. I’m rather proud right now.

Búa says hi!

[Sarzonia]

Congrats to Nephara on winning the World Cup, to Mrinn on winning the Cup of Harmony, and to Ko-oren, Bonesea and Wight on becoming Hall of Famers!

[Adab]

Congratulations to the winners and Hall of Famers!

If you don't mind me asking, when will the next cycle start? I'm interested in (re)joining the tournament. I participated like five World Cups ago before real life took over.

[Audioslavia]

Congratulations Nephara and Mriin for breaking your 'losing finals' streaks. I know a little of that 'well thank heavens for that' feeling, but I'll remind you that the losing bug isn't something you become immune to after shaking it off. And well done to Ethane and Taeshan for running a successful cup.

With regards to the Unofficial World Championships:

The current version of the Interim Unofficial World Championship was unsuccessfully defended in the World Cup final, meaning Nephara win the UWC for the eighth time. Only hardy perennials Vilita (13), Starblaydia (12), Valanora (11) and Audioslavia (10) have won the title more often than the Nepharans.

With regards to the original Unofficial World Championship, Mriin will be taking it with them into the void. There's no need to create a new interim title because we already have the one held by Nephara.

Until Mriin, Free Republics or Endray Island return, that interim title will be the only active one. Unless it, too, goes missing...

[Quebec and Shingoryeo]

So, folks. We have an interesting RP opportunity here.

With a critical change in narrative direction for The Wanderer's Guide To Somewhere- effective this football cycle (the change will not be reflected in World Baseball Classic and World Cup of Hockey until the cycle following WC88)- we will be seeing some changes as Pierre McCarthy, a Quebecois mega-agent, will be taking over from Asher Lundrigan as the Protagonist for TWGS megaseries as we approach the end of Phase 1 and beginning of Phase 2.

While not much has been RP'd out of him, the conventional narrative states that Pierre, the rookie and the vet, is chairing the Maison McCarthy, the sports agency based in Cenial and Quebec City that represents roughly few dozens of international athletes as his clients. Since Pierre McCarthy, a thirty-seven year old Quebecois based in Cenial, Ceni, is an agent of past, present and future in various sports (predominantly association football, but also in other sports as well), it is safe to say that I am currently seeking applicants.

Thus, Henry the Narrator and Pierre McCarthy, are looking for an athlete or two (retired ones are welcome, especially if the narrative for said applicant is that they were Pierre's client sometime during their career) to be represented by Maison McCarthy in his agency, to represent his clients' interests and bring best possible transfer/club-related situations possible for them. More applicants will be accepted depending if the said nation/user has past history with me or my nation.

Since Pierre McCarthy is a busy man with great ability to sniff talent, an applicant who's either a) had a celebrated or above-average career and retired (thereby being Alumni of the Maison McCarthy over last 15 IC years), b) is currently looking to make bigger splashes and moves for their career's sake, or c) a promising prospect looking not to be duped so easily and wishes for a major career move, would be preferred. Enamoured by the talent and the personality of his clients, needless to say that Pierre McCarthy would do his best to protect the interests of his clients, even if it means the entertaining exchange of words.

IC Benefits: Services of an agent whose ability to generate noise in almost every nation's media with a spiel or a sentence. He will prioritise his client's interests, whether it be securing a new contract, an impressive transfer, illegal substances and vices, or a next career after retirement.

OOC Benefits: Over the course of next 2 cycles and at various points after that, Pierre McCarthy's past, present and future clients will be mentioned and featured on his RPs to various degrees, with possibility for further RP opportunities. This can be arranged upon matter of convenience.

To apply - TG back to Quebec and Shingoryeo or Independent Athletes from Quebec with information, details and rough calibre of talent the candidate holds. DMing me would be fine, but only if you have a detailed candidate information RP'd in past. [u]Make sure to mention if he's a prospect, a mid-career athlete, or a retiree who's enjoyed his services over last 15 years (just over 7 cycles). Don't forget to mention about his personalities and tendencies, as well as background, to allow me to create accurate, detailed portrait of whom Pierre will be dealing with.

On my front, I promise that the applicants be treated as respectfully as they should be. But if you are planning to use Pierre for an RP or two, or a cameo, please let me know so I can be of help at various points over next RL year or two. Cheers!

[Zwangzug]

Congratulations to Lothas Ludwig of Valanora on an impressive six goals in the proper; you have been awarded this cycle's Silicon Boot by our unofficial statisticians.

*Juan Tzimisces' goalscoring record, while prolific, was deemed "against the spirit of the award" following panel review.

(BTW, my Windows home screen for today was the Olympic National Forest in Washington state, which is what I used as a rough image for the temperate forests of Namiri. This has nothing to do with this particular World Cup, I just thought it was neat.)

[Banija]

Hello Amigos!

Tells people to prepare for long post

Of course, right after the World Cup Final, my term of office as President and Drawkland's term as Vice President have officially begun! Thank you to Equestria to dutifully and faithfully serving as President for 5 full cycles. His many efforts in keeping this thing we call the World Cup churning are greatly appreciated by everyone.

And, so, of course. Nephara is our champion. Big congratulations to her! And congrats as well to our other WCC champions for the Cycle, Mriin(CoH) and Treekidistan(BoF).

And now for the question that, while surely not at the top of everybody's minds, but floating somewhere around the back- when will the next World Cup?

I know last Summer(after either WC 84 or 85, can't remember) we had a big discussion in here on the pace of World Cups, with many different viewpoints on how many World Cups we should aim for in a calendar, and how to get there. Should we start signups immediately after the World Cup ends(which we functionally did do for WC86), should we have a bid deadline set when signups go up(traditionally done in other NSS tournaments but not the World Cup), etc...

Last time I checked, we were pacing about 2.5 World Cups per year. Looking at the last 2 years, World Cups 82-86, we had 5 tournaments, so that puts us at about 2.5 World Cups per calendar year. Many people thought that pace was too slow, and consequently it took too long to try and climb the ladder.

It, of course, leaves us with a quandary. How do you increase the pace of World Cups, to say three or 3.5 per year, while preventing burnout, and still allowing the rest of NSS to take place? Especially in this sport- things like regionals, the U18s, the DBCs, and allowing space for the IFCF.

First, I do applaud all the nations who run regionals for getting their signups up adn running within a few days of the World Cup Final. That will make this easier.

Anyways, the only way it can be done, I think, is with a plan and intentionality. We've been at a pace of 2.5 World Cups per year for a few years now, and unless we really try to jolt it forward, we'll go along at 5 World Cups every two years for a long time. May be fine for some people, not fine for others(reading back through the discussion, most people thought it was too few, but of course, people may change their minds?)

So here are my thoughts. This is with the goal of increasing World Cups to at least a pace of 3 per year, maximum of 3.5(so 6-7 tournaments every two years, rather than 5).

For World Cup 88, specifically-

1. To allow for regionals and youth tournaments and the next IFCF Cycle, we'd wait to open signups in late March.
2. To try and intentionally keep the pace up, we'd set a hard WC/BoF bidding deadline for early April- give people about 10-14 days to get bids together(and).
3. With this, assuming we get bids in time, we could have a Baptism of Fire from mid to late April, with Qualifying potentially starting in early May, and the Finals ending maybe by mid June?

I think that could give both enough space from the last World Cup(I know I don't particularly prefer signups to go up so soon after the last tournament) and yet still put us on a path to speed up the pace of World Cups.

And then, I'm really going to start spitballing some dates here, but potentially we could have a timeline that looks something like the following, allowing us to fit three World Cups into this year.

World Cup 89- Signups in early to mid July, BoF late July to early August, Quals in August, Finals in early to mid September?

World Cup 90- Signups in mid to late October, BoF in early November, Quals in November-December, Finals in December-January 2022.

If we kept following similar pacing, that could put us at 7 World Cups for 2021-2022, including World Cup 87. So, a pace of about 3.5 per year.

That is, at least, where I'm at. Obviously, I'm looking for everybody's thoughts and opinions on the matter, both the specifics of what I'm thinking and the larger idea of trying to increase the number of World Cups, both whether or not it's something the community wants, and whether or not this is the right way to go about it.

Looking forward to reading.

[Audioslavia]

Getting closer to 3 or 3.5 World Cups per year is what I'd prefer. Personally I'm still a fan of starting the signups within a couple of days of the previous tournament ending. The sign-up process and the voting for / running of the BoF takes a fair bit of time and gives the regional tournaments more than enough of a window to run.

[Drawkland]

Getting closer to 3 or 3.5 World Cups per year is what I'd prefer. Personally I'm still a fan of starting the signups within a couple of days of the previous tournament ending. The sign-up process and the voting for / running of the BoF takes a fair bit of time and gives the regional tournaments more than enough of a window to run.

I think this is the key takeaway no matter what. I think a lot of people panic when signups go up "too fast" but really if the signup timing process remains consistent then it's no cause for alarm since the signup thread opening is still, at the very least, a month away from WCQ MD1.

[San Ortelio]

Which would be the projected frequency of the IFCF in this timeframe? One for each WC?

[Banija]

Which would be the projected frequency of the IFCF in this timeframe? One for each WC?

This would be a decision for the IFCF, so I have no idea. I think we're on pace for like 3 or 4 IFCFs per calendar year, currently.

As for Audio's comment, I think Drawk pretty much hits it on the head. I personally think we don't want signups to sit for forever, I don't think it's conducive for new users. Which is why I'm trying what we will try for this tournament.

Of course I'm theorizing, so I guess we'll find out soon enough if that's actually true or not, and we can adjust for 89 and forward.

[Ethane]

Hey guys,

Thanks very much to everyone who participated in the World Cup. It was an honour to host such an important competition in the multiverse. Thanks for giving, and keeping your trust in us as we went through the tournament. I know there were some bumpy points. Some decisions that others may have made differently. But anyhow, thanks for sticking with us right through to the end. We really enjoyed reading your RPs - the sheer effort some of you put into your RPs is honestly amazing. It was a really enjoyable experience.

Just want to thank a couple of people. Thanks to Taeshan for co-hosting, and also for scoring the final few matches in the tournament when I had to step away. And thanks also to Banija who helped with the formatting and tables at the end of the qualifier group stages when I lost my files due to a harddrive malfunction - here's a lesson to always back up your data! And thanks to the rest of you for participating, writing your RPs, keeping me up later because you needed 5 more minutes to finish etc.

And sorry this is so late, but I've been away from NS a bit due to personal issues.

[Sel Appa]

*stumbles in from a long slumber*

[Northern Sunrise Islands]

Additionally, following the responses received via survey last cycle, I have decided that both Apox and Wight will be added to the World Cup Nations' Hall of Fame as special inductees in recognition of their contributions to the NS World Cup community. I will also note here that the old SRS rankings formula has been amended to award one additional point each cycle to those nations which co-host the World Cup finals.

Eh, took him long enough. Congrats, 'poxie.

[NSWC Signups]

As quite a number of you have already seen... World Cup 88 Signups are open!

Was originally planning on a little earlier than this, but definitely wanted to be behind the IFCF in terms of timing.

Anyways, a couple of things to point out.

First: I want to say that, not pursuant to WC tradition, I have listed a host bid deadline with the signups, before we have any bids. The deadline to get your host bids in for the World Cup and the Baptism of Fire is Tuesday, April 6th, at 10:00 PM EDT. We'll see how this works. Gives just over a week, including the fact that we've got a holiday weekend coming up.

Second- I've taken the time to update both EWCC Membership and WCC Membership. I am far from infallible. If you feel that you are supposed to be on either list and I left you off, please telegram me at my main account Banija so we can fix the error. Eligilibity rules to be a member of either committee are listed in the WCC Constitution.

Take up any complaints/comments/etc.... Here in this thread, or TG me at Banija if you want to speak with me directly. Otherwise, I'm happy, for the very first time, to fire off the starting guns for World Cup 88!

[NSWC Signups]

We have our First BoF bid!

A reminder, that WC and BoF bids are due on Tuesday at 10:00 PM EDT! Or approximately 56.5 hours from this post. See you then!

[Graintfjall]

<--brief distraction from more important issue of WC bidding

I realize we don't even have a WC bid yet so this is vastly premature, but I'm considering bidding for the CoH. If anyone is interested in co-bidding please contact me. The reason I'm asking so early is that, by the terms of the WCC Constitution, I would have to use a nation entered for the WC to bid, but I figure people may be getting bored of Græntfjall, so I may use one of my other nations -- but I'd need to enter them first! Eligible nations would be Golgothastan, Gruenberg, QoD, SWR, or Jabal Akhdar (Hannasea has oddly never entered a WC so not eligible and my new Montaña Verde puppet wouldn't be eligible in its first cycle). Let me know! Or tell me to go fuck myself! Either is good!

-->resume discussing WC bidding