Aussie Rules World Cup VI - Signups/Host Bids (CLOSED)

[Sylestone]

Wikipedia Page on Australian Rules Football | ARWC V | OOC thread | Previous Successful Host Bid | Ranks

With the real life AFL starting tomorrow, there seems to be no better time to open signups to the sixth edition of the Aussie Rules World Cup (ARWC). In previous editions, one prominent powerhouse has emerged - Sarzonia - but last edition, Ko-oren's Eagles (not Dragonflies) finally broke through to win their first Cup, climbing to second in the rankings in the meantime. Currently, there seems to be a big gap between the so-called "big five", but deep runs from the likes of HUElavia, Hebitaka and StrayaRoos in the past have shown that upcoming nations in the sport are more than capable of producing upsets and possibly even going all the way. Will an established nation hold aloft the trophy this time, or will someone new? We can't wait to find out!

In order to sign up, just post your intentions as a new post below, saying something such as "We sign up" or similar.

Puppet Policy
Any nation may enter a puppet, but this must be confirmed by both the puppet and the main that they are both run by the same user. Additionally, each user may only enter a maximum of one puppet and all main nations will be preferred over any puppets participating.

Host Bids
Any nation or user may bid to host the fourth Aussie Rules World Cup, whether experienced or new. Host bids must include proposed formats, tiebreakers, scorination methods and experience while IC information is recommended. Potential bidders should consider this, this and this before bidding.
The host bid deadline will be set to March 22 at 8:00 am, AEDT (March 21 at 9:00 pm UTC). If there are no bids by that point, the bidding deadline will be extended for another three days after the first host bid is announced.

Signups (14):
Sylestone (3)
StrayaRoos (6)
Ibixa (UR)
Juvencus (18)
TJUN-ia (4)
Ko-oren (2)
Baggieland (5)
Katterimunk (UR)
Copper Cuprum (27)
Sorcery (UR)
Gran Saguaro (UR)
Acadiana (9)
Alice Bay (18)
HUElavia (7)

Host Bids (1):
Ko-oren

[StrayaRoos]

in

[Ibixa]

You have Catalans.

[Juvencus]

hey

[TJUN-ia]

Y E S

[Ko-oren]

Yup

[Baggieland]

In.

[Ko-oren]

Ko-orenite Host Bid

Experience
Very recently a Baptism of Fire, a CAFA, and going back a bit more there's some American football, rugby union, and some cricket. I also have extensive domestic newswires. For experience in organisation, I've been the WCC President for the last three cycles and have kept ARWC rank from the second edition.

Scorination
Xkoranate, Four quarters. Given this is a small tournament with wide gaps in ranking, RP bonus will be generous for quality RPs. That means that new members, given consistent and good RPs, will surpass the rank of a no-roster, no-RP top eight team. I feel this is necessary because the Aussie Rules formula doesn't give many upsets by itself. Top teams that RP well shouldn't have to worry. Additionally, I'll use the '+15' as put forth in the links to consider for hosts (see OP).

Given my schedule, there will be at least 48 hours between cutoffs. 72 hours between cutoffs seems unavoidable at times as well, but those will be communicated early.

Formats & Tiebreakers
I'm hoping for 16 signups; 4 groups with 4 teams each, 3 MDs, and then quarterfinals (AFL/NRL finals system).
I normally don't like it when more than 50% of the field makes the knockouts but I feel it's innocent enough for a small tournament like the ARWC. So with 15 signups (3 groups, 5 teams each) the best eight will still make QFs. 13 signups or under, we go straight to semifinals though.

I don't expect more signups than that, but 3x6 in case of 18 or 4x5 for 20 would also work. In both cases, we'll go to the same AFL-style quarterfinals as with 16. Should we get 24, I can work in a Round of 12 - it's always nice to stay in a tournament for a bit longer.

Tiebreakers:
- points (4 win, 2 draw)
- point percentage
- coin flip

(but with the low number of draws in Aussie Rules, I predict we'll only need wins).

IC
Ko-oren calls the sport 'Southern Rules' (from the OOC etymology of Australia -> Southern land) but it's played on the West Coast instead. There are two conferences, each in one region, that all have the necessary facilities to host national teams. The Mawr Conference has six teams, two of which are from big cities (Mawrystwyth and Llandy) that have been involved in a RUWC before. The West Strand Riding Conference has six teams, one of which is from a big city (Eaglebury) which has also hosted RUWC matches before. There will be games in smaller venues, further out. Warning: the entire west coast is famous for its unpredictable weather, strong winds, and rainy conditions. It'll be possible to travel to every venue by train (except one: for Penstead, you'll need a ferry), and the National Railways will put more rolling stock to use - normally trains are frequent, but not that frequent on the sparsely populated west coast.

[Baggieland]

Hi Ko-oren,

Solid bid that looks fine to me.

Just one thing though:

I'm hoping for 16 signups; 4 groups with 4 teams each, 3 MDs, and then quarterfinals (AFL/NRL finals system).

Take this scenario:
Group winners Sylestone meet group winners Sarzonia in QF1. Sylestone wins and progresses straight to the semis, which they also win, putting them in the final.
Meanwhile, Sarzonia wins their QF2, then wins their semi, meaning that Sylestone and Sarzonia meet once again in the final.
Under this scenario, Sylestone has had 5 chances to RP before the final (MD1, MD2, MD3, QF1, SF).
Whereas Sarzonia has had 6 chances to RP (MD1, MD2, MD3, QF1, QF2, SF).

That puts Sylestone at a disadvantage when it comes to RP bonus possibilities, even though Sylestone reached the final "in a better way".

How will you make sure that teams who "struggled" to get to the semis / final won't have an RP advantage over the teams that "cruised" into the semis / final?

Another thing on the same topic; doesn't the number of games played affect the kpb ranking points? (I've never been good at working out these ranking points, so please correct me if I'm wrong), so this could be another way where teams that "struggled" into the semis / final also have an advantage.

Edit: I just want to stress that I'm not against this format, just concerned that it works fairly for all.

[Katterimunk]

We are in it.

[Copper Cuprum]

In then, I suppose.

[Ko-oren]

I'm hoping for 16 signups; 4 groups with 4 teams each, 3 MDs, and then quarterfinals (AFL/NRL finals system).

Take this scenario:
Group winners Sylestone meet group winners Sarzonia in QF1. Sylestone wins and progresses straight to the semis, which they also win, putting them in the final.
Meanwhile, Sarzonia wins their QF2, then wins their semi, meaning that Sylestone and Sarzonia meet once again in the final.
Under this scenario, Sylestone has had 5 chances to RP before the final (MD1, MD2, MD3, QF1, SF).
Whereas Sarzonia has had 6 chances to RP (MD1, MD2, MD3, QF1, QF2, SF).

That puts Sylestone at a disadvantage when it comes to RP bonus possibilities, even though Sylestone reached the final "in a better way".

How will you make sure that teams who "struggled" to get to the semis / final won't have an RP advantage over the teams that "cruised" into the semis / final?

Each team has the same number of RP windows, regardless of byes.

Another thing on the same topic; doesn't the number of games played affect the kpb ranking points? (I've never been good at working out these ranking points, so please correct me if I'm wrong), so this could be another way where teams that "struggled" into the semis / final also have an advantage.

I had to deal with this before as the same format was used in ARWC V. I intend to use a slightly different formula as the ranker post ARWC VI:

Winning the Quarterfinals (top 4): 1
Winning the Quarterfinals (bottom 4): 0.5
Winning round 2: 0.5
Losing round 2: 0

To illustrate:

Imagine a system with seeds 1-8, where the highest seed keeps winning (round 1: 1-4, 2-3, 5-8, 6-7. Round 2: 3-6, 4-5), with the exception of the second round 4v5 game, where 5 gets an upset to show every possible outcome:
1) 1 pt + bye
2) 1 pt + bye
3) 0 + 0.5 pt
4) 0 + 0 pt (lose to seed 5 in round 2)
5) 0.5 + 0.5 pt (beat seed 4 in round 2)
6) 0.5 + 0 pt
7) 0 pt
8) 0 pt

That way, teams making the SFs get a point EXCEPT if you used your double elimination privileges (such as seed 3 in the example).

It's not necessarily part of the bid - more a question to the ranker, but given I'm both: why not dive into the topic a little further.

As a pedantic last note: KPB is only the ranking method used in Football Soccer (Kaze Progressa-Bedistan rankings). In other sports, it's just 'rank' or 'coefficient' or 'ranking points' or whatever the community decides on.

---

With the current sign up numbers, it's all moot as with 10 signups I'll go for 2 groups of 5 and then go into semifinals, to adhere to the 'rule' of not letting more than 50% of the field go to the knockouts. With 12 I'm looking at 2 groups of 6 and a round of 6 (2A v 3B, 2B v 3A) followed by the semifinals (1A v 2B/3A and 1B v 2A/3B).

[Sylestone]

A day late, but whatever.

With the bidding deadline having passed, it's time to vote for bids. The options are as follows

• Accept the bid from Ko-oren
• Re-open bidding

All users signed up to this point (all nations bar puppets, which I don't believe there are any of) are eligible to vote. Voting is open until March 26 at 8:00am AEST (March 25 9:00pm UTC). Please submit ballots in order of preference, and to the nation of Avorago.

[Sorcery]

I'll sign up
team-Sorcery Wicked Dragons

[Gran Saguaro]

In!

[Avorago]

Just over 24 hours left, but have only received one (legitimate) vote. Reminder that anyone up to Copper Cuprum may vote! Signups also updated. Signups are still open, too.

[Quebecois Acadiana]

We are southern neighbours of Sylestone after all...

In, just as 'Acadiana'.

[Alice Bay]

Eternal losers in.

[HUElavia]

Yep

[Avorago]

The results are in and with the single legitimate vote cast in favour of the Ko-orenite bid, the sixth ARWC is handed over to Ko-oren.

[Ko-oren]

TG sent to highly ranked teams that haven't signed up yet. Keeping signups open to get to 16 entrants if possible. Everything thread will go up shortly!

[Kriegiersien]

We feel suddenly somehow drawn to it, as if invited. *dusts old team*

[Southwest Eastnorth]

I was told we need two more sign ups.

I'm in.

[Sarzonia]

Sure

[Busoga Islands]

Do you still need an additional signup? If so, we're in