West Europe is rivaled with everyone.

I think the groups should be reconsidered.
The best two teams by Ghostrating (London and Pacific Coast) are in the same group, and hellalt does raise a good point in his thread.

I also would bet big time that London will go further than England...

Ghost Rankings, Groups etc...

Much has been said about this on a few threads now. I think we should take the comments as a learning experience and maybe apply seedings etc for future World Cup tournaments. Help from statisticians and ghost ranking experts will be needed to do this.

I believe two teams qualify from each group for next round, so London and Pacific Coast should not be hampered by being drawn in same group.

You're a Londoner though aren't you db?

ghost = very good mathematician & developer of GR. As I've said before I think a random mix is more entertaining, and in some ways seeding is just demoralising for the other teams. Why everyone is so worried about how their GGR (Gross Ghost Rating) is low doesn't bother me.
If those of you on our team are then sorry, I expect I bring the average down quite a bit :(

Well speaking as a member who is blessed to be in the same group as London and Pacific Coast...they're going down!

Fair enough, I'm not really bothered at all, we'll win our group either way.
figle, I'm sure you're right that the teams with the highest GRs won't necessarily do better... its will be interesting to see how much having a high average GR actually affects who goes through

Well, seeing as how I might be one of the most talkative captains, one of the most unlikely, and on top of that with a team that most are panning (I stick by my guys!) I'll say a bit:

First, on the division issue...

Is there a way to do this regionally, for more fairness (and fun?)

I know the world loves the Pool A/B/C system, but here in the states we have things like the NFC East/North,South,West and such...

Maybe a Europe Division, USA Division, and World Division for the rest?
And on top of that, that'd allow for some rivalry play... San Diego-CAL, Texas vs. Oklahoma... and EVERYONE wants to see London and England smash each other! ;)

And, again- I want to stand by my team, since it seems no one else thinks we stand a snowball's chance (and, appropriately and ODDLY enough... it's SNOWING where I live in Palmdale, CA!)

The 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers over the New York Yankees
Muhammad Ali upsetting Sonny Liston
Joe Namath guaranteeing the Jets to beat the heavily favored Colts
The Miracle Mets
The Miracle on Ice
The 2004 Red Sox winning 4 straight to beat the New York Yankees and End the Curse

We can DO THIS, guys!

As two great Mets (can you name which two?) once said:

"It ain't over 'til it's over!"
"Ya Gotta Believe!"

I wouldn't mind some Oklahoma-Texas rivalry...

Nice.
Have to admit I'm really looking forward to my gunboat - had a look through and should be good. Given that we've discussed the teams quite a bit now, anyone seen any first-round ties that really stand out to them?

Well all I know is that you are a gunboat player that is NOT in my group, fig. Hope to see you in the finals :-)

Hey, figlesquidge, we're in the same (gun)boat. Good luck!

I believe the correct rivalry is California vs. Pacific Coast...

Is there somewhere where I can see the bracket/groups for this?

@denis:

Yeah, but we (I) was referring to the San Diego one, as that's a bit more... dare I say... personal, as Durden and uclabb were on Team California first and jumped ship to make their own team...

Don't worry, it's a big Coast- enough Diplomacy to go around ;)

I'm fine letting you guys save the rivalry for each other. Look at what happned in the playoffs this year: the Chargers were so hyped up about playing Indy the next week they forgot they had to beat the Jets.

As to the points about seeding, here's my thought.

I would like to see Southern Europe play whatever team is most likely to get hellalt all riled up so he gets red-carded. ;-)

wy: http://tournaments.webdiplomacy.net/diplomacy-world-cup

i liek this red cards idea! haha but no zidane headbuts everyone.... and as far as the rivalries go i do not think they will come into play much in the actual diplomacy. it is anonymous so they won;t know who is who

jazzguy1987 is thinking of leaving the Southern European team due to some obligations. Anyone wants to join in? Maybe Kompole?

Hmm, I'd accept a rivalry between our team Iberia and Southern Europe ; )

Does no one else think team Iberia can compete with the top teams? : (

i think iberia is a good strong team. and i hope jazzguy sticks to it...

When will this thing start?

me and denis are workign on the emails.. sorry about the wait. first year settin it up and everything so you all are the test subjects.

jazzguy is a member of the Southern European Team, not Iberia. Iberia is a strong team. We, Southern Europe, suck. Big time. But we ll win anyway...

i know he was it wasn;t meant to sound together sorry.

Noob179 you can still play for Southern European Team...

well we go the replacement. jsut waiting on a reply from Frito to start sending otu emails. if he doesn;t i will need one more person to help..

I can send all emails if needed

i'll email you