Overview

The FFC Ranking is a points-based system that measures each nation’s overall participation in Forest by combining:

1. Football Roleplay (dispatches, lore, team updates)
2. Regional events participation (contests, activities, puzzles)
3. Bonus (easter eggs, contributions)
4. Past performance (previous editions participation)

Participants can earn points by completing any of the listed category items.

Qualification Process

Starting with Forest Cup 2026, the first 24 Forestians teams to sign up qualify directly. The ranking of these 24 teams will determine their seeding pots. The remaining teams, whether they play playoffs or not, will be placed in Pot 4.

The first 24 Forestians to sign up will automatically qualify for the Forest Cup 2026 Group Stage.

Seeding and Playoffs

1. Direct Qualification (Top 24):

   • The tournament requires 32 teams in total, so if 32 or less people join, then there is no need to apply the next rules.
   • The Ranking will determine the seeding pots for these 24-32 teams.
   • Higher ranked teams will be placed in Pot 1, while lower ranked teams will be distributed across Pots 2 and 3.

2. Playoff System (Remaining Teams)

• If more than 32 teams register:
  • Only the lowest ranked excess teams (beyond 32) will enter playoffs.
  • Examples:
    • 33 teams registered → 1 excess team → The 2 lowest ranked teams beyond the 24th will play 1 playoff match to determine the 32nd spot.
    • 40 teams registered → 8 excess teams → All the teams beyond the 24th will play 8 playoff matches to fill the 8 remaining spots (25th-32nd).
    • 48 teams registered → 16 excess teams → 16 teams will play 2 playoff rounds (Round 1: 8 matches -> 8 winners) then, the highest ranked will face against the winners (Round 2: 8 matches -> 8 qualifiers).

3. Pot 4

• All teams that do not qualify directly will be placed in Pot 4 for the Group Stage Draw.

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Categories

The ranking system divides points into four main categories:

Roleplay 15 points each

Current edition roleplay are worth 15 points each:

Football History (FH): A NationStates dispatch covering your federation history, league creation, or football lore. This should be substantial content that adds depth to your nation’s football identity. Permanent as long as you don’t delete it.

Football Roleplay (RP) 5 Points each

• Any kind of roleplay about Forest Cup ‘26: A match story, a press conference, a player diary, a video, even a poem or a meme, whatever.
• Upload a sponsor. It can be a brand, company, or fictional partner supporting your team.
• Complete the registration form with at least one “Customize My Team” field filled: This ensures your team has some level of identity or customization for the tournament. And for old participants, use it to update your roster for this edition.

Article (AR): Writing one article for the Forest Cup website about your federation. This can cover any aspect of your nation’s football culture, or it can be a piece of news!. Additional articles beyond the first do not accumulate points.

Tutorial on how to make an article.

This section is designed to give a strong foundation to those who enjoy the football roleplay, lore, leagues, stories.

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Events 15 points each, normalized

Regional event participation is capped at 15 points per event through normalization:

How normalization works:
For each event, the participant with the highest raw score receives the full 15 points.
All other participants receive a proportional score based on their performance relative to the top scorer.
For example, if the top score is 100 and you scored 50, you would receive half the maximum points (15 / 2 = 7.5).
This ensures fair scaling and prevents any single event from dominating the overall ranking.

Poetry Fantasia (PF): Points from the Poetry Fantasia .

Murder Mystery (MM): Murder Mystery points.

Quiz: Forestian quiz event points.

Connections Grid (CG): Forest-themed Connection Grids puzzle points.

Wonders Event (WO): Wonders Event 2026 points.

This section rewards active engagement with the community during last year. You may have been scoring points here without knowing it. 😛

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Bonus Variable points

Host: 15 points automatically awarded for hosting.

Easter Eggs (Eggs): 4 points for each hidden easter egg discovered! Eggs can be found in mysterious places. If you find one, make sure to CLICK IT and telegram Bilsa to claim it!

Last edition, finding a secret alone was rewarded with more points, but this time will not be the case, so anyone can accumulate a fair amount of points through Easter Eggs!

Extra: Variable points (typically 5-20) for exceptional contributions beyond normal categories. This includes outstanding roleplay, dedication on details, helping the community with technical aspects or other valuable contributions that enhance the Forest Cup experience.

Bonus points are the wild card, to give everyone a chance to pick up a few extra points during the weeks before the tournament starts, as the events and past categories are the heaviest ones, and cannot be changed after the announcement of the tournament.

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Past Performance Decay applied

Previous editions contribute through a decay system that values recent activity over past history:

Roleplay (RP): Roleplay points from previous editions. Past roleplay scores were normalized to prevent unfair advantages from different scoring systems used in earlier editions.

Events: Event points from previous editions.

Bonus: Bonus points from previous editions.

Results: Points earned from actual tournament performance (not ranking table points) in previous editions.

Decay System

The decay system works as follows:

Edition	Percentage Counted
Last	100%
2 editions ago	50%
3 editions ago	25%
4 editions ago	10%
Older	0%

Example: If you earned 20 roleplay points in the last edition, all 20 count. If you earned 20 roleplay points two editions ago, only 10 points (50%) count toward your current ranking.

This system rewards consistency while ensuring recent activity matters more than distant achievements.

Just like in real football, a national team can remain strong across several editions thanks to a solid generation of players. If a team stops participating, it will gradually fade. That’s what decay simulates, a realistic drop off in influence when nations go inactive.

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Total Score Calculation

Your Total Ranking Score combines all categories:

Current Edition Points (no decay):

• Football Roleplay (0-45 points possible)
• Event participation (0-75 points possible)
• Bonus points (4 points from Easter Eggs, and variable points)

Past Performance Points (with decay):

• Previous roleplay submissions
• Previous event participation
• Previous bonus points
• Previous tournament results

The realistic maximum for current edition points is an estimated 200, though it should be only reachable by someone who participated in previous editions, in many of the events, has a dedicated football roleplay, found some easter eggs, and shows enough interest in the event itself. It is super hard, but doing it deserves getting a super team.

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Ranking Tiers

Tier	Points	Description	Real Example
F	0	New participants, minimal involvement	San Marino
E	6	Basic participation, occasional roleplay	Latvia
D	16	Regular members with some engagement	Bulgaria
C	30	Active participants in multiple categories	Scotland
B	48	Strong contributors with consistent involvement	Denmark
A	70	Highly engaged members with substantial participation	Netherlands
S	96	Pillars with exceptional long-term involvement	Spain
S+	126	Elite contributors who consistently excel across all areas	Brazil ‘70
???	???	???	Unrealistic Superteam

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How do these points actually affect my team’s performance?

The points you earn are used to calculate the average overall rating of your squad.

The formula uses a logarithmic function, meaning the rating grows quickly at first but slows down as points increase. This makes it easier for the lower teams in the table to get better players. The result is two numbers: the average rating of your 11 starters, and a lower average for the substitutes.

From those two numbers, 26 individual ratings are generated and assigned to your players. If you marked any players as KEY, those will receive the highest ratings in the squad first. Everything else is distributed from there.

In short: more points means a stronger squad.

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Good luck preparing your squad for the Forest Cup! See you in the pitch.

Feel free to contact us if you still have doubts!