#1 - May 20, 2013, 2:29 p.m.
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A clarification on the confusion about the Catch-Up cap here and the formula here: http://eu.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/7513921444
Also, the formula for your current cap seems to be the following one, which also includes your normal weekly rating-based cap:
(Week of season - 1) * 1000 – Conquest points earned this season + Cap received from your current rating = Weekly cap
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Hello, this topic will be about the Mid-Season Catch Up system. Recently, I have seen a lot of people who had questions about this new feature that will be released in the upcoming patch, 5.3: Escalation. In this thread I will try to answer any questions you may have about this subject.
If you have questions that are not listed below, feel free to ask them and I will try to answer them as well as add them to the post.
----- What is the Mid-Season Catch Up system?
It will be a Conquest cap that replaces the weekly Conquest cap to catch up to a certain amount of Conquest Points one may have missed out on. This should mean that there is less gear disparity and therefore result in a more competitive and less gear based PvP scene.
----- How can I calculate my Catch Up Cap?
You can calculate your cap by using the following formula:
(Current week of the season) * 1000 – (Conquest earned thus far this season)
Here are some examples of how this will work:
- - Player A is starting PvP for the first time in week 10 of the season, and hasn’t earned any Conquest Points at all that season. He will have an additional cap of 10,000 points added to his normal weekly rating based cap.
- Player B has already earned 5,000 Conquest Points by week 10, so she would have an additional cap of 5,000 points added to her normal weekly rating based cap.
- Player C has been playing all season long, and has earned more than 10,000 Conquest Points by week 10. He only has the normal weekly cap to work with (but should already be on their way to being well geared).
----- Where can I see the amount of Conquest Points I have earned this season?
When you go to your Character Panel ("C" by default, unless you bound this key to something else), you can go the Currency tab. Look for "Conquest Points" in the "Player vs. Player" part. When you mouse-over your amount of Conquest Points, a small window will pop up which shows you what your weekly cap is, how many Conquest Points you currently have and what your total amount of points earned this season is.
----- I have earned more points than X (depending on week) * 1000 points, what will happen now?
The system is meant to give new players a chance to catch-up on players who have better gear. If you already have earned a certain amount of Conquest Points (depending on what week it is), you will not have a catch-up cap, because you are already at a point that you are competitively geared.
----- Will I lose my catch-up cap the week after I get it?
No, you will not. Your catch-up cap will stay as long as your Season Total Earned is low enough, it does not go away unless you redeem these points.
----- What if I "redeem" my catch-up cap and then miss out on points again the weeks after?
If a player “redeems” their catch up cap by earning all those points, then they will begin the next week at their normal weekly rating based cap (standard is 1800 in arena, 2200 in rated battlegrounds). Should they miss more weeks, then the catch up cap accrues again.
----- When will the Mid-Season Catch Up system be live?
It will be released with patch 5.3, which is scheduled for Wednesday 22/05.
----- Will the system count the weeks prior to 5.3?
Yes, it will count all the weeks of the current season, even those prior to 5.3.
----- Will a character that becomes level 90 after the release of 5.3 have a catch-up cap?
Yes. The system counts the weeks of the season, not of the character at highest level in said season and therefore they will indeed have a catch-up cap.
----- Will the cap of new level 90s be equal to those that have been max level for a longer period of time?
Yes, as long as the total amount of Conquest Points earned in the season is the same, the catch-up cap will indeed be equal.
----- Am I able to redeem my catch-up cap with any source of Conquest Points (random battleground, arena or rated battleground)?
As far as I know, you are free to choose whatever source you want to redeem your catch-up cap in.
----- Is it worth capping the last week prior to 5.3 on a character that has no points earned this season?
It doesn't make a difference. I will give an example:
Say it's week 11 next week (I'm not entirely sure), a new character's Conquest Catch Up Cap next week would be:
11 * 1000 - 0 = 11000
If he does cap (say he only does arena and therefore gets 1800 points), his Conquest Catch Up Cap would be:
11 * 1000 - 1800 = 11000 - 1800 = 9200
He also has 1800 points from last week.
You can see there is no netto difference in the amount of Conquest Points if you cap this week.
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Blizzard had an article called PvP Gear in 5.3 and Beyond in which they explained the Mid-Season Catch Up system. This is what they wrote about it (note: I edited the text to make it easier to read):
Mid-Season Catch Up
Players who are starting their journey into PvP mid-season start significantly behind the gearing curve. While we want to avoid invalidating the effort of players who have competed for the whole season, we agree with the feedback we’ve received that the starting gap is too large, so a new Conquest Point catch-up cap will be implemented using the following formula:
(Current week of the season) * 1000 – (Conquest earned thus far this season)
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Here are some examples of how this will work:Player A is starting PvP for the first time in week 10 of the season, and hasn’t earned any Conquest Points at all that season. He will have an additional cap of 10,000 points added to his normal weekly rating based cap. Player B has already earned 5,000 Conquest Points by week 10, so she would have an additional cap of 5,000 points added to her normal weekly rating based cap. Player C has been playing all season long, and has earned more than 10,000 Conquest Points by week 10. He only has the normal weekly cap to work with (but should already be on their way to being well geared).----------------------------------------------------
If a player “redeems” their catch up cap by earning all those points, then they’ll begin the next week at their normal weekly rating based cap. Should they miss more weeks, then the catch up cap accrues again.
