Suggestion: Conquest Catch-Up System (frostwolf) without resetting
- TLDR: suggestion at the end. However, I do encourage to read the whole post before replying
First of all, let me say that I am very happy to see that the conquest catch-up system has been implemented on Frostwolf. Just like the intention was in retail wow: the system has been implemented to promote PVP activity. After all, it is common sense that the gear gap between 522 (honor) and 550 (conquest) is extremely large (unlike previous seasons) and being able to catch-up on that can help to remove this imbalance.
So far, so good. However, this season is coming to an end on April 2, 2018; this also means that the conquest catch-up will reset.
And this is where the problem starts. Every new 90 will be stuck with 522 gear for quite some weeks; without being able to make much progression. We should keep in mind that competing in arena without at least 530 item level is rather difficult and is only possible by a small group of (very skilled) players. Even the difference between 540 and 550 is still large. Hence, there is not much more than these players can do after completing their relatively small weekly caps. In other words, motivation to play will drop and people will become more inactive (inactivity is starting to become a problem on frostwolf).
Interestingly, the whole idea of a conquest catch-up system that resets had a purpose. A conquest catch-up reset definitely makes sense when a new 'gear season' starts (you do not want your entire realm to have the new gear of a new season on day one obviously). Hence, the conquest catch-up cap only added +1000 every week. However, on frostwolf every season is in 550 gear. This means that there is no new 'gear season' but just a new season where most people already have 550 item level. From my perspective, resetting the conquest catch-up does not really make sense in that case. Back on retail, once almost everyone was in 550, the conquest catch-up was more than 27000 and allowed everyone to catch up quickly. There was no situation (as we have on frostwolf at this moment) where almost the entire community was in 550 gear, but where new people were unable to catch up and, thus, unable to compete.
Of course, I understand that this is not live and that this is warmane. Different rules apply and I know I can simply buy my gear in the shop. However, this logic neglects the fact that there is already a conquest catch-up system implemented and that it is kind of rng when a new player starts playing on this realm. If a player dinged 90 two weeks ago, the player would almost be fully conquest geared by now. If this player would ding 90 on the next Tuesday, the player would have one conquest item and has no way to get that much faster. Furthermore, it is important to keep in mind that being able to catch-up on a lot of conquest points will definitely promote arena activity because that is the fastest way to acquire gear. From an economic perspective, it can be assumed that with more activity, more people will be spending coins on mounts and cosmetics. Moreover, if there was like a10k conquest cap from the start, people will still use coins to buy the remaining pieces.
(TLDR) Therefore, I am suggesting that there should be an intern discussion about the reset of the conquest catch-up cap. This can be a permanent 27000 cap, but perhaps the formula could start at 10.800 conquest points from week one, instead of 1800. This will allow weapons from the start and removing a barrier to enter competitive play.
I think it is worth to have such a discussion because we should remember that actually obtaining all these conquest items is not an instant activity either, it will consume quite some time by itself; especially when you have to do it without friends or a guild.
