How and when are the qualifying players selected?
Season Three will have several qualifying periods instead of a single one. Three players from each Gateway will qualify during the first period, another three players in the second, and ten players at the season’s end. The first qualification period will take place on October 21 at noon (12pm) PST.
Will the finals be held on Battle.net?
The first few rounds of the season-ending tournament will take place on Battle.net. The finals will be held offline in Korea.
If I qualify during one period, what happens if I qualify again during the second or third periods?
If you qualified during a previous period, the next player in the ladder will qualify. You can only get one slot for the end-season matches.
If I win a spot in the finals, how will I get to Korea?
Travel accommodations for finalists will be paid for by Blizzard.
What will be the format for the matches in the final tournament?
All rounds in both the Gateway and Worldwide Battle.net Championships will be a best-of-three format. The first map in each match will be fixed. Thereafter, the loser of the previous map may select any other eligible map from the map pool. Maps may be played more than once in a match.
Where can I find the archived information from the past Season's?
What changes have been made to the Battle.net ladders and how does this affect me?
- Search Times vs. Game Quality. There is a reverse correlation between the two. The longer the system waits to find an opponent of similar skill, the more likely it is to find a closely matched opponent. Conversely, the shorter the search for an opponent, the greater the disparity in skill levels. We’ve re-evaluated this trade-off for all ladder formats.
- Random Team. We’ve increased game quality of Random Team games significantly.
- Solo. We’ve increased game quality of solo competition moderately.
- Arranged Team. We’ve decreased search times for Arranged Teams significantly.
- Minimum Game Requirements. Game requirements now scale better across the entire level range.These requirements have been slightly increased for players of levels 1-50 and significantly decreased from the existing numbers for players over level 50.
- Less Sensitive Experience. The way experience is calculated has been modified to make it less sensitive moving away from the mean. The target level for the average player has not changed, but players will be distributed in a tighter group at the peak of the level bell curve. For the majority of Battle.net players, the achieved level will be similar between the old and new systems. However, for very strong players, it will be more difficult to progress into the higher levels.
How will cash prizes be paid?
Cash prizes will be paid in the form of a cheque in U.S. dollar denomination pending the completion and return to Blizzard Entertainment of an IRS w-8 or w-9 form, depending on the country of origin. Note that foreign denomination cheques may take some time to clear at banks outside the United States.
What does all the tournament terminology mean?
- Game: A single map played between two opponents.
- Match: A set of games between two players. In the case of Season Three, the first player to win two games wins the match.
- Bracket: A graphical representation of a "tree-style" tournament's schedule.
- Single-Elimination: A style of tournament where only the winners advance to the next round of play. The loser of any round is eliminated from the tournament. Season Three uses this tournament format.
- Shoutcast: A live, internet radio broadcast of a game or match. During Season Three, Warcraft III community Shoutcast teams will provide coverage in several languages.
- Seeding: This represents the players' "rank" in the tournament bracket. Normally the top seeded players will have an advantage by playing a lower seeded player in the first round. In some tournaments, these pairings are chosen subjectively, but in the case of Season Three these are based on the players' Battle.net ladder ranking.
- Bye: Single-elimination style tournaments require a number of players that is a factor of two (4, 8, 16) in order for each player to have an opponent during each round. When the number of players is not a factor of two, the top-seeded players are given a "bye," or a pass to the next round with no first round opponent. The number of byes is equal to the next highest factor of two above the number of players minus the number of players. With 15 players, there would be one bye. All players are thereby guaranteed to have a second round opponent.
- Forfeit: Forfeits are automatic losses as a result of some infringement. Most commonly these are the result of a player not showing up, though breaking the tournament rules could be another cause for forfeits. In the case of a single-elimination tournament, forfeits equate to being eliminated from the tournament. The opponent of a player who has forfeited will advance to the next round as if he or she had won the match.
- Ladder: A style of competition where players attempt to reach the top ranking or "rung." Each player on a ladder is seeded and occupies a different rung on the ladder, though there may be players tied for a position. When a player increases their ranking or rung, it is at the expense of the player who previously occupied that rank. Battle.net employs a ladder system for Warcraft III, which is the basis for invitations to the Season Three events.
