Since we've seen some of these same questions numerous times on the boards over the last few weeks, I thought it might be worth doing a little bit of poking around at UDE to see if we could get a few more details. So, I bounced an email off of Jeff Donais today and as always he was quick to reply and gracious to the core.

So let's get down to business with the answers to the questions that many of you interested in the Pro Circuit have been asking!

About Pro Circuit Points:

ROB- When will they go retroactive? Or even if they will go retroactive?
JEFF - Yes, probably by end of year system will be in place to be retroactive.

ROB - Is the 20 point cap lifted from people playing in PCQ's?
JEFF - It will apply once the system is working.

ROB - Is there a limit to the number of pro points that one can attain?
JEFF - 50 max

Ratings invites:

ROB - Are you giving ratings invites based on world ranking?
JEFF - Most likely, yes.

ROB - What place to what place would you be giving them to (ex. #1 - #25)?
JEFF - TBD - depends on what the numbers look like. It won't be a "Top X", it will be a threshold. (Like [everyone with a rating of] 1800+ gets invited). It's much more fair that way. [The number 1800 is purely an example, don't get too excited. - fatalsync]

ROB - Will they just be courtesy invites or "10 PC Points"?
JEFF - They will bring you up to 10 PC points. If you have 10 already, they will mean nothing (of course).

ROB - So, If you do get a ratings invite and you already have 10 or more PC points it won't matter?
JEFF - Correct. That's the current plan. I think that's the best way to do it, although I am definitely open to opinions.

ROB - Do you know when you will start with the ratings invites?
JEFF - Nov. 1, 2004

ROB - What Pro Circuit stop will the invites be for?
JEFF - Pro Circuit #2 and every one afterward.

Continued...

1 GM:

ROB - Have you guys made a decision to stick to the 1 GM format or will you go back to 3 GM?
JEFF - Will not make a decision until January.

ROB - I've heard rumors of you guys wanting to go back to 3 GM in 2005, what's up?
JEFF - I don't know who would say that, there is no merit to it. We are not going to decide until Jan.

Format for the Pro Circuit So Cal:

ROB - The draft, have you guys decided how many rounds it will be?
JEFF - 3/3/3 for draft, most likely.

ROB - What will we be drafting? Will there be a Superman draft?
JEFF - Spider/Spider/Superman (tentative, but probablyy true).

I hope this answers some of the concerns that those of you who are already qualified or hope to qualify for the Pro Circuit have been wondering. Thanks again to Jeff Donais for taking the time to answer my questions.

-Rob "VS_Master" Leander

If you guys have any more questions about the Pro Circuit, Ratings Invites, 1 GM, and whatever else it is pertaining to the game you can post them here and if the UDE guys can't answer the questions for you here (They are very busy with other developments and business things at the moment) I will try and get them answered for you and update ASAP.

~Rob

Rob

Given those two answers, do you agree with the following:

Player A has 0 PCC. His rating is 2641. They announce on Nov 1 that anyone 2600 or higher gets a ratings invite. Player A now has 10 PCC to spend on ANY PC event.





ROB - Will they just be courtesy invites or "10 PC Points"?
JEFF - They will bring you up to 10 PC points. If you have 10 already, they will mean nothing (of course).

ROB - What Pro Circuit stop will the invites be for?
JEFF - Pro Circuit #2 and every one afterward.

I should have also said, thanks for sharing the info with us.


And isn't it amazing that he takes the time to answer questions for us.

One thing I am sure of is that if they announce the ratings invites to let's say 2600 or higher and Player A has 2641 points. Player A who had 0 PC Points will now have 10 PC Points. The Points are like a bank so I would assume you could spend that at any PC you desire. But once those 10 points are attained due to rating, if those points are not spent you will not accumulate more points based on rating.

No problem about the information. Like I said if you guys have any more questions I will do my best to answer or get them answered. Also yes it is amazing that he can take the time to answer the questions for us.

~Rob

If you have 10 points, you can spend them at any stop and they never expire, that has been the case for some time as far as I know. However, the "everyone afterward line" might imply that they will do a batch of ratings invites just before every stop.

Fatal

I agree with you about each stop awarding Ratings Invites.

As Rob mentioned, you can't "sit" on a rating and collect 50 points. You get one "shot". I like how they seem to have covered all their bases on this one.

I agree that I definetely like this as well...it also doesn't give a "Free-ride" to already qualified players who have a high rating. They have thought this through really well and I like it.

~Rob

One thing I have been thinking about as far as rating invite goes is, once the ratings invite has been started and they show us the ratings level that you need to attain to get the 10 points, is that level going to change for the next batch of invites. I understand ude might do some adjusting after the first batch simply because they may learn something from the results of the first ratings invite. Essentially: is the ratings invite level going to be a mark that people can set as a ratings goal or is it just try the best you can and see where things end up?

I'd say that if they set the ratings invites to anyone who has a ranking of let's say 2700 (for example) for this pro circuit that it may be subject to change. I will ask them but I am not sure if they even know if this "cutoff" they have will be standard for the rest of the pro circuit events to come.

~Rob

I don't see how it is fairer to have a threshold ratings invite? I am not sayoing either way is fairer, i would just like to see the reasoning behind that decision. If you can't have beyond a maximum number of points, will other options be available to "spend" PC points on, particularly as it is extremely difficult to attend the PC from certain countries?

Okay, Jeff says by the end of the year points will go retroactive: Will this take place before or after PC #2?

Most likely after... if they can't let people know at least a few weeks before SoCal, it'd be kinda unfair to those who could go by the retroactivity but couldn't because of scheduling issues.

I am sorry to ask this but, if you came in 3rd for a PCQ that was for the first PT stop, will you now retroactivly recieve Pt points for those tournies? Is there a cut off for the retroactive credit? Am I even understading the issue. Thanks for the info VsMaster!