MoP: War: is it really? Or is it fake?

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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 that 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)

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.

So, to sum up the planned changes for Patch 5.2:

Rating requirements will be removed from PvP gear.
Malevolent Gladiator’s gear, including weapons, will be available for purchase with Honor Points.
A new tier of Conquest Point gear will be added that becomes available once 27000 Conquest Points have been earned for the season.
Team Rating will gradually increase during the season for teams and players that continue to compete in PvP. This system is explained in the Mists of Pandaria PvP Dev Watercooler.
And here are the specific changes that are planned to hit in Patch 5.3:

In patches that don’t include a new season (including patch 5.3), the seasonal currency requirement of 27,000 Conquest Points earned will be lifted from weapons. The seasonal currency requirement must always be met to purchase Elite items, though.
Once the seasonal currency requirement is met, players will be able to purchase Tyrannical Gladiator’s gear with Honor Points.
The Conquest Point catch up cap will be introduced.


Conclusions
Overall, we expect that these changes will create a more active and competitive PvP environment, narrow the gear gap between the highest rated players and those still working their way up the ladder, and open the door for more experimentation in terms of class or spec.

We look forward to hearing your opinions and feedback on these upcoming changes!

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Patch 5.2 - Isle of the Thunder King
The Isle of the Thunder King is the new daily quest area in Patch 5.2, as well as where the Throne of Thunder raid is located. You used to be able to get there from a portal in your faction's capital in the Vale of Eternal Blossoms, but the most recent PTR build moved it to near the Shado-Pan Garrison in Townlong Steppes. The entire island is restricted to ground mounts only.

Upon arrival, you are in your faction's base, with daily quests and vendors. As Dave Kosak reminded everyone, many things could still be placeholders, as this is still the PTR.

In the Horde base, there is a quartermaster there for the new faction, but currently it is just Vasarin Redmorn as a placeholder, as well as Aethas, and some other familiar faces. There is also a portal back to Shado-Pan Garrison.

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Over in the Alliance base, you find the Kirin Tor, The Silver Covenant, Jaina, and Image of Archmage Vargoth, along with some other familiar faces.

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After picking up your daily quests, you cross the bridges to the main island area. On your way out, you can grab a 60 second haste increase and power cost reduction buff from one of the Mana Collectors. This area is guarded by Silvermoon Spellbreakers and Sunreaver Constructs.

Throughout the island, there are several rare mobs that can drop a stone that is used to summon a mob that requires a group to defeat. You can also find the stones in the various chests that spawn across the island, similar to the Ancient Guo-Lai Cache.

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The center of the island is the Diremoor, which contains several types of quest mobs, including a wandering Devilsaur and mob in the center building to kill that are quest objectives.

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Moving further north, you will find the area that is outside of the Throne of the Thunder King. It is also used for questing, as well as the new world Boss, Nalak.

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To the west of Diremoor is the Court of Bones, another questing area. Several scouts from your faction have been captured and kept prisoner in these ruins.

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The southwest corner of the island is Trolltonshire, a questing area with trolls! Be sure to watch for circles on the ground that mark the constant bombings from the Zandalari Skyscreamer flying above. You can use the Zandalari Potions that are sitting around the camps for a buff like Jaguar Ferocity, Jaguar Speed, or Jaguar Stalker.

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The southeast corner of the island has been taken over by the Saurok, and questing there gives you a Saurok disguise that allows you to run at ground mount speeds and jump much higher and farther than normal.

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Patch 5.2 Daily Quests
Patch 5.2 adds many new quests on the Isle of The Thunder King. Keep in mind that it is still early in the PTR, so several quests still have placeholder names. You can see all of the new quests on WoWDB.

• Alliance

90	Kill Guards/Players
90	Superpower/activate perimeter wards
90	Ashes of the Enemy	Burn 8 Mummified Remains.
90	Soul Surrender	Save 8 Silver Covenant Scouts.
90	Grave Circumstances	Kill 10 Lei-Shen Gravekeepers, Lei-Shen Soulrippers, or Lei-Shen Thundercallers.
90	Into the Crypts	Use the Incantation of Gura in the Hall of the Wicked, then defeat Gura the Reclaimed.
90	The Call of Thunder	Stop the Lei-Shen Thundercallers' ritual.
90	The Bloodletter	Kill Kaida the Bloodletter.
90	The Conquest of Stone	Disrupt the Ancient Stone Conqueror ritual in the main temple at the Court of Bones.
90	Rise No More!	Kill 15 Risen Ancestors.
90	Stone Cold	Destroy 8 Grave Guardians.
90	The Skumblade Threat	Slay 10 Skumblade saurok.
90	Learning from the Saurok	Check in with Magister Arlan, Magister Sarien, and Magistrix Vesara.
90	The Dinosaur-Men Stoled Our Magical Robots	Recover the four stolen Silver Covenant Constructs.
90	Heinous Sacrifice	Destroy the Zandalari Sacrificial Altars.
90	Dark Offerings	Destroy 6 Zandalari Offerings.
90	Harbingers of the Loa	[PH] Defeat 2 Harbingers of the Loa
90	Preventing a Future Threat	Frighten 20 Pterodactyl Hatchlings by running near them.
90	Surgical Strike	Slay 3 Zandalari Spiritbinders, 3 Zandalari Beastcallers, and 3 Zandalari Jaguar Warriors.
90	[PH] Dangers of Trolltonshire	Slay 12 Trolls in Trolltonshire
90	Pterrible Ptorment	Free the Tormented Pterodactyl.
90	The Residents of Ihgaluk	Slay a Skumblade Brute, a Skumblade Saur-Priest, and a Skumblade Seadragon.
90	Just Some Light Clean-Up Work	Disperse 75 pieces of filth by killing Quivering Filth in Ihgaluk Crag.
90	The Creeping Carpet of Ihgaluk	Crush 150 Ihgaluk Roaches.
90	Left To Rot	Destroy 3 Fetid Meat Piles.
90	Saur Loser	Defeat 10 Zandalari trolls in the Bestiary of Jalak.
90	Compy Stomp	Kill 5 Raptors and 10 Trained Compies in the Beast Pens.
90	Loa-saur	Defeat a Loa Speaker.
90	Direhorn vs Devilsaur	Disrupt a binding ritual by killing all ritual NPCs around either a Defiant Direhorn or a Defiant Devilsaur.
90	Dino Might	Find and use Saur Fetishes on 5 raptors, compies, skyscreamers or direhorns in the Beastiary of Jalak.

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90	Centuries in Sentries	Kill 5 Spirit-Bound Sentries and then use the Resonance Crystal to capture the Zandalari spirits trapped within.
90	The More You Know	Retrieve 6 Ritual artifacts from around [Troll War Camp].
90	Out of Enemy Hands	Steal 7 Loa-Infused Blades from the [Troll War Camp].
90	All In the Family	Retrieve the Mask of the Dark Mystic and the Mask of the Spirit-Caller from Spiritbinder Tu'chek and Arcanital Ra'kul.
90	Even Giants Fall	Destroy Guardian Tak'u within the [Troll War Camp].
90	Keep It Secret	Kill any 8 Zandalari trolls within the [Troll War Camp].
90	Trailing Light in the Dark	Relight 8 torches in the Diremoor.
90	Gather Scout Reports
90	Recover Thunderwing Juvenile
90	Eyes in the Fog	Kill 6 Creeping Moor Beasts.
90	Saurok Roamers
90	The Shuddering Moor	Kill the Fascist Devilsaur.
90	Kill Giant Statue
90	At the Tower's Base	Kill [Zandalari Arcane Caster].
90	Imposing Threat	Kill [Mogu Chain Master].
90	Among the Bones	Kill [Zandalari w/ Raptors].
90	Competing Magic	Kill XXX.
90	Encroaching Force	Kill [Zandalari War Party].
90	Chains of Command	Kill XXX.
90	Raining Bones	Kill [Zandalari w/ Raptors].
90	Zandalari on the Rise	Kill [Zandalari Arcane Caster].
90	Enroaching Force
90	Chains of Command
90	Maximum Capacitor	Destroy the 3 lightning drills in the Ghost Iron Mines, and kill Metal Lord Mono-Han.

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90	Forge Ahead!	Kill the Master of the Forge and Collect a Codex Fragment from the Mogu Gatekeeper in the Isle of the Thunder King.
90	On Her Magic-ey Secret Service	Rescue the three captured Kirin Tor Agents within the Ghost Iron Mines, and kill Metal Lord Mono-Han.
90	Subtle Encouragement	Plant Mogu Weapons into the corpses of 9 Skumblade saurok.
90	Loot plans, kill boat captain
90	Kill mogu boss for key, use object behind jumping puzzle

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• Horde

90	Dangers of Trolltonshire	Slay 12 Trolls in Trolltonshire
90	Grave Circumstances	Kill 10 Lei-Shen Gravekeepers, Lei-Shen Soulrippers, or Lei-Shen Thundercallers.
90	Kill Trolls
90	Kill Mogu Spirits
90	The Skumblade Threat	Slay 10 Skumblade saurok.
90	Gather Scout Reports
90	This Just Won't Do	Kill any 8 Zandalari trolls within the [Troll War Camp].
90	Saur Loser	Defeat 10 Zandalari trolls in the Bestiary of Jalak.
90	Maximum Capacitor	Use the Arcane Capacitor when it is overcharged to destroy the 3 lightning drills in the Ghost Iron Mines, and kill Metal Lord Mono-Han.
90	Save Our Scouts!	Rescue the three captured Sunreaver Agents within the Ghost Iron Mines, and kill Metal Lord Mono-Han.
90	Kill mogu boss for key, use object behind jumping puzzle
90	Nalak the Storm Lord	[PH] Kill Nalak [Log Description]
90	Kill Guards/Players
90	Heinous Sacrifice	Destroy the Zandalari Sacrificial Altars.
90	Pterrible Ptorment	Free the Tormented Pterodactyl.
90	Dark Offerings	Destroy 6 Zandalari Offerings.
90	Ashes of the Enemy	Burn 8 Mummified Remains.
90	Stone Cold	Destroy 8 Grave Guardians.
90	Soul Surrender	Save 8 Sunreaver Scouts.
90	Rise No More!	Kill 15 Risen Ancestors.
90	The Call of Thunder	Disrupt the Thundercaller's Ritual.
90	Into the Crypts	Use the Incantation of Gura in the Hall of the Wicked, then defeat Gura the Reclaimed.
90	Preventing a Future Threat	Frighten 20 Pterodactyl Hatchlings by running near them.
90	The Shuddering Moor	Kill the Fascist Devilsaur.
90	Kill Roaming Troll War Party
90	Kill Giant Statue