ATHENA

PvP rules and information

Any changes will be highlighted in green, marked as “NEW!” and valid immediately.

Contents:

1) Current season
2) Summary of Arenas and Battlegrounds
3) Overview of requirements for granting rewards for arenas
4) Overview of requirements for granting rewards for rated battlegrounds
5) Matchmaking rating (MMR) and Queue information
6) Most common PvP offenses
7) Wintrade
8) Other important information

1) Current season

Athena: July 25th 2024 ‒ TBA

2) Summary of arenas and battlegrounds

We would like to give you a summary of information about Arenas and Battlegrounds (BGs) on our realm, which should help you in better orientation in PvP here.

Arena brackets: 2v2, 3v3, 5v5

Currently available arena maps:

Blade’s Edge Arena
Dalaran Sewers
Ruins of Lordaeron
Nagrand Arena
Ring of Valor CLOSED!

Currently available BG maps:

Warsong Gulch
Alterac Valley
Arathi Basin
Eye of the Storm
Strand of the Ancients
Isle of Conquest
Twin Peaks
Battle of Gilneas

Available Rated Battleground maps:

Warsong Gulch
Arathi Basin
Eye of the Storm CLOSED!
Twin Peaks
Battle of Gilneas

Every available Arena and Battleground location is completely functional and ready for your entertainment. You can get honor points, conquest points and rating by participating in them. If you find any kind of problem in listed Arena locations, please, report them to our Bug Tracker on Twinhead and proceed according to instructions from here.

The rules of project Athena are valid in each arena and battleground zone. Every violation of our rules will be punished accordingly. If you find any suspicious activity, you have to report it in the Blacklist on our forum into the appropriate Athena section. If you wish to stay anonymous, you can send your report via the #ticket-submit channel on our Discord. We require unedited proof and a full description of the issue.

Every match has to be played regularly. Wintrade is strictly prohibited.

3) Overview of requirements for granting rewards for arenas

We are using a different methodology than retail Cataclysm servers had due to smaller population. It looks as follows:​

Currently we are not awarding titles for 5v5 bracket, due to a small number of active teams. Evaluations will always be done at the end of the current season. The next season will start a week after the end of the last one, during that week we are evaluating the results.

FAQ about requirements for awarding rewards for arenas:

Q: What exactly will we get?
A: Aside from the title rewards, players who will be awarded with Gladiator or Season Gladiator title will also obtain a special permanent mount.

Q: How much personal Rating do I need to get a season reward?
A: There is no limit for Personal Rating, but your Personal Rating has to be within 100 of your team’s rating. (This does not apply to the 3v3 bracket.)

Q: How many of team games do I need to attend so I could get the season reward?
A: You need to attend at least 20 % from total games played by your team and your number of total games played in that team has to be at least 20.

Q: What requirements does a team have to meet to be considered active and therefore be eligible for evaluation?
A: An active team is a team that has been involved in at least 20 games. There is nobody out of the minimum number of players for said bracket who hasn’t attended at least 20 % of total team games, and there is also no one out of the minimum number of players whose Personal Rating is lower than team rating by more than 100. (This does not apply to the 3v3 bracket.) If a team doesn’t have at least the amount of players required to play in your bracket meeting the criteria, its members are not eligible for season rewards. If there is a third or a fourth member of a 2v2 team that also meets the requirements, they will get the rewards, too. The same principle applies for the fifth and sixth member for 3v3 teams.

Q: Do I need to participate right before the end of the season?
A: No, you don’t need to do that.

Q: Will I be awarded with the season reward, if I change my character’s faction before the end of the season?
A: Yes, but if you switch factions, you also leave your arena team, so you will have to play arenas again.

Q: Are titles permanent?
A: Challenger, Rival, Duelist and Gladiator are not permanent, these titles will be removed at the end of every season, it’s a sort of a ranking for players for the next season. Season Gladiator title is permanent.

Q: Will I get the season reward while my account has an active ban?
A: You will, unless that ban is permanent. Every player with a permanent ban is not eligible for any season reward.

Q: Is the name of an arena team important at the end of a season?
A: It’s not. However, you can’t name your team with anything vulgar or inappropriate. Teams with such names will be deleted during the season and if by any chance they make it until season evaluations, they will be deleted and disqualified.

Q: What if someone is guilty of Wintrade?
A: If someone is guilty of wintrading during the current season, in any bracket, the wintrading player is not entitled for the season award, along with his account and team.

Q: What if I haven’t received a reward but I think I should get one?
A: If you think so, you need to ask for additional evaluation within 5 days after the evaluation. You can ask for additional evaluation using our Discord, just contact Head GM there. Any additional evaluations will be resolved at once after 5 days from the first evaluation. If you have any issue with the evaluation of your team, don’t expect any response sooner. You need to state your ingame name and realm.

4) Overview of requirements for granting rewards from rated battlegrounds

We are using a different methodology than what was used on retail due to smaller population compared to crossrealm retail Cataclysm servers. It looks as follows:​

FAQ about requirements for awarding rewards:

Q: What exactly can we get?
A: Among said titles you will earn a permanent mount to mark your achievements in Rated Battlegrounds.

Q: Are titles permanent?
A: Yes, they are.

Q: How active in rated battlegrounds does my character need to be in order to be eligible for a reward?
A: The requirement is the same as for arenas, you need to attend at least 20 games.

Q: Do I need to participate right before the end of the season?
A: No, you don’t need to do that.

Q: Will I be awarded with the season reward if I will change my character’s faction before the end of season?
A: Yes, but if you switch factions, your character will automatically lose rated battleground rating, so you will have to play rated battlegrounds again to gain rating once more.

Q: What if someone is guilty of Wintrade?
A: If wintrade happens in any bracket during the season, the wintrading player and his team are not entitled to the season award in any rated bracket on any of his characters.

Q: Is name of the character important at the end of season?
A: It’s not, although you can’t name your character with anything vulgar or inappropriate. Characters with those names will be disqualified.

5) Match Making Rating (MMR) and queue

Match Making Rating

The point of MMR (MatchMaking Rating) is to divide players by their capabilities. This rating increases with every win and decreases with every lost game. MMR is not for the deciding PvP score, its only function is to match players with the closest rating, or “skill”, therefore only for queueing purposes. The queue itself tries to to find only opponents with the same or similar MMR at first. If the queue is taking a longer time, MMR spread will be increased. MMR number will not reset itself after one leaves his arena team, it will stay until the end of current season. MMR reset only takes place with the start of the new season.

Some players purposely decreased their MMR by voluntary losses in the past. Because of these players a change was made, which limits decreasing of MMR and influencing rankings of teams in brackets. If you are lowering your MMR, you are not allowed to enter arena. If you enter arena and you willingly lose, you are violating our rules and your team will be punished in accordance with the wintrade rules.

MMR on our realm:
If you are participating in an arena with no opponent, you won’t be awarded with rating, you will get + 0 (team, personal and MMR). If you play against an opponent, the winner will get a rating increase, while the losing side will get a rating decrease.

Let’s explain it with an example:

TEAM A // TEAM B

TEAM A joins the arena.
TEAM B joins the arena.
TEAM A enters the arena.
TEAM B isn’t entering the arena.
TEAM A can see 2 players / 0 Players in the arena – that‘s TEAM B which didn’t enter.
Arena ends immediately after the countdown for start runs out.
TEAM A recieved + 0 rating to Team, Personal and MMR.
TEAM B lost X rating in Team, Personal and MMR (X –based on difference of ratings).

Rated Battlegrounds:

If you enter a rated battleground where no opponent is present, if you don’t do anything for 5 minutes after the start of that rated battleground, the battleground will end and you won’t be awarded any rating. If you find yourself in this situation, it’s strictly forbidden to play until the end of the battleground and it will be viewed as wintrade if you do. Rated Battleground don’t have MMR system, the queues are made from the average personal rating of team members.

Queue

It is a system for joining arenas and BGs, in this part we will talk only about rated queues. We have modified the queue mechanics because of lower population compared to crossrealm retail. After every 30 seconds spent in a queue the spread of MMR will increase by 100, until you will be matched. That means:

You join arena queue – it searches in range of 100 MMR (100 PR – personal rating group average for Rated Battlegrounds).
After 30 sec – it searches in range of 200 MMR (200 PR – personal rating group average for Rated Battlegrounds).
After 1 minute – it searches in range of 300 MMR (300 PR -personal rating group average for Rated Battlegrounds).
etc…

6) Most common PvP offenses

Below you can find an overview of most common offenses and rules regarding PvP.

1. AFK in battlegrounds
It is prohibited to circumvent the in-game mechanics to be AFK in a battleground.

2. LoS (Line of Sight) exploiting
Exploitation of bugs in LoS for one’s own own advantage, e.g. using spells and abilities through walls, hills etc.

3. PF (Pathfinding) exploiting
Exploitation of bugs in PF for one’s own advantage, e.g. sending your pet to a place that should be unreachable for the purpose of killing an enemy player, like sending your pet to a graveyard from below in a battleground.

4. Use of any multi-seat mount in arenas
It is strictly prohibited to use a multi-seat mount in an arena, when it is used by two or more players.

5. Influencing evaluation of arena teams and rated battleground participants
It is strictly prohibited to influence evaluation of arena teams and rated battleground participants by any irregular means, like abusing a bug or by wintrade.

6. Vulgar team names
It is strictly prohibited to use vulgar names of arena teams, such teams can be immediately deleted during the season or during season evaluation.

7. Bug exploiting in arenas and battlegrounds
It is strictly prohibited to use any bugs in all arenas, all rated and random battlegrounds. If you find a bug, you are obliged to report it immediately to the Bug Tracker (unless already reported) and not use that bug.

8. Offering anything in game to get others to join rated queue
It is strictly prohibited to offer anything in exchange for another team joining any rated queue. This applies to all arena brackets and rated battlegrounds. At the same time it is prohibited to respond to such an offer by joining that queue. Punishment will be delivered to both sides and it will be viewed as wintrading.

9. Irregular participation in rated arenas and battlegrounds
It is strictly prohibited to exploit or to irregularly participate in rated arenas, rated battlegrounds and normal battlegrounds. It is strictly prohibited to exploit bugs in your, or your team’s advantage.

10. Exploiting the start of arena or battleground
It is strictly prohibited to enter the area behind the “gate” to a battleground or an arena before the match officially starts.

11. Influencing the amount of honor and honorable kills gained
It is strictly prohibited to influence your amount of honor or honorable kills by any irregular means. If we have a valid proof of honor trading against some player, honor points and all PvP gear bought for honor points will be removed from all participants.

12. Covering a player who breaks the rules of project Athena
Every player has a responsibility to report any player who is acting in contradiction with the rules of project Athena. If he doesn’t do so, he can be punished as well.

13. Vehicle exploiting
It is strictly prohibited to use vehicles in any way other than intended or to consciously bug vehicles in all PvP locations and instances.

14. More characters in a battleground or arena
It is forbidden to participate in any battleground or arena with more than one character.

15. Automatic logout during PvP combat
It is prohibited to open the game in a new window or similar method while an account is already logged in and participating in PvP combat, as it can cause the character to be automatically logged out.

16. Encouraging others to violate rules
It is strictly prohibited to prompt to any form of rules violation by any means.

Not all offenses need to be mentioned here, we have mentioned only the most common ones. A player can be punished even of an offense not listed here or in the project Athena rules.

The penalty for any offense mentioned above or in the project Athena rules is in competence of GameMasters and abides by internal rules.
You can find the complete list of rules of project Athena HERE.
You can direct any questions to Athena Head GM on forum or on our Discord using private messages.

7) Wintrade

Wintrade can be defined as an agreement of two or more teams in order to achieve higher rating, gear, achievements or other benefits, by agreed losses/wins between teams or in order to intentionally influence evaluation of arena teams or rated battleground participants. It is an irregular way to obtain team, personal or MMR rating which is in contradiction with what we are trying to achieve. We aim for fair play, so that every player who obtains any season reward in any bracket achieves it thanks to his experiences in PvP, not by wintrading. We are monitoring every bracket either in game, or by internal logs.

Rules regarding wintrading:

It is not allowed to influence the evaluation of arena teams or rated battleground participants in any way, either by „voluntary losses“ or by any irregular play.

Prosecution of wintrading:

Punishments may include but are not limited to the following:
– a ban
– item removal
– honor and conquest points removal
– PvP gear deletion
– achievements removal
Any player punished for wintrading will not be eligible for the season reward on all of his/her accounts for the current evaluation. The same approach applies for arena team members of such players.

8) Other important information

If a bug that might influence the evaluation of arena teams or rated battlegrounds players appears in game, you are obliged to report it in the Bug Tracker and not use that bug. If a player will use the found bug, he can be punished in the same way as he would be punished for wintrading (see „Prosecution of wintrading“). This includes every team member and depends on the severity of such offense. The punishment is decided by the Game Masters.

The player doesn’t have to be informed about a ban. He can appeal until a week passes from the date when he was banned via a private message to Head GM on the forum or on our Discord. The deletion of mentioned items and points will be done in the second half of the ban duration.

Last Update: 7.2.2023