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For most of the world, this is only the second qualifying event - the first being this year's CQ WW SSB.
But in the US and Canada, there was WRTC qualifying action twice since that test, as the ARRL November Sweepstakes (CW & SSB) were both worth 900 points for W/VE qualifiers.
And it was obvious that the qualifying criteria had an impact on how the contest played out, like in SS SSB, where Mitch Mason K7RL decided to switch from the Unlimited category - where he won again last year - to the high power category.
"I switched to Bravo (High Power) this year to try and earn as many points as possible for WRTC 2014," Mason told radio-sport.net. "The 20% haircut off the top for going unlimited was a bit steep!"
Mason's score though was eclipsed by Jeff Briggs K1ZM, who turned in another big score from his contest outpost at VY2ZM in Canada, just a few weeks after having minor heart surgery - days before CQ WW SSB.
"I suppose it is nuts to even think like that - but HEY....it was CQWW and the start of a new round of WRTC qualifying," Briggs told radio-sport.net
One move was to add a fourth team for the qualifying region that covers the Baltics and Scandanavia.
The EU #3 region had five teams in WRTC 2010, but was originally awarded only three for WRTC 2014. That was subsequently increased to four teams, as now 51 teams will be selected through the qualifying process.
Changes were also made on the question of the "residence" of the competitors, so as to determine what region they might represent in WRTC 2014.
"A TL (Team Leader) must have documented permanent residence (e.g., a valid passport) in the DXCC country they represent at the time of submitting an application in 2013," reads part of the refined rule.
"A TL must have permanent residence (a valid passport) in the Selection Area at the time of all contests for which results are submitted," was also added.
The entry deadline for WRTC 2014 is likely to be in September of 2013.
For North American amateurs, the schedule for WRTC qualifying is a busy one, as January of 2011 will bring the CW and SSB legs of the North American QSO Party, as well as the North American CW Sprint in February.
The whole world re-joins the WRTC qualifying battle that month as well with ARRL DX CW.
March brings an important stretch for anyone trying to grab a seat in WRTC 2014, with ARRL SSB, Russian DX and CQ WPX SSB. The WPX contests offer the second largest amount of points for WRTC qualifying at 950.
Qualifying for WRTC 2014 goes from now until March 2013. The details of the qualifying process can be found on the WRTC 2014 web site.
There are 55 events overall - but not for everyone in each geographic area.
US and Canadian hams have 49 events; North America 43, 38 for the Pacific ARRL Section, 32 for the rest of Oceania, 30 for Europe and 28 for all other qualifying regions.
For those wondering about the weighting of WRTC points, that list is very important, because it determines how scores are "normalized" and who gains the most points from each contest:
