I'd hope Rewards/POTYA would be by Rating Zone.
Really curious how rewards will work though!
Although Pokemon said
http://www.pokemon.com/us/play-pokemon/play-pokemon-tournaments
Pokemon Organized Play will award the title of Player of the Year to the players from each age division with the most Play! Points....As we get closer to our official launch in early 2012, we’ll create a Play! Points FAQ that should answer all of your questions about Play! Points, and what you can earn.
the launch was over a month ago and the FAQ at
http://www.pokemon.com/us/pokemon-news/op_playpoints_faq_2012-2012-02-10/
had some information, but left many questions unanswered regarding "what you can earn" and "Player of the Year." For example, regarding Player of the Year:
What are the further details on "Player of the Year"?
Will "Player of the Year" be awarded to the player with highest Play Point total prior to the World Championship, or after the World Championship?
Will there be a separate award for each "zone"?
It is stated that 20 Play Points will be awarded for playing in World Championships, but no mention is made of the Last Chance Qualifier in the Play Points award list. In terms of Play Points, is the LCQ just considered a non-premier tournament (1 PP)? If "Player of the Year" is awarded after the World Championship, then the huge 20 PP for playing in the World Championship would certainly mean that the "Player of the Year" must have obtained an invitation to that event, and attended it. There are opposing viewpoints we could have about this.
Some would say that it's only right and fair that "Player of the Year" be someone who attended the World Championship, for how could a "Player of the Year" have failed to attend the biggest and most important tournament of the year?
But others would say that since "Player of the Year" is based solely on Play Points, it should be something that
ANY player could supposedly achieve, regardless of win/loss record, simply by participating in as many events as possible. ("Player of the Year" is really "Participator of the Year".) Since entry to Worlds is only for a small percentage of players, it eliminates all the other players from "Player of the Year" competition, which is contrary to the any-player-could-get-it concept. There are two possible detours around this: (a) If the 20 Play Points were awarded for EITHER the Last Chance Qualifier OR the World Championship, with a maximum of 20 if both events were attended, that would fix the problem. Or, (b) if the top 3 players in Play Point ranking prior to the World Championship were given invitations to the World Championship, that would also solve the problem, and would be a better solution, since that would indeed require attendance at the World Championship to win the award. (But this solution would undoubtedly cause resentment among the highly-competitive players who failed to qualify by other means, disliking the idea of some "no-talent" player getting in without winning.:nonono
But until the "further details" are forthcoming from Pokemon, we can only speculate and wish.