What happens when you miss a round? Can your "value" limit ever catch up to your actual share balance or did the pool just permanently screw you out of your prior contributions that were above your value limit?
This does explain your confusion a bit. At no time are either "value" or "earnings" reset. They both continue to accumulate. If you miss a round, you just pick up where you left off whenever you want.
But they don't accumulate at the same rate, it depends on the length of the round right? Show up late to a long round or miss it entirely and it could take a long time to "even out" again.