In the old days, the first big decision in World of Warcraft was a name on a long list of realms. In WoW: Forever, that list is gone. The first thing you choose is how you want the world to treat you.
Blizzard calls these choices rulesets, and each one is its own large community for grouping, dungeons, raids and social play. On October 22, Blizzard updated its ruleset article with a fifth option. Here’s every ruleset, what changed, and how to pick the one that fits.
What Changed on October 22
The update added the Roleplay-PvP ruleset to launch. Blizzard confirmed it arrives with WoW: Forever on November 4, and said it planned to make it available during Early Name Reservation, which began on Tuesday, October 27.
That’s the only change in the update. Blizzard hasn’t published a separate description of Roleplay-PvP beyond its name, so the rest of this post sticks to the rules Blizzard has spelled out.
Every WoW Forever Ruleset
Here’s how Blizzard describes each option.
Rules That Apply Everywhere
A ruleset is a wall as much as a home. These rules shape who you can play with.
- Grouping stays inside your ruleset. You can group, run dungeons and raid only with players on the same ruleset. Cross-ruleset grouping isn’t supported.
- Battlegrounds can mix. Battlegrounds may include players from other rulesets. Hardcore is the exception and stays separate.
- Factions stay apart. Horde and Alliance still can’t group together on any ruleset.
- No free switching. You can’t move a character between rulesets at will. To play on a different ruleset, you create a new character there.
Hardcore: A Closed World
Hardcore works differently from everything else. Its characters live in a fully enclosed ecosystem, and death carries lasting consequences. If a Hardcore character dies, it can transfer to another ruleset, including PvP, so the character isn’t lost to you.
Collections and Legacy Points are account-wide, but Hardcore only shares in one direction. Progress, collections and rewards you earn in Hardcore can become available on other rulesets. Progress from other rulesets won’t flow back into Hardcore. Whatever you bring into Hardcore, you earn there.
Blizzard says Hardcore arrives sometime after launch and hasn’t given a date. Our Legacy system explainer covers how Legacy works on its own.
Faction Rules and Population Balance
On the PvP ruleset, you can only create characters for one faction. Make an Alliance character there and Horde is closed to you on that ruleset, and the other way around. Normal, Roleplaying and Hardcore allow both factions.
Blizzard also plans systems to keep Horde and Alliance populations closer together. It points to Season of Discovery as the model, where new character creation for one faction could be limited for a time when balance needed support. Blizzard hasn’t said whether the one-faction rule applies to Roleplay-PvP.
Setting Your Preferred Language
Rulesets are large, so Blizzard added a way to find players who speak your language. Press Escape to open the Game Menu, choose Options, then Languages and Social under System, and pick a language under Preferred Online Language.
The setting is account-wide and has a 24-hour cooldown, so choose carefully before you change it.
How to Choose Your Ruleset
- Pick Normal if you want to quest and explore at your own pace, and fight other players only when you choose to.
- Pick PvP if contested zones should feel dangerous, and you’re happy to commit to one faction on that ruleset.
- Pick Roleplaying if you want a community that leans into the fantasy of Azeroth.
- Pick Roleplay-PvP if you want that roleplay focus with open-world conflict, keeping in mind Blizzard has shared the least about it so far.
- Wait for Hardcore if you want every death to matter. It isn’t there at launch, and anything you earn elsewhere stays out of it.
Think about friends and guildmates first. Since dungeons and raids stay inside a ruleset, agree on one together before launch night. For how WoW Forever handles servers without realms, see our realmless servers explainer.
Tips & Tricks
Settle on a ruleset with your group before you reserve names, because moving later means starting a new character.
If you want to play both factions, use Normal, Roleplaying or Hardcore. The PvP ruleset locks you to one.
Set your preferred online language once and leave it. The 24-hour cooldown makes testing different settings slow.
Remember that battlegrounds can mix rulesets, so you may meet players from other rulesets there even though you can’t group with them elsewhere.
Related Reading
- WoW Forever Realmless Servers Explained — how servers work without realms
- WoW Forever Legacy System Explained — what Legacy Points do
- WoW Forever Name Reservation and Launch Time — the launch timeline
- Every New Race and Class Combination — pick your character
- Darkspear Islands Battleground Overview — WoW Forever’s new battleground