Which WoW Forever ruleset should you choose?

The quick choice

If you are new to Forever or mainly want quests and dungeons, start on Normal. Pick PvP only if open-world conflict is part of the appeal. Choose Roleplaying if you intend to join an RP community, and Roleplay-PvP if that community also wants world PvP. Hardcore is a separate, higher-stakes option that Blizzard says will arrive after launch, so it is not a day-one choice.

Roleplay-PvP was not in Blizzard’s original list. On October 22, Blizzard announced it for the November 4 launch and said it is working to make it selectable for name reservation from October 27. Its specific rules have not been detailed beyond that announcement.

Check with your friends before creating characters

Blizzard says characters can group, enter dungeons and raid only with others on the same ruleset. Horde and Alliance cannot group together either. Battlegrounds may draw players from other rulesets, except Hardcore, but that does not make cross-ruleset dungeon groups possible. Agree on both ruleset and faction first.

Character creation opens on October 27 with Early Name Reservation. During that window, eligible players can create three characters in total across all rulesets: two on PvP leaves room for only one elsewhere.

Can you change rulesets later?

There is no free switch between ordinary rulesets: to play under another ruleset, create a new character there. Blizzard says a dead Hardcore character may transfer out, including to PvP. Hardcore collections and Legacy progress can flow outward, while progress earned outside Hardcore cannot flow back into it. Do not plan around a transfer from Normal to PvP for your main character.

Faction and language settings

On PvP, creating an Alliance character prevents you from creating Horde characters there, and the reverse is also true. Normal, Roleplaying and Hardcore allow characters from both factions, though opposite factions still cannot group. Blizzard’s ruleset post does not yet say which rule Roleplay-PvP follows.

To set your preferred online language, press Escape, open Options, then under the System heading choose Languages and Social and pick a Preferred Online Language. Blizzard says this account-wide setting applies to all characters and has a 24-hour change cooldown.