Choosing a Ruleset in WoW Forever

Contested zones are dangerous: players of the other faction can attack you there whenever they like, from your first trip out of the starting area to the last quest hub at 60. Expect to lose a few corpse runs, and to win a few fights you never planned.

The PvP ruleset adds a faction lock: each account plays one faction on it. Your first character there decides which, so an Alliance character means no Horde characters on PvP, and the reverse. Character creation for one faction can also be paused for a while when the population tips too far its way.

Roleplay

The Normal rules, plus a community that stays in character. Names and behaviour are held to stricter rules, so leave joke names and loud out-of-character chat for Normal. Both factions are allowed.

Roleplay-PvP

Roleplay's stricter naming and conduct rules on top of PvP's open-world combat, faction lock included. It's the ruleset for players who want their character's war to be a real one.

Hardcore (after launch)

Hardcore opens after launch. Death carries lasting consequences: a Hardcore character that dies doesn't come back on Hardcore. It can move to another ruleset, PvP included, and keep playing there.

Hardcore sits apart from the rest of the game in three ways:

• Progress flows one way. Legacy challenges you complete on Hardcore count on your other rulesets, but nothing you've done elsewhere counts on Hardcore. You start it from zero.
• It has its own Legacy challenges, twelve of them, that pay out to your whole account.
• Battlegrounds stay separate. Hardcore players don't queue with the other rulesets.