WoW: Forever Rulesets Explained - PvP, RP-PvP, Hardcore and More

TL;DR: WoW: Forever has no realm list. You pick a ruleset instead: Normal, PvP, Roleplaying, RP-PvP or, after launch, Hardcore. Name reservations open Tuesday, October 27, and the ruleset you pick then is hard to change, so decide before you log in.

What a ruleset is

Per Blizzard's ruleset article, each ruleset works like one large player pool instead of a single realm. You group, run dungeons and raid only with players on your own ruleset. Battlegrounds can mix rulesets, except Hardcore.

The options

• Normal: the baseline game. PvP happens when you opt in.
• PvP: contested zones are dangerous. You can only make characters for one faction here, so an Alliance start in Elwynn Forest locks you out of a Horde alt in Durotar.
• Roleplaying: for players who want to stay in character.
• RP-PvP: added in Blizzard's October 22 update. It arrives at launch on November 4, and Blizzard plans to offer it during name reservations.
• Hardcore: comes sometime after launch. Death is permanent, but a dead Hardcore character can move to another ruleset.

What this means before October 27

• You can't hop between rulesets. Playing on another one means a new character.
• Collections and Legacy Points are account-wide, except that progress does not flow back into Hardcore.
• Set your preferred online language in Options, under Languages and Social. It has a 24-hour cooldown.
• Pick your capital early: Stormwind City, Ironforge, Orgrimmar or Undercity.

News recap. Everloot has no addon data for rulesets yet.

Related

• WoW: Forever name reservations open Oct 27
• The WoW: Forever beta ends with world bosses and legendaries
• Latest WoW: Forever changes

Plan your first character: try a build in the talent calculator.