World of Warcraft: Forever opens your latest journey to Azeroth with a big first step, as logging in for the first time gives you a choice of rulesets. No sign of the ages-old realmlist, just one choice of four (soon five). In theory, this choice should be simple – but somehow it’s still a headscratcher. It’s like the stakes got bigger, somehow.

So there’s Normal, PvP, Roleplay, and Roleplay-PvP. The first two you’re already familiar with. And if you’re not used to seeing roleplay servers, this can be quite new (but it’s what the “RP” in MMORPG stands for). Is there a difference in the choices, though?

As it turns out, not a lot. But they’re significant.

Table of contents

Normal is for most players

PvP is exactly like it sounds

Roleplay, Roleplay PvP lets you live in Azeroth

Then there’s Hardcore

Wait, how does my WoW Forever character name work across rulesets?

Finally, a choice that matters

Normal is for most players

Choosing a gameplay ruleset in World of Warcraft: Forever.…