How Forever plays differently from Classic Era as a game: realms, Legacy, graphics, transmog, the group finder and more. For the items, quests and spells themselves, use the rest of the site.
There's no realm list any more. You pick how you want to play, and everyone who picked the same shares one big world.
Instead of choosing a realm, you choose a ruleset. Each ruleset is one large community for your region.
Groups, dungeons and raids only include players on the same ruleset.
Characters have a two-part name, and each full name is unique across your whole region rather than one realm.
Choose your language in Options → Languages and Social, and you'll mostly meet players who chose the same.
On the PvP ruleset an account can only have characters on one faction.
Collections and Legacy Points count across every ruleset on your account.
A new account-wide progression that rewards doing different things (other classes, professions, PvP) rather than more power.
Completing challenges earns Legacy Points, which are shared by every character on your account.
Each character spends the shared points in its own trees, up to 16 points per character at launch.
Earning points also moves you along a cosmetic reward track, with no power attached.
The world still asks you to travel and talk to people. The tools to find a group are better; the shortcuts aren't there.
Meeting stones open a new Looking for Group tool where you list your group or browse others.
Meeting stones can't summon players; you'll still need a warlock.
Only your group gets credit for a mob it tags first, as in Classic Era. Blizzard says it will “hold the line” on this.
Killing mobs in dungeons gives much less XP, and dungeon quests give much more, to make paid dungeon boosting less worthwhile.
As in The Burning Crusade, the gold moves from the mount to the riding skill. Blizzard says learning the riding skill will also grant a mount.
The level cap stays at 60, with no level scaling and no flying mounts.
Change your hair, body type and more without making a new character.
Forever can look like the game you remember or like modern WoW. It's your choice.
The first time you log in, you pick a starting setup. You can change each setting afterwards.
Choose between the original Standard-Definition (SD) character models and High-Definition (HD) ones.
The timeless art style stays, with new environmental touches that make the world feel more alive.
Official controller support, with class flyout menus, a compact action bar and party targeting on the d-pad.
Many of the addons Classic players rely on are now built in, and addons can no longer make combat decisions for you.
Forever uses the modern addon system from retail WoW: addons that work out or automate what to do in combat are blocked.
A damage meter, a cooldown manager and a swing timer come with the game.
The quest log is searchable and holds twice as many quests.
Show all your bags as one, if you want to.
The auction house uses the modern layout, with a search bar, categories and bulk buying of materials.
Ping targets and places to point them out to your group.
Combat still feels like Classic, but races, talents and stats have all been reworked.
The Skyborne can join either faction and start on their own island, Zephras Isle (levels 1–12).
Gnome Priest, Human Hunter, Dwarf Shaman, Orc Mage, Troll Warlock and Undead Paladin. More are planned.
Every race now has two active and two passive racials, with about the same offensive value.
The trees keep their shape and the 11/21/31-point talents, and gain a new 16-point talent.
Familiar stats, with a few merged and reworked.
A normal mob takes about 10–15 seconds to kill solo, and crowd control and threat still matter in dungeons.
Transmog is in, but it's optional: switch it off and everyone looks the way their gear really looks.
Change how your gear looks at a transmogrifier in some cities, or turn the whole system off.
Appearances are collected even while transmog is off.
Campfires become small outdoor bases where players meet up, rest and craft.
A Basic Campfire makes a campsite. Sit by it to rest, and nearby players can add objects to it.
Each profession learns three camp objects, the first at skill 20.
Crafting matters at every level now, not just at 60.
More than 600 new recipes across every profession and level range.
Nine new dungeons, raids for smaller groups, and a PvP rank track you climb each season.
Including Hall of Thanes and Ruins of Lordaeron, both open in the beta. Every older dungeon's loot has been reviewed too.
Every raid tier has a 10-player and a 20-player raid, and some raids are still 40-player.
Earn Honor from battlegrounds and PvP content to climb the ranks, up to rank 14 within each season or patch cycle.
A new 15-versus-15 battleground that mixes capture points with capturing and defending flags.
Blizzard is protecting the economy and the guild side of the game.
Gold-bid raids aren't allowed. Blizzard says they push out normal guild raiding and lead new players to buy gold.
There are no plans for the WoW Token or paid character boosts.
A currency from Season of Discovery is coming to Forever. How you'll earn it there hasn't been said yet.
From Blizzard's announcements. Times are Pacific.
Written by us from Blizzard's announcements, developer interviews and beta notes, plus a few things beta players have seen in the game (marked “In the beta”). Last checked 27 September 2026. Forever is still in beta, so details can change before launch; rumours and unconfirmed reports are left out.