World of Warcraft: Forever launches November 4 at 3:00 p.m. Pacific. It is a new, permanent version of WoW that expands the original 2004 world instead of moving on to new expansions, and it comes with a regular World of Warcraft subscription or Game Time.
Blizzard describes Forever as a permanent home alongside modern WoW and WoW Classic. Classic recreates the game as it once was. Forever starts from that same world and keeps adding to it. The story is set after Warcraft III Reforged: Forsaken Kingdom and before the Molten Core era of the original game, and the level cap stays at 60 for good. Fans have asked for this idea for years under the name "Classic Plus."
More to do in the old world
Instead of new continents, Forever fills in the original ones, the Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor, with more than 1,000 new quests across level 1 to 60. New regions include Mount Hyjal, where players deal with the aftermath of Archimonde's defeat in Warcraft III, the hidden Shen'dralas between Mulgore and Desolace, and the Riverglades, a frontier region for mid-level characters.
Players also get nine new dungeons. Several are places the community has talked about for years, such as the Hall of Thanes beneath Ironforge, the Ruins of Lordaeron, and the City of Dalaran.
The Skyborne pick a side at character creation
The new playable race is the Skyborne, who start on Zephras Isle. When creating a Skyborne, players choose whether the character joins the Horde or the Alliance. Horde Skyborne can become Shamans, Alliance Skyborne can become Mages, and both can play Warriors, Hunters, Rogues, or Druids, with druid forms made just for the race.
Old rules and a few new options
Blizzard wants Forever to play like the original game. There are no flying mounts and no level scaling, so zones and enemies do not adjust to a character's level. Leaving out flying mounts fits that goal: the world only feels big when players have to cross it on the ground.
A few modern features are optional. Transmog, which changes how gear looks, is opt-in. Players can switch between high-definition and standard-definition character models, and the game has official controller support. The new camping system lets players build campfires in the open world where others can stop by to share bonuses. The graphics also make the old textures look really good.
New Server ruleset
Blizzard has added a fourth server ruleset for launch: RP-PvP (role-playing player versus player), for people who want to role-play and fight other players on the same server.
What comes after the launch?
Raids, the large group challenges for max-level characters, unlock on December 9. Blizzard has already shown two raid locations, Hyjal Summit and the Barrow Deeps, and plans more raids, dungeons, and PvP updates after the launch.
