World of Warcraft: Forever players are getting a fourth server "ruleset" option for launch: role-playing-player vs. player, or RP-PvP for short.
Blizzard announced the news on social media, stating the server would be open for name reservations starting on October 27. It joins three other rulesets for players to choose from, with options for PvE, PvP, and roleplaying. Yet another server ruleset, Hardcore (aka permadeath), is set to be added before Spring 2027.
The addition of a RP-PvP server is good news for the game's community, who have been vocal about wanting to see it added as an option. RP-PvP servers have been included in past versions of WoW Classic and WoW.
Having another PvP server option has taken on new importance given Blizzard's server approach for Forever. Rather than multiple different servers for each ruleset, Blizzard instead opted for what is essentially one massive server for each. That means prior to now there was only one PvP server, and unsurprisingly, it's that server where much of the game's streamer population and their audiences will be playing. One of those streamers is the controversial Asmongold, whose Alliance guild, Olympus, currently numbers over 74,000 players on Forever's beta.
Many WoW Classic players would rather avoid streamer drama and Asmongold's army disrupting their experience, but didn't have anywhere else to go if they were committed to playing on a PvP server. Now, with a RP-PvP server, those players have somewhere to go, albeit with some extra RP-focused rules to contend with.
Blizzard originally seemed hesitant to introduce a RP-PvP server. Just last week, Blizzard said it had no plans to introduce one.
"Whenever it comes to RP-PVP, people really remember fondly stuff like Grobbulus in 2019, but unfortunately, the reality is every other RP-PVP realm we've done since then has followed a different trajectory…," senior game designer Josh Greenfield said in a PvP-focused episode of the WoW: Forever podcast. "It's one of those things where we'd want to make a decision based on hopes and what we want; we have to make decisions based on what has actually played out and actual player behavior."
He went on to state the game's RP community is "pretty small" compared to its normal and PvP communities, and that for Blizzard's new "realmless" ruleset system to work, it needs a "critical mass" of players to encourage social interactions and for the server to have a strong economy.
"Taking that already tight-knit community and splitting it again is something we have to carefully consider in this new world," he said.
GameSpot reached out to Blizzard for comment on what changed its mind and why it decided to add another server option, but has not yet heard back as of publication.
WoW: Forever launches on November 4. Even with less than two weeks before launch, Blizzard continues to deliver new information about the third version of its popular MMO. It recently revealed players can expect to see the return of a questing tradition in the game's new Riverglades zone and made big changes to Forever's racial abilities. In an interview with GameSpot, Blizzard teased how it's approaching Forever's endgame and its future.