What Forever changed

You pick a playstyle instead of a server name: Normal, PvP, Roleplay, Roleplay-PvP - and Hardcore after launch. Each ruleset is one large ecosystem. Grouping across rulesets is not possible, and Horde and Alliance stay apart as before.

Was: One realm name, chosen once, with transfers sold later.

A configurable interface element that tracks ability cooldowns - no addon required. In the beta it exists so far for druid, mage, priest, warrior and warlock; the other classes are still missing.

Was: That took an addon.

Craft campfires out in the open world. Others stop by, contribute through their professions and share the campsite buffs.

Was: Campfires were a cooking prop.

Stormwind Harbor to Auberdine opens an early crossing between the Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor. Menethil, Southshore and Auberdine add a second route with more room to manoeuvre while leveling. The third sets out with the Steamwheedle Cartel in Tanaris and lands at Powderfuse Port in the Riverglades.

Was: Two continents joined by one slow crossing.

65 Legacy Challenges from leveling, professions, exploration, PvP, dungeons and raids each award one Legacy Point. They are shared across all your characters, but each one spends them separately in three trees: Professions, Adventure, Resourcefulness. At launch a character may spend 16 of them; the rest feed a cosmetic rewards track.

Was: Nothing like it existed.

Reworked talents with meaningful trade-offs and six new race/class combinations. The Forsaken Paladin gets a path of its own, carried over from the Warcraft III campaign Forsaken Kingdom and grounded at Bandarion Keep in the Whispering Wood of Tirisfal Glades. Every race now carries two active and two passive racials - all 40 of them are listed. Class identity preserved, no zone scaling.

Was: Fixed race and class pairings, and talent rows you took because they were there.

Every dungeon drop was re-examined, unique dungeon boss items are blue quality now and set bonuses hit harder. New effects tie an item to an environment - woodlands, mountains, deserts - or to a creature type, so the best piece depends on where you are headed.

Was: Flat stat sticks, best in slot regardless of where you went.

A character carries two talent builds and switches between them instead of paying to reset the tree. That matters most for the classes that fill two roles.

Was: Paid respec every time you changed role.

Transmogrification you can switch off - the Classic look stays the default for everyone who wants it. The quest helper is opt-in too.

Was: Not present in Classic.

Choose modern or Classic character models - with restored Classic animations on HD models. Controller support included. The Skyborne launch in HD only; Blizzard announced SD models for them, druid forms included, for early 2027.

Was: Original models, no choice.

New lighting, global illumination, volumetric particles, a new water renderer and real-time shadows. Hardcore mode follows after launch.

Was: The original renderer.

GDKP will not be allowed - Blizzard cites protecting the social game, the barrier of entry for new players and gold trading, and says it will watch the economy closely. WoW Tokens and character boosts are not planned. Tarnished Undermine Reals, a currency from Season of Discovery, carry over.

Was: GDKP runs were tolerated in Classic, and gold bought access to loot.

Forever uses the modern addon API: addons that essentially play the game for you are blocked. A damage meter, a cooldown tracker and a swing timer ship with the game instead. Group finding is the Classic Era listing board, not an automated dungeon finder.

Was: The old API let addons do almost anything, and every one of those features had to be installed.