RP-PvP at launch, name reservation and raids on December 9: the last week of the WoW Forever beta

RP-PvP is coming at launch after all

The October 17 digest said RP-PvP was not planned for launch. On October 22 Blizzard changed course. Josh "Aggrend" Greenfield posted on the forums that a Roleplay-PvP ruleset will be added for launch on November 4. The team had voiced concerns on the podcast, kept watching player feedback, looked at what a new ruleset would take, and decided to go ahead.

You will be able to pick RP-PvP as early as name reservation on October 27; Blizzard says it is working hard to make that date. Regions and faction rules for the ruleset have not been announced yet - players are asking on the forums, with no answer so far.

Name reservation: October 27 to November 3

Early Name Reservation opens on October 27 and runs until November 3. Start times by region:

• Who can reserve: only players who pre-purchased the Skyborne Heroic Pack, the Skyborne Epic Pack or the Warcraft Forever Collection. The reservation applies to the WoW account the edition was bought for.
• How many names: up to three characters across all rulesets combined - for example, two on PvP and one on Normal or Role-Play. The limit applies only during reservation.
• How names work: a Forever character has two names, like a first name and a surname. The full pair must be unique across your whole region, not just one realm. You can hide your second name on nameplates in the options; it still shows in chat.
• Rules: first come, first served. Names follow the in-game naming rules: no impersonating Blizzard, and you cannot hide a banned word by splitting it across both names - they are checked together.

Raids: three of them, all on December 9

Blizzard published a raid overview. All three raids unlock on December 9, five weeks after launch. They are currently planned to reset weekly.

• Barrow Deeps is the prison that held Illidan Stormrage for 10,000 years.
• Hyjal Summit opens with an ancient guardian, then lets the raid choose its own route across the mountain.
• Onyxia: every raider needs the Drakefire Amulet in their bags; it does not have to be equipped. The attunement chain is unchanged from Classic: Alliance starts in the Burning Steppes, Horde in Kargath in the Badlands. Both run through General Drakkisath in Upper Blackrock Spire. Blizzard advises starting early and bringing friends, since the chain has elite quests. And stock up on Fire Resistance.

Nine new dungeons: levels and entrances

The second overview covers every new five-player dungeon, from level 13 to 60. Blizzard had previously shown only three of them.

• Hall of Thanes and Ruins of Lordaeron sit next to capitals: the Alliance walks into the first from Ironforge, the Horde into the second from the Undercity. The other faction has to travel through enemy land.
• City of Dalaran is gated by a questline: you need to earn the Kirin Tor's trust. Alliance starts with "An Alarming Request" in Southshore, Horde with "Key to the City" and "Prison Break-In" in Tarren Mill. You enter through the sewers.
• The Drowned City is an open-air dungeon. The entrance is underwater, and the weather changes during the run.
• Krol'dok Stronghold: according to Blizzard, strange chanting is heard there after nightfall.
• Alcaz Prison: the Defias Brotherhood and the naga are fighting inside.
• Blackmaw Hold is a level 60 dungeon with several routes and bosses. Blizzard hints at a deeper path.
• Shaper's Terrace: power crystals gathered in Un'Goro are used at consoles inside.

Camps: what each profession brings

A separate Blizzard article breaks down camps. A cook places a Cooking Fire that upgrades into a Basic Campfire: you can cook on it and place up to three camp features around it. Experienced cooks get campfires that hold 5 and 10 features.

Each nearby player can add one feature from their profession. All features share a 1-hour cooldown. You get the bonus after sitting or crafting at the camp for at least one minute.

• Values scale with character level: the lower number at low level, the higher one closer to 60.
• Camp bonuses are versions of class buffs and do not stack with them. If your group has a priest with Fortitude, the First Aid Kit adds no extra Stamina.
• The Camp Tent only adds rested XP if you have less than 5% of a level stored.
• Skill 20 features come from starting-zone quests or the profession trainer. Features at skill 140 and higher drop in dungeons and raids.
• On PvP rulesets enemies can find your camp too - pick the spot carefully.

Podcast #5: the developers look back at the beta

The fifth episode of the official podcast, "End of Beta Special", came out on October 22. Host Countdown To Classic and guest Meeix were joined by Blizzard's Josh "Aggrend" Greenfield (Senior Game Designer), Clay Stone (Associate Production Director), Ana Resendez (Lead Software Engineer) and Michael Nuthals (Lead Encounter Designer). The highlights:

• Secrets were switched off for the beta. Greenfield said some secrets and items were disabled - the torch, for example, did not work during the first week. Levels 1-30 still hold things players have not found. He declined to talk about the newly found sword that lets a mage fight in melee: revealing secrets takes the fun away.
• 12,500 hidden items. According to GameSpot, more than 12,500 items were hidden at the start of the beta: a new system conceals an item's name and stats until players discover it. That is why boss drops and some quest rewards are still unknown.
• Hints of the future. Nuthals: there are homes and manors players have already found, and dungeon portals in inconspicuous spots - "there are some things coming in the future".
• Raid bosses. Nuthals: bosses are built around a theme, with mechanics that let classes use their tools, crowd control included. Fights should be approachable but dangerous. Teasers: a damage buff that comes at a cost, a fight with two spiders, undead and possessing ghosts, and a body-horror encounter. Barrow Deeps and Hyjal Summit have more than 20 new bosses between them, and 10- and 20-player raiding will continue.
• Molten Core. As Wowhead reports it, Greenfield confirmed that older raids like Molten Core will also get new mechanics. No details yet.
• What the beta tested. Servers, classes and social features. Levels 30-60 and raids were not tested at full scale, so expect some rough edges at launch.
• PvP and deaths. Heat maps showed a lot of PvP: other players were the top cause of death in the beta. The heaviest fighting was around the Undercity and in Hillsbrad.
• Campfires and torches. Players used campfires in starting zones in unintended ways, so their damage and health may be adjusted. The Duskwood torch discovery inspired the idea of torch-carrying guards at night.
• Regions and language. "Realmless" does not mean no servers: regions stay. Language matching is soft. The Americas and Europe will not play together at launch, though that was not ruled out forever.
• Controller support was called a big success, with help from the Diablo team. Their advice: start a fresh character and give yourself 30-60 minutes to adjust.
• A separate technical episode will cover the players who vanished outside Orgrimmar.

Interview: new dungeons should sit next to the old ones

Michael Nuthals spoke to esports.gg at the Escape Together event in Toronto. The key idea: new dungeons should feel like they sit next to the original ones rather than read as a modern add-on. To keep the bar, the encounter team plays classic dungeons such as the Deadmines on the Classic Era reference client on Thursday mornings. The developers read player feedback on YouTube and Reddit and check it against their own data.

Beta end: stress test, extension and a party with epics

The stress test ran on October 21 on the same hardware that will be used at launch. All of its characters were deleted. Bringing the beta back afterwards took a while - Blizzard advised fully closing the Battle.net app to force the update - and the beta got another quick restart on October 22. The beta itself was extended to October 23, 10:00 a.m. PDT, and then closed for good.

As a send-off, Blizzard ran a 24-hour celebration in seven starting zones: the Skyborne island, Dun Morogh, Elwynn Forest, Teldrassil, Durotar, Tirisfal Glades and Mulgore. According to Wowhead, Icy Veins and players, regular mobs dropped epics, including Molten Core items with no level requirement, infernals fell from the sky, and Azuregos and Kazzak roamed the zones. Blizzard warned that none of it will be part of WoW Forever after launch.

In brief

• Invite a friend. Owners of some editions have been receiving codes since October 20: a friend can play launch week, November 4-11, without a subscription.
• Mail with spell power. Wowhead noticed there is none among early quest and dungeon rewards. Caster shamans should keep that in mind while leveling.
• Escape Together. On October 23 Blizzard streams a contest between Horde and Alliance champions, ending in an escape room inspired by the Scarlet Monastery. No results yet.

Key dates

• October 27, 18:00 CET - name reservation opens in Europe (1:00 p.m. PDT in the Americas).
• November 3 - reservation closes.
• November 4, 3:00 p.m. PST (23:00 UTC) - WoW Forever launches.
• December 9 - Barrow Deeps, Hyjal Summit and Onyxia's Lair unlock.