Blizzard have confirmed one major detail for Forever’s PvP Realms, and it requires you to make a careful choice!
In WoW’s early days, if you decided to go down the PvP server route, you’d be restricted to either Horde or Alliance only for that server. If you fancied playing the opposite faction, then you’d have to roll a character on a new server. This restriction was lifted in Patch 3.2 for modern WoW, and just before Wrath of the Lich King’s release for Classic.
But How Will This Work in Forever?
In an interview with Game Informer, Blizzard have confirmed that for the PvP ruleset mega-server, you will be restricted to one faction only. You can check out the interview here:
At a first glance, this may sound like a nuisance, especially for anyone who likes having characters on both sides. However, there are good reasons as to why Blizzard is bringing back this old school restriction.
Why Bring Back the Restriction?
This restriction will keep the PvP mega-servers feeling like actual Horde vs Alliance. Without it, there would be nothing stopping players hopping on the opposite faction to scout enemy groups, reporting this information back to their own groups on their main faction, basically enabling players to grief.
There’s also the bigger issue of faction balance. With Forever doing away with traditional realms, Blizzard can’t simply rely on players choosing a different server if one faction starts massively outnumbering the other.
During the Forever Deep Dive Panel at BlizzCon, it was confirmed that Forever will “include systems intended to support Horde and Alliance balance similar to the approach introduced in Season of Discovery.” This will most likely mean that character creation for the more dominant faction could at times be temporarily restricted to bring the Horde/Alliance populations closer together in numbers.
Bringing back the restriction also inspires the return of the faction identity, which is such a core element of WoW’s storytelling! So, think carefully before rolling your first character on Forever’s PvP mega-server!
