The one everybody asks first
Is it Classic+? Blizzard has avoided the phrase, but the description fits: the world is vanilla's, the level cap is 60 and stays there, and everything added — nine dungeons, two raids, four zones, a race, six race–class pairs, a thousand quests — is built to fill the parts of 2004's Azeroth that were empty or cut. It is not a new expansion on top of Classic; it is a third version of the game, alongside retail and Classic, set in the first year and not moving forward through the old expansions.
Buying it
Do I have to buy it?
No. It is included in the World of Warcraft subscription. The packs from $29.99 unlock the Skyborne race, cosmetics, game time and beta access — nothing that gates levelling, dungeons or raids.
Is the new race really behind a paywall?
Yes. The Skyborne elves and their Zephras Isle start require the Heroic pack or higher. Blizzard has been direct about it, and it is the one part of the launch that has drawn complaints.
What platforms?
Windows and macOS. Native Xbox controller support is confirmed; a console version is not, and Blizzard's retail team answered the console question with "never say never". Blizzard’s GPU floor for Forever is a 2012-or-newer architecture: AMD GCN 1 (Radeon HD 7850 and up), NVIDIA Maxwell (GTX 750/750 Ti, the 900 series and up) or Intel Skylake graphics (HD 530 and up). A GTX 770 or 780 will not run it.
Can I reserve my character name before launch?
Only with a pack. Early Name Reservation runs from 27 October to 3 November, Pacific time, with any of the three: up to three characters, created and customised in advance, names first come, first served. The Warcraft Forever Collection is also the one with a deadline — it is on sale only until 11 January 2027. And names work differently: Blizzard's naming post of 21 September gives every character two names, a first and a surname-like second, and it is the full pair that has to be unique — across the whole region, not a realm. The second name can be hidden in the world (Options, Nameplates, My Secondary Name) but still shows in chat.
Playing it
Which server do I pick?
None. You pick a ruleset — Normal, PvP or Roleplaying at launch, Hardcore later — and everyone on it shares one world. Your friends are never on the wrong realm; they can still be on the wrong faction.
Is the level cap still 60?
Yes, and Blizzard says it stays there indefinitely. New content arrives as periodic phases rather than as level increases.
Is there hardcore?
After launch, as its own closed ruleset — Blizzard said "by winter". A character that dies there can leave one-way to another ruleset; nothing transfers in.
Can I run GDKP raids?
No. Josh Greenfield’s answer in the 17 September live Q&A was "the short answer is no, we are not going to allow GDKP" — gold-bid loot with the pot split among the raid — because it launders bought gold and walls off new players. Same rule as Season of Discovery.
What about my Classic Era characters?
Unknown. Blizzard has said nothing about copies, transfers or the future of Classic Era servers. Anyone telling you otherwise is guessing.
Will everyone look like a transmog catalogue?
Only if you let them. Transmog exists but can be hidden client-side, and it comes with rules: rare dungeon drops unlock for the whole group, epic raid drops only for the winner.
Is it Season of Discovery?
No. The designers say SoD was built to be temporary, which let it take risks a permanent game will not: no shaman tanks and no rune-style roles at launch, though “never say never.” What carries over is the spirit — new dungeons, new combos, the Legacy system — not the runes.
The series
Where does it sit in the story?
The first year of World of Warcraft, after the Forsaken Kingdom campaign of Warcraft III: Reforged and before Molten Core. Blizzard is explicit that it is not the same continuity as retail.
Why 'Forever'?
Because it is not meant to advance. Classic re-ran the expansions in order; Forever freezes the calendar and grows the map instead.
Still to verify
Cross-checked on 19 September 2026 and re-checked on 22 September 2026 against the Warcraft Wiki, Blizzard Watch, Screen Rant, MMORPG.com, PC Gamer, Kotaku, GamesRadar+ and Icy Veins, and against Blizzard’s own GPU-requirements notice and Create a Name of Your Own post, and on 22 October 2026 against Blizzard’s name-reservation post of 20 October and Blizzard Watch’s reservation guide of 7 October. What is still unverified has to be confirmed in-game. Still to confirm in-game.