The short answer on RP-PvP

Blizzard has not announced a separate RP-PvP ruleset. Its ruleset guide lists Normal, PvP and Roleplaying, with Hardcore to follow after launch. Around 9:29 on the 15 October official podcast, the developers summed up their position: no plans right now, nothing to report, and the feedback is being read closely.

That is not a permanent refusal. They declined to rule it out and said a solution might be found further down the line, while making clear nothing is planned in the immediate future. Treat it as a dated status rather than a roadmap promise in either direction.

Ink-and-parchment guild noticeboard under a small roof, holding a parchment reading RP community, a painted red shield and a feather. A letter slides onto the board and is pinned while Dee stands to the left. Beside the board hangs a separate sign reading RP-PvP?, where a large question mark appears, above the words No immediate plans.
Feedback goes on the board that exists. The RP-PvP? sign holds only a question mark: no immediate plans, though not a permanent no.

Grobbulus, and the realms that followed

The developers understand why players ask. Grobbulus, the RP-PvP realm in 2019 Classic, avoided the population swings and one-sided exoduses that hit other PvP realms and stayed healthy for a long time, perhaps because of the temperament of the people who chose it.

Their worry is that later RP-PvP realms did not repeat that. Around 7:40 they described Crusader Strike in Season of Discovery: an RP-PvP realm that was the biggest North American realm when the season began, yet lost its roleplay tag about three months in because it was effectively a PvP realm. They linked that to creators and communities arriving that were not used to roleplay rules.

Blizzard's position is that the decision has to rest on how players actually behaved, not on the version everyone hopes for.

Why splitting the roleplay community matters

The deeper concern is size. Around 8:21 the developers described the roleplay community as fairly small next to Normal and PvP. A realmless ruleset needs critical mass: enough people for chance encounters, unplanned events, world PvP and a working economy.

An RP-PvP ruleset would be a second roleplaying home, dividing an already close-knit group. On the old realm list, an extra realm was one more server. In Forever a ruleset is a whole ecosystem, and Blizzard's guide says characters cannot freely move between them. Our reading is that a split would be hard to undo if one side ended up too quiet.

Where roleplayers who like PvP stand today

If roleplay comes first, the Roleplaying ruleset is the dedicated home, and one account can create both Horde and Alliance characters there. Blizzard's guide describes its purpose but does not set out its open-world PvP rules, so do not assume a Classic realm convention carries over.

If open-world conflict comes first, the PvP ruleset delivers it, without a roleplay focus and with one faction per account. Battlegrounds sit between the two: the guide says they can mix players from different rulesets, except Hardcore.

The developers said they are reading comments and feel the appetite for it. If you want the ruleset, describing how your community would actually play there says more than a one-line request.

Still to come

Not yet settled by our sources or tested in game:

  • How open-world PvP works on the Roleplaying ruleset; Blizzard's ruleset guide describes its roleplay focus but not its PvP rules.
  • What community or population evidence would lead Blizzard to revisit an RP-PvP ruleset.

Sources

Beta notes are dated because Forever is still changing.

  • Official Forever podcast episode 4, 15 October 2026 — 5:50The RP-PvP segment opens; around 6:38 the developers discuss why 2019 Classic's Grobbulus stayed healthy. Automatic captions checked; no exact quote depends on them.
  • Same episode — 7:40Crusader Strike in Season of Discovery: largest North American realm at launch, roleplay tag removed about three months later. Same podcast as the entry above, not independent corroboration.
  • Same episode — 8:21The roleplay community's size, the critical mass a realmless ruleset needs, and the risk of dividing it with a second roleplaying ruleset. Same podcast, different segment.
  • Same episode — 9:29Summary: no plans right now, feedback under consideration, not ruled out for the future, no immediate plans. Same podcast, different segment.
  • Blizzard: Choose Your Ruleset, 21 September 2026The rulesets Blizzard lists (Normal, PvP, Roleplaying, and Hardcore after launch), limited movement between them, both factions on Roleplaying and mixed-ruleset battlegrounds. Read 15 October.