As we reported in May, World of Warcraft Classic is adopting the hugely popular Classic Hardcore server ruleset for future implementation. And while we don’t have a launch date yet for these realms, Blizzard shared several rule changes and guidelines for how this “death equals delete” setup will work.
“It’s official, Hardcore realms are coming to World of Warcraft. Players will have the opportunity to show if they have the edge, the grit, the very will— to engage with Azeroth, its denizens, and their fellow players… to survive,” the studio said.
It should be noted that this isn’t exactly the same setup that the community-led Classic Hardcore addon employs. Most notably, players don’t have to delete any characters that die — but they do have to stay in ghost form or else transfer (for free) to a non-hardcore realm upon death. Another notable addition is a “duel to the death” 1v1 feature that gives two players the opportunity to play for “the highest possible stakes.”
Other rules for this server include:
- All Classic Era content phases will be unlocked from the start.
- There is no automatic PvP flagging (players have to deliberately activate their flag if desired).
- PvP battlegrounds will be disabled.
- Some quests have been tweaked to prevent PvP states and escort protection from the opposite realm.
- Players won’t be able to kite mobs out of their respective zones.
- All dungeons will have a 24-hour lockout, and level 60s will not be allowed to dungeon dive with non-60s.
- Mechanics are in place to reduce griefing and dungeon power-leveling: “Gameplay, Zone Disruption, and malicious player killing outside of consensual PvP will not be tolerated on Hardcore realms.”
- The debuff and buff limits will be removed.
- Paladins will not be able to bubble-hearth, and Warlocks and Shamans won’t be able to use their death insurance abilities.
While this does answer many questions about how this ruleset will be constructed, it leaves others hanging. For instance, what about trading and auction house use? What about optional achievement modes? Layering and overpopulation at lower levels? Lag-related deaths? Hopefully, Blizzard will address some of these in the weeks ahead.
