Classic Fresh is Coming: 20th Anniversary Edition Launches November 21!

As part of our ongoing Warcraft 30th Anniversary celebration, we’re excited to announce that all-new, fresh WoW Classic realms will go live on November 21 at 2:00 p.m. PST.

Realm Sizes and Rulesets

Nowadays, an individual WoW Classic realm can hold many more players at a single time than ever before. For our new fresh Anniversary realms, we’re limiting the total number of realms to choose from at launch to only 1 of each ruleset (Normal (PvE), PvP, and Hardcore). This will give both new and returning players the confidence in selecting a realm with a ruleset of their choosing, knowing that it will be healthy and sustainable. We may choose to open additional realms for a given ruleset, if needed to address player demand, but it’s our intention to limit the total number of realms to as few realms as possible.

When we first launch on November 21 at 2:00 p.m. PST, we expect some queuing, as we will gradually increase realm capacity caps in real time to fit the number of players logging in. We ask for your patience and understanding if you encounter a queue right after launch time.

Burning Crusade Classic

We’re particularly excited to reveal that Normal (PvE) and PvP fresh Anniversary realms will progress to Burning Crusade Classic, after we progress through the Classic Era content phases. This will be our first visit back to the start of this beloved expansion since its launch in 2021.

Our new Hardcore Anniversary realms will not progress to Burning Crusade Classic. Hardcore has always been focused on the Classic 1-60 journey, made truly viable and approachable thanks to Classic’s original mechanics and difficulty. Burning Crusade brings with it a level of challenge (and randomness) that we feel doesn’t fit Hardcore.

#NoChanges and #Changes Philosophy at Launch

With WoW Classic Anniversary realms, our goal is to preserve the spirit of what makes Classic WoW special. While we’re not strictly following a “no changes” policy for these Anniversary realms, our intention is to closely mirror the Classic Vanilla experience, with minimal deviation from the 2019 version.

Since the launch of WoW Classic in 2019, changes have occurred for reasons primarily focused on game health and game cohesion. These changes have included: reporting system improvements, the Dethroning system for transferring guild leadership, the addition of Chronoboon Displacer (and allowing it to stack to 10), the improved PvP Honor Ranking system, and graphics improvements. On the new Anniversary realms, these changes will be in from the start.

As always, we will continue to listen to player feedback and make adjustments as necessary.

User Interface and Looking for Group

In WoW Classic, players have often used a variety of out-of-game tools and methods to group with other players. Given the limited number of Anniversary realms per region, we expect all realms to have high populations. Although we applaud players’ ingenuity to create tools outside the game to ease social connections, we recognize that not having similar functionality in the game itself has been a missed opportunity.

To support group play, we’re introducing a Looking for Group (LFG) tool, which will allow players to create, join, and browse parties manually. We’re also adding a Services chat channel that players can enable, specifically for advertising services such as portals, summons, and tribute buffs. All such advertising must be posted to the Services channel, and player chat of these kinds placed elsewhere are subject to player reports and actions taken by Blizzard.

For those who enjoy the look and feel of the Classic guild UI, we’ve implemented an option for players to choose between using the original Classic guild UI and the newer guild UI. We’re also making plans to bring these updates to all Classic Era realms and appreciate your thoughts and feedback on that.

Hardcore Rules and Progression

For the first time ever, new Anniversary Hardcore realms will progress through the Classic Era phases of content. This means that when the Molten Core unlocks on the new Normal and PvP realms, it will unlock on new Hardcore realms at the same time. We look forward to seeing how players prepare to take on this content as it unlocks with each phase! Please note that PvP battlegrounds and Battlemasters are disabled and will not unlock when non-Hardcore realms reach their battleground phases.

We expect all else to remain the same. Paladins will not be able to bubble hearth, Shamans’ Reincarnation and Warlocks’ Soulstones won’t work, Duel to the Death (Mak’gora) is back on the menu, and buff and debuff limits are removed.

You’ll have the option of creating Self-Found characters right from the start, should you wish to take on the challenge without being able to trade with other players, send and receive most mail, or use the auction house. Good luck!

Molten Core and Onyxia

On the new realms, we want to encourage as many players as possible to level characters and, most of all, feel safe doing it in their own time. WoW Classic really is all about the journey, after all, and although we see the question of “Is it too late for me to start?” asked a lot, there really is no bad time to join WoW Classic.

To further support this, we’re making a deliberate change to delay the launch of the Molten Core and Onyxia raids by a few weeks. They will open on December 12 PST.

Character Transfers

On these new Anniversary realms, transfers will be unavailable (except for transfers to a Normal realm for Hardcore characters). Normal realm characters must remain on Normal realms, and PvP realm characters will be locked to PvP realms. On Hardcore realms, should players wish to transfer either dead or living characters to a Normal realm, they will be able to do so. There is no way to transfer back to Hardcore realms.

Enforced Faction Balance on PvP Realms

In Season of Discovery, we implemented enforced faction balance on all PvP realms. This means that the population of Horde and Alliance characters on each PvP realm remains almost perfectly balanced. If the faction balance ever starts to lean too far in one direction or the other, character creation for the more populous side is temporarily paused until balance is restored.

The results have been overwhelmingly successful, and feedback on this system has been positive. Therefore, we will enforce faction balance on new Anniversary PvP realms.

GDKP Policy

In line with our policy enacted on Season of Discovery realms in NA and EU, we will not allow gold dragon kill point (GDKP) runs in Anniversary realms in the NA and EU regions.

Note: This policy will not be implemented in regions outside of NA and EU at this time, though we reserve the right to change this.

While we understand that there are some benefits for those who find this a convenient way to gain gear, we also recognize that there are concerns surrounding GDKP eroding traditional guild and social structures that are a part of the spirit of the game. Player feedback in Season of Discovery realms in NA and EU has largely been positive about this change, and it aligns with our internal findings.

We will continue to monitor feedback about this topic closely, and we may make adjustments to this policy in the future.

We’re excited for the launch of Anniversary realms. Thank you, as always, for your support, and we’ll see you in Azeroth on November 21 at 2:00 p.m. PST!

Sincerely,

The WoW Classic Team