[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":328},["ShallowReactive",2],{"site-settings":3,"article:\u002Fresources\u002Fbriefings\u002Fforever-qa-decisions-gdkp-addons-raids":16},{"id":4,"description":5,"email":6,"extension":7,"footerNote":8,"legalNotice":9,"locale":10,"meta":11,"name":12,"stem":13,"url":14,"__hash__":15},"settings\u002Fsettings.yml","Compare World of Warcraft realms by expansion, region, population and play style.","listings@realmlist.org","yml","An independent realm directory.","Not affiliated with Blizzard Entertainment.","en",{},"RealmList","settings","https:\u002F\u002Frealmlist.org","QXaYspLUSxnrVumL6oFir6PInhNsRw-yJchxEYSe1AU",{"id":17,"title":18,"author":19,"body":20,"category":291,"description":292,"draft":293,"extension":294,"featured":293,"meta":295,"navigation":296,"path":297,"publishedAt":298,"seo":299,"sitemap":300,"sources":303,"stem":319,"tags":320,"updatedAt":326,"__hash__":327},"articles\u002Fresources\u002Fbriefings\u002Fforever-qa-decisions-gdkp-addons-raids.md","What the Forever Q&A Settled: No GDKP, a Modern Addon API, One Difficulty, and a 40-Player Onyxia","RealmList Editorial",{"type":21,"value":22,"toc":279},"minimark",[23,45,48,53,59,62,65,82,85,89,96,103,107,110,130,140,143,147,150,188,192,195,202,206,209,216,220,223,230,234,237,263,266,273],[24,25,26,27,31,32,36,37,40,41,44],"p",{},"Most Q&A streams answer trivia. The September 17 ",[28,29,30],"em",{},"World of Warcraft: Forever"," session, hosted by Randy \"Kaivax\" Jordan with senior game designer ",[33,34,35],"strong",{},"Josh Greenfield",", lead software engineer ",[33,38,39],{},"Nora Mills"," and lead Classic designer ",[33,42,43],{},"Tim Jones",", answered structure instead. By the time it ended and the beta doors opened, the shape of the game was considerably more legible: how loot circulates, what addons can do, how big the raids are, and how many mistakes you are allowed to make inside them.",[24,46,47],{},"Here is what was actually settled, and what was deliberately left open.",[49,50,52],"h2",{"id":51},"the-economy-gdkp-out-gold-buyers-in-the-crosshairs","The economy: GDKP out, gold buyers in the crosshairs",[24,54,55,56],{},"The single clearest answer of the hour. Greenfield, flatly: ",[28,57,58],{},"\"The short answer is that no, we are not going to allow GDKP.\"",[24,60,61],{},"His reasoning was three-part and worth quoting in order, because it shows the decision is about the social layer, not the loot rule. GDKP can \"overtake the traditional guild structure\" once it becomes ubiquitous; it is \"a really big barrier to entry for new players,\" who end up buying gold to buy a seat; and it is \"an excellent way for bad actors to launder large sums of gold.\"",[24,63,64],{},"Three commitments came with the ban:",[66,67,68,72,79],"ul",{},[69,70,71],"li",{},"The team will be \"very, very actively monitoring the economy,\" adjusting resource availability the way it did in Season of Discovery.",[69,73,74,75,78],{},"The ",[33,76,77],{},"Tarnished Undermine Real"," system returns from SoD, described as \"kind of like that emblem of justice system,\" with resource boxes whose drop rates can be tuned when something becomes scarce.",[69,80,81],{},"On enforcement: \"We've been probably too lenient on gold buyers… we are going to very aggressively punish gold buyers.\"",[24,83,84],{},"For a private-server audience the resonance is direct. Faction-locked PvP rulesets, a banned auction-house-adjacent loot scheme and stated hostility to gold buying are the house rules most non-Blizzard realms have enforced for years — the difference is that here it is a single shared world rather than a dozen shards.",[49,86,88],{"id":87},"addons-the-modern-api-plus-built-in-replacements","Addons: the modern API, plus built-in replacements",[24,90,91,92,95],{},"Asked which API Forever speaks, Mills was unambiguous: ",[28,93,94],{},"\"We did opt for the modern API approach.\""," Her justification is that boss encounters in Forever are \"a lot more simplified compared to Modern,\" so the combat restrictions should not bite, and a single API across both games is less work for addon authors to keep pace with.",[24,97,98,99,102],{},"Blizzard is also shipping first-party versions of the addons people feel they cannot play without: a damage meter and a cooldown manager are in, and a ",[33,100,101],{},"Swing Timer"," was teased as \"perhaps coming soon.\" UI customisation remains allowed. The practical read: your existing Classic-era WeakAuras are not a portable asset into Forever, but you are less likely to need them.",[49,104,106],{"id":105},"raids-10-and-20-for-every-tier-one-difficulty-and-a-40-man-onyxia-at-launch","Raids: 10 and 20 for every tier, one difficulty, and a 40-man Onyxia at launch",[24,108,109],{},"Jones handled the raid structure in three sentences that will define the game's guild scene for years.",[66,111,112,118,124],{},[69,113,114,117],{},[33,115,116],{},"No flex raiding."," \"No, we're not going to start off with flex raiding.\"",[69,119,120,123],{},[33,121,122],{},"Every tier gets both sizes."," \"Every single tier that we will ever do will have both a 10-player raid and a 20-player raid,\" designed so a 10-man guild can grow out of dungeons and into 20s later. The Barrow Deeps has \"eight or so bosses,\" Hyjal Summit \"even more,\" and tier pieces drop in both.",[69,125,126,129],{},[33,127,128],{},"A 40-man at launch, as an extra."," Onyxia's Lair at 40 players is confirmed for launch — \"kind of the first foray into having an extra piece of raiding content in addition to the 10 and 20 ecosystems.\" Not every tier will have one.",[24,131,132,133,136,137],{},"Then the answer that removes a whole layer of community vocabulary: ",[28,134,135],{},"\"Across both dungeons and raids, the instance is a single difficulty. There's no heroic difficulty.\""," The multiple armour colour variants floating around in datamined files \"are just for offset pieces.\" One version of the 10-man, one of the 20-man, one of each dungeon. Jones' summary: ",[28,138,139],{},"\"You get what you get.\"",[24,141,142],{},"Cross-faction play is out as well. \"There's not going to be any cross-faction play. Horde and Alliance are going to hate each other. They need to fight.\"",[49,144,146],{"id":145},"identity-mandatory-surnames-region-wide-names-no-ruleset-hopping","Identity: mandatory surnames, region-wide names, no ruleset hopping",[24,148,149],{},"Forever has no realms, so the answers about identity had to be re-derived from scratch.",[66,151,152,158,164,170,176,182],{},[69,153,154,157],{},[33,155,156],{},"Surnames are mandatory."," \"Yes, you do have to put something in that field.\"",[69,159,160,163],{},[33,161,162],{},"Names are region-wide."," A name claimed on the Roleplay ruleset is claimed on PvP too. Mills framed it as \"a role-play forward way to reinforce that player identity.\"",[69,165,166,169],{},[33,167,168],{},"No ruleset hopping."," \"Without a character transfer, you're not just going to be able to flip flop.\" Mills' phrasing implies transfers exist between rulesets, but that was not detailed.",[69,171,172,175],{},[33,173,174],{},"Hardcore is a ruleset, arriving later."," Not at launch; when it lands \"it will be a choice like RP or PvP.\"",[69,177,178,181],{},[33,179,180],{},"Realmless, not regionless."," \"We are going realmless but not regionless.\" EU and CN regions remain. Oceanic players are, \"for the most part,\" hosted on Australian data centres, can group with US friends regardless, and share one ruleset-wide auction house with them. Ping follows the data centre the group is anchored to.",[69,183,184,187],{},[33,185,186],{},"Server-wide events are deferred."," An Ahn'Qiraj-style shared effort is not at launch, but the intent survives: \"any events that should feel like a global effort should still feel like a global effort.\"",[49,189,191],{"id":190},"pvp-no-rated-ladder-a-seasonal-honour-track","PvP: no rated ladder, a seasonal honour track",[24,193,194],{},"There will be no rated PvP — an implicit no to Arena, which had been one of the most-replied forum threads. In its place, a new PvP track with its own rewards that resets each season or tier, aligned to raid releases. Honour was reworked so players \"don't feel like they just have to sit in Alterac Valley over and over.\" Darkspear Islands carries its own reputation, Warsong Gulch and Arathi Basin are in, and more battlegrounds are planned.",[24,196,197,198,201],{},"Separately from the Q&A, an interview with Game Informer confirmed that the ",[33,199,200],{},"PvP ruleset mega-server locks you to one faction"," — Horde or Alliance, not both. The stated reasons are faction identity, preventing scouting by character-hopping, and protecting balance. Datamined reward tables suggest a 14-rank honour track per cycle ending in a weapon arsenal.",[49,203,205],{"id":204},"transmog-and-models-silhouette-rules-and-two-art-modes","Transmog and models: silhouette rules and two art modes",[24,207,208],{},"Transmog is in, with silhouette preservation: a paladin wearing a cloth chest can only transmog to another cloth chest. Each saved set can hold multiple appearances per slot, so a designated plate appearance will swap in automatically when a plate upgrade drops. Anyone who dislikes the system \"can pretty much pretend it doesn't exist.\"",[24,210,211,212,215],{},"On models, the HD and SD versions share a skeleton, and the team \"painstakingly gone through all the animations on both\" to keep the Classic feel — the less bouncy dwarf run included. First login asks you to choose ",[33,213,214],{},"Classic or Enhanced","; Classic mode turns off quest tracking and transmog automatically. The SD\u002FHD toggle also lives in graphics settings.",[49,217,219],{"id":218},"why-the-skyborne-and-not-high-elves","Why the Skyborne, and not High Elves",[24,221,222],{},"Greenfield's answer here was the longest of the session and never mentioned the price. The team wanted elves, considered Thalassian High Elves starting in Northshire Abbey, and concluded Quel'Thalas was \"too big for just kind of a simple starter or low level zone\" and \"not the right time\" against Forever's stretched vanilla timeline. Chris Metzen encouraged them to \"spread your wings a little bit.\" The trade-off named in public: High Elf-looking druids, and Horde-side shamans, neither of which has existed before. \"We will be back to Quel'Thalas.\"",[24,224,225,226,229],{},"Two related notes from the earlier modern-WoW segment: the Skyborne and any other Forever races will not appear in ",[28,227,228],{},"Midnight"," or the rest of the Worldsoul Saga, and neither will surnames.",[49,231,233],{"id":232},"the-four-questions-they-skipped","The four questions they skipped",[24,235,236],{},"The omissions are as structurally interesting as the answers.",[238,239,240,246,251,257],"ol",{},[69,241,242,245],{},[33,243,244],{},"Dual spec"," — not raised.",[69,247,248,245],{},[33,249,250],{},"The debuff limit",[69,252,253,256],{},[33,254,255],{},"The $29.99 pack's paywall"," — the Skyborne's origin story was answered; why the race sits behind a purchase was not.",[69,258,259,262],{},[33,260,261],{},"Character cloning or transfers from Classic Era"," — not raised, though Mills' phrasing implies paid transfers between rulesets exist.",[24,264,265],{},"Also unanswered: Hardcore's date, system requirements, download size, RP-PvP, and Dungeon Finder.",[24,267,268,269,272],{},"One forward-looking item did come out of it: a ",[33,270,271],{},"weekly podcast through the beta",", hosted by Greenfield and Josh Corbett of Countdown to Classic, running six weeks with developers, creators and community guests.",[274,275,276],"note",{},[24,277,278],{},"Accurate as of September 18, 2026. Everything above is drawn from the September 17 Forever developer Q&A as transcribed by third parties from the stream VOD, cross-checked against MMO-Champion's panel coverage — quotes are from auto-transcripts, lightly cleaned, and should not be treated as verbatim press releases. The one-faction PvP lock and the hidden-item-stats policy come from separate pre-BlizzCon interviews (Game Informer and MMORPG.com respectively), not from the Q&A itself. Datamined reward tracks are provisional and may change before November 4.",{"title":280,"searchDepth":281,"depth":281,"links":282},"",2,[283,284,285,286,287,288,289,290],{"id":51,"depth":281,"text":52},{"id":87,"depth":281,"text":88},{"id":105,"depth":281,"text":106},{"id":145,"depth":281,"text":146},{"id":190,"depth":281,"text":191},{"id":204,"depth":281,"text":205},{"id":218,"depth":281,"text":219},{"id":232,"depth":281,"text":233},"briefings","The September 17 developer Q&A answered the questions that shape what Forever actually is — how loot is distributed, which addon API it speaks, how big the raids are, and how hard they are. It also skipped the four questions people most wanted answered.",false,"md",{},true,"\u002Fresources\u002Fbriefings\u002Fforever-qa-decisions-gdkp-addons-raids","2026-09-18",{"title":18,"description":292},{"loc":297,"changefreq":301,"priority":302},"daily",0.7,[304,307,310,313,316],{"label":305,"url":306},"WoWSoD Pro — WoW Forever Q&A Recap (Sept 17): GDKP Banned, Modern Addon API, Onyxia 40-Man, No Flex","https:\u002F\u002Fwowsod.pro\u002Farticles\u002Fwow-forever-qa-recap-september-17",{"label":308,"url":309},"MMO-Champion — World of Warcraft News (PvP and cross-faction Q&A coverage)","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.mmo-champion.com\u002Fcontent",{"label":311,"url":312},"Wowhead — PvP and Legacy System Rewards in World of Warcraft: Forever","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.wowhead.com\u002Fforever\u002Fnews\u002Fpvp-and-legacy-system-rewards-in-world-of-warcraft-forever-382959",{"label":314,"url":315},"Private-server tracker — Forever beta goes live: PvP locks one faction, loot stays a surprise","https:\u002F\u002Fwowprivateservers.vercel.app\u002Fnews\u002Fforever-beta-live-sep-17",{"label":317,"url":318},"MMOExp — World of Warcraft: Forever Beta Starts Sept 17: 1,000 New Quests, Undead Paladins & Permanent Level 60","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.mmoexp.com\u002FNews\u002Fworld-of-warcraft-forever-beta-starts-sept-17-1-000-new-quests-undead-paladins-permanent-level-60.html","resources\u002Fbriefings\u002Fforever-qa-decisions-gdkp-addons-raids",[321,322,323,324,325],"World of Warcraft Forever","Blizzard","Classic Plus","Raids","Addons",null,"H5EWX7LBcJsJpr8F_aY1uPbA0h-fYy-QAwqouJt4rAw",1789694021890]