Blizzard opened a free opt-in for the World of Warcraft: Forever beta. You do not have to buy a pack to put your name in. You also do not get a guaranteed seat that way. The button lives on the official Forever page. Sign into Battle.net, hit Beta Opt-In, and you are in the pool. The test itself starts Thursday, September 17, and runs through October 21.
Guaranteed access to the beta still sits on the paid line. The Skyborne Epic Pack at $59.99, the Warcraft Forever Collection at $79.99, and the $150 Collector's Edition all include beta. Heroic at $29.99 gets you the Skyborne race and Zephras Isle. It does not get you the test.
The beta is not for the full game. The public roadmap caps testers at level 30. Raids stay locked until December 9. Hardcore realms are a later window, sometime after launch. Name reservation for pack buyers runs October 27 through November 3. Launch is November 4 at 3:00 p.m. PST. What you can actually look forward to in that test is the first stretch of Classic+ as a playable world.
Forever is vanilla Azeroth treated as a place that keeps growing. The cap stays at 60. New quests, dungeons, and zones keep arriving in that bracket instead of kicking the timeline into Outland. The setting is year one, after Warcraft III: Reforged Forsaken Kingdom and before Molten Core.
The launch map adds Zephras Isle as a 1-12 start for the Skyborne, the Riverglades between the Burning Steppes and the Swamp of Sorrows, Shen'Dralas around the old Shen'dralar story, and a rebuilt Mount Hyjal as the endgame outdoor zone. Existing blank spots on the vanilla map get filled in rather than replaced.
Nine new dungeons sit under that. City of Dalaran opens after the old barrier drops. Lordaeron ruins and Hall of Thanes cover the mid-teens. An Explorer's League dig in the Wetlands and the Drowned City off Stranglethorn sit in the climb. Alcaz Island Prison, the Shaper's Terrace, Krol'Dok Stronghold, and Blackmaw Hold take the 40-60 bracket. Darkspear Islands is the new 15v15 battleground.
Barrow Deeps is the 10-player raid, with three doors including one in Hyjal. Hyjal Summit is 20 players. Onyxia stays in the 40-player size. Those fights are not the beta's job. They are the December unlock.
Class and race rules already changed enough to plan a character around. New combos include Human Hunter, Dwarf Shaman, Gnome Priest, Undead Paladin, Orc Mage, and Troll Warlock. Skyborne can be Warrior, Hunter, Rogue, or Druid on either side, then Mage on Alliance or Shaman on Horde. Night Elves and Tauren keep their old class lists.
Racials were rewritten to four per race. Resistance rows are gone. Weapon specs now add crit instead of weapon skill. Night Elves picked up Elune's Light, a 10% crit burst for 15 seconds, plus run speed on Quickness. Humans get a stun break. Orcs put Blood Fury on attack power and spell power. Tauren get Plainsrunning. Skyborne get Walk on Air and a faction-split second active.
Systems around the climb are part of the pitch too. Camping is in. Transmog is optional. Graphics can flip between original SD and the new HD pass with updated lighting, water, and shadows. Professions get extra work. Reputations expand. The team keeps saying the world is the main character and the journey matters more than the cap.
A live subscription is enough to play World Of Warcraft Forever on November 4. The packs buy the new race, the island start, cosmetics, invites, and, for Epic and Collection, the beta. The opt-in is for people who want a shot at Thursday without spending $60.
If you get in, the useful test is the first 30 levels. New racial buttons. New mid-level dungeons if they are in the build. How Hyjal and Zephras feel when you are actually walking them. How the HD toggle sits next to Classic animations. How grouping works when everyone is learning the same fresh quests.
Opt in for the beta if you want the lottery ticket. Buy Epic edition if you want the door to open on September 17. Wait for November 4 if you only care about the live servers.
Are you hitting the free opt-in, grabbing the Epic Pack for a locked beta seat, or waiting for launch? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Continue reading on Gamefragger:
World Of Warcraft Forever Is Confirmed For November 4, With Classic+ Beta Next Week
World Of Warcraft: Forever's First Panel Just Mapped Nine Dungeons, Hyjal, And A Level 60 Roadmap
World Of Warcraft Forever Pre-Orders Are Live, Ranging From $30 Race Pack To A $150 Collector Box
Warcraft Forever Adds Undead Paladins And Rewrites The Racial Sheet