Blizzard has introduced a new challenge for World of Warcraft players looking for a "challenging and perilous journey" - Classic Hardcore Realms.
Permadeath—where those who pass away cannot return to their physical bodies but must instead "remain as a ghost" to "close out their remaining business on the realm"—is one of the features. Other features include safeguards and class changes, Mak'gora, and PVP changes.
The gameplay focuses more on the journey than the endgame, and the endgame is not the main point of the game.
Blizzard teases, "It's official, Hardcore realms are coming to World of Warcraft." The only way for players to survive is to interact with Azeroth, its inhabitants, and other players.
If you shake off your mortal coil and choose not to live on as a specter, you will be able to transfer to a server that is not part of the Hardcore Classic Era for free. This means that you will only have one chance to take part in risky activities like the Molten Core raid.
What about the PVP changes? Battleground queuing will not be enabled on Hardcore Realms, according to Blizzard, but "pre-organized Wargames will still be available for groups choosing to engage in such deadly combat."
"Those who want to seriously put their skills to the test against others can start a duel-to-the-death mode by typing "/makgora." "The receiving player will be prompted to acknowledge and accept the high-stakes duel," the team explains. "A new tracking aura will communicate visually how many duels a player has completed and survived."
There's also a shorter log-off timer "to mitigate ill-timed server disconnections," and class abilities and spells have been tweaked to ensure that when you die, you stay dead. On Hardcore realms, the 16 debuff and 32 buff limits have also been removed.
According to Blizzard, the majority of the gameplay in the Hardcore mode of play is focused on the journey rather than the destination, which is one of the things that the company loves about it. Additionally, because of this, Hardcore gameplay is "evergreen," which means that it is always a good time to check it out regardless of what is going on in other World of Warcraft editions.