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Getting Started | Realm Types | Races | Classes | First Few Levels | Character Info | Death System | Rest System | NPCs | Glossary

Pros
If you want to create a "real life" for your character, a Role-Playing realm gives you the best opportunity to do that.
You can count on many other players to support you by role-playing their characters too.
Cons
There are no automatic game rewards for role-playing, and no game mechanics are altered (if you give a rose to a felhound it will still try to eat you).
Not everyone will act as you would like and the experience can sometimes be frustrating.
Sentence to remember: If I choose to play on a Role-Playing realm, I will act and speak as my character should in the World of Warcraft setting.
Player vs. Player (PvP) Mode Activation

The main difference between Normal ("truce") and Player vs. Player ("war") realms is the way the PvP game-play mode is activated. This section will tell you how and under which circumstances the PvP mode is activated. No matter how PvP has been enabled for a character, the PvP mode will remain in effect for five minutes after the last action that triggers the PvP mode activation.
To see whether or not your character is in PvP mode, check your character's portrait. If you see the shield next to it, then you are in PvP mode.

Horde PvE Horde PvP Alliance PvE Alliance PvP

Color Coding
The shield allows you to see your own character's current game-play mode. You can see the mode that other characters are in by looking at the color of their character name (the one that appears over the character's head).
Green - Friendly character, PvP mode enabled; healing or buffing this character will enable PvP mode for your character
Blue - PvP mode disabled; you cannot attack this character
Yellow - Enemy character, PvP mode enabled; this character cannot attack you unless you attack him first or activate PvP mode in another way (see below)
Red - Enemy character, PvP mode enabled; this character can attack you, and you can attack this character
PvP Mode Activation: Any Realm
Actions that will trigger PvP mode are:
Attacking a non-player character (NPC) of the opposite faction (Horde/Alliance)
Attacking a player character (PC) of the opposite faction who is already in PvP mode
Helping a player character (PC) of your own faction who is already in PvP mode
The PvP mode will stay enabled until five minutes after the last action that triggers the PvP mode activation.

PvP Mode Activation: Normal Realms
Actions that will trigger PvP mode are:
Entering an enemy capital city
Entering a battleground
The PvP mode will stay enabled until five minutes after the character has left the city or battleground.

PvP Mode Activation: Player vs. Player Realms
Actions that will trigger PvP mode are:
Entering a contested zone
Entering an enemy zone
Entering a battleground
The PvP mode will stay enabled until five minutes after the character has left the zone or battleground.

PvP Mode Activation: Manual Activation
By typing /pvp, you can activate PvP mode for your character manually. Note that PvP mode will stay enabled until you manually turn it off by typing /pvp again. After you manually deactivate PvP mode, you still need to wait five minutes until your character reverts back to PvE mode.
Choose your Realm

The realms are separated by game-play types and have different names. You can check all available realms on our Realm Status page.

If you are familiar with the Warcraft universe you will also notice that the names of the realms usually reflect the philosophy of their realm type.
Normal realms have names of heroes, neutral characters or known places.
Player vs. Player (PvP) realms have names of demons and warmongers.
Normal Roleplaying (RP) realms have names of beneficial organizations.
Player vs. Player Roleplaying (PvP RP) realms have names of evil organizations or cults

Reminder
Also remember that after choosing a realm and playing with a character, this character will not be able to move freely to another realm. Therefore, if you want to join friends who are playing on another realm, the only way to join them will be to start a brand new character on their specific realm. It is wiser to spend time choosing your realm, and share the info with your friends, than to be forced to start over later.

Realms FAQ

Where am I safe on a Player vs. Player realm?
If you are in a friendly territory and you don't attack any enemy players who might be passing through, they won't be able to attack you. And of course, you are safe in instances as they are private places created only for your group of players.

Am I safe if I am on a Normal realm and I enter a enemy town (not a capital city)?
Enemy players won't be able to attack you but the city guards will. And if you fight back you will activate PvP mode, making you a target for enemy players at that time.

May I make friends of enemy faction players on a role-playing realm?
You can try to make friends with some enemy players, so they will not attack you. But that will not stop other opposing faction players from attacking, and the NPCs certainly will not become friendly. Even area effect spells from "friendly" enemies will still do damage to you if you happen to be in their range.

Is there any place that allows full PvP, meaning attacking even players from my own faction?
You can do that only in very special restricted areas. For the moment, only the Gurubashi Arena, in Stranglethorn Vale, and the arena in Dire Maul allow that. No realm type allows total PvP game-play.