I know this is going to be an unpopular opinion since there are a lot of people who really want RP-PvP and really enjoyed that experience.
My plea, as someone with a lot of experience navigating an RP guild through just about every iteration of WoW/Classic that’s come up in the last 8 years is this: don’t do it.
Players who want an immersive RP experience during their adventures are a niche (i.e. small) part of the community. I don’t doubt that Forever will be big and have some staying power compared to its predecessors like SoD, but here’s the lessons of past experience: New game mode comes out and leaders in the Classic RP community discuss plans for it, then end up getting split 50/50 or 60/40 on whether or not they want to head into RP-PvE or RP-PvP, and then once the initial rush is over the RP realm(s) end up sparsely populated (or populated by non-RPers who join for other reasons). Ultimately, that means not getting the experience that RP players really want to have.
I think it would be really special if the RP ruleset remains monolithic (whether PvP is opt-in or not), since I do think there are enough players who want that experience to make for a healthy population across the board if they’re all together in one “realm”. I’d be very disappointed if the already niche RP community was divided into two parts with neither population being large enough to make the world feel full and alive.
Personally I favor a PvE ruleset for RP, since I think that puts RP first. I find open-world ganking to be disruptive far more often than it is immersive, and I also think that character conflict/action ought to always be consensual. That said, I know different people have different approaches to RP and I appreciate that there are a lot of people who really love RP-PvP. I could live with that being the norm for the RP ruleset so long as the RP isn’t split up. I think that’s what is most important.
just make the RP realm RP-PVP imo 
are there really tons of RPers who can only play on a PvE realm?
2 Likes
Don’t try to force people to play your way because you’re hung up about player counts.
If there is no RP-PvP, I’m not rolling on RP-PvE. No shot.
Most of the rp-pvp will roll pvp unfortunately, instead of rp.
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As I see it, if RP is the most important consideration for you, then you’ll want to roll RP whether it’s PvE or PvP.
And if that isn’t the case and PvP is the most important consideration, then you’ll want to choose PvP (if the RP rules don’t have it.)
People can argue one way saying that you can always make an RP community on a non-RP ruleset (and others will argue that that’s nonsense and misses the point), and people can argue another way saying that you can always just flag yourself if you want PvP (and others will argue that that’s also nonsense and misses the point). To all those arguments I’d just say that I think it’s more non-negotiable that a good amount of RPers in one place is necessary for an immersive RP experience, more-so than that RP flavor is necessary for a good wPvP experience.
Okay then let’s change RP-PvE to RP-PvP so we are all happy then.
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I was just going to say haha, though for a different reason than you. It seems like the ultimate role playing expression to have always-on PvP 
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Let’s all be honest. If you love to RP, a PVE Realm makes no sense then. You’re supposed to be at war with one another. RP-PVP would be the only true RP server.
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it really is RP-PVP should be the default
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The way I see it is RP and RP-PvP are already separate communities and one of them is being excluded here. I’m sure there are tons of people planning on playing on the RP ruleset and queueing for BGs, which is great, but a lot of people want that natural world PVP experience too and not another warmode.
RP-PvP needs to happen for sure!
I know you mean well, but to be blunt
RP rules are not enforceable on non-RP rulesets.
Blue shielding is a thing, as are RPers who hate PVP and have actually mass reported RPers for PVPing.
They get their home, we get ours.
No confusion on expectations.
2 Likes
That would kill the RP scene entirely. PvP is a niche realm compared to PvE, and RP-PVP is more niche.