WoW Forever guild checklist: ready before launch day
Forever opens on 4 November with rulesets instead of realms. What a guild should settle in the next two weeks, in order, so launch day is about playing.
In this post
- Which dates matter?
- 1. Which ruleset and faction should the guild pick?
- 2. Who in the guild is playing what?
- 3. Should we reserve names?
- 4. How should the Discord be set up?
- 5. When should we decide raid nights?
- 6. What should be installed before launch?
- 7. What goes in the launch-night plan?
- Where can I go deeper on each step?
WoW Forever opens on 4 November at 3:00 p.m. PST. There is no realm list, the beta closes on 23 October, and the first raids are not due until December. That gives a guild about two weeks to settle the things that are hard to change once people have levelled: which ruleset, which faction, who plays what, and when you raid.
This is the checklist we are running for our own guild. Most of it needs nothing but a Discord server and an hour of an officer’s time.
Which dates matter?
| Date | What happens |
|---|---|
| 23 October | The beta closes (extended from 21 October) and is wiped. |
| 27 October to 3 November | Early name reservation, for anyone who owns an upgrade pack. |
| 4 November, 3:00 p.m. PST | Launch. The Normal, PvP and Roleplaying rulesets open. |
| 9 December | The first raids, on Blizzard’s roadmap. |
| Winter | Hardcore opens as its own ruleset. |
US clocks change on 1 November, so 3:00 p.m. PST on launch day is 6:00 p.m. Eastern and 23:00 UTC.
1. Which ruleset and faction should the guild pick?
Agree on the ruleset and the faction as a guild, before anyone makes a character. Forever has no realms. You pick a ruleset inside your region, and everyone on that ruleset shares one world. Characters on different rulesets cannot group for dungeons or raids, and Horde and Alliance cannot group at all.
| Ruleset | Opens | Characters per account |
|---|---|---|
| Normal | 4 November | Horde and Alliance |
| PvP | 4 November | One faction only |
| Roleplaying | 4 November | Horde and Alliance |
| Hardcore | Later this winter | Not announced yet |
A guild split across two rulesets is two guilds. Settle it with a poll in Discord this week, then pin the answer where every new member will see it.
2. Who in the guild is playing what?
Ask every member for their main and their likely alts, by class and spec, before launch. This one question decides your first month. Eight rogues and two healers is easy to fix in October. It is much harder in December, when the raids open and everyone is already level 60 on the character they chose.
Ask for alts as well. On a fresh server your missing healers are often sitting on somebody’s alt list, and people will say what they would play if the guild needed it.
In GuildPro this is one command. An officer types /rostercall in Discord and the
bot posts a sheet with two buttons, My Main and My Alts. Each person picks a
class and spec for their main and up to five alts, or Undecided. Nobody needs an
account to answer. The sheet lists tanks and healers, then melee and ranged by
class, each with a count, so the gaps show at a glance.
How /rostercall works.
If you would rather use a spreadsheet or a Discord poll, ask the same three things: main class and spec, alts, and how sure they are.
3. Should we reserve names?
If you own an upgrade pack, reserve your names between 27 October and 3 November. Forever characters have two names, the full combination has to be unique in your region, and reservations are first come, first served. If the guild wants a naming theme, agree it before the window opens so officers are not racing each other for the same name.
4. How should the Discord be set up?
Give the new game its own channels for signups and announcements, and make the roles before people arrive. Launch week is when new members join, and they should land somewhere that tells them where to go.
A layout that works for most guilds:
| Channel | What goes there |
|---|---|
| #welcome | Rules, your ruleset and faction, how to join in game |
| #announcements | Officers only. Launch times, raid nights, changes |
| #roster-call | The main and alt sheet |
| #signups | One sheet per raid night |
| #leveling | Groups for dungeons and quests |
| #applications | New applications. Officers only |
In GuildPro an admin adds Forever to the guild from Settings, then picks a channel for each kind of post on the Bot page. A guild that already plays another game keeps both under one Discord, each with its own roster, signups and channels. Add Forever to your guild. The bot can also greet new members and hand out roles from a button, so nobody waits on an officer to get access.
5. When should we decide raid nights?
Now, even though the raids are weeks away. People choose a guild by its schedule. Your nights in the welcome post and on your recruitment listing do more for recruiting than anything else you can write.
Until December, use the same nights for dungeon groups and levelling pushes, so the habit is set when the first raid opens.
In GuildPro, set the nights on Raid teams. From there the bot can post a notice when a raid night is close and no signup sheet is up, remind the channel an hour before, and DM anyone on the roster who has not answered. Every automation is off until an admin turns it on. Automations.
6. What should be installed before launch?
The addons, before the servers open. Launch evening is the worst time to troubleshoot a download.
GuildPro’s companion app puts the addons into every WoW client it finds, then uploads what they record after you play. On Forever the GuildPro addon records boss pulls and loot from the game’s own encounter signals, and the PvP and world addons keep your records. Forever does not let addons read the combat log, so a few things work differently there. What is different in Forever.
Download the app. It is free.
7. What goes in the launch-night plan?
Who does what on launch night, written down in one post. Who creates the guild in game and on which character, who sends the invites, where people meet up, and which channel answers questions. Ten lines in #announcements saves an hour of the same question in guild chat.
Where can I go deeper on each step?
Each step above has its own guide. Links light up as the guides publish.
| Step | Guide |
|---|---|
| Launch time in your time zone | WoW Forever release date and launch time |
| Ruleset and faction | WoW Forever rulesets explained |
| Names | Name reservation for guilds |
| Who plays what | Main and alt policy · Skyborne and new class combos |
| Discord | Discord server template |
| Recruiting | A recruitment post that works · Officer roles |
| Signups and attendance | Raid-Helper alternative · Signup cutoffs · Attendance that counts the bench |
| Addons | What addons can do in Forever · Install GuildPro |
| Launch night | Launch-night plan for officers |
| Levelling together | The 9 new dungeons as a guild · Professions across the guild |
| Raids | Roadmap for raid leaders · Raid-ready by 9 December · Raid comp from your roster |
| Loot and after the raid | Loot council vs DKP · Raid recaps in Discord |
| The whole thing, in order | The WoW Forever guild leader’s guide |
FAQ
Can our guild play Forever and keep another game going?
Yes. In GuildPro each game gets its own guild page, with its own roster, signups and attendance, under the same Discord server.
Do raiders need a GuildPro account to answer a roster call?
No. If they are in your Discord, they can press the buttons.
What does GuildPro cost?
Nothing. Signups, rosters, attendance, loot and the bot are free for any guild of any size. Players who want to back the project can become Supporters for $5 a month, which adds cosmetics only.
Two weeks is enough. Pick the ruleset, ask who is playing what, set the nights, and launch day is about the game. If you want a hand setting any of this up, ask in the Discord.
Updated October 21, 2026