Nobody enjoys having their characters die, but for the most part, the ramifications are low. Resurrect your character and keep going. Sure, there may be a time-limited penalty on health and strength, or you might have to frustratingly retrace your steps to recover loot, but besides inconvenience, it doesn't really matter so much.

Yet, for many a role player, you want to immerse yourself in the life of your character, and this can mean that death is permanent - like it is in the real world. This gives you more pause before embarking on dangerous raids and events. You need to ensure your character is buffed, that you don't rush in recklessly, that you most certainly don't stand in the fire, and that your teammates are being as cautious as you are.

Blizzard has released new dedicated hardcore realms for World of Warcraft classic, for serious role players. Much like if you were working on a dangerous mine site, don't put your character where their brain hasn't been first.

Here’s a look at a few of the many features that come with the dedicated hardcore realms:

• Death is permanent
  • Players will get a single chance to level as high as they can and participate in more dangerous activities, such as the Molten Core raid.
  • Those who die will not be able to return to their bodies but can release and remain a ghost—in this form, they can close out their remaining business on the realm, such as guild masters transferring guild leadership to another player.
  • If the unfortunate occurs, player characters will be given a free option to transfer to a non-Hardcore Classic Era server if they wish to continue playing those characters.
• Mak’gora and other PVP Changes
  • Battleground queuing will not be enabled on Hardcore Realms, but pre-organised Wargames will still be available for groups choosing to engage in such deadly combat.
  • Those wishing to truly test their mettle against others can initiate a duel-to-the-death mode by typing /makgora. This will prompt the receiving player to acknowledge and accept the high-stakes duel.
  • A new tracking aura will visually communicate how many duels a player has completed and survived. 
• Safeguards and Class Changes
  • Players will notice a reduced log-off timer to mitigate ill-timed server disconnections.
  • Class abilities and spells have been modified to prevent resurrection (both personal and those that can be used on other players), as well as quests that require PVP flagging and dying to progress the questline. 
  • Enemies will be tethered to their respective spawn and pathing locations to prevent players from kiting them to other lower-level quest areas.

And more! For more information on Hardcore Realms check out the World of Warcraft website.