Name reservations are open: pick your ruleset before November 3
Eligible upgrades let you reserve three characters through November 3. Here's how names work and what to check before picking a ruleset.
Early name reservations are open through November 3. If you've bought an eligible Forever upgrade or Collector's Edition, you can make three characters total across all rulesets. That's three altogether, not three on each one. Reservations are first come, first served, and apply to the WoW account the upgrade was purchased for. Blizzard's reservation post has the eligibility details and installation steps.
Your full name is what counts
Forever uses a first and secondary name. The combination has to be unique within your region, so a taken first name doesn't rule it out entirely. You can hide the secondary name on your nameplate, though it still appears in chat. Blizzard explains the settings in its character naming guide.
Check where your friends are playing
The launch choices are Normal, PvP, Roleplay and Roleplay PvP. Hardcore is coming later. There isn't a traditional realm list; you pick the ruleset you want to play in.
For questing, dungeons and raids, your friends need to be on the same ruleset and faction. You can't freely switch an existing character between rulesets; you'll need a new character to play in a different one. It's worth settling that in the group chat before everyone grabs their names. See Blizzard's ruleset guide for the full restrictions.
Once that's sorted, check the launch times and you'll know when to meet up.
