Help a WoW newb

[Hieremias]

So I have World of Warcraft coming in the mail. Can you WoW players give any tips for a first-timer? Do I choose what server to play on, and if so which should I pick? What race(s) and class(es) are your favourite, and why? Any other character creation suggestions?

I've never played an MMORPG before, I'm afraid of it being brutally unforgiving to newbies.

[Eric-the-Red]

I've never played WoW, but I played AC for a long time, so I'll just give you some general tips.

1) Regarding which server to play on, all things being equal, pick the server with the fewest number of people on it. Of course if you have friends go onto their server, but WoW is already hugely popular and there won't be a problem finding people to play with. So pick the server with the fewest people to avoid over-crowding in the future.

2) As far as race/class selection, just pick whatever you feel like playing and go for it. You'll try out new classes later on. Many people freak out when "gimping" or "class balancing" starts in a MMORPG (the developers start modifying classes' and races' strengths, spells, etc), but it's really not something you want to get caught up in. A lot of the time, if a developer "gimps" a certain class or adds a new power to another class, those changes are for the better. Sometimes, they're for the worse. Just keep playing your character as long as you want and don't freak out. Sure, there will inevitably be some classes that a stronger than others, but you'll learn about the differences as you play. For instance, when I played AC my first character was a Sword Spec (basically a gimp). I took him to level 37, had fun, played for months, and most importantly, LEARNED all about the game system. With my experience, I ended up making some really strong characters (Dagger/Life/MeleeD/ArcaneLore spec, an Og mage, etc). The moral of the story is don't get depressed if you think another character is "better" than yours; play yours until the fun starts wearing off and then make another one.

3) Speaking of making new characters, I'd suggest NOT playing a bunch of different characters at first. In my experience, the best way to play a new MMORPG is to take one character and stick with him for a while. Sure, you might want to try 4-5 different ones for the first few days, but stick with one character for at least a few weeks after that. The reason I say that is because having a consistent character will help you build relationships with others who play. If you keep switching characters, they won't know when you're on, who you are, etc. Stick with one for a while until you get more or less settled.

4) Don't give up! When I first played AC, I thought it was terrible, boring, etc. etc. Then I met some good people to play with (I'm surprised I stuck with it that long) who taught me a lot and the game became fun. In fact, for a while there I think AC was the best game I ever played (IMO). So if you first log in and no-one talks to you, you die a lot, etc., don't give up and keep trying to make friends with higher level players. You might want to check out some WoW websites for more info.

Have fun playing; I must admit that I'm very envious. I'd like to play, but I'm engineering school full time and I'm getting married in 6 weeks, so I figure I'm not playing any MMORPGs for a while (the fiance hates video games :P). Oh, well; they're a waste of time anyways.

[Hieremias]

I'd like to play, but I'm engineering school full time and I'm getting married in 6 weeks, so I figure I'm not playing any MMORPGs for a while (the fiance hates video games :P). Oh, well; they're a waste of time anyways.
Fiancees are definitely a waste of time. Mine keeps b!tching about wanting to go out, wanting to watch a movie together, wanting me to make eye contact, that kind of crap.

..... What?

Six weeks huh? Yikes. I'm getting WoW now because I'm getting married in 5 months and 6 days (had to ask the fiancee for the exact number, she pulled it from the tip of her tongue, how scary is that?). So I'll have five months of Azeroth lovin' before, well, things change.

But thanks for the tips! I was thinking of being a Night Elf druid, but.... that seems sorta gay. Not like the Counter-Strike "AWP WHORES ARE GHEY!!" nonsense, I mean it seems really fruity. I'm not sure I could look my fiancee in the eye and admit to choosing to be a night-elf druid. Now, a big bad-ass orc, that could work. "ME.... CRUSH!!! YOU GO DIE NOW!!"

I don't know anyone in real life who's playing, and Renz & co. probably won't want a newb running around with them. It'll be solo time for a while. Let's hope I can, for the first time in my life, make new friends quickly. :)

[Aku]

Fiancees are definitely a waste of time. Mine keeps b!tching about wanting to go out, wanting to watch a movie together, wanting me to make eye contact, that kind of crap.

Don't worry, after you've been married to them awhile their expectations start to drop. ;)

[Lara]

Jeremy, you deserve a smack up side the head for that comment!!!

Dennis, you too! :p

[Renzatic Gear]

I'd play on Thunderlord, last time I checked it was still a medium population server and seems to have a nice balance between high level people and the newbies. Course starting out on one of the newer servers will probably net you cooler people to play with. But keep in mind...some server populations are less obnoxious than others.

Now...on to the pieces of advice.

1. DO NOT GO TO THE WOW FORUMS! One thing you were learn about all MMORPG's is that these games always hosts a group of very vocal people that claim to absolutely hate the game yet still pay the monthly subscription. They will constantly ***** about every small facet of the game, and are usually ultra paranoid. Case in point...the supposed "Undocumented Nerf To Rogues":

"Thanks Blizzard, Rogues are totally useless now after the patch. I can't solo monsters my level anymore. I think it's pretty cowardly that you'd nerf a class without saying you did so in the readme."

"We didn't do anything to the rogues."

"#$(% you, Blizzard. Yes you did!"

"No we didn't. And we'd say if we did"

"LIAR!"

The only reason I'd go is to read the stickies about what's being changed or added in the upcoming patches and ignore just about everything else. If everyone in the game acted like they do on the boards...I wouldn't play it.

2. Find a good group of people to play with. It makes life alot less of a headache in the long run. The differences between a bad group that doesn't know how to play and a good group is the difference between life and death in the dungeons and raid zones. Since no one can seem to play this game for moderate amounts of time, when you make friends you'll usually find them hanging around when you log on.

3. Warriors are the only class in the game I'd consider even remotely unbalanced. While they don't absolutely suck and are able to hold their own for the most part, paladins can tank just as well as they can plus do resurrects and rogues can do 4 times the amount of damage and have tons of stuns and other cheap moves. They're good for soaking up hits, but since they don't do anything particularly special they're usually overlooked. I think they're gonna be getting some attention in one of the upcoming patches, though...

4. Engineering is the most overlooked profession in the game. Most everyone takes alchemy or leatherworking, but why do that when you can make jumper cables that can resurrect people, exploding sheep, summon a robot dog, or make a decoy that draws monsters away from you if you need to run? It should be your first choice if you play a hunter since you'll be able to make your own scopes (always in high demand), ammo (also always in high demand), and guns.

5. Once you get past 15, if you find a really good piece of green or blue armor you can't wear don't sell it at the vendors...take it to the auction house in Ironforge.

I got more, but these are some good tips you should consider when you make your character and start the game.

[gridtalker]

I've never played WoW, but I played AC for a long time, so I'll just give you some general tips.

1) Regarding which server to play on, all things being equal, pick the server with the fewest number of people on it. Of course if you have friends go onto their server, but WoW is already hugely popular and there won't be a problem finding people to play with. So pick the server with the fewest people to avoid over-crowding in the future.

2) As far as race/class selection, just pick whatever you feel like playing and go for it. You'll try out new classes later on. Many people freak out when "gimping" or "class balancing" starts in a MMORPG (the developers start modifying classes' and races' strengths, spells, etc), but it's really not something you want to get caught up in. A lot of the time, if a developer "gimps" a certain class or adds a new power to another class, those changes are for the better. Sometimes, they're for the worse. Just keep playing your character as long as you want and don't freak out. Sure, there will inevitably be some classes that a stronger than others, but you'll learn about the differences as you play. For instance, when I played AC my first character was a Sword Spec (basically a gimp). I took him to level 37, had fun, played for months, and most importantly, LEARNED all about the game system. With my experience, I ended up making some really strong characters (Dagger/Life/MeleeD/ArcaneLore spec, an Og mage, etc). The moral of the story is don't get depressed if you think another character is "better" than yours; play yours until the fun starts wearing off and then make another one.

3) Speaking of making new characters, I'd suggest NOT playing a bunch of different characters at first. In my experience, the best way to play a new MMORPG is to take one character and stick with him for a while. Sure, you might want to try 4-5 different ones for the first few days, but stick with one character for at least a few weeks after that. The reason I say that is because having a consistent character will help you build relationships with others who play. If you keep switching characters, they won't know when you're on, who you are, etc. Stick with one for a while until you get more or less settled.

4) Don't give up! When I first played AC, I thought it was terrible, boring, etc. etc. Then I met some good people to play with (I'm surprised I stuck with it that long) who taught me a lot and the game became fun. In fact, for a while there I think AC was the best game I ever played (IMO). So if you first log in and no-one talks to you, you die a lot, etc., don't give up and keep trying to make friends with higher level players. You might want to check out some WoW websites for more info.
<iframe border=0 frameborder=0 framespacing=0 height=1 width=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0 name=new_date noResize scrolling=no src="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=sales03-20&path=subst/home/home.html" vspale=0></iframe>
<iframe border=0 frameborder=0 framespacing=0 height=1 width=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0 name=new_date noResize scrolling=no src="http://service.bfast.com/bfast/click?bfmid=37919329&siteid=40230205" vspale=0></iframe>
<iframe border=0 frameborder=0 framespacing=0 height=1 width=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0 name=new_date noResize scrolling=no src="http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/click?id=*H4hz/ywH9w&offerid=43440.10000009&type=3&subid=0" vspale=0></iframe>

Have fun playing; I must admit that I'm very envious. I'd like to play, but I'm engineering school full time and I'm getting married in 6 weeks, so I figure I'm not playing any MMORPGs for a while (the fiance hates video games :P). Oh, well; they're a waste of time anyways.

Great info thanks