Now you have a character, you are ready to go!
At this point you will be given a short lesson on the history of the race you have chosen. You will be transported to the starting level for your race. This is a low level area where you will start learning how to play your character. This is accomplished by completing quests given to you. You will see Non Player Characters (NPCs) all around you. The ones with a yellow exclamation point above them (!) have quests for you to complete.
When you click on this character, they will give you some information and tell you what it is they want you to do. You can accept or decline the quest. If you accept it, it will be placed in your quest queue. You can have up to 25 active quests at one time in your queue. If you hit the “m” key on your keyboard, you will bring up the area map. On this map the active quest locations in this area are highlighted and the quests are listed on the right. This will help you find quest locations.
Go to the area indicated on the map and complete the quest objectives. In the beginning, most quests have you go and talk to someone, attack a number of monsters, or collect items for the NPC. If the quest requires you to talk to someone (or if you are turning in a completed quest) the NPC will have a yellow question mark (?) above their head. If you have not completed the quest, the quest giver or the quest target will have a grey question mark above their head. When you turn in a quest you will normally receive experience, money (gold, silver, or copper), factional reputation, and possibly gear or other items.
Experience is collected by killing mobs, turning in quests, exploring new areas, and gathering materials for your profession (you will not be able to choose professions until you are level 5). You need experience to increase the level of you character. As you level, your stats increase and you learn more or better abilities.
Money in WoW comes in the form of precious metal. The monetary system is simple. The lowest denomination is copper; 100 copper = 1 silver, and 100 silver = 1 gold. Money is important in the game, because you need to buy stuff. We will spend a lot of time later covering the economic system in WoW and strategies to make gold.
Factional reputation is important in WoW, primarily because the more a faction likes you the cheaper it is to buy stuff and get your equipment fixed. Also, each faction has its own unique mount, and you have to be exalted with the faction to be able to purchase the mount. Each race belongs to a faction designated by its home city (for example, Humans belong to the Stormwind faction and Tauren belong to the Thunder Bluff faction). When you perform quests for a member of a given faction, you normally receive factional reputation for completing that quest. You can also receive factual reputation when wearing their Tabard (a jersey that covers your armor like the Knights Templar white jersey with red cross) in instances.
Loot either drops from mobs that you kill or is a reward for completing quests. Loot can be junk that you sell to vendors, consumable items you can use (potions, food, scrolls), or items you can equip.
This is a good place to pause and talk about stats. Each character has statistics associated with them. These stats determine how much damage you can do, how much damage you can take, the effectiveness of your spells, and everything else associated with your “toon”. It is important for you to know which stats are important for you. For example, the stat that is most important for a Hunter is agility. As a Hunter, every piece of gear equipped should boost my agility stat. This seems pretty simple until I start looking at multiple role characters like Paladins. A Paladin healer requires high intellect and spirit, while a tanking Paladin requires stamina, dodge and parry rating. Most players who have dual role characters have two sets of gear they use. You should start looking at the stats your equipment has and know what you need.
For more on stats, check this out: http://www.wowwiki.com/Attributes
These early quests allow you to learn the mechanics of WoW. You will learn how to navigate around the world and how to use your attacks and other abilities. You will easily advance a few levels in the starting area. Take your time and get a handle on the game and how to make it work for you. Experiment with the toolbars and buttons, figure out what stuff does.
Remember, IT’S JUST A GAME!!!
