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Starting a Character

Starting a character will always follow the most basic path, with specific differences based on race and class. That does not mean that all beginning characters will play the same--they will not. However, the basics are the same.

Creation

First, select your realm. There are four types of realms:

• PvP - Short for "Player v. Player", these are realms where players from opposing factions (Alliance and Horde) can fight each other if they are in the right regions.
• Normal - Identical to PvP, except that players from opposing factions cannot attack each other.
• RP - Roleplaying realms require you to always be "in character."
• RPPvP - Roleplaying realms, with the added stipulation that players can fight each other.

Second, select your faction, Alliance or Horde. Only one faction is allowed per realm, so if you play a Horde character on a given realm, all characters on that realm must be Horde.

Third, select your race and class. You can do a lot of mix-and-matching here, but know that certain classes are limited to certain races. For instance, the only Horde race allowed to be a Paladin is the Blood Elf. Similarly, only Tauren and Night Elves are allowed to play as Druids.

Fourth, customize your appearance and gender. This is entirely subjective to your personal tastes, and there are many options available.

Fifth, and finally, name your character. You can name it whatever you want, but remember that you can't change it.

Now, you're ready to start playing.

Starting Zone

Every race has its own starting zone (though some races share zones, such as the Gnomes/Dwarves and the Orcs/Trolls). After a short cinematic explaining your character, you gain control. The world is a stage and you are one of the actors.

You'll notice some characters are not other players. These are Non-Player Characters (NPCs). They serve many purposes, from questing to training, supplying to repairing, from protection and transportation. An NPC who can give you a quest will have a bright yellow ! above their heads. Right-click (or Command-Click) on the NPC and see what they have to say. They will explain their quest and tell you what they want you to do. Once you accept the quest, the ! will change to a ?, which will turn yellow when you've completed the quest objectives.

And you're off. You can have up to 25 quests active at any given time, so don't worry about working to complete several of them at the same time.

Leveling

As you complete quests and kill enemies, you receive Experience Points (XP). A colored bar near the bottom of the screen shows how much XP you have, and how much you need to increase in level. Every two levels, you can gain new abilities, which are class specific. Seek out your specific class trainer (usually, a quest will direct you to them) and right-click (or Command-click) on them and purchase the available abilities. You can press the P key to open your spellbook and move the desired abilities to your actionbars (by simply clicking-and-dragging the icons).

Additionally, at certain levels, your class will dictate certain quests to you. For example, at level 10, a Hunter will begin the process of training pets, or a Warlock will be able to summon a more powerful minion. While new abilities are available every 2 levels, milestone levels usually exist at the multiples of 10 (levels 10, 20, 30..et cetera).

Currency and Supplies

You'll notice in your looting of corpses (by right-clicking/command-clicking on the corpse) that you'll sometimes receive copper, which is the basic unit of currency in WoW. 100 copper changes to 1 silver, and 100 silver changes to 1 gold (1 gold = 10,000 copper). You can also gain copper by selling items you loot to various vendor NPCs who populate the world.

What uses does currency have? It allows you to purchase new abilities, travel between areas, purchase supplies and purchase services from other players. While you generally can find equipment while questing, you have the option of purchasing equipment as well. Some classes require supplies. For example, Hunters must make sure they stock up on ammunition, be it arrows or bullets.

Other players

What separates World of Warcraft from other Role-Playing Games, and what sets it up as a viable learning tool, is the constant presence of other players. You can chat with them, fight them, quest with them and trade with them. As you start a character, you might notice another player doing the same activities as you. If you click on them, you'll see their portrait appear at the top of your screen. By right-clicking or command-clicking on their portrait, a menu appears with several options, "Invite" among them. If you select this, you will invite the player to a group and you can accomplish the quests together, as well as talk and trade.

Onwards and Upwards

This page details the barest path of creating a character. All characters follow their own paths and choices--you can accept quests or deny them. You can purchase all of your available abilities or not. Your character is yours. No two will be identical, so go out into Azeroth and enter the World of Warcraft.