So you are new to World of Warcraft...
by David Nelson 
Sep 13th 2006 at 10:00PM
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When I was new in WoW, I was terribly confused. I had an idea of what was going on, but this was my first real MMORPG, and I did some stupid things. I recently went back and checked out a level 22 rogue I abandoned a month after launch, and I saw she came complete with a couple pieces of +spirit leather and two daggers with +int. Oops! I was most definitely the subject of much laughter when people inspected my gear.Here at WoW Insider we want to help the new player in the spirit of Mike's helpful post of a week ago. From the number of tips and questions we see on a daily basis, it is clear that while a good number of our readers are nowhere near new, a lot of new players stumble upon us via Joystiq while they are still young Orcs running around the Barrens trying to find Mankrik's wife.
To give the newbies some useful information, we are starting a regular post dedicated to them. Will it be useful for the hardcore and the vets? I'm afraid not. However, if we can help just one newb avoid asking about where he can find the mage trainer in Ratchet, and the ensuing rude replies, it will be all worth it. If anyone has a suggestion for some good, newb-helpful topics, please send them our way.
Oh, and for our first lesson.... Mankrik's wife.
[Update: Switched link from Allakhazam to WoWwiki]
Filed under: Odds and ends
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
paul Sep 13th 2006 10:24PM
Awesome!!!! i could have used some help when my 40 Lock was wearing +str on his bracers becuse i hit things with my staff LOL.
Vengence Sep 26th 2006 2:45PM
hey Alakazam is becoming known for key logging acording to the wow forums...fyi cause a link in this article goes there.
Mr. Sandman Sep 14th 2006 12:35AM
When I first started (last December) I didn't even know how to get quests, I had to have a friend explain it to me. I recently went back to my first character that I played to any extent and was shocked at the terrible gear I had aquired, that in no way reflected what a Druid should have. If you don't know anyone else playing when you first start it can be an intimidating world indeed.
dj Sep 14th 2006 4:10AM
Look at what you are clicking at when loot rolls come up. Last night I lost a BOP blue shield better than the one I have equipped to a mage who clicked without looking.
shawiiing Sep 14th 2006 9:30AM
@#2 I've not seen anything on it but if its true the setup I use has its advantage. My POS desktop barely runs wow so I do all of my weblookups/ventrilo etc on my laptop. They can log away afaic.
Flor Sep 14th 2006 9:52AM
I remember when people made fun of my new sham cause i had him in cloth for the high INT.
How ironic that now in end game shams are forced to pick up cloth items to up their healing ability.
Jedrallin on Kul Tiras Sep 14th 2006 11:12AM
I ninja'ed a chest in VC on my first play - people need to take it easy when someone does something stupid/rude. Sometimes they're just new to the game.
Heffer Sep 14th 2006 1:15PM
I managed to lose my clothes as a night elf within the first 5 minutes.
Was bored for another 10 and was about to quit when a sexy female elf started dancing with and teasing me. Chased her around the forest in my birthday suit--oblivious to all the danger around me--and have been hooked ever since.
PlzDontBanMe Sep 14th 2006 1:15PM
When I was a noobie, the biggest single piece of advice came from someone who directed me to Thottbot.com. After that, it got a whole lot easier to find Mankrik's wife, Serena Bloodfeather, and about everything else in the game.
So that would be my tip for new players, make Thottbot.com your best friend. Note the 2 T's in the middle. Thotbot and Thottbot are not the same website.
cheezedog420 Sep 14th 2006 4:29PM
I think I got a got a story about being new... (And if you think its a good one, feel free to post it where it will do the most good.) Just don't post any information about who wrote it because of the offer at the bottom. I don't want more then 4 people asking me for gold, and will not give more then 4 pieces of gold to clear any guilt I carry because of the story Im about to tell.
In any case, There I was. I just got grouped into my vary first Instance, the Ragefire Chasm in Orgrimmar. I was 13 or 14th level Orc Warrior, with a two handed Axe, and the burning need to participating in my first instance. I did as much homework as I could getting ready for it.
I already knew All I wanted out of the quest was to kill Ragefire Troggs, Ragefire Shaman, Bazzalan and Jergosh the Invoker for Rahuaro, Thrall, the Horde, and Jergosh's nice Cavedweller Bracers. I also had to kill Taragaman the Hungerer, for his Heart, and most important of all, (if it dropped...) his Cursed Felblade. The bloody thing did 9 points of damage per second, (Just about the same as the two handed axe I was using...) Plus It let me build up my sword stats.... (which I ignored up till now with my fetish for axes...)
After waiting at the waiting stone for a half hour, a group of 4 other Horde clan member ready to go in and kick some Shadow Council Posterior. There was a hunter, 2 priests, another warrior, and myself. We go in, and first thing we first start running into the Snake thingies that poison you. "I hate snakes... Bash EM, & Smash EM For the HORDE!"
And then we started running into the Ragefire Troggs, and Ragefire Shaman. We Must of killed like 9 platoons of ugly magic wielding Marmoset... But They where no match for us and we kept pushing forward, closer and closer to Bazzalan, Jergosh the Invoker, and Taragaman the Hungerer.
And up to this point, I thought I was doing well. Not once did anyone need to heal me even though I was the lowest level of the group. I was able to get in a decent amount of damage on everything we ran into into, and while I did not even know what Agro was yet... I had a sense I was doing a good job of keeping the monsters focused on me instead of the Hunter or priests that was in the group.
Now as much as I did know, there was one major thing I should of known... But did not... And that was the whole Loot System. (I kid you not... Up till now, since I never had run a instance, I come up with my own and vary unique idea of how loot was divided out...) Bear with me as I describe this system....
I thought rolling greed means you really want to get it, and need, will assign the Item to who needs it most. So if the Item up for roll was a Sword with Strength, and bonus to Taunght, that would be great for a warrior, you pressing need would say the warrior would get it. And if you where the warrior... you should be rolling greed. (Wow, I was a complete idiot...)
Anyway... SO we are rolling along killing things... And I did not realize my group was getting slowly ticked off with me, because I must of ninjaing everything we rolled on. After all, I didn't want anything we where finding so I hit need, to vote on give it to the player that needed it most. (I blame Ann Rand and here books about how 'Greed is good' for this... Because of her books, Greed is a vary bad word with a terrible stigma attached to it.)
In any case, They must of been muttering things behind my back because I never saw anything of my impending kick from the group coming kick from the group till the clock started clicking.
But I should of though... my inventory was full of things by the 7th Platoon of Ragefire Troggs, and Ragefire Shaman. 'This was not usual..' I though... 'In diablo 2, I had to make many trips back to town because I was always finding crap I could not part with... Im surprised we used a town portal yet...' Never mind the fact that this was not Diablo 2, and I never played that online.... But still, it was the same company's products, and most of the rules seemed to be lifted right out of the old product and applied to a new engine.
And there was other things I should picked up on that would of told me something about my ideas too.. Like why did I have 3 pieces of cloth armor, a pair of scatterguns, a dagger, and not a single thing worth having for a Warrior. 'I thought I need rolled this crap to Who really needs it... God... I hope they are not giving me this crap so they can have room for cooler stuff the bosses give.'
Still Something should of told me I don't understand the loot system... But what could get it through my thick skull??
It was about the point where you start seeing Searing Blade Clan Orcs that my lesson into the inner working of the loot system would begin. I remember someone says something to the effect of "He does not say much, but he does ninja everything we roll on."
Up to this point I was not paying attention, and did not catch it right away... So naturally I was still on page one... 'We have a ninja in our group? How do I play that class?' I think I as I asked "who is not saying anything?"
At this point, the guild leader kicks me out of the group with that comment. The clock that tell you have to be in a group to be in the instance start ticking and Suddenly I realize I did something wrong. But what? (Remember, Im a Idiot, had no idea I was the ninja everything, and that I pretty much need rolled almost everything up to this point.)
45 seconds till Im kicked out of the instance, and I ask, "what did I do wrong?!" It did not go through the Party chat... I wasted precious seconds, and retyped it as /say "what did I do wrong?!"
Someone in the group points at me and laughs... I start looking through the chat and action logs to see what I did, and start noticing things like I was winning all the rolls, even though I made sure to need roll everything like a good player should do...(Wow, I still can't believe I was that dumb of Noob.)
30 Second I open my bags and take a good look at what I have collected. The bags are (Of course) full of needless crap. 3 pieces of Cloth armor, two scatter gun, a dagger, and bunch of other stuff no Warrior in there right mind would ever want or need. It was about then and there.... I started to realize how big of a Idiot I was...
15 Seconds, I try to type in "wait... Im sorry..." to explain everything, but Im transported out of the instance to a Inn in Orgrimmar. It was then I felt like I am in one of those dreams where your in you underwear, and everyone is laughing at you. (Except this is worse.) Your in your underwear, everyone is mad at you, and you just stained them with fear that your about to be lynch mobbed....
Trying to comprehend what I could of done, and what I should do, I Logged off, (I regret doing that, and look to the bottom to find out why.) and found myself reading WoW's home pages for information on the loot system, and raid Etiquette. Eventually figured out what I was doing wrong, and set about to make sure I never do that again...
In any case, I Still feel like a complete Idiot thinking back on it. But In the end the lesson taught me many things... Like you don't need town portals for WoW. You do need to understand what need and greed are for. You should figure out before going into a instance how to handle loot issues, so they don't become issues. And what the Auction House is for, (yea, ended up selling all of that stuff, and got 5 gold for all of it.)
I later that day, After doing allot of reading, auctioning, and heavy thinking... ran Ragefire Chasm again. That time I did not roll for anything but a few things the bosses dropped. I just was so filled with guilt over my first instance run, I was to afraid I goof it up. That, and I had allot of crap That I never though would sell. (I probably marked most of it too low because it all sold after I got out of the second run in Ragefire Chasm.)
I did ended up completing all my quests and getting a decent pair of gloves, and level up to 15 at Thrall's feet as he danced happily to the news that Bazzalan and Jergosh the Invoker where no longer to trouble him.
In any case, if you think you run into my character on his first raid... I know I owe you a apology, and a gold piece for the huge mistake. But since I Logged off, I don't remember who I was with at the time, the best I can do is tell the story, and hope you will find my character in your ban list. Just send me a letter through the mail system if you remember this, and I'll send back what I owe you next time I log in.