WoW Rookie: Where a noob can be a noob
by Lisa Poisso 
May 27th 2009 at 7:00PM
Today's WoW Rookie will not help you improve your game or your character's performance. The advice here won't help you become a "better" player; in fact, we'd encourage you to guard against the urge. As a new player in an older game (and make no mistake, with an established game world that's turned away from leveling and original content, the World of Warcraft definitely qualifies), you are quite assuredly behind the curve. You're a noob -- and that's ok. Don't let anyone try to convince you otherwise.
As a new player in the World of Warcraft, you deserve your time in the sun. It's called WORLD of Warcraft for a reason. A massive game world awaits, ripe for exploration, screenshots, wonder. Slowly peeling back the layers of lore and story reveals tales of glory, honor, humor and tragedy. This is your chance to soak it in, to bask and stretch and revel in the delightfully silly little surprises that Blizzard has scattered throughout the game.
And you'll miss all of that if your game is a tunnel-vision race to max level, purple armor and a belt notched with raiding achievements.
You noob!
Let's get one thing straight: being a new player doesn't make you a "scrub" or a "terribad." It just makes you ... new. Established players so quickly forget the myriad details that long experience (in WoW or other MMOs) has rendered familiar: how to handle an overpull, the dynamics of grouping, what your class is capable of doing, what other classes are capable of doing, what gear is best for your character, how to safely explore a new area, where gathering nodes are most likely to be hiding, what to expect certain monster types to do ... Experienced gamers recognize and catch on quickly to these common conventions. True new players, however, need time and exposure to do the same.
By making endgame raiding accessible to the masses, Blizzard has made raid-level attitudes and expectations equally commonplace. In today's WoW, players perceive a "right" way to play and a "wrong" way to do things. New players are encouraged to meet basic skill expectations and do their homework outside the game. The idea that a guild or raiding group is a team that relies on individual members to show up with the skill, knowledge and commitment to win. Welcome to level 80!
Nothing wrong with that -- but you're not 80 yet. There's nothing wrong with being in the "wrong" armor at level 36 because nothing better has dropped or been up at the AH. There's nothing wrong with using the default UI at level 49. There's nothing wrong with not having discovered what spell rotation provides the maximum DPS (damage per second) at level 63 -- after all, the mobs died, the quest is complete, and you saved the NPC from his dilemma. It really is all good.
Are we there yet? Are we there yet?Level 80 is coming, and what they say is true: it really is a different game at 80. That's the time to start poking at your DPS and your UI and all the other elements of your game with a pointy stick -- if you want to be an effective groupmate and raid member, anyway. But don't worry about it yet; we'll show you what to do once you ding 80, once the time has arrived.
Until then, don't let established players (especially the kids congregating in lower-level zones, endlessly mocking other players) make you feel smaller for enjoying the content at your own speed. You can't enjoy all the discoveries the game has in store if you're suffering from performance anxiety. Don't feel embarrassed or discouraged at not having the funds to craft yourself blue gear or buy the fastest mounts. It's ok to pore over web sites to learn about your new spells or best places to level or how to fight effectively at your level (theorycrafting and metagaming are fun, too) -- but it's also perfectly fine (and sometimes more fun) to make a mess of it trying to figure it all out on your own.
We know some of you are trying to level quickly to catch up with friends. Hopefully, you've collaborated via the Recruit-a-Friend program and your friends are keeping you company with characters of their own. Still, we'd encourage you not to neglect time to smell the Talandra's Roses.
... which require Herbalism 385 to pick. No rush.
WoW Rookie feeds you the basics to get you off to a good start in the World of Warcraft. Find more tools you can use in the WoW Insider Directory and WoW Insider Leveling Guides.Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Tips, Features, Leveling, WoW Rookie
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Gimia May 27th 2009 7:18PM
Noobs and Newbs are two different things. a Newb is what you're talking about, someone that is relatively new to something and doesn't know the ins and outs of it. A noob on the other hand is someone who has been around but hasn't been willing to even try to learn how to do things.
(sorry, pet peeve of mine.)
Other than that fairly nice article and helpful to those rookies.
Swampsquatch May 27th 2009 7:32PM
A "Newb" is short for a "Newbie" which, yes, is someone who is new to something. However, "newb" can be used as a derogatory term as well. It is all slang and you can't police it or try to get people to use the "correct slang." Correct slang is almost an oxymoron or a juxtaposition. Also, just throwing this in, newb has evolved (or devolved lol) into the terms of noob, nub, and n00b. So it is pretty much one in the same, the same way owned as changed into own and pwn.
yaminokishi May 27th 2009 7:43PM
No, it *is* an oxymoron.
kia May 27th 2009 8:19PM
Agreed... it's newb, not noob. There is nothing wrong with being a newb(ie), we all were at some point. A noob however, could have been playing for 4 years and still be getting caught standing in the fire.
Mirantha May 27th 2009 9:55PM
Couldn't agree more - newbs and n00bs are completely different and should not be confused one for the other. Newbs are just experiencing this wild world for the first time, n00bs have been around long enough to know better yet refuse to get it through their thick skulls. I'll gladly help a newb anytime I can. N00bs, though, /spit.
And, to all you newbs out there - my best advise is to stop and smell the roses along the way. Don't be in such a rush to hit 80. I made that mistake with my first toon, regretted it ever since. There was so much to the history and storyline that I missed. I'm finding it again now by going back and doing the Loremaster achievemnt, but I wish I had seen it & done it then.
kit May 28th 2009 12:01AM
But what's the cut-off between a Noob and Newb? Is it Level? Played time? Or time since starting the game?
failknight May 28th 2009 12:00AM
You have pet peeves related to the spelling of made up words? And you actively seek to correct people on your made up different definitions?
Thera May 28th 2009 2:04AM
@ kit
A newb is someone who is capable of learning the game and most likely he is a new player. For some it might take longer than others.
A noob is someone who isn't capable of learning the game and most of the time they don't even try to.
That's how I understand it.
kit May 28th 2009 10:56AM
@Thera
Yes, I agree, but my question is, when does a newb become a noob? And how can anyone tell that the person asking a dumb question on a lvl 8 is truly on their first character, or just someone on a alt who doesn't bother to Google things once-in-a-while?
There's too much grey area; who's the newb, the person with the 1-yr old character but only 9 days of play time, or the person who has burned through 70 levels within a month of buying the game? And does the person, with two other lvl 80 characters, starting a new class or profession qualify as a newb (for beginning something they are unfamiliar with) or a noob (as they should know by now where to find that information on the internet)?
Most people automatically assume a player is a noob, and offer rude, sometimes even cruel, responses to what may potentially be an innocent question (one of the points of this article), showing that while this distinction between newbs and noobs may exist, other players choose not to or cannot acknowledge it. However, it is virtually impossible to tell the difference between the two in-game, creating a situation where each person must base their conclusion of newb or noob on their own standards. Standards that are subjective and based on that person's own game experience.
So while we may like to believe these differences between newb and noob exist, in-game these classifications are useless, because how someone is treated is entirely dependent on the experiences and personalities of the people responding to their questions, and not on the newb/noob's actual situation.
humperdinck May 28th 2009 12:45PM
@failknight: ALL words were made up at some point. Just like there's a difference between 'deer'/'dear' or 'their'/'they're'/'there' or 'to'/'too', there's a difference between 'newb'/'noob'.
Chirri May 29th 2009 11:58AM
@humperdinck: and 1/3 to 3/4 of the jerks using the term misspell it. Either they call a Newbie a "n00b" because it looks cooler, or they call the "noob" type a "newb" because they can't stand 1337. A real, complete newbie will miss the nuances, and the millions of players who play the game WILL use the terms interchangeably because they really don't give a crap about the correct terminology.
Those of us who use our brains are likely to use the "proper" words, but those who don't will muddy the waters. Insisting that other players will use it properly is going to be much more confusing than simply admitting, "This is how I translate it, but I'm sorry you have to deal with that many neanderthals."
Snark May 28th 2009 5:39PM
This is pretty pathetic.
Endless May 28th 2009 7:53PM
Definition of noob is easy. Noob is a person who likes to call other people "noob". :P
Jah May 30th 2009 4:46AM
http://www.ctrlaltdel-online.com/comic.php?d=20060823
Freedom May 27th 2009 7:26PM
But we like the "race to max level, purple armor and a belt notched with raiding achievements"
Jason P May 27th 2009 7:26PM
I have been playing for about 2 years now, and do not consider myself a newb, but still enjoy reading this column. There have been a few things I learned from this column.
Calophi May 27th 2009 7:39PM
I feel the same way, especially since I always feel completely out of my element when I roll a new class. I like this column because it's useful even for older players starting all over again.
Dapip May 27th 2009 7:28PM
I enjoy reading this even though i've played since prebc. I dunno, i'm just glad to see everyone doesn't hate on people who are new to the game.
Paradoxx May 27th 2009 8:55PM
I love helping newbs out
although I also love giving the noobs grief when they throw up those retarded questions in trade.
SarahTheGnome May 28th 2009 10:28AM
I do not understand this. Don't get me wrong, I understand the difference between a noob and a newb. I have encountered many of both. What I do not get is why people are FORCED to educate themselves. If you do not raid any way, and have no interest to do so, WHY do you have to learn the perfect spell rotation? Why do you have to know where a certain area is? please explain to me why you mock people who ask stupid questions and how you know that they are noobs and not newbs?
If people want to stay uneducated, and do not care about knowing every single detail of the game, and do not act like they know it all but love the blissful ignorance, who the hell are we to mock them for that. Who the hell are we to make them change? Let them enjoy the game, they don't HAVE to do anything. And they certainly do not deserve to be laughed at.