Patch 5.4 patch notes
Virtual Realms feature revealed
The Proving Grounds are coming
The latest patch 5.4 newsWoW 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 3 of 4)
Sinthar May 29th 2009 3:24AM
Just to put it another way. If you are organising a sporting event, would you choose the person that WONT run for the ball, doesnt know the rules, but wants to have 'fun' playing? I doubt it. However if that person shapes up their act, knows the rules and takes it seriously, will run, stands where they should for the TEAM to function, wouldnt everyone have more fun? Its more fun to win than just to play - ask any boxer.
You say you dont want to be told your inadequate, but dont want to follow any guides. I can relate to that. Theres nothing wrong with a non cookie cutter spec, as long as your effective. Personally i (in TBC) rejected the standard spec at the time, and developed my own spec. It was effective, and eventually i found out about the 'cookie cutter' specs. I got into theorycrafting (being a bit of a maths nurd helped a lot), and i developed my build further. The point being you DONT have to spec as per everyone else, there WILL be scope for individualism, however until you know what points are essential, and where, and what is not needed, you will be at best be considered a newb - at worst a n00b. I would suggest, go dual spec, and use a cookie cutter as your 'raid' spec, and you own as solo. Develop your gear and skills, then see what you think then, whether you can combien the two into a unique but effective spec (as i do - im non cookie cutter spec). Please dont reject the cookie cutter JUST because some arrogent person DEMANDS you spec it to raid, but keep your mind open. When in a team you MUST be a team player, so SOME compremises are nesecary.
Akuerol May 30th 2009 1:30AM
Thank you both for your reply comments, they are very well taken. I very much agree with them completely.
Essentially, what I hoped to get across is that not everyone has to be the best, but can be working toward it. In my particular case, one of the main problems is that there was nothing directly pointing me to the post-80 progression, and I ended up making bad decisions like trying to do the Oculus Heroic Daily when I had just turned 80 and was largely in quest and mid-level Northrend dungeon gear. To that end, I guess beating two bosses and getting stuck on the third isn't the worst that could have happened. Nonetheless, I was not ready, and that was a hard lesson, but thankfully, the group accepted defeat, even though annoyed without chewing it out on someone's "newbie" or "n00b" standing. Other groups, though, I've had where one highly geared player will absolutely trash another player for their sub-par play.
I completely agree, you do need players who know what they are doing to succeed and have fun. And in WoW, especially endgame content, or any game where the main goals focus on progress, acheivement, and being the best through cooperative play, the goal of being a good player is essential. I think it is very important for people organizing raids to gear-check to make sure someone is really ready before sealing them into the group (I still don't dare raids because I know I'm not geared and ready for naxx at all). I just wish there would be a little more patience for those who are coming up a little late and behind the curve. It's okay to tell someone they're not ready, but insults are just a bad way to go about it.
Then again, this is the internet.
Cogfizzle May 28th 2009 4:50AM
The idea that the game BEGINS at level cap is totally false - that's just the opinion of the vocal minority of players that form the WoW 'community. It's logical how that comes about - you read that the game begins at 80, but the people who write that are the people who have websites about WoW, the people who have websites about WoW are the people who play the game a lot, and the people who play the game a lot are (mostly) the people who are deep into endgame. But that's only one view of how to enjoy WoW.
As far as I'm concerned the game ENDS at level cap. I dinged 60 pre-TBC. Bored. Roll a new alt. I dinged 70 pre-WotLK. Bored. Roll a new alt. I've dinged 80 twice now... and got bored. The second that XP bar vanishes from the bottom of the screen my incentive for playing the game disappears. Once you're at level cap there's clearly TONS to do... and all of it takes way way way more effort than it's worth. That was true at 60, at 70, and now at 80, because it's designed to keep people busy for a long loooooooong time so the rewards take weeks and months of repetitive daily quests to achieve. And worse than that, but you hit level cap and suddenly your character gets much worse - that sounds counterintuitive, but at level 79 your average character isn't that much worse than a well-specced level 79 character... maybe half as good. But at level cap your brand new level 80 is about a tenth as good as a well-specced level 80 - their gear is so much better that the mountain you've climbed for the past 79 levels just got massively steeper. And if you're really REALLY dedicated, if you work really REALLY hard, you get to equip the exact same gear as the other guy. Wow... dull.
So don't feel bad if you enjoy levelling. Don't feel bad for enjoying the game 1-79 because for a lot of people that IS the game. It's just not an opinion you'll hear very often because the people who think that way are too busy having fun to write about it.
And... wanna know a secret? You go on the forums, or on the comment boards here. See how many people are complaining about something or other? Fix this, nerf that, need more this, buff that... those are all the people who are at level 80 trying to enjoy the experience. And failing. They're bitter and twisted and angry a lot of the time. Aren't you really GLAD that you're not one of those guys?
Level 1-79. Enjoy the ride. Ding 80 and pump your fists in celebration. Then take a deep breath, log out, and roll a new guy. Levelled Alliance? Create a Horde. Levelled Warrior? Create a Mage. Playing on a PvP server? Try an RP server. There are so many paths 1-80, so many ways of playing the game, and you know what? They're all fun. A hell of a lot more fun than level 80.
Umehte May 28th 2009 8:12AM
That... was awesome!
/epicgolfclap
eidokar May 28th 2009 9:44AM
That was indeed a thought provoking view on the whole leveling buisness. Being one who just climbed the very steep and ugly lvl 80 mountain (as you so elegantly put it), i totally see your point. The hours of hours of grinding for rep, the dailies to get money for repairs, potions, bullets etc... its horrendous. Truly is. But on the other hand I really really love raiding, and that is the price you pay for getting 25 man against the endgame. So we suck it up and try to have fun as often as we can :)
But you do have a point.
Mark May 28th 2009 10:57AM
/cheer
paul May 28th 2009 4:54AM
Very well put article! As a 1st time leveller (not helped by having a handful of alts already) it's very tedious to be told "OMG don't you know xx spec is the fastest for levelling","u need to use questhelper", seeing all the beggars outside the bank, and numerous asks in trade for boosts just to race to level 80. I haven't even got WOTLK yet (though will once I'm close to 55 so I can add a DK to my alts). Sure I wanna see Dalaran and Northrend, esp as I'm a lore nerd, but hey levelling 1st time is supposed to be fun! And now I've discovered the joys of PVP I might never get there....
BlackTiger May 28th 2009 5:58AM
"n00b" is not a "newbie". "n00b" is a person asking how to get into Darnassus at level 70.
DCd May 28th 2009 6:36AM
I would understand that if he/she isn't a night elf. Darnassus is seriously deserted.
SarahTheGnome May 28th 2009 10:32AM
Again, don't see why a person who is lvl70 and doesn't know where Darnassus is, should be laughed at for that fact. Really don't.
DanH May 28th 2009 6:24AM
The advice here won't help you become a "better" player
I dispute that, actually.
I'd suggest that somebody who takes the levelling game slowly, who works through the old content and, in the process, actually learns to play their class will be a better player because of it. Somebody who has just blitzed through the starting areas and never run an instance at-level is far more likely to be a liability in endgame than somebody who took the scenic route and actually had a stab at doing Blackrock Depths.
kikorki May 28th 2009 7:34AM
This topic is so true.
I just do the quests and turn them in without reading what the quest giver has to say but wanting the reward.It kills the story a bit and all i do is focus on leveling to catch up with everyone else.
Tim May 28th 2009 7:53AM
I played a 'lock in TBC till he got to 40 (took a couple of months) and I had to stop for awhile for health reasons, after WotLK came out and my health improved my friends got me back into WOW and I just finished leveling a week ago my new druid main to 80 (in 3 months) and I will be the first to say that now that I'm doing end game content I do feel like a "Newb" it is a whole new game (gems,stats????), but I like it better than leveling.
Kiralinn May 28th 2009 5:37PM
For me its all about variety and experiencing the game world. I have a level 80 - and quite a few other alts at other levels too. I have some that are twinks and some that I am leveling in different areas of the world. I don't have time to raid and such, so I enjoy the beautiful views, the music, the fishing, the cooking, the lore...I could go on but you get the idea. We have a super casual guild that's all about helping each other and enjoying ourselves. For those guildies who are interested in raiding, we have allied with another guild so that we can help each other - the other guild is working on instances and raids and our folks are welcome to join in with them when they will. I don't know know if that makes me a 'noob' or a 'newb' or a whatever after playing for two years - and I do not care. I'm having fun.
If the game was just all about getting to level 80, then they would not have bothered with all of that other lovely content. Enjoy yourself people - its a game after all! Like Ozy said above - its all about balance.
Martouf May 28th 2009 8:38AM
Well this is odd. I totally agree with both sides and disagree with both.
I started playing before TBC and hit 60 right before it came out. Leveled to 70, taking my time. Then I hit 70 and well didn't know what to do. Hated instances, raids. I tried to roll an alt but loved my hunter too much. So I stopped playing for a few months.
When I started again wotlk was still months away and I was still bored with my hunter, so I decided to roll a Druid. And man I fell for it, loved being a druid and when WOTLK came out and my druid was only 55 I decided to leave my hunter and make it my main. So I levelled as fast as I could to get to 70 and start enjoying WOTLK.
Now my druid is level 80 and I found the taste for raiding. I work hard on my gear and have learned about hit cap rating, how to tank etc. But still on a social basis, I'm GM for a social guild and helping lower levels and planning lower level raids takes up a lot of time and now I like the balance.
Sarabande May 28th 2009 8:58AM
I agree as well, with the article and also with the first poster's definition of "newb" vs. "noob."
There is so much to see in the game, so many beautiful or awe-inspiring places. I remember taking a few hours in Ashenvale just to take screenshot after screenshot. I wandered the beaches of Stranglethorn vale, feeling like I was on vacation. And the awe and fear I felt flying over Burning Steppes on my flight from SW to somewhere up north.
And the joys of discovery - how to use the auction house to sell easy to farm items (Chunk of Boar Meat ftw!) so that I had no problems buying my first mount when I hit 40. And learning things the hard way, such as aggro management in a group quest in Strongard, before I knew anything about aggro in groups.
Also, if they enjoy professions or learning to use the economy, they should take the time to farm goods or work on getting their professions up as well.
It just seems with everyone saying how fast they leveled or how cool everything is at lvl 80, or even how easy Blizzard made it to level up, I think people may think they HAVE to level up fast. They don't. I took probably close to eight or nine months to get my first toon to 70 (which was level cap back then). And I still enjoy the game just fine. Someday, we will all be level capped. That's not so hard to do. But you can't go back and play for the first time again. :)
I actually think newbs can be cool and when they ask legitimate questions that's easily answered (usually where to find something) I'm more than glad to help if I have a moment. I remember when I first started - both they joys and the confusion of the game. There was a time before I'd heard of Thottbot or WoWWiki or WoWHead. If the question is complex I might whisper them and give them a general answer and then recommend one of the good sites to help them. I've had a few leveling mages come to me repeatedly with class questions and I was more than happy to help them, and offer encouragement along the way. They have since become my friends. :) But when it's someone's first toon, I'm hesitant to give too much help in completing a quest or running instances. It's a learning process, and there is not only a joy to the discovery but the importance of skills and knowledge you pick up by actually doing things (and by screwing up). Some have found that it's so easy to have other people pretty much play FOR them that it became a habit that benifitted no one, in the end.
n00bs, on the other hand, won't listen. You try to explain something about classes or game mechanic and without knowing anything, will insult and argue with you (like the lvl 18 rogue who called me a noob and kept insisting that Str is important to Clothie casters, just because they are ABLE to carry daggars). They may also want everything done for them. They want free gold for gear they don't need or mount they didn't save up for. They want (and may spam trade or even yell) that they want runs through VC / Stocks .. whatever. They expect all services, be it ports, enchants, unlocking boxes, to be free, while giving nothing back to the community. They are often disrespectful of others. They "know" everything, even when it's clear to everyone else that they don't know much at all.
We should try to have patience with newbies and point them in the right direction. If they ask about class, talents, professions or something complex, someone might take a moment to whisper them, or recommend a good site. If it's a quick question, there is no harm in answering them in trade or general chat (maybe another newbie is wondering the same thing). If you are an officer or GM in a casual or leveling guild, you could offer tips and guidance to help the player have more fun or eventually, become a better player.
Kylenne May 28th 2009 11:50AM
IMO "noob" has nothing to do with how long you've been playing the game, and everything to do with your attitude. There is nothing wrong with being new, at all, we all were at some point, and we all had to learn somehow. I don't mind instancing with someone new to the game and try to help them when I can.
A noob is that hunter in your RFK pug that keeps Growl on autocast and needs on Corpsemaker, then tries to argue with you if you point out how counterproductive either of those things are. A noob is the "healer" in your pug who spends 70% of his time as a cow throwing wraths at mobs instead of in Tree...healing, forcing the Ret pally to toss her insta-cast FoLs on the tank so he doesn't die, and copping an attitude when someone points this out. A noob is the guy in the FotM spec for his class that tries to tell the other of his class how their spec is wrong, brags about how l33t he is and can't out DPS the tank.
It is all about attitude and willingness to listen.
There's nothing wrong with making mistakes, even the most seasoned of us do, we're only mortals after all. But when you keep failing repeatedly and refuse to listen to people with more experience than you trying to tell you how NOT to make an ass of yourself...you're a noob.
Paradoxx May 28th 2009 12:17PM
Newb:
Level 9 Hunter: Hey.. that's a cool pet! When do I get to have a pet??
Noob
Level 80 DK: Where do I turn in this gear token?
Tarine May 28th 2009 12:56PM
I'm glad this article exists. I have been playing WoW for a long time, and am an officer in a soft-core raiding guild, but I'm still all about the purity of the game. I harbor a not-so-secret desire to install only the original WoW on another computer and make a guild that kicks it old school.
The magic of this game is the world, the lore, the quests and scenery, the crazy characters you meet along the way. Trying to jump up the mountain for 10 minutes, and finally making it... and then finding the path that would've taken you directly to the top. Being awe-struck by new and terrible enemies. Exploring dungeons. Accidentally running into a dragon bough and dying by (or having a fantastic escape from!) an elite mob. Finding a new piece of cool armour from a bear or something!
I know this is getting a bit long-winded, but these are all the things that make this game awesome. Yes, end-game content is certainly fun, but you truely cannot go back... I wish that every time I played an alt, I would be able to temporarily forget what I've learned about the game already to get back that purity. I still don't play alts just to level... I explore and dawdle as much as possible.
Once you get into end-game and learn way too much about inner workings, it will all be tainted. So new players, if you bothered reading to the end of this, PLEASE... take your time and enjoy yourself! You can't go back.
Hendrata May 28th 2009 1:56PM
I once leveled a druid as a moonkin, and got a hard time from people saying how noob-y that is. You always level as a feral, period.
I answered: I'm only playing on this server to play with my friend and we're leveling up together. As such, 99% of my combat time is spent with him, and he's a warrior. Now, which one is better if you're grouped with a warrior? moonkin or feral?
My point is: just because someone has a funny spec, funny rotation or armor, doesn't mean he doesn't know what he's doing. He could be a very experienced player but has a specific reason for doing it that way. Either way, you're not grouped with him so don't harass that person because he is not harming you in any way.