@Mike: He put "new" in quotes for a reason - not necessarily new to the game, but new to the experience of leveling on a PvP server. You yourself are the one who brought up the example of going to play a PvP server just because your friends do - all that omedon was saying was that those new friends better have told you that you can get ganked.

Also, Blizzard IS implementing something to allow you to play a PvE server (because you don't like it when something unplanned for happens) while your adventurous buddies play a PvP server - its called RealID, and it's the closest that you're going to get without them allowing free character transfer between realms, which I've heard nothing of.

When you get ganked on a PvP server while leveling (I know, I play one and love it, but hate BGs and Arena), you have two choices - sit there and take it, or grow a pair and start asking in guild chat for a high level to come help you out with the ganker (by the way, this is a great way for Blizzard to increase inter-faction social interaction on PvP servers). Eventually, gankers get bored, and will leave. If they are super persistent, you can always just rez-jump to the nearest faction base area. Or roll a rogue/druid so that you can rez-stealth superquick and be gone =]. Plus, the enjoyment that you get when you're 80, you go and gank someone, and inadvertently start a battle (they get on their main, get some guildies, you get yours, etc.), which is incredibly fun. You can't just throw your hands up in defeat, log off, and go mope in a corner.

Hell, if you dislike the PvE/PvP distinction that much, go play StarCraft 2 - you can still use RealID to talk to your friends.