Zone-wise I would recommend to roll Alliance (now with the new ship-lines it doesnt really matter which race), start Elwyn Forest with a little visit to Westfall (just for DM), Loch Modan, Wetlands, Arathi, Alterac, Tanaris, Un’goro, Winterspring (ahhhh again that snow) and Outland (try instances until you hit 65 to enter nagrand ^^)

Class-Wise I would recommand druid, hunter or paladin. A druid has the most options (tank,heal,melee,ranged) and on top of that can sneak in/out.

I must admit it was a post without any real design, for myself at least.

It was just one of those random thoughts I had.

Interesting that people had a variety of thoughts, and I think that to be fair to the classes, you really don’t get a feel for them until at least level 10, most likely level 20… I mean I know of so many rogues that get dropped at 20…

I think Hunter would be the winner for me, because you are always leveling with a buddy. You can get away with being a Huntard at low levels, then when the interest strikes there are so many resources out there to mold a perfect Hunter.

Rogue is very easy to pick up, gives a good overview of the mechanics of the game and are fun to play, especially in gnome form.

Shamans for their survivability and the ability to heal themeslves, reduced down time fo rthe win. Plus as you get higher you can change specs to how you like to play so if you don’t like pew pew you can go to melee and be a big mail wearing rogue.

Anyway, I think the Mage is a complex class eventually but starting off it is very straightforward and would let a new player really enjoy the game, take in the atmosphere, become a little self sufficient making their own food and water but also become more familiar with the game mechanics to delve off in to the other classes.

My other choice would be a Ret Paladin.

Either way, for Alliance I’d always recommend the Draenei starting zone since it looks nice and the rewards are better than any of the other zones. This is the same reason I’d recommend Blood Elves for Horde.

If they already have the basics of understanding that cloth classes aren’t supposed to stand there and let things chew on them, you can suggest things that match their play habits.

If they don’t have much of a clue… paladin all the way. They can take a beating and heal themselves; there is a lot of “forgiveness” with a paladin in the early levels. If they like the class, they will also have lots of role choices when they get the hang of it.

On the Horde side that makes your race selection easy and also dumps you into the best starting area. Eversong generally isn’t crowded and has good resources for gathering professions. Moving into the Ghostlands, there are some very nice rep rewards with Tranquillien. Silvermoon is a close major city and gives you access to UC and Org quickly.

Alliance side, I did a Dwarf pally and don’t recall it being too difficult to manage that starting area, just a little crowded. Personally, my favorite starting area was Teldrassil, but if you don’t start as a Night Elf, forget getting a newbie there without some serious planning.

I’d recommend rolling a pally for straightforward mechanics, relatively good survivability, and self-healing, or possibly a hunter or lock for the built-in tanking capabilities of the pets – although pet controls are a little cumbersome for a first timer too.

I think the BE and Draenei starting zones are MUCH better introductions to the game than the original starting zones. Having the “second” zone to go to (ghostlands/bloodmyst) with a continuous storyline/questline makes it much less directionless for a new player around level 10-12. The original starting zones pretty much stop handholding around level 10, and honestly, that’s not soon enough for most complete newcomers.

Myself, I started with Akaani the rogue, then rolled Selmarris a BE mage. I was MUCH happier. And I’ve been a mage ever since.

When my parents started playing, I suggested they select a pure DPS class because it can be a lot to get used to learning game controls, navigating zones, learning spells, talents etc without trying to juggle multiple rolls. My mother rolled a mage and my father rolled a hunter.

A friend of ours rolled a druid for his very first toon and struggled… just too much at once, it seems.

I do have to agree with Spinks though… roll a few at low levels to experiment with the classes.

As for starting areas, honestly, I suggested my parents start in the Blood Elf starting area (they HAD to roll Horde with me, y’know) simply because everything is gorgeous and laid out nicely… a lot less crazy running around at first.

I wouldn’t really recommend a tank as a starting character but hey, if someone has a yen to do it …