How to Play World of Warcraft

Steps

1. Verify that your computer meets the system requirements, and then purchase and download the World of Warcraft basic game. Expansion packs, such as The Burning Crusade and Wrath of the Lich King provide additional content, but are not required to play. It is also possible to play using a trial version, but they come with significant limitations, and only last 10-14 days.
2. Start your game! When you log in, you'll be prompted to select a server from the following types:
   • Normal: The standard game. Most players choose this option.
   • PvP: The standard game is modified in that Player versus Player combat can occur at any time.
   • RP: RP is an abbreviation for roleplaying. These servers have specific codes of conduct and naming guidelines. It is best to read them thoroughly before selecting this type of server.
   • RP-PvP: A Player vs. Player server that follows roleplaying rules.
3. To get a feel for the basic game, start on a Normal server. You can always make a character on a different server type, or, in many cases, transfer to another server, once you're familiar with the game dynamics.
4. You should also consider server population during your selection process. Unless you have a friend on an existing server, "Medium" populated realms are recommended because they are neither deserted nor overcrowded, and tend to have a stable economy.
5. Create your first character! Pick Horde or Alliance, and then your specific race. Then, choose your class. Don't just pick a class or race "because they look cool". Read the info about them on the side, and follow your instincts. Have a reason for your choice!
6. Once you're in the game world, take some time to get acquainted with the user interface. There are add-ons that you can download to modify, or supplement the default interface. www.curse.com has a good collection of these, as does www.wowui.net. Even if the interface you intend to download says "virus scanned upon upload", always scan any such downloads with anti-virus software before installing.
7. You can move around with the WASD keys, the arrow keys, or the mouse or trackball (by holding down the left and right buttons at the same time).
8. Once you've gotten used to the controls, take a look at your action bar at the bottom left of the screen. This is where all your spells and abilities are stored. The numbers in each box correspond to one of your number keys on the keyboard.
9. When you become more comfortable with the key strokes as your character advances, you will be able to take advantage of built-in add-ons such as additional action bars and key binding. Since your original action bar coresponds with the numbers at the top of your keyboard, you should consider any changes you make in your bindings to remain close to your most used keystrokes. This insures that you are not playing hunt & peck on your keyboard while you are drawing hits from the environment bent on destroying you.
10. Near the spot where you first appeared in the game world, there should be a quest giver. NPCs, or non-player characters, with quests have yellow exclamation marks above their heads. You will also see them in your display map in the upper right hand corner of your screen (or wherever your UI places it). Right click the NPC to see the quest text, read it, and then click "Accept" to accept the quest. Doing this will either send you on your way to another NPC, or direct you to perform a mission task for the NPC at which point you will see a grey question mark appear above their head.
11. When you have completed quests, those NPC's to whom you are to report with your findings, reports, or bag of collectable goodies, will have a yellow question mark above them (this too you will see in your display map). By selecting them, you will be able to complete your quest and gain the experience from that mission as well as any items or money they are offering as specific rewards.
12. You will also note as you adventure different colored exclamation points and question marks along the way. Grey exclamation points are to draw your attention to the fact that the NPC below it has a mission for you to perform once you meet the required level. As you advance, make sure you revisit the areas you have been to collect these quests. Green exclamation points (which will appear as the yellow ones do in your map) are new flight paths. Always be on the lookout for new flight paths. They will make traveling the map much easier. Blue question marks are reserved for continued collection missions or those that have no limit to the amount you can turn in for XP or reward.
13. Your first fight! There should be several level 1, 2, and 3 enemies not too far away from where you start out. To begin your attack on one, right click it. You can use your spells and abilities by clicking buttons in the action bar, or by hitting the corresponding key on your keyboard.
14. That's it! Continue on your journey through Azeroth by completing quests, and by killing baddies.
    
    
    

    Tips

    • While travelling, kill any monster that is two levels higher than your level or lower. The experience will help.
    • Before going to the next zone, try to complete every quest in the current zone until you reach level forty. You will be happy that you did, as you will gain more experience and get rewards for doing them. some of your quests will have you going to other zones, but come back to these (and get your flight path while you are there)
    • When you reach level 10, you will be able to enter the Warsong Gulch battleground, in which two teams from the Alliance and the Horde play Capture the Flag against each other, however it is recommended that you wait until levels 17-19 to be able to be a considerable challenge.
    • Certain quests recommend grouping with others to complete a task. Many of these are dungeon quests, but some difficult creatures out in the world are too challenging to solo until you are higher level than they are. Ask for help from your friends or guild mates, or use the LFG tool to find other players.
    • If you're having trouble completing a quest, finding a certain item/NPC, there are several web sites you can go to for help. www.thottbot.com and wowhead.com are probably two of the more popular search engines. Or you can get the quest helper add-on from curse.addons/downloads you download it into the add-ons folder.
    • You can get to the add-ons folder on a PC by going to start, my computer, c drive, my programs, world of warcraft, interface, and then add-ons. For Mac Users, the path is (on your main hard drive) Applications / World of Warcraft / Interface / AddOns.
    • The quest helper add-on will help you save time by getting all of your quests and find the quickest route to do it in, and it shows where all of the mobs (monsters) are
    • You can add more action bars to your screen by opening up your options menu (esc), clicking 'interface', and opening up the 'Advanced' Tab.
    • Familarizing yourself with Warcraft lore can help you out with quests and make your gameplay more exciting. If you can, play Warcraft 3 and its expansion and/or visit www.wowwiki.com
    • If you do not have a guild or friends to play with on a particular server, you may wish to select a class that is easy to level on your own. Pet classes, such as hunters and warlocks, are easier to level than many other classes.
    • If you are interested in seeing dungeon content, select a class that is in high demand: Warriors and Priests can almost always get a group.
    • Make use of ingame guides.
    • In-game guide mods can be very helpful in reducing your play time and leveling time. They will give you the chance to read a guide inside the game window and thus, you will no more need to minimize the game window to read your PDF guide. Many guides are available with in-game versions on the net. Check mod sites for a list of those. You will have to do a small setup and the guide will show inside the game. A recommended guide is Dugi WOW Leveling Guide because its in-game mod comes with a small application that will let you setup the in-game mod in just one click.
      
      
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    Source: http://www.wikihow.com/Play-World-of-Warcraft