Now that you decided to join our ranks in World of Warcraft, welcome and congratulations. You just signed up for many hours of thrill, entertainment and fun. No matter if you choose to play Alliance or Horde, you are now part of a fascinating and constantly changing community.

A community large enough to have with its own institutions such as banks and auction houses and even experience economic cycles. As WoW member this game is a challenge for years to come, you'll learn something new each time you log-on.

In this Mini WoW Strategy Guide I've put down some of the basic do's and don'ts in the game to give you a head start.

World of Warcraft  a Success Story

With Eight Million active members, World of Warcraft is the most successful online game ever. This number alone is impressive, but the loyalty of the WoW following is even more striking. Gamers are by nature a quite demanding breed, so to create and maintain such a loyal member base is a remarkable achievement in itself. Blizzard Entertainment has created a unique gaming experience, that has long passed the hype stage.

Of course this success partly feeds on itself, the player involvement and dedication is enormous. On the financial side of the equation there are the subscription fees that allow Blizzard to attract the best game-makers in the world. Whatever the reason may be, with World of Warcraft we have a great MMORPG (Massive Multimedia Online Role Playing Game) that remains captivating even after years of experience.

First Steps in WoW – A Mini Guide

When you first join us in the Azeroth you're in for a time of exciting discoveries and a steep learning curve. You will be victorious in epic battles against the most gruesome creatures imaginable. You can earn enormous wealth, fine tune your characters and be envied by your buddies, star as leader or hero in raids on mobs or become a super hero in PvP battles.

Choices, choices, choices

Because the game is so immense and the choices available almost limitless your start can be an overwhelming experience You are probably not sure about races, factions, professions let alone special character builds and things like talents and glyphs. The World of WoW and its expansion packs Wrath of the Litch King and Burning Crusade is really huge and complex. Don't try not to figure it all out at once; take it step by step, that's the best WoW Strategy approach you can take.

How to start Leveling your Character Fast

In this virtual world there are a lot of written and unwritten rules that are very important for your success in the game. You will need companions to help you out of difficult situations, plan raids with, exchange information and trade with. Your reputation is much like in the real world very important And working as a group is also one of the things that make this game so special.

To help you get started without too much trouble I made this list of do's and don'ts in WoW. During my years in the game I found these crucial

1. Never be rude in the game. The social aspect plays an important role in WoW. And no matter what level you are on word travels fast. You will need friends and allies to help you along, to trade with, go to instances and on raids with. Your reputation is important. When you are leveling up it's not your lack of experience that can get you in trouble, but dishonesty or disloyalty.
2. Don't buy equipment you don't need yet. The price of gear can be ludicrous. One of the reasons is that people who already have level 80 characters are leveling new characters. Since they already have thousands of gold and are willing to pay handsome amounts to buy gear for their lower level character prices go up. You can level up quite fast during the first 30-40 levels. It's at these first levels that most gear will become almost obsolete every time you get to a higher level.
3. Don't take two crafting professions. Leveling crafting professions is a very costly business and you just can't acquire all the Gold you will need to pay for your training and materials.
   
4. Skip the grey and postpone the red quests in your quest log. When possible finish a quest when it's yellow, that will give you the maximum amount of experience (xp) points. The grey and red quests in your quest log are either too hard or too easy. If they are too easy it means that you will get hardly any experiences for completing them. To difficult means you spending a lot of energy you could better use on the yellow quests. The green quests are often to easy as well, you'll gain less experience and they can be boring.
   
5. Level up multiple characters. If you level up multiple characters you will see that they gain rested xp faster which means that you will gain double the amount of experience for killing mobs. It's nice to have in example a healing character and a damage dealing character so you can change your role from time to time.
6. Know your role. Do some research about your character so you know what you should and shouldn't do in instances, dungeons and in PvP. If you are a Mage for example you do not pull mobs on yourself in a raid, this is obviously a job for the tank. People can get annoyed if you do things you are not supposed to or don't do thing you should do.
7. Pay attention to group/raid leaders. If you decide to go to an instance or battleground and are not 100% sure what to do it is important that you pay attention to what the leader of the group or raid tells you.
8. Have fun! Probably the most important thing is to have fun. It can get quite serious in the game from time to time and sometimes you can even think if some people still realize that it is a game. Don't take the game to serious and do the things that you like without harassing other players.
9. Always remember that World of Warcraft is just a game, don't allow it to control you. Your life outside is more important then in-game life. No exeptions, never.
   

World of Warcraft is a great game and as you start playing you will experience the complexity and beauty of it. To get the most in the limited time you have available expert guidance is important. Luckily many experienced players in WoW are available to help you on your quests. That is one of the reasons I suggest joining a good guild. When you join a good Guild you have help at your finger tips

I've tested many of these "leveling guides" and didn't find any real crap among them, The competition between these guys is so fierce that a plain crappy product will fall of the map in no time.

Competition has an other advantage too, it forces the creators to constantly update and iron out all mistakes in their product. Therefore the main reason you might prefer one over the other is personal preference. It has much to do with what race and class you are playing, are you playing PvP or PvE or do you like to specialize in any specific area.

Just Do It

These tips will keep you out of harms way and will improve your status in the community. Like in the real world we do depend on each other. Use good WoW leveling guide that is suited to your game-style, character and profession.

I'll be happy to meet you in Azeroth!!