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You took the plunge. You bought World of Warcraft. You have finished installing it, picked a server and are ready to make your first character. When creating your character, read all the little text boxes on the right side of the screen. This tells you what role you will be playing in the game, as a healer, damage dealer or protector.

There are ten classes to choose from in all, but some are not available to certain races. The classes are very different, so try a few. There are also six races on each faction. If you have friends that are already playing on that server and want to play with you, make sure that you are on the right faction or you won’t be able to communicate. Also, if you picked a PVP or player-versus-player server, the other faction can attack you.

Once you decide on a class and race, name yourself carefully. Random gibberish names can make it hard for other players to tell you apart from hackers – so try to pick something with syllables. Once you’re sure everything on your character is right, click create. Click the “Enter World” button to get started.

After you have logged in, you will be in your race’s newbie zone – a friendly, guided area to learn the controls of the game. You will get to try out you class spells and skills. If you feel like you’re playing the wrong class – create a new character and pick a new class until you feel like you got it right. Most classes grow into their skills at level 40.