Hmmm. Sounds like you really need your hand held . . .
WoW is a pretty easy game to get into and play. There's a reason why they claim over 13 million subscribers worldwide - Okay, so a fairly high percentage of those numbers may be gold farmers, but still, that's a LOT of people playing WoW.
And why do some many people play the game? Well, because it's easily accessible, and unlike other MMOs, you can't ruin your play by making the wrong decisions regarding talents, skills and gear. WoW is forgiving enough that you can level a naked Troll Warrior or a pacifist (NO KILLING AT ALL) Night Elf Druid to maximum level . . . and yes, both have been done!
Firstly, you'll need to decide if you want a PvP experience of WoW or do you want to PvE the game. To be perfectly honest, whilst WoW has evolved a decent PvP system, the game is an MMO that is far more suited to PvE. Yes, I'm sure there are WoW PvPers out there who will now be looking for my head, but there are far better PvP-oriented MMOs available on the market, and if yo're looking for an immersive PvP experience, then one of those may be better suited to your play needs.
That being said, playing on a PvP server can certainly add a challenge to playing the game.
One final thing to note is that there are also Role-Playing servers available, both PvP and PvE. If you decide that you'd really like to play your character as an actual person, head towards one of these servers.
Firstly, you'll need to decide if you want a PvP experience of WoW or do you want to PvE the game. To be perfectly honest, whilst WoW has evolved a decent PvP system, the game is an MMO that is far more suited to PvE. Yes, I'm sure there are WoW PvPers out there who will now be looking for my head, but there are far better PvP-oriented MMOs available on the market, and if yo're looking for an immersive PvP experience, then one of those may be better suited to your play needs.
That being said, playing on a PvP server can certainly add a challenge to playing the game.
One final thing to note is that there are also Role-Playing servers available, both PvP and PvE. If you decide that you'd really like to play your character as an actual person, head towards one of these servers.
Once you've decided on what type of server you wish to play on, your next consideration is Race. Remember that your Race may restrict your choice of Class (some Races can't play some Classes), so you may wish to look at your Class first. However, you will be playing this character for quite a while, so rather than worrying about Racial Abilities and how they tie into your Class, as a first time player you're probably better off going for the Race you most like the look of (and that has the Class you wish to play).
Take a look at the Classes available to that Race. Consider how you want to play the game. Do you want multi-player experience? Do you want to PvP? Do you want to be able to solo most of the content? Once you work out which way you want to play the game, you'll need to make another decision.
For multi-player, you'll need to consider what role you'll want to play when you group with other players. Do you want to Tank, Heal or do Damage? This will play a major part in deciding which Class you decide to play.
If you're looking to PvP a lot, some Classes are more suitable than others, but most Classes have some sort of PvP-viable spec.
Finally, if you intend to play a lot of the game by yourself, there are a few Classes that are far more suited to this aspect of gameplay than others. However, that being said, all the Classes are more than capable of providing an enjoyable and entertaining solo experience.
Finally, some tips for getting the most out of your gameplay.
Firstly, READ ALL OF THE QUEST TEXT CAREFULLY! This is probably the most important tip you can follow when starting off the game. The quest text will almost always tell you where to go, what to kill and where to hand your quest back in.
Secondly, DO NOT BUY ITEMS FROM VENDORS OR ON THE AUCTION HOUSE. You will quickly waste the small amount of money you get at lower levels if you're constantly buying items from vendors or the Auction House because they seem much better than the gear you currently have. Trust me when I say to you that WoW is an easy game and you DO NOT need to replace your gear everytime you level up. Through quest rewards and drops from your kills, you will get enough gear to keep your character levelling happily, especially through the lower levels.
Thirdly, MAKE SURE TO BUY ALL OF THE SKILLS FROM YOUR CLASS TRAINER. At the lower levels, you will have new skills available from your Class Trainer every second level. Ideally, you should try to train all of these skills and learn to use them. Vary your attackes or spells during combat to see what each one does. After a while, you should be able to work out which ones are optimum for you and your play-style and which ones are are excess to requirements at mid-levels of play and thus not as important to buy every time they become available, especially if you're short of money.