Hi. I am installing World of Warcraft today and I have some questions and I am also seeking general advice about the game.
First, how do I update it? Second, what is involved with creating an account? Third, how do I find the closest server? Fourth, what are macros and where do I get them? Fifth, what are the best mods that work with the latest version? Finally, what else should I know? Thanks!
Also, do I need to get some software and hardware to do the voice chat thing? How does that work?
It’s been a while since I installed it but. . .
I believe it prompts you on how to create an account. The updates are done on their end. Unless you mean new versions, of which there is only one-- The Burning Crusade-- which you have to buy.
P.S., I set up my account, what? 2 years ago maybe. Only had to do it that one time and I never had to think about it again.
It’s automatic. Be prepared for a LOT of initial updates, hours of them.
The program will guide you through this. You will need a valid credit card.
You don’t; they only have a few server farms. You choose the type of server you want; ones that allow player-killing (PvP) and ones that do not (PvE) and it will suggest a server on your behalf. You can choose any server you want but unless you have friends you want to play with on a particular server, just make sure you don’t pick PvP if you don’t want that.
Some servers are marked as “role playing” and some not. This makes no difference.
You can do a Google search but don’t bother until you’ve learned the game a bit. Macros aren’t necessary and if not done right can mess up your game.
See above.
RickJay covered most everything pretty well, but I’ll add some detail on macros and mods.
Macros are able to be written in game, essentially they are just a way to bind an action or series of actions to a single hot-bar button. Common macros that aren’t complicated are ones that perform a certain emote or set of emotes, so that someone can /spit on a person they just killed in PVP. 
Far more complicated macros have been written though, that do things like performing a cycle of different attacks to maximize damage for the hunter class. Beyond a certain complexity, macros are usually abandoned in favor of dedicated mods.
The amount of mods for WoW is wide and deep, probably your best bet would be to look at the variety available on Curse Gaming , especially their “Most Popular” mods. Mods are able to modify basically everything about your WoW gameplay, the only thing they aren’t really capable of is complete automation of your attacks. Certain mods are extremely useful for large group play, like CT_Raid_Assist, or KLHThreatMeter, but you won’t have to worry about those things until you hit max level. In general, if there is something that seems to be annoying, or you have a hard time doing while playing, someone has built a mod to help. 
As long as you have a microphone that works through normal use in Windows/Mac, that should be sufficient to use it with the in-game voice chat.
Burning Crusade is the only one right now. There is a third expansion in the works, Wrath of the Lich-King, but it’s very early stages right now and won’t be out until Christmas (AT LEAST).
If you’d like to have an “add-on” program to assist with the WoW world, I like using Cosmos. It contains things like equipment compare, chat ‘hot buttons’, coords, and my fav - will give you list of drops the mob is associated with as well as letting you know what profession uses the components (silk = tailor, purple lotus = alchemy, etc)
unfortunately, the component list doesnt seem to be working but that might be something on my end that I disabled (you can disable programs you dont want).
You really don’t need any addons or mods to begin with, WoW is so popular for its simplicity and how easy its to get into. When you reach max level you can start worrying about stuff like that, for now all you really need to do to get started is put the cd in and follow the instructions.
It makes a *small * amount of difference. Characters on roleplaying servers have names like “Errodan” instead of “Superhunter”. Chat on RP servers is more likely to be in character and grammatically correct. You see a lot less of “Dooood, u just got totally pwned!!!” If such minor details affect your suspension of disbelief, go RP.
True, but it’s usually better to download one (or both) of the major voice clients, Ventrilo or TeamSpeak. The in-game chat is rather…lacking, and it’s been my experience that most people use one of the two I mentioned in lieu of it. Both work for PC and Mac, and both are very easy to install and set up.
Because I can’t only give Blizzard money a measly $14 dollars at a time.
What’s gonna be in it? New races? New professions? New classes? More levels? I gotta know!
Notice I didn’t ask about instances or new areas. That’s because I’ve been playing for years and have yet to reach level 60, much less 70. But I do have a butt-load of characters.
If you have a high-speed connection, I’d go to FileFront and look for a patch 1.0 to 2.0* or something like that–it’ll probably be faster. If you have dial-up (unlikely, I know), use the blizzard downloader.
*unless you have Burning Crusade–otherwise intall that, then get 2.0-2.4–I think we’re at 2.4, aren’t we? I lose track after a while.
I just reinstalled WoW + BC on a different PC. It takes a fairly long time to get the initial software loaded, but the updates were actually not nearly as bad as I expected.
You don’t need to add Burning Crusade right now. That adds a whole new section that is available only once you’re at a fairly high level. You might miss a couple of little things by not adding it right away, but I’d suggest you make sure the game is right for you first.
Dunno. There are only three things I’ve heard about it so far, a new continent, a new tradeskill and a Hero Class.
The new continent is going to be Northrend, which is where (I don’t know if you’re up on the Lore here, so I’m just going to indulge myself) Arthas confronted and was possessed by the Lich-King, and where Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne was more or less set. It’s going to be a 70+ area, I believe.
The new tradeskill is Inscription, which sounds like a different kind of Enchanting.
The new class is the Death Knight, which will only be accessible if you have at least one character at 70.
You will need BC to access the Blood Elf and Dranei races and thier areas.
MY recommendation - and of course the people playing this game have 10 million opinions, literally, because that’s about how many of us there are - is as follows:
Start with just basic or “vanilla” WoW. Don’t get Burning Crusade or any mods at first. Just jump in, get a character started. The initial 10 levels will, through various quests, teach you how to use the game and your character. Go ahead and start 2-3 different characters and play them to level 20.
At that point you will have a better idea of what’s going on, what interests you, and so forth. You’ll know what does and doesn’t annoy you about the user interface. And so on.
THEN you can start thinking about mods, macros, and adding the Burning Crusade.
I will also recommend the following websites:
World of Warcraft Community Site - this is Blizzard’s official WoW site, which has everything you need to know to get started, and even has links to other sites discussing classes, professions, strategy, etc.
WoWWiki - a wiki devoted to WoW, full of lore, various items of interest, quests, raids, races, and so on. It seems to update pretty quickly - for example, the day after the 2008 Lunar Festival started they had information on what had and hadn’t changed from last year’s.
Thotbott - this is a database of WoW stuff. If you get stuck on a quest, or need to locate an NPC or a thing, this is the place to go. Some people prefer Wowhead
And to use the Jewelcrafting trade skill.
As someone who only very recently (a month or so ago) started playing WoW, I can vouch for this. I usually hate games like this because I can’t really handle “complicated,” but just the standard install of the game is fine for me. (My husband installed some add-ons for me, but I don’t know how to use them and I don’t know that I need to anyway.)
Oh, and if you eventually get addicted, max your level, and start raiding, read the forums at elitistjerks.com. There’s everything you’d ever need to know about how to best use your skills on that forum.