I am a new player to WOW. I am wondering if I create a new character, does this character start at the beginning? I know it would start at level 1 but does it start way back before getting on the ship and all that? Thanks for being kind to a newbie 
Hi Katia, and welcome to Azeroth!
Yes, in general, a new character will start at level 1. There are some exceptions. Certain Allied Races and class combinations will start at level 10. You probably don’t have Allied Races like Vulpera or Mechagnome unlocked yet, so that is not a big deal for you.
When a character starts at level 1, there are two possible starting zones
- Exile’s Reach
- Their race’s home zone
New players get no choice - they are automatically assigned to Exile’s Reach.
According to the Support Article
https://eu.support.blizzard.com/en/help/article/296577
When creating a character, new players automatically start at the Exile’s Reach. A new player is one who does not have any character over level 20 on their Battle.net account.
So when you start a new character, it will go through Exile’s Reach again, unless you raise a character over level 20. Which is an atrocity. I call it Cardboard Island, because it is made from recycled scraps of a real expansion. It is an efficient way to get a character from 1 to 10, but it has no flavor at all. Much better to start in your race’s starting area, and learn where your people come from, and how they fit in to the history of Azeroth. And tha Pandaren starting area is so evocative and has such a great origin story that it is a crime to keep new players away from it.
So if you want to start a character in its real home, and understand its origins, get one character over level 20, which will require you pay at least one month of game time. If you are intending to pay for the game, that will be ok; if not, that’s just one of the restrictions of the free Starter Account.
Even if you must start at Exile’s Reach, though, you can then go to a starter zone to level from 10 to 30. Except the starter zones for Pandaren, Worgen, Goblin because of their stories. That’s what I would do first. Even though you can’t go to the Pandaren Wandering Isle, you could go to Northshire/Ellwyn Forest (Human), Shadowglen/Teldrassil (Night Elf), which are probably the nicest Alliance starting zones by general acclaim, or Azuremyst/Bloodmyst Isle (Draenei) or Coldridge/Dun Morogh (Dwarf).
As a newbie, you qualify for a Bonus Pack of recommendations!
This video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyqj414Se1Y
is very long, but broken up into 1-2 minute chapters, so you can skip to the bits you want. If you click “more” on the Description, it gives you a Table of Contents. It will tell you things you didn’t even know you needed to know.
The site
https://www.wowhead.com/
is where you find out all about quests and items. ALWAYS read the Comments - that’s where the good stuff ie.
The site
https://www.icy-veins.com/wow/class-guides
is your first stop for information about how tobuild and play your class and spec.
And if it’s in WoW, it’s on YouTube somewhere. Just be aware, since there are some changes every expansion, that old videos, before the current expansion, may mislead you in some respects by showing you the game before a change. Most will be fine, but be aware that these changes do happen.
Please ask any more questions you have!