Your First Toon - Make a Human Hunter

Make a human hunter.  Don't agonize over it.  This is the one you will play to a) see if you like the game at all and b) to learn the basic mechanics so you can be more in control of your style of play.

Human hunters start in Northshire with wolf pet. 

I tell new players to make a hunter first because hunters get a combat pet that helps you fight. You may not know the mechanics of the game, but your pet does, at least when it comes to combat.  And combat for a new player - AKA a "noob" - is where you can get totally confused when you are mobbed. But your pet keeps going because your pet knows how the game works.  I've had people who started WoW once and hated it try again with a hunter at my suggestion and they really get into the game that way, even if they never make another hunter toon.  I suggest you play a human because you get a reputation bonus, and the pet you get to start with, the wolf, gives you a hit bonus as well.  The only down side of the human hunter as a start toon is that the starting zone will be crowded because humans are the most popular race in WoW.

Once you hit level 20, you'll have some idea of the game.  If you like the hunter, keep it (hunters are one of the most popular classes for a reason).  If you like your human avatar great. If not, start a new toon.  Leveling to 20 will be so much easier the second time.  You can decide if you like playing a hunter or want a different class that has a different style of playing.  If you prefer mixing it up fighting in close range, you want a melee character. If you like the distance fighting of the hunter, but want more raw damage power, there are other ranged classes. If you want to be able to heal yourself as you fight and don't care about hit power, then a priest is another ranged fighting choice.  Then there are hybrid classes that do a little bit of everything but are harder to learn for that reason. They are all fun in different ways, though most people tend to have favorite classes.  Changing races also changes the game feel, just not as much as class.  (My thoughts about the races here.)

Hunters are loved by some and called "huntards" by others. People who don't like them say that a hunter doesn't have to know how to play the game but just lets the pet do the work of fighting. I say for a "noob" that is fine.  You're still trying to figure out how to read the map, find your trainer, learn your professions, buy and sell items, all the while not dying too often (for you will die...it is not failure to die, just part of the play). Some of the hunter abilities you get include tracking so that you can see where  "mobs" (the game creatures who "mob" you) are in relation to your location even if they are hiding.  Also, as you get a little better at using your pet to take damage while you shoot from a distance, you learn the basic etiquette of dungeons.  (More on that later. You cannot go into dungeons before level 15.)