So I decided to try out the 10 day trial for the game. Not sure yet whether I will actually get into the game or not, but I have some questions that I am having difficulty finding the (current) answers to, or want more input. Thanks in advance for helping out.
 
1. I am a trial account. I can't seem to talk to anyone in anyway, every time I try to talk in the /say channel, the game gives me a message about being a trial account and having a limited number of /tells. Googling shows me that trial accounts should be able to talk, but this is probably outdated I'm guessing.
 
2. PvP or normal? I'm leaning towards PvP since apparently world PvP isn't a big thing anyways, and it adds an extra dynamic that I can get into later. Remember, totally new to the game, what is your thoughts?
 
3. What kind of server should I get into? I think that a decent economy is very important to me and I worry that the suggested low pop servers will not have a good economy running. On the other hand, I want to get into a server that is somewhat tolerant of new players, something that servers with a high pop apparently don't have?
  
4. Alliance or Horde? Other than lore, does it really matter? Is it that important to find a server with a balance between the two, which is advice I've seen elsewhere?
 
5. And the big one. Which class? In the beginning I will mostly be doing solo PvE stuff, but I want a class that will eventually be helpful to groups when I want to do that, which I will. Also, some PvP ability would be nice. I enjoy using magic but also upgrading armour, so I'm wondering about the paladin. Is that a good class for a beginner, does it actually use magic (I am under the impression it uses buffs, debuffs, and heals, which sounds good for me.
 
That's all for now, I think.

2) I've always played on a pvp server, yes it can be annoying but it can also be a lot of fun. Just hope someone doesn't decide to camp you with their high level because they're bored (new expansion tonight, guess they'll be busy!)
3)  Like silent said, don't worry, if you're that serious you'd want to go with a popular server or go check out the auction house on each server before you decide to stick. 
4)  What races do you like? I like the Orcs, Undeads, Trolls and Goblins, their lore and way of war suit me way more then the Alliance noble goals. It really doesn't matter which side you play on, both sides have their little kids and idiots, in the end its about what you want your character to be.
5) People will say Paladin, but please do us all a favor and roll something else. Paladins are a lot of fun but I really think they make the game too easy. 
Shaman, Warrior or Rogue are also fun classes to play and level as.
 
But again, your world, your choices, go with whatever you like! =)

2. I'm going to go against the grain and suggest you stick to a normal server first. While PvP realms have their own particular flavour and experience, it's probably best if you learn the game in a way that prevents others from impeding your progress intentionally.  
 
3. As others have said, I wouldn't worry too much about which server you're focusing on. If you're intent on learning more about the, for want of a better word, culture of the server, read the realm forums. 
 
4. Both sides have their own unique quest chains, flavour and appeal. Just pick a race you're happy with and kick it.  
 
5. Considering the vast redesigning of old (soon to be new) world Azeroth and the radical reimplementation of classes and their functionality, you could pretty much breeze through content on anything (if you're going as a healer/tank stick to LFD, questing won't be enticing with low dps margins). 

I'd recommend a Paladin or Druid, since they can fill any role. That way, if you get sick of healing, you can try tanking. Or DPS. Or in the case of the Druid, you even have a choice between ranged/melee DPS.  
 

@tsolless:

" [...] but if you make a pally people will hate you. "  

" Paladins are a lot of fun but I really think they make the game too easy. "

1. weird, i dont remember a restriction ever on trials. 
 
2. pvp or normal, up to you and what you find fun. only difference is some zones flag you for pvp where you can battle in the world. 
or go normal and pvp only when you decide to. i do normal as i dont like being jumped when out doing quests.  normal just means doing pvp only when you want to.
 
3. doesn't matter. horde side has a lower econly in general for buying mats, but who cares at the end of the day.
 
4. doesnt matter. 
  
5. up to you, no one can tell you how to have fun. 
 
 
biggest determining factor in all this is going where you have friends to play with. 

1. It's to prevent spam 
2. PvP 
3. Medium-full, not low 
4. Choose the race with the best animations and racial and coolest race/class combinations
5. Druids are op 
 
//jack268

@TaliciaDragonsong said:

" Paladins are a lot of fun but I really think they make the game too easy. "

I can't say I agree. Most classes have been overhauled to the point where they are all rather easy to play. WoW isn't A difficult game, after all =P "

Elemental Shaman sounds like what you want. They use mail ( second highest armor level) and a shield, provide great magic damage and group buffs, and can off heal a lot better than a Ret pally or feral druid. Ret pallies don't really use magic, almost all of their damage is physical. Also, if you ever get into arena or rated battlegrounds, elemental shaman are the better choice
 
Also, race does matter! I wont go into detail but a lot of arena players consider horde to have the best racial abilities for pvp, goblins rocketjump is clearly so much better than any other racial I wouldn't be surprised if it got hit with the nerf stick during s9

Thanks for all the responses.
 

@TaliciaDragonsong

 People will say Paladin, but please do us all a favor and roll something else. 

but if you make a pally people will hate you. "

@Onced

if you're going as a healer/tank stick to LFD,  

ALWAYS JOIN PVP! 
 
I swear to god don't be a care bear baby.  Care Bear servers aren't fun, trust me.   
 
Pro-tip, you going to waste your life in a bubble of a shell?  Hell no, nut up and join the server called SkullCrusher, go to Booty Bay around level 25 and chill there.  Fun things happen, you'll become a man!   
 
But serious, DO NOT JOIN A CARE BEAR SERVER!  IT DEFEATS THE ENTIRE POINT OF ROGUES AND OTHER CLASSES!

 1. Once updated you have no restrictions, they just want to you experience the gameplay with a trial account.
 
2. The difference between a PVP and PvE server is that you can engage in PvP with another player in the open world on a PvP server.  You have to turn PvP on when playing on a PvE server to do this, and then find some one else with it turned on.  Essentially what this means is you may find it very annoying when questing if some one decided to kill you, but, you can also kill them if they are hindering your questing or experience gains.  Since most new players are not very good at PvP they tend to favor PvE servers.  You can still join Battlegrounds and Arenas, and world PvP on PvE servers, you just have a choice not to get killed in open world.  The real advantage to PvE servers is that some random character 40 levels higher then you can't one shot you and run away.  Personally, I play on a PvP server because I have always played on a PvP server and enjoy them more.
 
3. I would go high pop if you can.  When you first join the game, they will suggest servers for you to join.  They just made a official post about servers for new players and explained that some servers still have the majority of the population under level cap.  But those server are more then likely going to be low pop.  I have played on both low pop and high pop servers and to me, high pop have more going on and I would suggest you find one you like and start there.
   
4. The only thing different between Alliance and Horde game play wise is there racial skills.  Some people will say that younger people play Alliance and more mature people play Horde, that is basically crap.  If you really like one race, play it.  If you are into the lore and you want to pick a race that you like, spend some time at WowWiki.com and look over the races and faction leaders, you might find the choice easier once you understand each races motivations.  Also if you have your heart set on a certain class, that will make the race choice a little harder since not every race can be every class.
 
5. Any class that can heal is a very forgiving class for beginners.  Priests, Druids, Shamans and Paladins.  Priests and Shamans being the even more forgiving of the group because your gear will help your heals even while not specced to heal.  A lot of new players play Ret Paladins because the are extremely easy to play even though most people don't play them very well.   After classes that heal, tanks should be your next choice.  Warrior, Death Knight, Druids and Paladins.  Taking less damage makes them more forgiving to player mistake, Death Knights have a lot of self heals which makes them easy to level but you have to get a character to level 55 before you can play one.  Warriors can be tough but can dish out a lot of damage.  With both Healers and Tanks you will get groups very quickly since you provide a vital role.  Last I would say that the damage dealers are the hardest for new players to level.  Mages, Warlocks, Hunters and Rogues.  Warlocks and Hunters have pets, which make them a little harder to learn but gives them a permanent tank while questing.  Mages and Rogues are probably the hardest to level as a new player.  Of course saying that a mage is harder to level then a priest really doesn't mean anything if you enjoy playing a Mage more.  It all comes down to personal preference and after Cataclysm, every class is very easy to learn to play for new players. 

Pvp servers vs Pve servers barely matter anymore. I don't see any allies my level to kill while I'm questing, as most people just sit in the cities using the lfd to level. And now that you can fly pretty much anywhere, good luck finding people to fight
:(

" ALWAYS JOIN PVP!  I swear to god don't be a care bear baby.  Care Bear servers aren't fun, trust me.    Pro-tip, you going to waste your life in a bubble of a shell?  Hell no, nut up and join the server called SkullCrusher, go to Booty Bay around level 25 and chill there.  Fun things happen, you'll become a man!    But serious, DO NOT JOIN A CARE BEAR SERVER!  IT DEFEATS THE ENTIRE POINT OF ROGUES AND OTHER CLASSES! "

I don't think we need to recommend classes based on group performance for new players.  Ultimately, for now they don't care (probably) which classes are the highest DPS, or which healers are most viable in raids.  For one, with the expansion a mere 24 hours (!) away, and a good three or four tiers of raiding content ahead of us, it's hard to say what classes and specs will be viable in the endgame.  Also, I think a new player should be more concerned about what playstyle they prefer rather than what class has the best damage output.  Every class is going to viable in some way most likely anyway.

My best advice for choosing a class is to think about how you like to play other RPGs, whether Diablo or Oblivion or whatever. Do you like to get in the enemies' face with a sword and shield (rogue/warrior) or stand back in relative safety and blast them from a distance (hunter/mage/warlock)? Do you enjoy having a pet to sic on whatever you want to see die (hunter/warlock)? Also, have you played/enjoyed cooperative RPGs and enjoyed playing more of a supporting role in your party (then pick a class that can heal - priest, shaman, druid, paladin).  
 
Levelling a class to 20 or so gives you a pretty solid idea of how a class plays, now that the progression has been retooled in Cataclysm. So don't stress too mucn right now, and when you get to that point pause and consider whether it's the class you want to stick with. Maybe you'll want to level another class to 20 to compare before deciding. Since each race has a revamped unique starting zone, you can try a couple classes without the gameplay being very repetitive, as long as you go with different races.