What should I play in the stress test?

[Bolty]

Maybe I should just pick each race and go through their starting areas?  I'd like to be able to maximize my time so that I get as good a feel for this game as possible during the limited amount of time I'll have.  The stress test is more of a demo to me, I guess.

An experienced player can go from level 1 to 10 in a matter of a few hours. Newbies can take around 2-3 times longer. Just giving you a timeframe. If you play 4 hours a day, you could take maybe 3 characters to level 10 before the week is up.

The starting areas for the races are interesting and diverse. Once you get to level 11-12, you move into more of a "pooled" area that's common to 2 or more races. For example: orcs, tauren, and trolls will all wind up in The Barrens after completing their starting areas. Trolls share their starting area with orcs, and gnomes share their starting area with dwarves.

If you want to see a number of starting areas and get a small "feel" for the game, I'd recommend playing:
Human
Night Elf
Undead
Tauren
Dwarf/Gnome
Orc/Troll

Although you wouldn't have time for them all. Note: the human area will be the most crowded during the stress test. Human races are always picked over others in MMOs. The least popular races are gnomes and trolls.

If you're new to MMOs, don't play a Warlock. And yes, mages/warlocks/priests are the least equipment dependent, but at the early levels none of the classes are all that equipment dependent. So just enjoy. Remember that the first 20 levels of the game are the learning/kiddie levels, so to speak. After that, instances become available, equipment becomes more varied and interesting, and the classes start getting their more advanced spells/skills. If you play a few classes and think that they are "generally the same," it's because you're only at the low levels.

-Bolty