Noobish Questions (updated frequently)

[Xanthix]

2) Has anyone clocked how fast griffons/wyverns go relative to walk speed?

It is quite fast and furthermore is affected by things like Mithril Spurs on your boots. I don't know if anyone has measured the speed precisely because they do not really fly in a straight line for testing.

3) Is it just me, or were the Barrens lush and grassy last time I flew through them? Do certain zones have seasons along with day/night?

Zones do not have seasons, and AFAIK the Barrens have always been barren. The closest thing to seasons is that when fishing, in some places you will get Winter Squid for 6 months out of the year and Raw Summer Bass the other six months.

4) Does the onixia death-buff proc anywhere other than stormwind (I haven't seen it in IF, though I would presume it does)?

Actually I suspect it is a ranged AOE buff, not zone-specific. I have missed the buff when I am on the far side of Stormwind and I think I have seen people get the buff when slightly outside of SW's main gate.

5) What are some good places for cliff diving?

Other good spots are the Un'goro Crater wall and two large mounds in northern Feralas.

6) I feel like an idiot for asking, but what's the special character code for "target" when macroing something? How about abilities?

You can also use a script command to target groupmates:
/script TargetUnit("player");

You can replace 'player' with pet, party1 - party4, raid1 - raid40, party1target, party1pet, etc

7) What's the most effective way to tell a group that you're polymorphing a target in combat?

Most people have a macro like this:

/cast Polymorph
/party I am polymorphing the unit %t!! Please don't attack it!!