If You Were a Casual Gamer...

[Quark]

I'm going to add a wrinkle here: speed. Casual gamers are less likely to deal with classes they percieve as slow (boring?)

PALADIN:
I'm by no means a Paladin expert, so I'll just throw in here that getting free mounts is a BIG plus to a gamer without the time or means to accumulate enough money to buy one.  That alone gives Paladins a big boost for casual play.

As Tal said, I wouldn't bank on that much longer. The shields/protections and heals are nice, and make for a near-indestructable class. However, paladins kill slow. They kill slow with little participation from the user (as far as I've gotten, at least). Seal, Judge, Seal, swing, swing, swing, swing ... oh, I should heal! ... swing, swing. With maybe a Hammer of Justice thrown in.

HUNTER:
I'm thinking this would be an extremely poor choice for casual play, since the level of in-game documentation on how to manage pets, keep them happy, and learn new pet abilities is ridiculously low.  Add to that the complexities of even managing pets to begin with (separate set of commands on your character), and I'd rule Hunters out for casual play.

I'll be selfish and say don't recommend hunters to a casual player. Why? Bad hunters kill parties. Bad hunters kill parties alot. If this casual player steps into an instance, not quite sure how to handle the pet, it'll aggravate everyone, including the hunter. The casual player won't have as much of a chance to meet with forgiving, educating, people. So the party loses out, and in thier frustration make for a situation where the Hunter doesn't learn.

MAGES:
Mages have one of the easier Talent tree configurations to understand - duh, Fire, Frost, Arcane!  I like Fire!  I'll put points in the Fire tree!  But are cloth casters a good choice for a casual gamer?  Play is more difficult when managing mana comes into the equation, and when a huge part of gameplay is keeping a distance between you and your target.  Mages would force a learning curve on a casual player that, once grasped, would be understood - but obtaining that grasp could be difficult for those new to MMORPGs.

If they're ready to *kill kill kill* then *sit and drink*, Mages are a pretty good choice. I'd recommend Fire specifically for the more casual player, it's less to think about during battle than Frost. Going off speed, it's a very quick battle, and individual battles are safer than Rogues I'd say. But when sitting you do nothing at all ...

ROGUES:
Get behind the enemy.  Smack it around and keep smacking it around until it dies.  Pure killing, pure DPS.  Stealth style possible if you want to play that way.  Easy to learn, very intuitive.  You're not responsible for healing or crowd control - you're there to kill.  At low levels, no real ability to handle adds, so that represents the class' learning curve.  In my opinion, the most casual-friendly class out there.  When you're a Rogue, you have to pay attention to your partymates less than any other class, which is perfect for a casual player.

Best, easily. There is no competition, in my eyes, for what class a casual gamer would enjoy. It's easy to learn, it's quick and deadly, and it's involving. Just make sure to recommend First Aid!

WARRIOR:
Ability to take a beating a huge plus.  Inability to heal oneself in any way a big minus.  At low levels, a good choice.  Problem is, at higher levels and in groups, Warriors are expected to be the party leaders, and this is a tough role for a casual gamer who does not have the time to learn complex party mechanics and how all the other classes work.  While solo play is manageable pretty well, it's the requirements put on Warriors in groups that make it a poor choice for a casual gamer, in my opinion.  I know I expect a *lot* from Warriors in my parties, and I've seen Warriors who don't know what they're doing take a serious tongue lashing in pickup groups.

A bad Warrior grouped is like a bad Hunter grouped ... wipes and frustration. Solo is fine, but then they step into an instance and know nothing about aggro, not fun. Once again, it's a matter of finding a group willing to let the warrior learn. I don't see that happening as easily.