If You Were a Casual Gamer...

[nobbie]

I can imagine the Shaman is somewhat the equivalent to the Druid on the Horde side, so it might be a good one too although my very limited experience with the Shaman in the beta had me somewhat frustrated with having to toss out those totems. I think once one get the grasp of them, it might be easy though.
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I personally look at totems as extra "tools" if you can't win your (solo) fights with reasonable downtimes. For example, if the enemies are stronger than you (1 to 2 levels), use a Fire Nova totem for extra damage and Healing Stream totem for faster life regeneration in addition to your magical and melee attacks; if the enemy is even stronger (3+ levels or elite), add a Stoneskin totem to reduce damage taken, too. Got an add during the fight? No problem: Add a Stoneclaw totem. This is where the Shaman really shines: Having a tool (totem) for every imaginable situation immediately at hand and having very low downtimes because he can use i.e. Healing Stream totems instead of food to replenish lost hitpoints. On the other hand, because the Shaman's greatest power comes from his totems and magical spells, his Mana pool is limited, so that he doesn't get too powerful. So, careful totem management is cruicial and the reason why I use them only when the situation demands them. The use of totems changes in a group. Here, you'll have to use the totems for the best possible party support. The use of totems just as extra tools (for soloing), and not as fighting base, is even easier if you choose Herbalism/Achemy with their fantastic extra buffs through potions.

Regarding "good-at-everything or specialized characters" for casual gamers: I don't think the latter are a good choice for casual gamers because specialized characters are too group-dependent. And unless you have gaming friends or a clan, this group-dependency can become very frustrating especially in the end game. Had I known this before, I certainly would have played a Shaman as first main (Horde) character, and not a Warrior.