As you both mentioned: wrong section, I'll move it.
If Noggit setup is your biggest problem try the Noggit section and don't forget to use the search. Nearly every problem (especially with setup) has been already posted, so go have a look into that.
Now I've read your initial post several times and although you're saying you've got a lot of questions there's not even one real question with a question mark at the end in your posts.
I want to remove the current WoW continents and start from scratch
Open the MPQs and remove all .adt and .wdt files. To create new ones check out Eluo's Tutorial (Once you've gotten the tools to work)
deleting all the items in the MySQL Database
When setting up your server you also setup your DB right? Well either you don't import it (WoW won't work until you've added lots of special stuff to the DB but since you want to start all from scratch that's possibly your best bet) or you simply right click on the item or the database and hit delete.
Creating new classes that would also be awesome.
So is this phrase, I just new when I started reading this topic "Custom Classes" or "Custom Races" would pop up. Hell that's great, of course you can create custom classes, although you'll have to look a little deeper into the matter here. Check out
http://www.wowdev.wiki/index.ph ... =Main_Page and also the documentation on the arcemu DB you downloaded. First of all you'll have to figure out what you will have to change to create a new class but seeing as you're very ambitious (starting an "all new" project on your own without having even created one area yet) it's probably a piece of cake.
Now don't get me wrong, it's completely possible to do that.
so I thought modding a current engine would prove more efficient for my desires as of now.
Although we're not capable of modding the client, only the content and serverside environment, that's still quite a lot, since WoW already has lots of the features you'd want in a MMORPG.
You do however know what modding is, right? It's not all about someone writing tutorials on how to do this and how to do that, it's about exploring the possibilities by oneself. Although there has been a lot of stuff done, especially in level design, there's still lots of stuff possible but yet never done, such as a 100% custom race, custom classes etc.
I'll give you one good example:
When creating a new spell/skill you can either use existing effects (throw back, damage, buff etc) or coding the effect yourself in C++ on the server. If you stick to the easier one (using preexisting effects) it's simply DBC editing, which is a client side database.
DBC editing is a thing lots of people quickly learn to do and lots of people can actually do, however I've NEVER seen somebody create a custom spell yet (except for my own about 2 months ago), at least not publically. Wanna know why that is? Because nobody yet bothered to write a "HOW TO HURR DURR" tutorial on it and it requires getting to know this
http://www.wowdev.wiki/index.ph ... =Spell.dbc structure by comparing and looking at Blizz-created Spells.
And most "modders" are too lazy to do that. Unless somebody writes one tutorial on it they're too fucking lazy to bother with it themselves. That's not modding. If you want to do something like that please visit
http://mmowned.com/ , that's the place for lazy unexperienced people who like to call themselves modders but are only capable of doing sth somebody has done before.
Although a lot of people on here might sound like quite some asses I'll explain to you why that is:
We're putting a lot of effort and time into stuff (like writing tutorials) and are getting nothing in return but thousands of stupid questions of persons too lazy to bother with anything themselves.
That's the people we meet most of the time and since we can't expect much of them in return we've learned to not really bother with them much, which is why this community heavily lacks active members. Once told to do sth by themselves they see it as a sort of insult and never return.
I'm giving you the most honest and possibly only advice I can:
If you're new to modding, join an existing project. Maybe the bigger ones on Modcraft, not the "oh so ambitious I'm one person doing all by myself and I will fail before even posting one WIP screen" projects.
You will be learning so much on that project, not only because you're working with more experienced people but also because you are giving them something (taking a lot of work off their backs) they are much more willing to teach you something.
Yes, this means putting your own ideas aside for some time, but maybe you'll integrate into the project quickly and are able to have your ideas realized on the same project as well.
TL;DR:
Choose one:
-join a good project (they must have ingame screenshots)
-http://www.wowdev.wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page go figure out what you need by thinking + trial&error + looking at blizz content
-go to
http://mmowned.com/ for lots of :ulol: and never be respected by real modders fully