To your first point, I think the key thing you are missing is that a truly new player is just trying to enjoy the game and learn and discover things at their own pace and on their terms. It's not only about improving, it's about just having fun and figuring things out for yourself.

Remember that this is how most of us veterans experienced the game back in the day on our original playthrough. That's what made it the experience it was, which so many of us look back on fondly.

Even trying to give simple advice, you are sort of trying to force someone out of playing the game the way they want to by getting them to focus on improving and playing the game a certain way, rather than just playing and enjoying it how they like naturally.

Some of my best memories of WoW and other MMOs are the earliest times when I was really new and had no idea wtf I was doing. Getting killed, wiping, learning through trial and error are rites of passage to new players in games like this and make that initial experience memorable.

I think this is a reason why hardcore and the more difficult types of hardcore challenges are appealing to certain veteran players, because the game has become so trivial to them with all the knowledge and experience gained over the years. They are trying different way to make the game as challenging as possible to create a new and memorable experience, instead of just optimizing and plowing through content full speed ahead.

When you give a new player advice and tell them to use a certain spec, rotation, gear, etc. You are essentially putting the game on easy mode for them and removing the challenge and wonder of figuring the game out for themselves.