Tips for Newbies
Well, the question is how you define the word "newbie". The hints on this section are for those who are soon hoping to leave Rookgard or have just arrived on the mainland. Tips for absolute beginners can be found at the CIP-page, and i have never been to Rookgard myself ;)
General Tips
First thing: Be carefull! You are an easy target after you arrive in Thais, because your equipment is not so good as the "standard" equip on mainland. And in addition you are totally unexperienced in combat Player versus Player.
Second: Never run around begging people "plzplz give me a brass armor, i just arrived!". This way you will never get anything, it would be better to ask people for help in general, even some food or the way to a good hunting place can be usefull help.
Third: Try to find friends! The best way to survive is travelling and fighting in groups, not only because this is the way the game was supposed to be, its clear that 3-4 people have a better chance to survive an atacking PK than a single player. And of course its usefull to have different vocations in a group, for example a knight blocks the monster while the paladin uses his distance weapons and the druid heals both of them from behind.
Fourth: Help to keep Tibia running - you ask how? Its easy, dont throw stuff around and especially not to unreachable places, because every useless item on the ground has to be handled by the server. And even if this may slow the server down only a small bit, it could be the small bit that lets you die of a lag in front of a horde of monsters... And please dont make useless spam-broadcasts like "level up" or the infamous "mana waste". This is also very unhealthy because some people may even hunt you for that, so be warned.
Equipment
Depending on which vocation you choose, you should arm yourself. The best weapon type is swords, because later they are the only kind of weapon with magic improvements that can do a lot of damage.
A paladin should get some spears to start, as soon as he has the money he should get a bow and try to get the arrow-making spell. Armor and shield isnt that important, as they should kill their enemies before they get close enought for melee.
Knights of course should look for a good shield and good armor, because they always have to go into close combat.
Finally, sorcerers and druids should get some good defence-equip and also a good sword, because killing monsters with magic is an expensive thing, as mana isnt cheap, and only high-level spells can do enough damage to kill stronger monsters.
Making money
Money rules all worlds, and so it rules Tibia. You need much gold to buy stuff and spells after you left Rookguard. Sometimes you must decide: rather you go hunting and make XP, or you go "shopping" and make gold. Its not that hard to collect items from orcs and such in the beginning, its only a lot of work and a lot more of running around to gather and sell them. Most people will leave behind things with small value like wooden shields, axes and sabres, but if you keep collecting them you will make more money then by hunting strong monsters.
Later in the game you will need much less money than in the beginning, because when you have some spells and good equip, you can keep your money and become unbelievable rich ;)
Guilds
Okay, in the meantime you may have heard about "guilds" and are curious what they are about. Guilds can be good or evil, or neutral. So joining a guild is something that afflicts your whole tibian life, and it shouldnt be decided easily. You cant join a dark cult of assasins, leave them some weeks later and then try to join some order of light, this would be pretty bad roleplay. And you should also keep in mind that the enemies of a guild get your enemies if join, so think about it before finding yourself hunted by hordes of raging people :)
Being a member of a guild can change your (tibian) life completely, as they also provide social contacts, many of them organice meetings, have celebrations, quests and so on.
Click below to get to a page with short descriptions of selected guilds and links to their pages.
PKs
PKs are a big problem on the mainland (what else). The problem with them is not that they play a dark or evil role, no, most of them are just killing for fun and without any style or honor. Many PKs are also using illegal ways to kill their victims, small is the number of those who are really roleplayers...
There isnt a safe way to deal with them, the best advice i can give you is to keep your eyes open, never to carry large amounts of valuable things, try to speak with them after they killed you to maybe get your stuff back or at least figure out why they killed you. If you get killed you should post the name and the level/vocation of them on the PK-Board of the WoT, and please add the complete story, only saying "they killed me" isnt much helpfull.
For the ones who want to become a PK: its ok to do this if you play fair! Using traps, bugs and illegal actions will only get you hunted or banned. If you want to play a role, then do it with honor and style, always face the consequences, so that people at least will respect your way to life (they will never love you, thats clear ;)).
Leveling
Hmm, i have never been good at this, but my advice is to keep realistic: why go and hunt a dangerous, deathbringing Cyclops when 3 Orc-Warriors give the same XP but are less dangerous? But this is something you should find out yourself.
"Good hunting places" are something that does not exist, beause as soon as a location is known as a good place, it gets overrun by people who heard about it. And CIP somehow seems to make sure it does not get too easy, for instance by placing those Demonskeletons in Fibula. So go and check the dungeons and the wilderness, then decide which place fits your style of combat and your level.