so im talking to this really cute guy, and i told him i play WoW. which is true, but im just not very far. i dont want to sound dumb, and he asked me "do you quest? or instances?" what does he mean? how do i answer?
i hate acting dumb, because im not dumb, but your right i should be honest. i did a little quick searching, and tell me if im right -
quest is when you go around and do the little exclamation point thing with the characters ( sorry for bad explanations, its early and my brain isnt working yet)
instance is where people sit in certain places like dungeons and keeps and just chat

yes no?

Quests is where you perform the tasks given to you by the characters with exclamation marks above their heads.

Instance is when you create a group of 5 people and enter dungeons. When you hit level 15 you'll be able to press (i) - think that's the default key, and an instance tab will open up where you can sign your name in queue for a random dungeon.

ACT DUMB! Guys like teaching girls and if he's cute then im sure you wouldnt mind being thought by him

Tell him you just started playing are totally clueless.

lol? weird question haha...anyway, just tell him your character is low level and he will probs help you...then you kill 2 birds with one stone....you get a boyfriend....and will get your character to level 85!

I'd be honest with him and say that you're still new. (You'll avoid sounding dumb altogether if you admit that you're still new to the game)

Why don't you ask him to explain what instances are? I think most WoW players love to talk about the game, and he'll probably get his chance to blab away about instances while you learn a thing or two about it.

I'm sure he'd loooooove explaining the nuances of instances to you. And I bet you'd love to listen too.

EDIT: Quests are indeed marked by the characters with gold Exclamation mark over their heads. It usually amounts to kill X amount of things or gather X amount of things, then return to the same character who now has a gold Question mark over their head once the quest is complete (Questing is the very basis of many MMO's. You'll be doing a lot of this in WoW.)

Instances however, are not quite as you explain it. To do an instance, you'll be grouped with several other people and be sent into dungeons/keeps to essentially raid it. Instances are populated by exceptionally tough enemies that (if you are around the same level as them) are impossible for you to kill by yourself. Including bosses, which are even tougher. This is why you need a group to complete instances:

1) a Tank to go toe-to-toe with all the elite enemies (Such as a warrior, Druid, or paladin) This is because these classes have very high armor and damage resistance, enabling them to soak up the very high damage that dungeon enemies are capable of. (If a mage tried going toe-to-toe with half a dozen elite dungeon enemies, the mage will quickly die a horrible painful death.) Tanks hold the attention of these enemies while everyone else kills them.

2) A healer to keep the tank alive, and to heal any other injured people. Without a healer, the tank will die. Which will cause all of the enemies to go berserk and murder the entire remaining group.
Without a tank AND a healer, instances are essentially impossible to do.

3) Damage dealers. These are the bread n' butter classes that deal damage in various ways. While the tank holds attention, and the healers keeps the tank alive, it is the responsibility of the damage dealers to kill everything before they kill the tank or the healer runs out of mana.

^So as you can see, instances are much more complicated. They're basically isolated levels with very powerful enemies that require a group of people to combine their efforts in order to succeed. (Some quests require you to complete instances.) And there's also very strong loot to be found in these dungeons, usually dropped by bosses.

Well being honest is always the best policy

But I will answer your question as well

Quests are the "tasks" you get from the people with the yellow exclamation marks.
Instances are little "worlds" that are offset by protals that you and 4 other people complete and a group.

Though asking him yourself will get you a better answer, besides most people who enjoy the game like to talk about it