I don't know if you're over-exaggerating the harshness to new players in WoW, as I've never played it. But if you're not, EVE Online is the complete opposite.
In EVE, there are plenty of people, chat channels, and corporations [EVE's guilds essentially, if you don't know] who are more than happy to help out new players. Whether it's advice on skills, ship fitting recommendations, mission help, you name it. There's always an abundance of help for new players.
I don't know if this perhaps due to EVE's generally older age demographic or if WoW is the same in terms of help for players.