@ Lanai:
You’re absolutely right. I’ve known a lot of people that haven’t come from a gaming and/or MMO background that wander into WoW and just don’t think of things like this. I’ve tried to share knowledge where I could, but sometimes, no matter what you do, some people just won’t listen. I know a friend of mine that I introduced to WoW hadn’t played an MMO before, and between The Boyfriend and I, along with other in our guild, she’s gotten a ton of information along the lines of what I wrote. However, I can say she ASKED “What can i do to make sure I’m not a noob?” Three cheers for those that ask, and three cheers for those that share knowledge.

I’m new to WoW and in a guild of mostly newbies and I can tell you that the bad habits you identified in your post are learned at the low levels. If you’re not bringing pet food and bandages in the low-level 5 man dungeons like BFD and SFK, chances are you’re not going to bring those items to raid dungeons either. And if you don’t listen to a group leader or wait for healers to replenish mana early on, you’ll be that guy at level 70 too. I guess what I’m trying to get at is the importance of teaching/sharing these rules with newbies. If they don’t know these things at level 70, I am afraid it might be too late.