Death Knights- Casual Considerations

I'd like to take a moment to consider some issues surrounding Death Knights for casual players.

Should a casual player start a Death Knight? The time commitments of casual players are limited. I play less than 10 hours per week and usually more on the order of 4-6 hours per week. I have my main toon at 71 now, and at this rate would expect to get to 80 in about 1 year.... That's the reality of casual. The possibility of creating a level 55 character of any faction, any server and any server type is an attractive method to gain access to a new flavor of WoW. On the other hand, leveling another character beyond ~60 is going to occur very slowly and at the expense of my main character. Therefore, the risk of starting a DK is missing the lowbie instance action, guild progression and other social aspects of your main character. In my opinion, for a casual player, this is a compelling reason not to start a DK with the intent of quickly leveling another level 80 toon.

However, the benefits and gameplay options for low level DKs abound. Twinking a 59 DK for BGs could be fun and having another toon on the same server in the high 50s or 60s or even 70s with complimentary professions could be very efficient. Against this strategy is the low-level farming and gold that it would take to level a profession to the point where it would be useful to a main toon. Once to level 70 skill levels, getting level 70+ skill levels would mean leveling the alt DK to at least 61, which isn't too bad. However, the gold required for that feat is not trivial and probably on the order of about 2000-3000 depending on the profession- an uncasual amount.

As for PvP versus PvE server, a trial of a few levles on PvP couldn't hurt, but by all accounts things can be brutal there.

As for race and faction, pick a different race, but for most casuals a toon on the same server in the same faction has the potential to enhance game play, while a toon on a foreign server will not have this advantage. If you must choose a separate faction, keep the player on your main's server to get some cross faction swapping if needed.

In summary, there are pros and cons to starting a DK for a casual player. I think that keeping a DK in low levels, same faction, same server and leveling one crafting profession that compliments a main character will be my strategy. Plus or minus 59 twinking.

What are your thoughts?