Hi SKIP14,
This is true.
What you can do, when you go online as a "newbie", is to tell this to the other players.
You could say something like "Hi all, I am new to this game, please forgive me if I make a mistake, any hints or tips you might have would be really helpfull and much appreciated"
Something like that.
You will find that 9 out of 10 players will be welcoming you aboard and trying to help you out.
And if you make a mistake and apologize and be very polite about everything, then you would rarely get into any trouble.
As long as you are clear about being new and behave in a nice manner, you'll get a lot of help from people, I am sure of this!
Regards,
Fred