Few random tips from playing all this time, most of which I haven't heard anyone else mention:
Use a bedroll as a poor man's GPS. Plop it down, E on it to open quick travel map, see where you are, cancel, pick it back up. Bam, no longer lost.
Use the big obelisks as a directional compass. Green is on SW corner, red is on NW on the big mountain, and blue is about midway on the east side near the river crossing. Combining the usage of a bedroll to see where you are and looking to see where the obelisks are you can get anywhere without becoming lost.
Use the blood extraction syringe on yourself to get blood bags (or put in inv on sleeping people to take them from them, just note that it takes 25 health each use if you don't want to kill them). The blood bags can later be used to restore 20 health. So if you're sitting in a safe area and collecting wood or whatever you can be collecting blood bags from yourself, which for some reason don't ever spoil. And later you can use them while out hunting or pvping. I had 10 blood bags on me when some guy started shooting me with a rifle, thanks to the blood bags I was able to sprint back to him and stab him to death with my spear. Right now there isn't even a cooldown on them, so unless you drop dead in one hit you can survive indefinitely with enough of them.
If you're sick of gathering materials and making spears, the stone hatchet is actually good enough to kill most stuff (better than the pick). I always just use my stone axe to kill trikes and such (stay behind them and keep moving to avoid them turning and hitting you) and if I even make spears I save them for emergencies like a player or predator attack (or big swarm of dilos). Once you have metal, the metal hatchet is surprisingly good. Almost as good if not as good as a pike. Easy to take down argentavis and mammoths and such with one - and way lighter.
Tame a trike or stego when you can, they make gathering narco berries far easier.
Power level yourself enough to get wooden walls asap when starting on a new server, as anyone can and will break into thatch. A decently well hidden wood house will usually be left alone for weeks or more, while a thatch house on the beach will get wrecked over night usually.