I think about everything has been covered by others, but the simplicity of the game is definitely what kept me coming back. I've found you can get the "I see no *whatever*" here message if you try a command that doesn't work with that object specifically as well. But cutting it to one word should solve most of your issues.
Ironically, the beginning is probably the most confusing part of the game, and not just because you're new to it. If you're still an orphan, then you need to head to the museum to actually start character generation and "grow up." As an orphan you can't gain skills, but also suffer zero penalty for death. It's basically to get you used to the game, it's parser, and try commands without worry. While a nice thought, it's also a bit confounding if you don't realize that is what's going on.
Once you go to the museum, start the Dreams of Before, tag skills and allocate stats, then you'll be thirteen and ready to die properly. As a N player, which is under 5k (or 5.5k?) total experience, a given player can only kill you once in a 24h span. If this is happening more, as mentioned earlier, they should be reported for griefing (but don't bother if you're still an orphan).
Beyond that, just update your clone anytime you get stat/skill gains you don't want to lose, and carry a white cocoon to preserve your gear on death. It's ironic that I'm advocating cocoon carrying, considering I didn't start carrying one until I had ten mutations... and even now, it's mostly because I don't want to have to regather up cheap shit.
Edit: @Tack I'm around the same stage as you are, arachnos are giving me 6xp per kill and I have 11 in my weapon raw. I've mostly been doing contracts for the job experience lately (chuds, prisoners, mine rescue, etc.). Yeah, I feel the pain on the track nerf for racists as well. If I'm actually in the mood to grind experience, I kill karnivores since they are 48xp a kill for me.