I was in your shoes a 3 months ago. Only that I started on ROR, and not AOE. I never played AOE proper. I suggest that you do the same. Anyway,
- read all the strats here, and on the GX forum. read esp, the Crappy Bz Guide by CD. it's cannonical.
- recognize the established experts of the game, and follow their posts
- ignore any arrogant lamers
- practice multiplayer vs the computer, with ~125 pop
- try all the mainstream civs (Egypt, Hittite, Phoenicia, Minoa, Rome and Bablylonia are nice). playing Shang early ruins you, imho.
- learn each civ's strs and weaknesses
- learn counter units, recognize the rock-paper-scissors
- play default settings only: no reveal, default resources, speed: 1.0
- practice fast tool/bz times
- try some DM to improve your unit control
- once you can defeat ~3 hardest allied computer opponents, you should be able to handle the rookie human players
IMHO, when you are at the newbie level, I think it's better to play against the computer at decent settings, than in newbie games found on the zone w/ them reveal maps, high res, 2.0 speeds, shangs r us, clubbers guarding berry pickers, tauntamania, etc.
-joecho