Hi Aqua, welcome to this forum. Yes, the game definitely can take some time to get into... you're right that the game doesn't hold your hand and lets you figure it out for yourself. Just take your time in the lower level zones (also keep in mind that fully exploring the cities can give you a nice xp boost as well), explore a lot and don't rush. And give yourself plenty of time to get used to the dynamic combat system (the moving and dodging, weapon swapping, etc). You should slowly get a better grip on the game.
As for guilds... I recommend creating a thread in our
Find a guild section in which you can explain exactly what kind of guild you're looking for