Where did you guys learn to play Day Z?

Seriously. I bought this game thinking I was going to have fun. I watched gameplay videos for weeks and I just can’t play this. My matches last very little. I went to drink water from the river and just died of malaria. What am I supposed to do? Heat the water with a pot first? But where am I going to find a pot? Where do you make a fire? Does this game really have to be realistic to that extent? This is causing me more stress than fun.

There isn’t even a map in the corner of the screen like most games have (e.g. GTA); you have to keep alt‑tabbing all the time to know where you are, which completely breaks immersion.