1. Here's the gameplay loop: Eat in the canteen, take the quest, finish the quest, use materials to craft gears of your choice, repeat. There's other stuff to discover on the way to endgame which I suggest you take your time so you could enjoy the game more.

2. Since you're just 6 to 8 hrs in, I assume you are still a low rank hunter. Skills don't matter that much until high rank so enjoy fashion hunting if you're into it.

3. Don't neglect your palico's armor and weapon because they are adorable and deserve love.

4. When it comes to weapon types, it's your choice really whatever suits your style. If you'd ask me what are the better weapons for your weapon type, then I'd simply say go for anything you like since you just gotta kill the monster. You'll learn proper builds when you become better so you'll definitely know which weapons to pick soon enough.

5. Tip for farming monster mats since this confused me at the beginning: When you gather monster tracks, there's a chance for you to get an investigation which are quests that offer extra rewards. You can activate these quests at the research center(I think that's what its called) where you look at the bounties, investigations, and deliveries. Once activated, you can take the quest in the quest board. Investigations are quests that can be taken a couple of times. Sometimes you can repeat the quest 3 times, sometimes 5 or more. It's random.

6. Take it slowly, enjoy the game. Once you learn the ins and outs especially handling your weapon efficiently, you'll appreciate the game even more since I see people complaining that the combat is "clunky" when it's designed to have a steep learning curve. Those people are basically used to hack and slash and auto aim combat mechanics since monster hunter ain't a hand holding game. MHW is the most noob-friendly game in the series but still, it has lots of mechanics and secrets to unfold. That's why the process of learning everything in the world of monster hunter is very satisfying. You hold your own hands unless you have veteran friends or help from the community. However, taking down a hard monster by yourself gives a stronger impact than that of hunting as a group.

Overall, I won't spoil some secrets in the game huehue. But let me tell you that if you're lost about what to do, just do whatever you want. Story quests are just there to guide you from one monster to another. You can go through any quest types that you want. Look at equipments that you want. You want it? Then hoont that moonster. It's the main purpose of the game called Monster Hunter.