Hey Michael - I cut my first DT's about 2 years ago after reading a lot, watching videos and paying attention to what Jim, Derek, Mike and all the unnamed others have posted about cutting them. All of the advice is good - try out everything and keep what works for you and leave the rest. Blue tape or no blue tape. Pins first or tails first. Leave the lines or cut the lines. Pencil or knife. Technique and process can be learned cheaply just by trying - cut, fit, repeat. Tools on the other hand are different because of the ducats involved. I started with a cheap pull saw and my old construction chisels. Then a Veritas dovetail saw, and finally a Bad Axe hybrid that I love. Narex chisels came first, then a couple of Ashley Isles. A used shoulder plane, then another and finally the Veritas medium plane. And through out this process, I didn't add any tools until I knew, by making dovetails, what it was that I wanted to compliment the way I make them. I absolutely love using the Narex skewed paring chisels. But at the beginning I had no idea about them. So practice, practice, practice. Make lots of cuts because muscle memory is your friend. And it's fun - if I have nothing else to do I might just cut DT's for the hell of it. Being able to press them together "off the saw" is pretty cool.
Enjoy.
Stand for something, or you'll fall for anything.