I'm going through the tutorials, and i'm not able to scroll the view across the landscape when i hold down the middle mouse button.

It just rotates around a point... I can't move around the landscape. Anyone have any ideas?

try holding ctrl. i think it was ctrl. if that doesn't work, try alt or shift as well. it's been a while since i played, but i'm pretty sure one of these keys should let you move the camera.