I believe all the Live tourneys are rated, at least for the automated ones, and for the swiss-style tourney the top three players get virtual trophies. There are no tourney specific stats for Live either. I saw some Quad style tourneys today too; don't know how new those are or if they are just being tested or what. Individual clubs can also host their own swiss-style events.
For Daily, the tourneys are round robin knockout style. There are both rated and unrated events. Some are ran by the site and a lot are run by other members. There is a leaderboard for those and some basic statistics in the main stats page for your profile. Those events also have electronic trophies, up to 3, depending on the number of players.
As a new player, who's still trying to get a grasp on the game, I've never really felt up to doing tournaments on chess.com (or anywhere for that matter). I just read the article about the Arena tournament, and it sounds interesting, but also still very overwhelming.
I don't know the difference between the many different tournament styles, nor which might be better suited to new players (if any). Are there awards for tournaments? Does it affect your rating? Does any of that matter? Is it just for fun, or can you track tournament stats over time?
I'm sure I'm not the only hesitant new-player out there who's resistant to trying tournaments. Should I wait? Should I join? If so, which? ANY information greatly appreciated!