Join the new world

Today is my real father's birthday. Clint is modeled after him: my father was recently in the hospital, and got better through-- apparently-- sheer force of will. Many would say he's had a charmed life: a white man growing up in tony and stylish Long Island, New York. But he has had his struggles like everyone else, and he was never one to sit back on his laurels. One summer when I was a boy he decided to build a house. He bought some acres of land in upstate New York, got some guys together, and off they went.

There was some little task he gave me, such as hammering nails into a board, but I was very young and hopelessly inept at it. I wanted to quit, but he would have none of it. No whining and no discouraging words. He basically said to me: 'If at first you don't succeed, try try again.'

He apparently had to tell himself that a few times, as it took several tries to get his words to sink into my thick head. I remember feeling annoyed and frustrated at the time-- and I definitely still remember the pain of smashing my pinky finger-- but it was a good lesson learned. Quite a few times in life I have kept plugging away, and have found that by continuing on... things work out. And the one time I gave up on something, I found out that I would have succeeded if I'd just stuck with it another day.

A game like eRepublik can be frustrating at first. It can be confusing. It can be lonely. It can be overwhelming or underwhelming, depending on how you look at it. The first day or two I was here, it seemed great because there was so much new stuff to do and look at. But then today I logged online, clicked a few buttons and realized that was it. I had no new alerts, no new e-mail, no messages. No missions, no tasks. No energy.

But I stuck around anyway. I looked at the Wiki and the Map, wrote a few e-mails, sent out a few messages. Not long after, I was getting replies. Someone told me about an iRC channel I didn't know about. Another person pointed me at a forum. Soon I was busy, and happy to putter around to my heart's content.

Other blogs may give more and better advice as to which buttons to click or what to spend your gold and USD on, but if I can offer one single tidbit, it's to think about what I said. Whatever your goal: be it winning a war, running for Congress or President, getting some medal or achievement, or even just making friends and chatting with new people-- if things aren't where you want them to be right now, you can still win out in the end so long as you keep plugging away.

No matter what people tell you, the one truly unpardonable sin is quitting. Stick around, stay active, and that's half the battle right there. If you're new, promise yourself you'll give the game at least a week or two. That should be your true first step, no matter what other steps you take.