Join the new world

Basically, the orientation and tutorials have failed me because although they teach you basic things and hint at the importance of the community they don't really get you a sense of what this game is about.

For example - here is how the tutorial needs to start. The Department of Education stuff sorta gets there but not really. The Department of Human Services baby info is completely misleading in terms of what the game is really about.

"eAustralia represents an online community of people who have deep experience with each other and with the game. You need to introduce yourself to them first. Sign onto IRC and get to know them. You will need to sign on generally during the times real Australians do, if you can not do that it is probably best to join a different country.

But most importantly remember that the browser based producing/fighting game is only the thinnest part of eRepublik. There is much that goes on that you won't have access too as a noob. Fights will not make sense. You may even find that you are in a completely occupied country which turns out not to be as bad as you might think.

The most important thing though is to become part of the community and the game will follow. This is not like any other strategy game online that rewards your efforts to learn it quickly and you can learn it in a matter of weeks. It will take time, confusion, and a lot of effort to have access to the right people, learn the history, and get yourself into where the real stuff takes place. Don't automatically expect people to reach out to you. Don't expect instructions, forums, advice to be clear or add up in the first month. The reward is that once you overcome the huge learning curve the community and the experience are very rewarding. (This last sentence is still pure speculation on my part.)

Just don't follow the tutorials on how to produce and fight and think you are really playing the game. What follows is a list of all the links that tie into generous souls who will help you with resources to make your progress easier. There is no coordinated noob support, you have to scrape it together yourself as you find and talk to various people and join various groups. You can also try the forum which contains sporadic postings that require a lot of background information to interpret. It is quicker to find a kind mentor than to research the back story through the forum.

That being said let us explain the basic mechanics of the browser interface, but remember that this is not this is not the heart of eRepublik."

Comments appreciated.