Join the new world

Patience is the Key. I was looking at my achievements page, and sadly reflected on the fact that I have exactly 0 achievements to my name. I thought about my WoW account, and how I have like a billion achievements there. But then I remembere😛 that's now, after 8 years. Two weeks into that game, I also had nothing. It actually took me 3 months to warm up to Blizzard, so I didn't actually reach level 60 until July, something like 8 or 9 months after the game was out.

This can be a casual game. You can play it for 5 minutes, do some work, training, maybe a few battles; you can check your e-mails and alerts, and be done within 10 minutes. I've been devoting more time than that, what with the eusaforums and the #irc channel-- but the fact is, if I need 30 days to get the Hardworker badge, then that's what I need. I just passed the 10 or 15 mark, and now I have to wait for the next 2 or 3 weeks to pass.

Other achievements are out of my hands. I referred two friends to this game today. One stuck around until level 14, but the other quit at level 3. Level 3?! You can get to level 20 in under an hour. Well, that is all right. I'm 10% of the way to the Referral badge. 10% is better than 0%.

And of course some of the battle badges won't happen until I reach a higher division. That's okay. I am a patient man. And if I don't get some of them, that's fine as well. I play for the enjoyment of the moment, not for the end result. Because the goal post is ever-changing if you play just for the finish line, and then you rage quit if you don't become PP or CP or whatever you wanted.

So, here's my advice of the day to my fellow newbies, in case you are comparing yourself to others who have been here for years: just keep plugging away, and it will all come with time. (And, if you have been doggedly pushing along and still not getting the results you want, definitely read the newspapers of the guys who got to where you want to be. This is a game of diplomacy and politics; you gotta do the research to keep up.)