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Somewhere on Earth, in the wee hours of the morning, there is a dark silent room. The room is suddenly pierced by a hair-raising buzzing. As if on cue from the clock, a colorful statement goes flying through the air about the hour while a hand desperately gropes everything in sight to find the source of the buzzing. Eventually the buzzing is found. A rustling can be heard as sheets are being moved while a warm body finds its bearings in the dark.

Eventually, the warm body finds its way across the room and a computer whirrs to life. The darkness is overcome by the light of the monitor. Once the machinery is loaded, the mystery person signs on to eRepublik.com. After two quick clicks, the program is shut, the computer is turned off, and our hero is on his or her way, scratching as s/he continues down the hall to the bathroom without a thought of what just happened over the past five minutes.

What I have just described to you is what is known as a "Two-Clicker." A two-clicker is a person who just signs on to work and train, and continues on with their lives. The maximum time allocated is about 45 seconds depending on connection speed. I can tell you that I was a two-clicker for a long time. But honestly, it isn't all that fun. It is just the bare minimum to maintain a citizen in eRepublik. Where is the fun in that? There is no variability, and no interaction with anything but a programmed Graphical User Interface (GUI) to play the game.

I stated in my last article that I would cover the banter behind the game in the eRepublik community. The best place to start is in your local forums. Since I am a member of the eUSA, I figured I would start in that country's forums.


Introduction

Of course, after going through the formalities of registration and introducing yourself in the Introduction Thread, there are many places you can go:

-General Forum: You can talk about anything eRepublik here. If you need help with certain in-game problems, you may just find the answer here. There is also topical discussion of issues amongst the eCitizens of the eUSA.

-The Capitol, The West Wing, The Pentagon, and The Federal Courts: This is where the dysfunctional government of the eUSA functions. If you need any information on anything currently up for vote in Congress, you can find it in the Capitol section. The President is in the West Wing, and the Pentagon holds the eAmerican Armed Forces. The courts are a little iffy, as they have been the subject of a lot of criticism lately. You can find information about political parties in the capital section, but I will go into the political parties much more in depth in a series of future articles.

-Off Topic: By far the most fun part of the eUSA forum. I will be going in depth into some happenings in this one very shortly. Anything and everything happens in here, from posting pictures to forum games. Be wary though, it must be kept clean (at least PG-13)!


Off Topic? NEVER!

The Off Topic section of the forum is probably the best part. In this section, nobody talks anything remotely related to eRepublik. If you have something on your mind, feel free to post it. I'm sure someone will have something to say about it. The following are actually very hot topics in the forum right now:

-MyBrute Tournament #2: eUSA has invaded the French internets! We have a clan and hold tournaments between our "Brutes." Everything is completely random except for your name and who you choose to fight. It is the biggest fad amongst eUSA users, trash talk and all. If you are interested in joining, Click Here to create a Brute and test him out in his first fight. Then sign up your Brute in the forum thread.

-Joe's eTavern: The official bar of the eUSA. Pull up a chair and partake in conversations about the menial things in life.

-Real Life Pics: Meet the faces behind the madness. Post your picture and say hi! Be wary, a few pictures are not suitable for children.

Well, there you have it folks. Take some time to light up your dark room and step into the community of eRepublik. Extra light is very good for skin complexion by the way. In fact, you may have gotten a bit of a tan after reading this article, but you could never get too tan! Next week, I'm going to explore the madness that is the eUSA's IRC channel. For now, enjoy the conversation!