I won't lie.
I didn't join this game because I wanted to. This whole idea of building a world based around text and roleplay seemed foreign to me. I chided my husband when he asked me to join for being a nerd or a dork. I teased him about being a weirdo and giggled when it made him blush. Sure, I wasn't a massive nerd myself. After all, I've spent the better part of the life that I can remember building computers and playing video games. I scream at the top of my lungs in anger at League of Legends(even, embarrassingly, while my husband was in NS related meetings). Bit hypocritical of me, I know. Though, at the time I didn't care. I was happy where I was and had no intention to change.
Then I started to get pestered. It was insanity. My husband pestered me. My husband relayed other people's pestering from NS like the one I now call my wife, Zenny. I tried to deflect it all with a giggle and a smile. Sure, it was hard seeing that pitiful begging and the adorable faces, but I wanted to be steadfast.. Or maybe just stubborn.
After a while, I finally gave in. It was a... interesting choice. My husband has prepared notes and summaries on people that he has met throughout his years on NationStates. It is... Long... to say the very least. He gave these notes to me with the hope that I would be better prepared than he was when he started. I thought it was a lot, but I read them with the belief that it is better to know what you are walking in to. It took me a while, I won't pretend. It had a lot of information.
My start has been pretty smooth, thankfully. I met someone I enjoy in Zenny, which has led to many more smiles and far more giggling than I initially thought would come in a game that I initially viewed as cut and dry. I discovered that my perception of a community more interested in politics wasn't entirely true. I met people that I came to call friend and found a few regions that I felt at home at. It was... odd, really. I expected people to want to hold everything at an arm's length but the regions I've came to call home have proven such thoughts wrong.
One such region is Europeia.
I joined Europeia exactly one week ago on December 12th, 2014 without knowing the slightest bit about what I'd be getting in to. Sure, I had read the notes claiming that Europeia was a community full of depth in everything from the Judiciary to the Newspaper Industry to the culture to the elected positions but I never believed it would be as it is. I thought it might be decent, sure, but what I saw when I arrived was a community with years upon years of development with players that are so obviously intelligent that you cannot help but be a bit nervous and awed. It was a bit overwhelming. I felt like an ant, looking all of these threads on a wonderfully designed forum. I felt like I could not possibly get comfortable in a place that was so well developed. It was intimidating. Then I met some of the people and explored some of the different areas of the forum.
I realized that my initial assumption was right. Everyone carried themselves with confidence and intelligence. At the same time, things weren't so overbearing that it felt like I was getting the cold shoulder. Quite the opposite, really. I watched as these people bantered and teased each other like old friends. They shared memories and inside jokes that comes only through shared experience. I found myself feeling like I wasn't out of place. Sure, I am still as much of a newbie as ever, but in Europeia being a newbie isn't so bad. I get to learn from people that I can respect and laugh with without feeling like I am being patronized. I feel like Europeia is a place where people stand shoulder to shoulder with the good of the region in mind. Those who show their devotion and desire are respected, as they should be, and it leaves me wanting to do nothing more than to fight for the region that has so warmly accepted me into its ranks.
So, if you ask me what it is like to be new in Europeia I have a pretty simple and straight forward answer:
F***ing awesome.
I didn't join this game because I wanted to. This whole idea of building a world based around text and roleplay seemed foreign to me. I chided my husband when he asked me to join for being a nerd or a dork. I teased him about being a weirdo and giggled when it made him blush. Sure, I wasn't a massive nerd myself. After all, I've spent the better part of the life that I can remember building computers and playing video games. I scream at the top of my lungs in anger at League of Legends(even, embarrassingly, while my husband was in NS related meetings). Bit hypocritical of me, I know. Though, at the time I didn't care. I was happy where I was and had no intention to change.
Then I started to get pestered. It was insanity. My husband pestered me. My husband relayed other people's pestering from NS like the one I now call my wife, Zenny. I tried to deflect it all with a giggle and a smile. Sure, it was hard seeing that pitiful begging and the adorable faces, but I wanted to be steadfast.. Or maybe just stubborn.
After a while, I finally gave in. It was a... interesting choice. My husband has prepared notes and summaries on people that he has met throughout his years on NationStates. It is... Long... to say the very least. He gave these notes to me with the hope that I would be better prepared than he was when he started. I thought it was a lot, but I read them with the belief that it is better to know what you are walking in to. It took me a while, I won't pretend. It had a lot of information.
My start has been pretty smooth, thankfully. I met someone I enjoy in Zenny, which has led to many more smiles and far more giggling than I initially thought would come in a game that I initially viewed as cut and dry. I discovered that my perception of a community more interested in politics wasn't entirely true. I met people that I came to call friend and found a few regions that I felt at home at. It was... odd, really. I expected people to want to hold everything at an arm's length but the regions I've came to call home have proven such thoughts wrong.
One such region is Europeia.
I joined Europeia exactly one week ago on December 12th, 2014 without knowing the slightest bit about what I'd be getting in to. Sure, I had read the notes claiming that Europeia was a community full of depth in everything from the Judiciary to the Newspaper Industry to the culture to the elected positions but I never believed it would be as it is. I thought it might be decent, sure, but what I saw when I arrived was a community with years upon years of development with players that are so obviously intelligent that you cannot help but be a bit nervous and awed. It was a bit overwhelming. I felt like an ant, looking all of these threads on a wonderfully designed forum. I felt like I could not possibly get comfortable in a place that was so well developed. It was intimidating. Then I met some of the people and explored some of the different areas of the forum.
I realized that my initial assumption was right. Everyone carried themselves with confidence and intelligence. At the same time, things weren't so overbearing that it felt like I was getting the cold shoulder. Quite the opposite, really. I watched as these people bantered and teased each other like old friends. They shared memories and inside jokes that comes only through shared experience. I found myself feeling like I wasn't out of place. Sure, I am still as much of a newbie as ever, but in Europeia being a newbie isn't so bad. I get to learn from people that I can respect and laugh with without feeling like I am being patronized. I feel like Europeia is a place where people stand shoulder to shoulder with the good of the region in mind. Those who show their devotion and desire are respected, as they should be, and it leaves me wanting to do nothing more than to fight for the region that has so warmly accepted me into its ranks.
So, if you ask me what it is like to be new in Europeia I have a pretty simple and straight forward answer:
F***ing awesome.