Originally posted by USGs Founder, Will Caldwell.

These are my golden rules that I've offered to everyone since I became head admin in 2003. They don't help you win, but they are important to remember when participating in intense elections.

1. No OOC Insults to Admins or Competitors - Do not come to me or the admin team after an election and raise hell because you didnt win. We typically give good reasons why you lost. If you have a legitimate complaint, such as if we forgot to include some events of yours in the final tally, then we certainly can hold a "recount" aka correct number crunching. And yes, we reserve the right to change the results even after they are posted. I once posted incorrect results in the South Carolina Presidential Primary and bad things happened (Dunn and Snider are all too familiar with this diddy.)

2. The game is not over if you lose - If you lose an election, do not assume your career is over or quit the game. Yours truly lost the first SE Governor election of the Second Reset back in 2002. I rebounded and worked hard in the House, pushed forward a lot of legislation, and was eventually tabbed by President Richard Blein to be his running mate for his re-election campaign. We won, and shortly after we were sworn in he was shipped off to serve in the military so I became President and won re-election on my own several months later. I literally went from common House Representative to President is less than a month. That won't happen a lot but it proves a point. In politics, you never know what's going to happen next.

3. Sometimes it's not your year - You may be the best candidate for the office and run an incredible campaign but be stuck in 4th place in polls because the three other people in front of you have also done well or had a lot of momentum going into it. It happens. You're a politician, so do what real politicians do: prepare an escape route and plan, 2, 4, even 6 years in advance in case the election doesn't go your way.

4. It's just a game - Nuff said. Do not pour your life into this game. I don't. You shouldn't. If things get intense, walk away from the computer and distract yourself. Walking outside helps. You new players may think this sounds extreme, but USGovsim elections are (while also fun and addictive) excrutiatingly competitive. Some people take it offensively when they lose. Let's try to keep that to a minimum.