“I’m not doing that,” I said.

    “That’s too much like work,” I said.

    “I’ve got better things to do,” I said.

    Well, here I am.

    While others may have their Farmvilles and Mafia Wars, I haveBattle Nations.

    Battle Nations is a new game for the iPad in which the playerdevelops his “nation” by conducting various missions, doing certaintasks and winning battles against in-game rebels or against otherplayers. Accomplishing these goals gives you experience, whichallows you to advance to higher levels.

    I’ve just reached Level 15. The higher you go, the more experiencepoints it takes to advance from one level to the next.

    I’m pretty sure the battle aspect attracted me to the game, sinceyou get to train bigger and better troops for fighting the higheryou advance. The fact that it was free didn’t hurt, either.

    A number of my Facebook friends from time to time send me requestsfor help with some Farmville task or some similar game played outover a duration. No offense, but I have routinely ignored therequests.

    I didn’t want to get into worrying about planting and harvestingvirtual crops or doing some task to find a virtual lost sheep. Andobtaining virtual decorations for any virtual farm was also nothigh on any priority list of mine.

    Well, guess what, I am now anyway.

    As leader, growing crops to feed your developing nation is apriority and a major way to gain that needed experience. Growingcrops or making certain items – I also control a bakery and abrewery – takes a specific amount of time.

    I now find myself actually calculating what can get done in thegame while I’m sleeping or away at work. It’s a littleembarrassing, but so be it.

    At this stage, you’re probably thinking this duration gaming thingis a whole lotta pointless. You’re probably right, but it is fun -even if it does take time and patience.

    Ahh, patience. Something I don’t have in great supply.

    And therein lies the answer to another question you may have: Howdo the game-makers make money?

    At least in my game, to speed up crop growth, troop training orsome other activity, you can spend real money to get somethingcalled nanopods. I’m sure other games have similar gimmicks, butthe idea is to capitalize on people’s lack of patience.

    Fortunately, I have not spent any of my money on the game.But let’s just say some leftover birthday present iTunes gift cardshave helped speed up some things in my game.

    The insidious aspect in some games, however, is that certainmissions or whatever cannot be done without spending realmoney. And unfortunately, my gift card-bought supply of speed-uppills is running low.

    It may be time to find some patience.

    In Farmville, I’ve observed, another way to advance is to helpother farmers by giving them gifts. They, in turn, can give youthings you need to progress.

    Somehow, I don’t see a lot of opportunity for sharing my game.”Battle” and “help” don’t seem to go together here.

    To bring this virtual gaming talk back to real life, I guess thereis a lesson to be learned amidst the fun. Be careful with what yousay you won’t or can’t do.

    I wasn’t going to get hooked on any virtual game that takes foreverand a day to play.

    Well, so much for that. I’ve got troops to train while waiting onthe grain.

    Battle on!

    That’s all for now.

    Write to Managing Editor Matthew Coleman at P.O. Box 551,Brookhaven MS 39602, or send e-mail tomcoleman@dailyleader.com.