kingwaffles wrote:I think the most important advice to be given is to have fun and don't get hung up on broken truces or rank or silly things like that. Just enjoy yourself and always take South America

Excellent advice in the first post of this thread, all the way up till the part where he says take south america. Just ignore that last little tid bit.
New players understand that score is ok indicator of skill but has many flaws. Also remember what I quoted above, if you aren't having fun then you are wasting your time. On top of that though, you will find that this site has a lot to offer. I write for the newspaper and run a school on this site, and I am just a casual member. It really has morphed into a community.
There are a lot of things to do here, join clans, make maps, teach noobs, play team games, etc, etc. Don't be afraid to try new things, have fun. Try different game types, different maps, and then after a while take on some kind of community role; if you have time. Writing for the paper is fun for me, but you can make tournaments, become a mod, start a user group, there are tons of things that can be fun here.
Be nice to people too. You may end up being around for a while and end up doing something together with people who at first may have turned you off.
Finally, don't forget, have fun.