Nov 11th 2014, 8:59:34
I am not sure you are on the right server ND. Several of the servers, and tourney is one, are for solo play, while others, mainly Alliance but also Team and Free For All, are played by people co-operating together as you describe you and your clan mates did in the long ago.
We virtually all, by the way, used to play long ago also, and made our way back at some point more or less recent. :)
The game no longer attracts youngsters.
Building your country is a requirement common to all the servers. I suggest you start by playing a farmer strategy ("strat"). If you like grabbing land from others choose Tyrrany as your government, if you prefer a more peaceful game choose Republic and explore for your land ("all-X"). You will set yourself a land goal - in tourney I suggest 10k acres; build an apropriate number of csites for that goal; grab or explore up to that goal building farms as you go and then stockpile bushels (by cycling them round on the market priced not to sell) until it is time to sell off the bushels you have stocked and buy as much military as you can so as to finish with the highest networth. Along the way you will initially sell bushels on your private market but then sell on the public market and you will divide cash not required to fund your turns (you will have a cash deficit each turn) betwen turrets for defence and Agri tech to improve the efficiency of your farms. If things go well you will max out your Agri and will buy other techs, particularly Business and Residential.
Good luck. :)