[Endoperez]

There are two types of games:

Blitz games organized mostly on IRC, and longer games organized mostly on forums. Blitz games take from few to several hours, and while they aren't really newbie-friendly they are a great way to learn fast. You get killed, you play the nation that killed you and try to duplicate the strategy but get countered, etc etc until you find a nation and a strategy that fits you well. There are many good strategies, so you can choose one that fits your preferred playstyle. EDIT: Blitz games also take much fun away from experimenting and from single-player, because you just brutally die unless you use very optimized strategy. It might be a good idea to avoid most specialized builds in newbie MP games, because they can be hard to counter even if you know the game well.

The longer games sometimes try to organize a quick spurt where all players can play about 10 turns or so, but it changes into something like 1 turn every 24 or 48 hours after that's done or if it isn't done. The game usually slows down later, so the server settings are changed mid-game. Participating in many games isn't feasible, at least early on, because the diplomacy and planning take much more time than just playing the turns.