The times when there was actually a queue for joining the server (or rather, clicking "Refresh" and server name over and over again until you get lucky). When the skill gap wasn't as obvious, because there were all sorts of people playing the game. Only the drama hasn't changed ;-)
P.S. Mid-to-late 4.85 here. Still lurking since recently.
P.P.S. Oh, and Gallia only had its Border Worlds, and those sealed jump gates were so teasing... Oh, and no "/conn" command, so you'd see all sorts of people flying to Connecticut through New York.
