Counterstrike Source was later and still had these tight knit communities on the gun game and surf community servers. There wasn't any matchmaking in the client either. And we voice chatted in game for the non-competitive modes.

I think Rainbow Six 3 might also qualify.

Then again, nothing will ever compare to the Rocket Arena 3 scene where every kill was due to skill. You're a complete noob who got a few lucky hits with the rocket launcher? Skill. The other guy jumps in front of you just as you happen to pull the trigger? Nice air rail, well played. I never saw anyone ever complain about losing.

That community was just so refreshingly positive and welcoming, probably because there were no stakes. A match was over in maybe thirty seconds and then you'd watch until your next turn. And that was it.

In modern competitive games people have a ranking and they feel stressed when a game goes badly because they might lose precious Elo. This goes to the point where you get yelled at by your own teammates for not knowing the meta because they can't make it to the next rank if you pay like it's a game.

Cpm mids for days

I've been playing it VR lately. Feels like old times. There's only a handful of players, of course (unless you play with flatscreen people which is possible, but too scary for me).