Self hosted communities. I can still play on ~5 CS 1.6 servers where the same people hang out since 20 years.
if that were the only catch then people like myself and parent wouldn't return to these games simply to fight a bot match.
I have a hunch that most the people still hosting servers for games 20+ years later are very good at it. The noobs and casuals like myself moved on ages ago.
Being blown to bits before the whole spawn animation plays repeatedly is amusing for a while, but the charm wears off fast. I don’t have the time to dedicate to get good.
This was my Quake experience a couple years ago, at least.