Well - a lot of old memories....back then my moniker was Banquo.
I used to play a lot of UT99 mods so was always interested in trying out all available mods for that and then UT2003 when the latter was released.
The first thing that gripped me was the attention to detail and I remember showing my housemate the shoulder strap on the rifles swaying back and forth as you ran ( something that was taken out in later iterations of the mod). I played a lot of different games but always came back to RO. The feeling and weight of the guns was really impressive to me and the community was full of good people - very different to the mainstream crowd at the time.
One time, during the mod days, I was really doing well when a young chap by the name of Wilsonam started chatting to me during the game. I found out he lived on the other side of London to me, but never saw him in-game again during that period of time. I never did tell him the trick to that map was to run like the clappers down the right side of the street from the second the map started, to be able to start capturing one of the points. Wonder what ever happened to him.....
One of the early maps had the Germans in a trench and the Russians trying to take it - the achievement of actually getting into the trench was a great feeling and when you were defending the trench, as soon as the enemy got into the trench it felt like absolute chaos.
Other points during the mod days was capturing Caucasus - one guy took the lead on comms and a group of four or five of us went up the back way and somehow got into the main area and obliterated the enemy. That was the point I saw how great teamwork could be in a game. I was hooked.
When RO was officially launched, it was a day one purchase and I can remember spending many times playing through the night with supplies at my desk to keep me going. I felt the guns were a tad lighter than had been in the mod, but the game play overall was better. I generally liked to play with rifles and got good enough I was near the top of the board each game (something I could never claim in any other game).
The game that sticks out in my mind the most was where I hid under a train and continually killed tanks with the Russian anti-armour gun after they had passed me by, completely oblivious to the threat. One after another went down to my delight.
Then my personal circumstances changed for the worse and I did not even have a PC for a couple of years - there was no more RO for me at that time, but I am happy to say I got back to my feet in time for RO2.
I still look back at some of the innovations that Tripwire made in their games and cry foul when those innovations are attributed to other games. RO gave me not just a new gaming experience but a fascinating and fun one.
Here's to RO, its community and Tripwire!