When Did You Start Playing AoE?

Just curious because of the age of this game and the player base now more active than ever, when did you start playing this game?

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I remember finding the first Age of Empires on a filesharing site, probably Kazaa or Limewire. Shortly after downloading it I found the MSN game rooms and began destroying people in diplo FFA's by basically doing an old school Blue Coffee strategy. After a good run there I found AoE 2: Age of Kings by similar means. Still playing diplo and doing my Blue Coffee. When The Conquerors came out I finally purchased the game legit.

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After that I took a LONG break just assuming the game had died. When HD edition came out I played a little but only a few AI games I tried to get a friend to play with me but when that didn't work I had just assumed the community had died long ago.

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Then late last year I discovered T90 videos, specifically the Legend of Fatslob and Low ELO Legends. I was amazed to find a community stronger than ever and DE. I only recently mustered up the courage to play ranked 1v1s again but I am sitting at just under 1k. Every win feels amazing and I rewatch them, cringing at my multitude of mistakes.

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That being said I am curious when YOU started playing AoE along it's timeline?