Now that's a blast from the past. Before we had good one-in-all plugin solutions for solo play, I'm pretty sure I ripped the hook code from ProKreedz for my listen server. Then I got a checkpoint plugin from another guy, LJ stats from somewhere else and so on. I could tinker with my server freely and make it work just like I wanted.

That's what I really loved about CS 1.6. It allowed so much freedom in terms of what kind of maps and plugins you could create. We got amazing community-cultivated game modes such as KZ, HNS, surf and so many more out of it. And what's more, it was relatively easy to whip up your own map in Hammer and get it out there for everyone to play.

Community servers were first class citizens back then, prominently displayed as soon as you launched the game. These days someone getting into the game might not ever find out about the rich variety of experiences provided by community servers because they get funneled right into the default 5v5 matchmaking experience.

I tried TF2 recently and it took me a minute to figure out how to play a game without queuing into matchmaking. It's a bit sad.

I honestly think developers undervalue the power of moddability in adding value and especially longevity for their games. Fortunately, and as you pointed out, CS 1.6 is still there, and there's still a lot of active communities around that game. I believe that's because the game allowed the community to carve out a space for the themselves and build whatever they wanted.

I played thousands of hours of KZ in CSGO. I knew pretty much everyone in the community back then, was involved with House of Climb as a sort of crew member/moderator and set a couple world records and top 5 times etc.

Those were great times, but all the strafing caused some shoulder and arm problems so I eventually gave it up and moved on.