I created an account just to reply.
Played this game WAY back when I was a 12 years old ( 2006 ish. I think before that. ). It changed my perspective on politics, organization, running a company, writing better English ( I was born and raised in Lebanon ). I met some people I still know to this day as real life friends, and would love to catch up with old folks.
I had first started an alliance called ALMEA that was attacked by everyone else because "The Pansy" was pissed. I later was put on some kind of hit list and would make secret names and join alliances. My main roles were usually finance-related and was pretty successful in organizing massive alliance's tech deals, trade circles, etc....
I later moved on to join Valhalla, where I met a ton of amazing people. I then went on to found a few alliances with my friends Keshav and Casshern. TIO is one I remember.
This game changed my life.
It's great seeing a lot of familiar faces are still around.