I started...oh man, Let's see...I'll say mid to late '08. My first major war was the MHA vs. IRON conflict, during the Karma war. Now, I have played for a while, yet, I've stayed. I'm not sure why. I guess i'm an anomaly or something, because I'm perfectly content to not get involved in the OWF and the IRC alliance stuff, not even participate on my alliances forum, yet I keep playing. It's very strange to me. Maybe I genuinely like the game on a nerdy level, maybe I'm bored, maybe I have a low tolerance for games in general...
I don't have much of a opinion on this, just giving my viewpoint. now to head on back under the seas to lurk...