Pretty much this, EE and Shattered Skies was an awesome time for me, i have very fond memories about that time. I played so much on them, i remember my first homeworld styleish Homebase, lots of Players, amazing. I have nor regrettet a single second playing this game.For me the golden age was the golden age of EE and then Shattered Skies before the big names hopped off and the admins went batshit crazy. There were players to play with, the staff organized regular events, the meta wasn't so incredibly "no fun allowed" type, you actually could have fun playing the game and interacting with other players. I miss those times.