I remember two big awe-inspiring moments while playing City of Heroes, both being only a matter of weeks post-launch.
The first was in the beta, when I first got to Steel Canyon. I'd experienced Atlas Park and Kings Row, which had plenty of buildings, sure, but... Steel Canyon was different. The buildings were huge, imposing things, towering overhead. I felt absolutely tiny on the streets there, with only Combat Jumping to help me get around at all. The people that had invited me onto a team had to snap me back to reality as I kind of stood around staring up at the buildings for a while. It felt like a REAL city, a HUGE place, so dense and impressive. Even games like GTA3 hadn't given me that sensation. That's when I was hooked on the game, that moment.
The second was my first task force. We were doing Synapse, and it was pretty exciting overall, going from mission to mission and seeing the story unfold as we fought through all these clockwork. When we fought Babbage, I was excited. But when we reached the Clockwork King's lair? The first time I got to see the leader of the groups of Clockwork I'd been fighting for weeks through the beta and live on any number of characters? That was the first time I was intimidated by the game. That guy was BIG and SCARY and, man, I don't wanna mess with him. And then we stomped him into the ground. And I felt like a superhero.
I wish I could experience those moments again for the first time. Nothing else in any game, CoH or not, ever gave me the same kind of feeling as those two moments.