I was a 7 year COH veteran. During the course of my time with the game, there would be random 1/2 month spells sprinkled about every now and then that would draw my attention elsewhere (whether it be boredom, schoolwork getting in the way, or just wanting to take a break). But I would allllllllways get sucked back in.
...A HUGE reason for that draw back to COH (and there were several reasons, of course) was the RP community on Virtue. Seriously, people - if/when this game comes back and you are for whatever reason interested in the RP element of the CoX franchise, I HIGHLY suggest swinging by Virtue and checking things out. The RP scene was thriving like CRAZY over there. Whether it be doing in-character mission runs with your SG mates or just heading to the Pocket to 'chat up' a pretty stranger by the railing, or to witness a drunk bar fight between a cat lady and a zombie shark...there was always insanely entertaining stuff going down via RP on Virtue. So good.
I know lots of the RP'ers used to gather around Gemini park in Galaxy waaaaaay back when, but unfortunately that was before I even knew RP existed and I was still on Freedom haha. The RP on Virtue just offered an entirely different way to play the game. It made the world all the more real and tangible - and you felt yourself grow even more emotionally invested in your characters, knowing you were watching their lives and back stories unfold with other like-minded players.
Waaaaaaah. I miss it.