Also played EU and had server 1sts on Tier 2/3 raids but man that was bugged to hell and arguably exploitative, especially Tier 3. The melee fatalities were awesome and I did love PvP in that game but my guild wasn't so good at that. One thing I remember about AoC more than anything though was the MUSIC. I remember so vividly the first time I set foot in Cimmeria and thought...wow this is impressive. Very celtic and pulled my ancestral roots straight up from the ground I was sitting on.
Probably the best MMO soundtrack ever.