>All of these (and other titles like them) are much more
>widespread than they used to be, to the point where it's
>viable now to hook up to a random server online and start
>fragging away. I'm not certain, not having been a part of
>that "scene" at the time, but I don't think this was the case
>in 1998 when Half-life was first released. You generally had
>to assemble a group of players on your own and find your own
>LAN to play on.
>
>As for other games that compete with CF, I've heard people
>mention Diablo II, Neverwinter Nights, Guild Wars and City of
>Heros in addition to the most recent World of Warcraft craze.

Umm, half-life came out with a tool included for locating games. I was able to play online as soon as i completed the real game. I only got involved in clan play when i moved to dublin (and beat half the all-irish clan) and couldn't be arsed cf'ing..