I wasn't a gamer, but belonging to ECHO (East Coast Hang Out) in NYC in the early 90s was similar. We had monthly meetups at a bar downtown, and I got to meet p

I wasn't a gamer, but belonging to ECHO (East Coast Hang Out) in NYC in the early 90s was similar. We had monthly meetups at a bar downtown, and I got to meet people with similar and different, but interesting passions. I chalk it up to the novelty and size of this sort of thing back then. It exists now in meetups and other such things like Gitter, but it's more common, so it seems less special (but it's not!).