1999 for me... I discovered TFC right after I'd had enough of HL DM...
Having an ex-military background, I fell in love with TFC instantly. Of course, ironically I went for the non-military specific class and enjoyed lifetime as a spy... that was until I found why Medics existed....
After that I was a medic for the majority of my TFC gaming life... which is to this day (when I get time that is).
I spent alot of time involved with Day of Defeat and in particular Sturmbot (the DoD bot), before waking up and heading on back to TFC. The arcade-type allure was what attracted me to it originally and to this day I still enjoy it.... Being able to infect and run, or cop a rocket in the chest and live to talk about it appealed to me more than CS's aimbot-using one shot, your out for 15 minute atmosphere.
Looking forward to Fortress Forever because of... d'uh... its TFC for 2005!!! (Lets hope you guys get a release before 2006... else you may have contracted Valve disease). Many mods have been planned, alot have even got as far as this one and died on the way, but know that you have a community of support, long before the mod is ready for us to digest
Count me in as a mirror when you do have something needing distributing