What worked to me : Also these experiences can get to be very old, probably only very old Firefall vets will understand...
I guess one of the things I truly liked from Firefall was the freedom. Before it got screwed up, Firefall was all about Open World events. People were constantly moving around the map with bikes, gliders, etc... from waypoint to waypoint, to reach their objectives, to participate in missions. It was a constant source of fun, and people in the chat were all the time updating on what big thing was going on in the world. Everyone wanted everyone to help.
Whenever there was an invasion, you would see people crossing the whole map just to reach that city. You would be alone in that bike from Thump Dump heading to Sunken Harbor´s invasion, but along the way there would be other 3 people on bikes heading there too. And then you would turn around and see people using gliders, everyone heading to that invasion.
You would log in one day and spawn in a watchtower, and outside there would be a Thumper on a cliff, and then a bunch of monsters down there, and you would see a bunch of random people helping for the sake of fun, not for the rewards, because if you were not in the group, they would not be that much. But seeing things rolling around, those dinasours sprinting and making people jump, seeing a bunch of shooting effects everywhere, that was what made people stay helping that thumper.
Doing ARES Missions alone and then ending up with 5 different random people, all cooperating to get that mission done, that made my moments in firefall truly happy.
Seeing people cooperating for an invasion, then losing it, and then seeing everybody running away from that city as the melding was taking over, that was epic.
Exploring an abandoned city, the one next to sunken harbor, reaching to the top of it, admiring the beauty of Coral Forest, and then gliding all the way down. Sometimes people would try to get over the melding, to discover other cities that people could not reach, but that feeling, the feeling of ''One day we will be able to play there, and live these experiences in those maps'', that also was something I had never seen in any other game.
When I once logged in without reading the patch notes, because for some reason, I truly loved to do that with Firefall, sometihng I never do with any other game. But I didnt this time. I log in, and then I see this melding tornado icon in my map. I head there, and the closer I get, the windier things get. The more fog I see, and the more wavy vegetation gets. I was very interested. Then, bettween two mountains, there was my first tornado event ever, then a bunch of people on top of those mountains shooting. I climb up and I end up in front of the tornado, and I see these shards people are shooting, and I do that too. eventually things start getting messier, people cant just stand and shoot anymore, now people have to run and move, as melding creatures were spawning. That was... something I had never experienced in any other game, ever.
Now, baaaaaaaaaaaaack then when firefall was very beta, when I played the closed beta,probably it was the alpha, actually, the only map I could play or anyone could play was Copacabana. There were only 2 things to do, An incursion that would spawn over and over in the same place in front of Copacabana, which was extremely, EXTREMELY, hard to do, and people would all the time stick together as it was very easy to die. And Thumping. People would constantly call down thumpers in the same spots outside of Copacabana, And you would see a bunch of people helping each other, with chaos everywhere, everyone supporting and helping each other.
And a bunch of other things I loved frm Firefall that people have already mentioned, Bikes, the story was awesome, jetpacking, etc...
And I also loved the old progression system. It was awesome to be able to level up characters with other battleframes. Thats something that a game is doing today that I love playing, and it is Dead By Deadlight. Also, the old progression system was awesome itself too, Weight would make you slower, CPU for abilities, and PWR for strenght. I loved that progression system.
Firefall was back then a fast paced shooter, were you were constantly having fun, meeting new people, having new friendships, cooperating with the stranger, etc... Firefall had a number of unique things, unique experiences... Firefall was awesome. I had never spent so much money, time or effort, in any other Online game.
So yeah, thats what made Firefall to me. I had epic memories that I wish I could still live.
Also this is the first time I make such a long post in Em8er forums haha, back to Firefall old habits I guess