I don't recall which version I joined in... joined the forums in '04, but had to wait a while for a version I could run.
Aegidian was still in command in those days.
edit:
As for good communities, I've been spending a lot of my time on the bay12 forums, which supports the DwarfFortress game being created by Tarn Adams.
Less action oriented and anti-eyecandy than oolite, but I think the retro aestetic, open ended design, moddability, scope of the game and community may entice some of you.
it's NOT a space sim though.
it is an ongoing project to design a procedural fantasy world generator, which can be interacted with through a (very buggy) adventurer mode and via a simcity-like fortress mode in which you lead a group of 7 dwarves from the mountainhomes to found a new settlement.
edit2: There are at least 4 people there that could not suppress their elite fandom. . . amongst which a Tobias from Sweden.