Part of the problem was some of the more casual players didn't have hami-o's when the arena was opened. There was quite a disparity between those who had them and those who did not. Then hammi-o's got nerfed.
I started playing back in December of 04. I remember there being some not so kindly people on the servers back then. Seemed like by the time issue 6 rolled out the herd got thinned a bit. And the friendlier players stayed. YMMV.
I was 30 at launch. Now I'm 47. I started playing back in September due to a random search on city of heroes for some reason. I can't believe it's back.