I've been playing for years; I even used to rank in the top 100 DM players. It's an outstanding game that doesn't get near the attention / credit it deserves. The graphics still look good, it'll run on a potato, fast, satisfying gameplay... it's the best.
Back when I lived in the UK, I'd play instagib on german servers that were so full and the matches so intense that you couldn't take a step after spawning before exploding if you hadn't learned how to move quickly yet. It became an ambition to be able to get off of the spawn point, and I began to use those intense matches to wake me up after work every day.
Eventually, when logging on during the wee hours, I'd get to chatting with one or two other players on an empty server and they'd give me tips, or show me the secret rooms and easter eggs in some of the weirder community-made maps.
I don't play much lately, but I do run a server to give a little back for all the fun. Anyway, yea, Xonotic is great.