Hey! So glad to see this is a thing. When I first heard about this a couple years ago, I immediately bought Japanese copies of the OB games as I already had a Japanese Slim PS2, but was hesitant to rejoin after all this time had passed.
I used to play this game religiously and could play every stage on VH, even without NPCs and other players! But it's been too long, and I'll probably be like a newbie again. Used to go by the alias "xUSS_HUNKx" and "USS_Ryo_Jin" back in the mid-2000s.
Anyway, after talking about the good ole days playing this online with an "old partner, y'know" I decided to re-attack this and join the new community after a decade since I last played this online. I'll look forward to relearning how to play these amazing games online with you guys!