That's fair, and perhaps for you that true. But 99-05ish are the internet years that I remember as the most creative. It was well before everyones IRL persona was mirrored online, which is when I saw a dramatic shift in what people created online (at least where I lived). Broadly speaking it become less about experimenting with the medium and more about broadcasting what already existed.

The communities I came across were for the most part making for the sake of making. And plenty of them were building new things and experimenting.

Everyone's experience is relative. Perhaps my experiences are rose tinted by nostalgia.

All that is to say, I observe aspects of some NFT (or crypto) communities feel the same to me - new mediums, new challenges and a new excitement around them.

* However I do still think that there is a huge NFT/crypto bubble and there is cataclysmic amounts fud.