Basically everyone had a microphone because they came with the console. People actually spoke in the lobbies, party chat was rare and discord wasnt a thing yet. There was an excitement around it because its all fairly new, and pro gamer / content creator / videogame influencer etc didnt exist as career paths. Most vocal people were still racist x-phobic slur-slinging hate-jockeys, but everybody was there purely to have fun.

Lots of tiny tiny differences that by themselves are inconsequential, but added up to something big.