In 2004 I played too much RuneScape on a 56k modem that died the moment Mum picked up the phone. A 3D world, up to a couple of thousand players on a server, dozens on screen at once - in the browser, on 5 kilobytes per second. It worked. Let’s follow a single step and see how.
I think RuneScape is notable because the entire game ran in your browser. There was no install, so a lot of the game content was streamed. And streaming anything on 56k is impressive.
So did Ultima Online almost a decade earlier.
Why is UO so often forgotten when people talk about early online play? I’ve even heard Everquest described as the first MMO.
I think RuneScape is notable because the entire game ran in your browser. There was no install, so a lot of the game content was streamed. And streaming anything on 56k is impressive.