The original Starseige:TRIBES let you play with up to 128 players. It was okay on dialup but my 10down/1up cable connection gave me consistent pings under 30. That was in 1999.
Guess most people just did not experience games like these the way we both did.
It must have done well because I heard of it despite never playing it.
You can still download it to this day: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=14491...