When World of Warcraft got released, 2004, they optimized bandwidth usage for 56k modems in order to ensure that they can cover a big percentage of the market.

When World of Warcraft got released, 2004, they optimized bandwidth usage for 56k modems in order to ensure that they can cover a big percentage of the market. And at many places, if it's not a city, you still (in 2019) have to deal with ISPs which offer not much more.