A single player's struggle was enough to delay the imminent shutdown of popular online game RuneScape's Classic servers.
Titus_Furius had battled to complete the final quest of the game, Legend's Quest, in time for the server's closure. But when he fell short, Jagex moderators took pity on him and kept the game up just a little bit longer.
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RuneScape quickly became a cornerstone of many childhoods after being released in 2001. As the years passed it underwent a number of updates and changes before it was revived in its original form as RuneScape Classic. Its most popular form was brought back as well, under the name Old School RuneScape. The newest iteration remains as RuneScape 3.
But the old servers were quickly outpaced by new technology and eventually, owners Jagex were forced to admit defeat. They couldn't stop bots or hackers from breaking into the RuneScape Classic servers and the decision was made: RuneScape Classic would be shut down at 7pm on Monday, August 6 (NZ time).
For gamer Titus_Furius, it was especially poignant. His brother had introduced the game to him in 2003 and he set himself a mammoth challenge, to complete the final Legend's Quest before the servers shut.
Others watched his mission through livestreaming service Twitch. After weeks of work, it came down to the wire - then he realised he wouldn't finish in time.
"I was devastated to think I'd be falling short after putting the time into it," the 26-year-old American, who asked for his real name not to be used, told Newshub.
Emotional and nostalgic, Titus broke down and cried as the timer ticked down to zero. Others in the game flooded the chat with their own stories and messages.
When the timer hit zero, nothing changed. Suddenly the sadness turned to confusion.
"It was a complete shocker," Titus said. A Jagex moderator sent him a message: "I might have kept the servers online so you could finish Legends' Quest".
"I was completely shocked. It was right after the clip of me breaking down in tears that I found out Jagex was giving us all more time. I say us, because the whole classic community got about an extra two hours of play time."
Re-energised, Titus surged back into action. It took two hours to finish the quest and finally buy his reward, the Legends' Cape. Titus described it as an "amazing" experience.
"I was completely elated when I finished the quest... I was full of adrenaline and popped off pretty hard. I finally did it, and so many people got to experience that with me," he said, crediting the community who supported him through it all.
"The chat was overwhelmingly positive and cheered me on. I consider it to be more of a community event, rather than just me."
The timer began again and this time, Titus said it was bittersweet.
"At the end, we all congregated in Draynor Village together and I counted down."
This time when the timer hit zero, all players were kicked from the game - and they would never be able to return.
Jagex did not respond when contacted by Newshub, however confirmed to PC Gamer in a statement that the Classic shutdown was paused for Titus's mission.
"It was awesome to watch his stream, and everyone in the studio was rooting for him to kill the final boss and claim his cape," the studio said.
"To our knowledge, he was the final person to complete the quest."
Servers still remain for RuneScape Old School, the popular 2006 version most people would remember from their childhoods, and the newest RuneScape 3 iteration.
Newshub.
