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RuneScape, a well-loved massive online swords-and-sorcery game has finally decided to drop Java and turning into a web-based application.

Jagex Games Studio has released the first RuneScape 3 beta. It is a part of HTML5 and related Web Standards that offer programmers a more modern option for writing software that runs on a variety of operating systems.

It’s about time, I say. Java was an intriguing technology in the past and still holds its place in the world of computing. It’s still an option to improve the capabilities of a browser, however. If the plague of Java security flaws weren’t enough to convince you otherwise, then the trend to ditch browser plug-ins should be.

With more than 200 million RuneScape accounts and a large number of players online at the same time, RuneScape is a big reason for a lot of people not to uninstall Java.

Nobody in my household plays RuneScape However, there are other reasons that I can’t completely eliminate Java from my life.

One is Minecraft My son’s favorite electronic activity. It is based on Java. Another is Scratch, a game from MIT that he loves.

There are a few reasons to hope here, too. Versions of Minecraft are available for iOS and Android, indicating that its creators can see beyond Java. Also, Scratch 2.0, currently in beta testing, utilizes Adobe Systems’ Flash Player instead of Java. Flash is being developed, but it’s still a few years behind Java and much more widely used. This means that browsers will continue to support it for longer.

The most offenders Java item I’ve ever encountered is an expense-reporting program that doesn’t work except with the version of Java that dates back before Oracle acquired Sun Microsystems. It’s also susceptible to numerous documented attacks. Smart browsers have been unable to allow Java applets to be run until the user has given permission.

Moving away from Java is a challenge.

MIT had other options to consider but decided to go with Flash because it has “the most powerful combination of features, performance and browser penetration right now,” according to the project’s FAQ. “Flash allows us to make Scratch available to the largest number of people possible without having to install any software.”

However, RuneScape developers placed their bets on Web standards. That comes with some risks however, it also offers significant benefits.

The new RuneScape appears to use WebGL which is a browser-based 3D graphic interface that taps into the hardware acceleration capabilities of graphics chips. (Jagex did not respond to a request for comment. WebGL is currently only available in Chrome or Firefox. RSWIKI Jagex, however, requires users to use Chrome. Although there are indications that Microsoft will incorporate WebGL into Internet Explorer 11, anyone who relies upon WebGL at the moment must be concerned about browser compatibility.

The Web is evolving however, and programmers now have access to a variety of computing devices other than PCs. Apple has removed Flash and Java from iOS and Microsoft has done likewise for Windows RT and imposed some plug-in restrictions on Windows 8. Flash and Java are not compatible with Android.

These plug-in restrictions can be bypassed through Web technologies.

RuneScape’s case is a literal opening to new vistas.

Developers were eager to discuss new graphics possibilities for Web programming, such as more vibrant colors as well as “extra draw distance” to allow users to be able to see farther away from their local environment.

Jagex hasn’t changed the back-end servers that players connect to, so the Java version and the Web-app version run side-by-side. Only people who have computers that are slow should stick with the Java version, though, Jagex said.

In a video explaining the process, a developer said that HTML5 specifications are slightly better than Java. This means that if you have lower-spec machines, Java may give you an improved performance. HTML5 will perform better on machines with high- or mid-spec specifications.

Another potential advantage is that RuneScape could also be available on mobile devices. Jagex has not made any promises.

“If it does work on other devices like tablets and smartphones it’s a good thing,” another developer said. “We are not actively stopping it working on them but we don’t have a goal to do that.”

The release of Sun’s 1995 version of Java brought some innovation to the world of browsers as well as cross-platform programming. However, it was never able to catch on as a way to run programs on PCs, either as browsers or as standalone software. Jagex is smart to move over Java’s lack of use and high risk.