it (suppousedly) could be played on a 700mhz with a Geforce 2(I find this very hard to believe) with all the graphics options turned down. They recommend a P4 2.0ghz or higher with a Geforce 4 or equivilent card to get the maximum graphical goodenss.
because on some games turning the graphics down makes things a little easier.
case in point..... Quake 3, turn down every evironment texture and detail to lowest. and the players stand out SOOO much more because all the walls are just a plain single color.
online players dont care about how thier game looks. they care about how good they play against other people.