Xonotic is a free open source first-person shooter video game developed by Croatian programmer Vitorino. It was originally developed as a port of Nexuiz, after controversy surrounding the original game's development. The game now runs on a highly modified version of the Quake Engine called the DarkPlaces Engine. This engine allows for the game to run in high resolutions and at a relatively low framerate due to the engine's ability to optimize rendering and reduce resource usage.
As mentioned earlier, the main reason why someone would choose to play robotic on the Internet rather than downloading it for a personal computer is because of the fact that it is an open-source program. This means that anyone can look at the code and change it as they see fit. This makes the code highly unstable and as such, users need to stay far away from this type of game. This doesn't mean that you cannot play robotic on your computer though. Many different types of browsers, both internet and downloadable, support the game and there are dedicated server programs which allow you to play the game from a Windows server.
In conclusion, the reason why so many people like to play robotic on the Internet rather than download it for free, or buy it for a reduced price, is because of its open-sourced nature. This means that anyone who knows how to make a program can add new levels, weapons, characters, or whatever else they'd like to the existing game. Also, the overall free feel of xonotic lends itself perfectly to a "choose your own adventure" type of game design, allowing you to basically play the game as you choose.