Why Do You Still Play Dungeon Siege?

To be honest, I didn't play the game as much as I modded it. You could count most of my playing time as mod-testing!

I liked the way DS could be changed into another game using the same engine, and collaborated on mods like Abstraction and The Halloween Special Late Late Show, that changed the whole setting and much of the UI. My rescue map even does away with almost all the combat (you fight one angry tree).

But I spent a lot of that time undoing things. Like suppressing the rings around characters, the numbers that fly off enemies instead of blood, and the excess of glows and sparkles that show that something is magical. DS2 added more of what I didn't want and DS3 was so bad (and had no toolkit) that I didn't get that.

Instead, I moved on to The Elder Scrolls, even going back in time to mod Daggerfall. That series has avoided the unrealistic aspects I was trying to minimise, and has even better construction kits, and interfaces to generally available tools for modelling and animation.

I still look after the mods I made or contributed to, as far as I can, but some of it has been broken by the operating systems, and other support systems, moving on. Only part of the Halloween Special is playable these days, as it depended on the multi-player interface, which for me broke with Win 7. Discreet quietly dropped gmax, and although you can still get it, you need to sign up for spam. When I replaced my computer, I lost the ability to work on DS models. Siege Editor still runs, but I haven't needed to fix anything using that for a long time.

Well, since Eksevis started honest confessions, I will make mine, too.

For me, Dungeon Siege was the first game I ever played. Used to visit my godmother and grandmother very infrequently when I was young, and they would let me play for some time. I always began a new character and took a loooong time to even leave the Wesrin Cross. Eventually, I learnt to reach Glacern quite quickly. The whole world of Dungeon Siege was unbelievably fascinating for me. Each minute I could spend there, I was happy. I remember being thrilled merely by opening the door in Etan's Inn and closing it again. Puller Staff was a godly item for me, I even built it out of lego. The furthest I ever got, was right after defeating goblins. Seeing an armor that offered 247 defense made me feel like in awe. Each monster, each character and each item was precious to me. I got to love foggy weather because it reminded me of surroundings of Glacern. Dungeon siege became superior to all the other games for me.

Later on, when I got my first computer on Christmas (I still use it), the first game I wanted was Dungeon Siege. I beat the whole game about twenty times before I even played something else.

That's pretty much it. Dungeon Siege is simply a world I would love to live in :orc:

As I said it was a very long story starting 13 years ago. For my birthday I received a computer Windows 98SE with Microsoft Office Student Edition, a 9800 baud modem, and Dungeon Siege. I played Dungeon Siege and enjoyed the world, the monsters and the people. I ran into a few difficulties since the game was version 1. So using what is now a very slow connection I searched the Internet and discovered that Microsoft had released a patch, there was a new version called Legends of Aranna, and there where web sites that talked about the game, lots of them. So I first ran to the computer store and got a copy of LoA. This solved the patch problem as it included a copy of DS1. The patch would have taken 12 hours to download and my family would not let the telephone be tied up that long (before anyone had cell phones). There where cell phones but the where as big as a shoe box and cost more than my computer. Anyway I started visiting various web sites and met people that modded the game, like Witness, OC, Snowfox, Strider976, iryan. I tried some mods, liked the idea and asked how do I make mods. I received lots of help from lots of people. I discovered that making armor and weapons was an area that I was good at. I released a mod called Girl Armor in 2003, it still exists somewhere. About that time I also discovered Cat Mansion Adepts and Legends of Utrae. I found at the same time iryan on SiegeNetwork and started talking to him about things that where acting weird with both mods. That started a twelve year collaboration. Iryan inventing things and me testing them, suggesting changes, helping him design armor. On the site Herena-Forge asked me if I wanted to be a moderator, I said yes and I have been moderating DS web sites ever since.

The reason I still play the game.
1. People are still making mods for it.
2. There are still a few web sites and I became a moderator here at Siege the Day not sure how long ago, but it was right after Herena-Forge closed, and SiegeNetwork stopped being updated.
3. People still need help playing the game and solving problems, so I have to play the game to find solutions.
4. I like testing other peoples mods.
5. I still keep my hand in modding things like armor for my own use and for friends.

I could go on but think I will pause for a while.

I'm a person who can still enjoy something after experiencing it for the umpteenth time. Listening to the same song for the tenth time in the same day, watching the same movie or T.V shows for the hundredth time, replaying a game more times than I can count.
I'm a creature of habit, and while I want to blame that on my being human, there are many people who crave change, so I know it's my upbringing.

I played Dungeon Siege II first at the age of... well I don't recall, but I'm pretty sure I was in the single digits.
It started on visits with my mum to her boyfriend's place, where he had this old PC and the only thing on it was a copy of Diablo II. And every time I went over, I'd play the hell out of it. I was crazy for it. (That, and brief forerays over to the Xbox to play Serious Sam)
A while later, after he moved elsewhere and I didn't visit for a while, I found he had a new gaming PC and I saw playing DSII and thought, hey, that looks right up my alley. So he let me play it all day whenever we came over. And I did exactly that. Every time we went over, while they would watch movies I'd be playing DSII.
"Hey, want to come watch Nacho Libre with us? You like Jack Black."
Dungeon Siege.
"Want to come watch the new Superman?"
Dungeon Siege.
"Are you even still alive?"
Dungeon Siege.

Of course, my being a child and such, I never got past the gates of Aman'lu before we stopped going there, although they didn't actually break up until a while later (But who gives a crap about that. Dungeon Siege!) and t'was around Christmas the next time we went over. We didn't stay long enough for me to get any gaming in, but he did apparently have a gift for me. He handed me a copy of Dungeon Siege, the 3-disc set that includes Legends of Aranna. The same set I have to this day. (My, the folding case is worn out from the number of times I needed the discs)
I was a little disappointed not to have gotten DSII, as that's the one I was most familiar with, but I was still eager to play the original. And so I did.
And it was literally the only PC game I played for years.

I completed the adventures it had in store 5, 6, 7 times. Having to stop often as my mum wanted me to play with actual toys like children do, or perhaps go outside like children do.
But I'd always come back. I recall my particular favorite scenes being on the beach where you first meet Tajj, all the way to the Utraean city.
I didn't even know the internet was a thing until Youtube came around, and it wasn't until shortly after that I found Dungeon Siege had expansions. I still never found out about mods until I came to this site a few years ago, though. Never thought to look for it, I suppose?

Eventually I managed to get a copy of DSII from a torrent my dad's friend was nice enough to find and decrypt for me. Or whatever you do with torrents. I managed to complete the game once, before my laptop was all virus'd up from myspace. So I had to wipe the drive, and my dad's friend never had the time, or never remembered, to find that torrent again.

So then I downloaded the Demo from the main site, playing through the opening campaign and milking as much experience as I possibly could from boarbeasts just to see what Windstone Armor looked like again at level 20.

Fast forward.. what, a year or two? I've lost count now. And I finally find a copy of Dungeon Siege II.... Broken World. And there it sat for a few months, taunting me with it's hidden adventures while I tried to get a copy of DSII alone. And when I finally did... Nostalgia run me through like a Spear with a ton of bricks on one end, and a bunch of other analogies.
So I played that forever.
Then I find this site.
And even though by now my tastes have expanded far beyond Dungeon Siege, it wasn't that way for a VERY long time. (I think until Skyrim came out. So until 11/11/11 the only games I really played was Dungeon Siege II, Fable, Kingdom hearts, Bully, and Halo. Sounds like a lot... isn't really.)

I still play it because it's an excellent game that, while not too difficult, kicks your arse if you stop paying attention too long. (Moreso with the monster level adjust) It has a vibrant world, beautiful style, and a story that... well I know it's generic and not terribly deep, but I love it.
On top of that, I think my enjoyment of RP and drawing and writing stems from Dungeon Siege, being the original Fantasy RPG for me.

Yea.

After all of these relatively long stories I feel like I haven't said as much as I should have; or in a way that's quite as great as all of you who have currently participated in this community building activity. Of course, I'll leave what I originally posted, but I'll add to it with what is to follow this.

When it came to gaming, it's always been in my life. I would always jump up and down making a snapping sound with my fingers without actually snapping them (I have no idea what it actually be called) as I watched my brothers play various games. I don't remember all of the games I watched before playing Dungeon Siege, but I do recall that amongst them were legends such as Half-Life, Team Fortress, Counter-Strike, Super Mario Bros., Sonic and World of Warcraft. Before I continue, I have 6 siblings: Matt, 35. Luke, 33. Hannah, 30. Rick, 30. Mark, 25. Myself, 20. Becca, 18. So, it was through WoW that my brothers learned about Dungeon Siege, which one of their friends had started to play. Mark joined in with him and fell in love with the game. Though he doesn't play it anymore, he does admit that Dungeon Siege is a fantastic game.

Funnily enough, I remember watching my oldest brother playing the game on the highest difficulty, drinking potions and loudly exclaiming how he felt. Falling in love with this game just by watching it, I asked for a computer at about 11 years old. On Christmas, I finally was given my first computer; a black and green cardboard tower and a large 'fat screen' (as I like to call them) monitor. I borrowed Mark's copy of the three disc collection which was at the time in its original box. And from here on out, I would have played nothing else if it hadn't been for my best friend showing me RuneScape. Nevertheless, when I wasn't playing RuneScape, I was playing Dungeon Siege.

It was here on Dungeon Siege's Zonematch chat that I made two friends that I knew as ThatOneGuy and ArcherX. I can clearly remember one of the fantasies we had; laying on a pool, naked for some reason. In any case, ThatOneGuy and I both liked ArcherX, and ArcherX seemed to like both of us. It was around this time, I think, that my brother moved on to Guild Wars, which I eventually followed suite, though he had already become someone well known and skilled at it. Secretly at this time, I felt like my brothers were in a completely different league; I felt like I was unworthy to even watch them. It sort of hurt, but I still wouldn't complain about watching them. Hell, given the chance, I'd still watch them... albeit less energetically.

Anyhow, I joined LGC with enough knowledge to become a Lieutenant or something like that, though the thing I remember the best was attempting to create a map with a single invisible enemy to level on. I remember it was a fairly successful attempt. I would definitely love to recreate that some day. Apparently Mark played through Dungeon Siege II and liked it a bunch, but didn't stick around it for as long for one reason or another. I tried playing a pirated copy, but I could hardly get anywhere past Aman'lu until I eventually cheated and beat the game for the first time.

As technology improved, I ironically lost the ability to play Dungeon Siege at all, but I was eventually given the CD my brother once owned. One of the more recent memories for me is when he saw me playing it and said "That game is like 10 years old and you're still playing it? You must really love that game."

...

So now I am here, still loving the game and, as it turns out, working on a story that I wanted to do for years. Lets hope that the end of 2015, the entirety of 2016, and all of the years that follow will be fruitful years for this game's community, our stories and our everlasting love.

I'm not a hack'n slash real fan or purist.
I own Diablo and Diablo II but I must admit I never play them.
Back to the era of 486 and first Pentium PC, I played Diablo multiplayer game with an old friend of mine, and I liked it, it was very fun. :thumbup1:
After that I started a solo game but I didn't really appreciate it, it wasn't as fun as the multiplayer one.
I don't remember why I bought Dungeon Siege, I think after reading a press article in a french magazine.
And I felt in love with the game and its sequel. :kiss:
Many reasons for that :
- Jeremy Soule's soundtrack is wonderful and I'm still listening it since many years, thanks to TankViewer.
- I still appreciate the graphics game, even if they are old.
- Gameplay is pretty much mechanical, but it never bothered me, I find the game very handy and easy to play.
- Landscapes are very diversified and have their own personality. It's always a pleasure to cross them.
I always found Dungeon Siege I and II enchanting, making me escape and dream, so I loved them at the beginning and still love them today. :kiss:
It's fun because, most of the times, hack'n slash real fans hate these games... and at the contrary I'm not a real fan and love these games !
So I'm pleased to see that we are many people in this case. :thumbup1:
Only Broken World disappointed me.

I played Dungeon Siege the first time in Baltimore, Maryland, way back in 2002. I'd just moved there to live with my Mom and Sister again after my teens in the Arizona Foster Care System. (longer, completely irrelevant story there). Anyway, I had just turned 18 and my Mom, who has played video games with me since I can remember, had Dungeon Siege on her computer. I moved there in the fall, and that winter was super bad, my first real snowy winter in a big old city, and I didn't leave the house barely at all. I played games, made friends, made music, watched movies, failed to get a job, all without leaving the house. Agoraphobia is something I still feel at times, but that period was the first and worst.

All of my happiest and most inspiring memories of that time come from Dungeon Siege. I tried map making, and even began the first outlines of a project with a person I met on Siege Network. I am surprised, now, to say that code and templating daunted me back then, and I only wanted to write stories and map new adventures into existence. I failed to keep up with my end of that project and it failed, but I did hear from my former creative partner a few months later, and he was mad at me for giving up... I was too. The timing was all wrong I think, and I was nowhere near a healthy head space so, I feel like my excuses don't cause me guilt anymore. Hmmm...

Anyhow, Dungeon Siege and it's mods have been with me ever since, at times when I've had an unhealthy head space I need to clear. This time around, I'm healing in ways I could never have expected or accepted before, and modding Dungeon Siege is a huge part of that, I think, because it represents all the work I've left unfinished, as well as being a relatable analog to real life problem solving.

I read everyone's story that posted, and I feel like you all hit the nail on the head when it comes to describing the moment you fell in love with a game, hopefully I've been able to do the same.
:spider:

I do not but I would like to. When the supposedly "Dungeon Siege III" came out I bought and registered it just to see it was junk. Still it came bundled with DS1 & DS2 for some real action. Sadly it did NOT include the expansions. I lost the old discs, do anyone know of a way to gain access to the expansions for DS1 & DS2 for download somewhere? I am of coarse NOT talking about pirated software but paid for digital download.

Hi niceguy,
It has been ages since I saw your name on a post. Makes me happy to see your typing again. There are several sources of both LoA and Dungeon Siege Broken World. Places like Amazon and Ebay still have the disks both new and used for sale. There are some game stores that have digital downloads of All 4 of the Dungeon Siege Games, but I do not remember the links. Try googling Dungeon Siege digital downloads. Forget steam as they do not have LoA or Broken World. Again my dear friend it is great to see your words after so long.

Try GOG games

don't think GoG has it, don't think very many sites have digital downloads either sadly, probably better to buy LoA cds it came with dungeonsiege too... http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dungeon-Siege-Legends-of-Aranna-Gas-Powered-Games-CIB-/401105373627?hash=item5d63be49bb:g:EBUAAOSw5L9XDnN5 looks like a good one, broken world same ebay if u can find a seller with 100% feedback are pretty reliable
Amazon is good too but, Ebay is more protected on consumer end.