Well over ten years ago, my interest in Dungeon Siege was lit on fire not like a candle or an exploding lightbulb, but like a massive FURNACE OF AWESOMENESS.
For me, Dungeon Siege was an epic game of epic proportions. When it came to ratings, I compared games to Dungeon Siege. Be it strategy, realtime, mmo or cardgames (Yea...) Sadly, it became a game that has been tossed aside by the internet, now only played by a very selective group.
Admittedly, I started playing Dungeon Siege One (The expansion I bought half a year later) when the second one game out and it was still quite a challenge for me. Only two years later, I bought Dungeon Siege II and a short while after that, the expansion to that as well.
To me, this was the penultimate of gaming. NOTHING overrulled Dungeon Siege. Yes, it had flaws. Yes, it wasnt perfect. But I found it was the perfect balance for my style of gameplay. Everything made sense to me, I understood every single game mechanic - I even made several maps and several mods, none of which made it to the internet.
Because I had joined a dead universe. A universe that had already said goodbye to this game and had moved onto different games which appeared more interesting. I tried several of these, but it ultimately came back to "This would be so much more fun if I was playing Dungeon Siege".
Dungeon Siege taught me how to play games, right from being a novice fighter, to an absolute nightmare to my enemies as I cut each one down with my trusty Legendary Bow. I even wielded a flippin awesome looking sword, and my armor was valuable online to other players, who I rarely traded with when I could find a working server. I was great in this game.
I was strong.
I was happy.
But no longer. Microsoft closed down Zonematch without telling anyone. They quietly pushed the off switch on the server and that literally tore a great chunk of happiness out of me. I honestly never considered this possibility of happening. Internet play of Dungeon Siege ended. Or so I thought.
Some guys I didnt know created a new server, pushing pieces of hardware together with bits of software hacked from the zonematch server. Thus, a new server was born.
This lasted one year. Then, hackers decided "Aw, lets be really 'cool' and hack their server! Then we can take it down!"
The server was destroyed and nobody picked up the pieces. Dungeon Siege One multiplayer had ended.
Officially ended.
There was still hope though. Dungeon Siege II online multiplayer still functioned. Unfortuantely, the online servers were terribly buggy and reported players being online and in matches that didnt exist. A played but a very few online games, however I found two friends that I spent a great deal of time in LAN with.
Dungeon Siege was the second crowing achievement in gaming, as far as I was concerned. It was a massive improvement over Dungeon Siege One, even if it was almost infinitely harder. I was a little annoyed by the lack of variety in armour and weapons in comparison to Dungeon Siege One, but I was amazed by the new enchanting system, which basically brought it back in a different form. All actors now had voices, over the original Dungeon Siege giving voices to only the important characters. Virtually everything was improved.
Still however, I was a lone fighter in a dying, empty universe. If your not understanding what it was like, try this example.
Imagine being an amazing soldier, who fights for all that is good and true and whatever. You have everything you need to win any war. But your three years too late for the battle. The fallen have rotted away, leaving only rusty armor and broken bones. The tattered remains of a flag rustle in the low wind. Your alone, and that will never change.
I joined the Dungeon Siege Wikia, hoping to reignite the enjoyment of this game. In wide media, Dungeon Siege joined the ranks of the unheard, nobody knew just how much it had actually affected todays games, especially with dynamic loading and stuff (Dungeon Siege was a winner in the category of only ever having two loading screens. Both were to start the game.)
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Two years ago, Square Enix and Obsidian Entertainment announced Dungeon Siege III. I was so overjoyed that I forgave Chris Taylor for being a sellout (He made the original games).
It was terrible. The gameplay was lower than average, the storyline SUCKED and it didnt appeal to me that much. Actually, if anything, the storyline was the WORST part. As a standalone game? Pretty half decent game. Alongside the vivid storyline of Dungeon Siege I and II? TERRIBLE. Reviews were low, just like mine. (They killed off the battle hardened dwarves for petty reasons)
At the start of 2013, Gamespy did to Dungeon Siege what Microsoft did to Dungeon Siege. They closed the servers for the second game. This also prevented LAN from operating, for reasons I'm still trying to discover. I love this game. Why would they do that? It was the final clinch for me, the final reason to stop.
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So, I come to a close in my life. I'll still happily play this game with anyone given the chance. I still love this game higher than any other. But I can't fight to keep it alive anymore - and this makes me sad. Really flippin sad. Because I honestly feel like the world showed off this game, and then let it down. It had the chance of being so great, but never truly shined. I honestly even rank it above Halo. Yea, I did just say that.
I've had fun with all the levels.
I've had fun in every battle.
I've made maps that would awe anyone with their beauty.
I've enjoyed every multiplayer game.
I've loved how this influenced my view of games.
I'm really gonna miss this.
Goodbye Lord Philip, the crusader and marksman who saved Ehb, the Utraean Peninsula and the Utraean Race.
Goodbye Eva, queen of the northern reaches and brilliant swordswoman.
Goodbye Lord Philip II, the marksman who became the Hero of the second age and saved the world from Zaramoth reborn after the second cataclysm.
Goodbye Dungeon Siege.
I'll miss you like hell. Thanks for everything. I give my final salute.
