Tara Teich: Our strategy was definitely to build on the solid foundation provided by the original game and we have enhanced it in many exciting new ways.

We created a lot of new content focused on the Rangers and the Mages. The original game had hundreds of great items, but sometimes you would find that you didn�t have as many choices for your mages as your fighters. We�ve added boots, helms, and shields for you mages and rangers. These new items have Intelligence and Dexterity requirements, instead of Strength.

In addition, we�ve added a whole slew of new UI enhancements, including a number of features to decrease the time spent in managing your inventory. You pick up a lot of great loot as you travel through the world that going through your finds can take a lot of time. The new Auto-Sell button really helps out here. I find that I really only deal with my inventory when I get to a store. Then I pick out the Auto-Sell option I want � you have choices so you can sell everything, or keep spells, scrolls, and/or potions � and proceed to sell off everything. The store has everything nicely sorted for you, making it easy to go through and outfit my party with the best of what I had and what the store has.

TT: There are nine new areas, providing more than 20 hours of gameplay. The areas span all sorts of terrain, as you journey through snowy mountains, and island jungle, beachfront, swamp, rocky cliffs, and dungeons galore. It�s a nice mix of terrain, and provides a lot of variety, especially since each area is populated with new monsters determined to stop you from completing your quest.

There are over 70 spells, including the all new Transformation spells, which allow Nature and Combat mages to turn into different varieties of monster. They can then fight right at the front of combat, next to your melee fighters and hold their own, while continuing to gain magic experience. We�ve also added a fun new Haste spell, which speeds up movement of the caster, allowing them to fight and run at increased speed.

TT: No, anyone can jump right in. The expansion pack is a whole new adventure, so you start out the single player campaign with a new character. You can take your advanced level characters from DS and continue to use them in the new expansion world in multiplayer.

TT: That�s a toss up! I�m really enamored of the Redistribute Potions feature. You just click a button, and your mages have the bulk of the mana potions, and your fighters have most of the health potions. It�s such a simple thing, but it can really save you when one of your party members runs out of potions in the heat of combat. Just and drink and &ls;phew>, another party member saved.

My other big favorite is the transformation spells. I can�t get enough of turning my mage into a wolf and running right into combat. Combine it with some of our other new spells, and your mages become really powerful.

TT: We are really excited about the story! We spent a lot of time working on it and weaving it into the gameplay. We really wanted to draw people deeper into the world of Dungeon Siege. You will encounter many different races with different personalities. The Hassat, my favorite, are a race of magically mutated great cats that were bred to serve the ancient Utraean wizards as slaves. They have since broken free from their slavery and have an extreme hate for all things human. The Utraeans are a diminished people, settling into quiet obscurity as they try to forget the enormity of their past transgressions. You step into this world with such a vast history, and seek to make a difference.