Dungeon Siege is an action role-playing game developed by Gas Powered
Games and published by Microsoft for Windows (2002) and by Destineer for
MacOS (2003). Set in the pseudo-medieval kingdom of Ehb, the high
fantasy game follows a young farmer and his companions as they journey
to defeat an invading force. Instead of manually controlling characters,
the player sets their overall tactics, weapons and magic usage. Chris
Taylor and Jacob McMahon aimed for a role-playing game stripped of the
typical genre elements they found slow or frustrating, including all
loading screens, to keep the player focused on the action. Development
took over four years, often with 12- to 14-hour workdays. The game is
listed by review aggregator Metacritic as the third-highest rated
computer role-playing game of 2002. Critics praised the graphics and
seamless world, as well as the fun and accessible gameplay, but were
dismissive of the plot. The game sold over 1.7 million copies. An
expansion pack, Dungeon Siege: Legends of Aranna, was released in 2003,
followed by Dungeon Siege II (2005), Dungeon Siege III (2011), and other
titles.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dungeon_Siege>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1600:
The Peruvian stratovolcano Huaynaputina exploded in the largest
volcanic explosion in South America in historical times.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huaynaputina>
1811:
Peninsular War: An outnumbered French force under Édouard
Mortier routed and nearly destroyed the Spanish at the Battle of the
Gebora near Badajoz, Spain.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Gebora>
1910:
Old Trafford, a football stadium in Greater Manchester,
England, hosted its first match between Manchester United and Liverpool.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Trafford>
1948:
The Southeast Asian Youth Conference, which is believed to have
inspired armed communist rebellions in different Asian countries, opened
in Calcutta, India.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conference_of_Youth_and_Students_of_Southeast_Asia_Fighting_for_Freedom_and_Independence>
1999:
U.S. President Bill Clinton issued a posthumous pardon to Henry
Ossian Flipper, the first African American graduate of West Point, who
had been accused of embezzlement in 1881.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Ossian_Flipper>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
nearest and dearest:
(idiomatic) One's closest and most intimate family members, friends,
etc.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/nearest_and_dearest>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
So vast, without any question, is the divine handiwork of the most
excellent Almighty.
--Nicolaus Copernicus
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Nicolaus_Copernicus>