The GameSpy environment limits the amount of online cheating that can take place, but as of late beta, the possibility still existed. GameSpy characters can be downloaded from the GameSpy servers to players' computers, where they can then be used for Internet, LAN, and single-player games. The reverse is not true: GameSpy characters can only be created and leveled on the GameSpy network itself. GS network makes an attempt to support only original games; unlicensed copies are blocked if they cannot mimic the CD-Key. Online play may therefore also not be possible with a second-hand game. The Steam version of Dungeon Siege II does not support multiplayer functionality. Plot The game begins with the player-controlled protagonist and their friend, Drevin, serving as mercenaries in the army of Valdis, a warlord who has aligned himself with a race of Dark Wizards and wields the magical Sword of Zaramoth. The player character and Drevin are ordered to capture a temple held by dryads. After the temple is captured, however, Valdis attacks the mercenaries. Drevin is killed, and the player character is knocked unconscious. The player character regains consciousness in the custody of the dryads. Rather than execute them, the dryads allow the player to earn their freedom by helping them in the war against Valdis. After the protagonist earns freedom, they discover that they are infected with the Plague, a mysterious disease created by the Dark Wizards that drives its victims to insanity. After being cured by the water from an Elven shrine, they return to their hometown. On the way home, the player character rescues an old man from Plague-maddened dryads. The old man describes an event called the Great Cataclysm, caused when the Sword of Zaramoth that Valdis wields struck a magical shield called the Shield of Azunai. The blow shattered the shield, causing a catastrophe that ended the First Age. Valdis hopes to cause another such catastrophe by gathering the shards of the Shield of Azunai so he can shatter it again. The old man explains the Plague, saying that it is caused by crystals created during the Great Cataclysm that give license to the souls of Zaramoth's army to possess the living. After the player character returns home, they begin to gather the pieces of the shield to use it against Valdis. After they gather all of the pieces, they take them to the Agallan giants so that