Dungeon Siege II Interview

GameSpot has conducted an interview with several of the developers working on Dungeon Siege II, including lead designer Kevin Lambert, designer Daniel Achterman, and more. An excerpt to follow:
Q: We've heard that the interface will be streamlined in a number of ways. For instance, the game will automatically gauge any item that you examine in your inventory and tell you how it compares with what you currently have equipped. In what other ways are you streamlining the interface or control scheme?

A: The first thing we did was find out what our fans had to say about the interface to Dungeon Siege. We updated a couple of things as a result, adding more slots for spells and stripping down the controls for party formations to keep formation control really easy in a real-time environment. Gas Powered Games also looks for places where we can make it easier for players to perform common actions, such as the "pick up all items" button in Dungeon Siege. Dungeon Siege II makes it easier to target monsters, to keep the party together, to share potions, and to do even more than you could do in real time in Dungeon Siege. We also completely overhauled every game window and added a lot of functionality to our existing interfaces. I think players will really like the new journal, for instance. It's got game maps, a thorough player reference, and a full bestiary, in addition to quest information. It's crazy.