Amazon PCDD - Important Update New Community Manager Incoming!

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Hey CAGS,

I’ve got some news I’m both excited and sad to share with you at the same time. I’ll be leaving the Digital Video Games team in Mid-March to join the marketing team for Amazon.com’s Loyalty and Rewards program, Amazon Coins. My boss and I have talked extensively about how to maintain and continue our presence here and across the other communities we’ve created in the past couple of years. To that end I’d like to introduce you to Josh, who take over monitoring, updating, and responding to this thread. Josh will be ramping up over the next couple of weeks, he  will be posting shortly to introduce himself.

Now that the “what’s going on” part of the message is out of the way I want to tell you all how much I love CAG and the posters here. This was the first community I joined when I started this job (anyone still remember that first thread?) and all of you have had a huge hand in shaping how we think about and execute Community Development and Management here at Amazon, which has in turn shaped my career these last two and a half years.

I started to write out a section calling out the regular posters and realized the list would be both overly long and incomplete at the same time. Instead I’d like to thank you all again, you all have my deep and sincere gratitude. I’ll still be around and my gaming accounts aren’t going anywhere so feel free to hit me up anytime you want to chat. I’ll probably still hang out in the thread too :).

Thanks again everyone, let me or Josh know if you have any questions!

The Indie Store has launched!
Amazon.com is launching a storefront dedicated to supporting and promoting PC/Mac/Web-based Indie Games. Our Digital Video Games team is a small group of passionate gamers and we’re all really excited to help Indie developers reach more customers quickly by providing a quick and simple process for bringing their games to market. Additionally we’ll be supporting the Indie Store with a ton of promotions, both at and after launch. Many of these promotions are designed to give the developer the opportunity to maximize their revenue. For example, Amazon is forfeiting all royalties from bundle sales and passing them along directly to the developer, we’ve also created an “Indie Spotlight” program to help customers learn more about the games and developers they love. We view the Indie developers as some of the most creative in the industry and we want to help them continue to create new and innovative experience for customers.

Why we are doing this:

  • Allow customers to discover an entirely new category of games on Amazon.com
  • Help developers reach new customers quickly. Our onboarding process is straightforward and we want to sell every Indie game available
  • We want to leverage our strengths to support and help the developers who are driving forward innovation and creativity in the games industry
General Information

Hi CAGs,
I'll be posting deals we're running on Digital Games (PC/Mac, Free to Play, Sony/Microsoft Points/Subs).

I'm also here to answer questions you might have, get you closer to the developers by hosting Q&As, setting up podcasts, live streaming gameplay etc. If I don't respond to a question you have in thread please send me a PM. These ping my email address and make it more likely that I will see your question and respond more quickly.


Cheers,
Tony


FYI. EA Games sold by Amazon will not activate on Steam.
F.A.Q.S.:

1. Does the game I'm buying from Amazon Activate on Steam/Origin/Uplay? What DRM does the game use?

There are two places to identify DRM on a digital video game detail page:

At the top of the page, below the title:

16hm7a8.png


In the "Product Description" section:

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2. Note on Electronic Arts Games - For the most part, EA games sold on Amazon do not activate on Steam. Most activate on Origin.

3. Note on DRM with limited activations:

Our Policy



4. Sometimes I'll do giveaways.

5. I work with developers and publishers to get fun (or at least what I think is fun) content to share with you all. Here are some examples:

a. Check out the Pax Gameplay videos here: Xcom: Enemy Unknown I played Xcom with Jake, the Creative Director for the game, a few months before the game came out Also, on this page, check out the Q&A, also a community driven event.

b. Check out the interview on this page: Borderlands 2 we did this interview at E3 with Randy Pitchford this year.

c. We've partnered with the ++GoodGames Podcast to feature many of the games we carry. They talk to the developers about the game development process, how the games are conceptualized and managed, all kinds of fun stuff. I'm working on putting together full link list and will update when I have it.

What else do we sell?

Xbox Live Points and Subscriptions:

1600 Microsoft Live Points
4000 Microsoft Live Points
12 Month XBOX Live Subscription
3 Month XBOX Live Subscription]
12 Month + 1 XBOX Live Subscription

PSN+ Subscriptions and PSN Points:

$20 PSN Points
$50 PSN Points
12 Month PSN+ Subscription
3 Month PSN+ Subscription

We also have a Free-2-Play store supported by our GameConnect technology. Gameconnect allows you to link your Amazon.com account with free-2-play and MMO accounts so that you can buy things like in game currency, premium game time/subscriptions, in game items, etc. on Amazon.com using your Amazon.com payment options and have this content delivered directly into your game.

5. Price Matching notes: Generally we do not match international retailers (GMG, Gamersgate, etc) or physical retailers (Best Buy, Newegg.com, etc.)
To check out the Free-2-Play games we offer you can visit our storefront here: Free-2-Play Store

 
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About D3 - it's more about the execution.

D3 is massively streamlined, when compared to D2. When you level-up in D2, you can pump # point values into attributes and stats; and actually select what skills YOU decide to learn. You can't do this in D3. Stuff just unlocks when you hit a certain level. The problem is D3 is really lacking in letting you customize your character - and it's all all the expense of making sure noobs don't accidentally screw-up their character-build. The real problem is - D3 doesn't give the character enough skills choices & Rune variations to compensate for these changes in actually streamlining the game.
I think that is why I like Path of Exile so much more than D3 at this point. Have you seen a character skill tree for that game? Holy Jesus. It has all these nodes and lines connecting stuff all over the place. At first glance it is like the chemistry test from the Seventh Plane of Hell. And God forbid you make a mistake spending your points. You can't go back and respec if you screw up other than an occasional buyback that come few and far between. And then all your skills are tied to gems that you find that you can put in equipment sockets but the sockets have to be the same color as the gem. Love it.

 
I think that is why I like Path of Exile so much more than D3 at this point. Have you seen a character skill tree for that game? Holy Jesus. It has all these nodes and lines connecting stuff all over the place. At first glance it is like the chemistry test from the Seventh Plane of Hell. And God forbid you make a mistake spending your points. You can't go back and respec if you screw up other than an occasional buyback that come few and far between. And then all your skills are tied to gems that you find that you can put in equipment sockets but the sockets have to be the same color as the gem. Love it.
I have not played Path of Exile yet. I have seen reviews like GameSpot's that show the tree off - yeah, looks really good and complex.

EDIT:

Hopefully, the upcoming D3 expansion can fix matters and add tons of new skills & Runes to pick from - to make character builds/selections more interesting.

 
I think that is why I like Path of Exile so much more than D3 at this point. Have you seen a character skill tree for that game? Holy Jesus. It has all these nodes and lines connecting stuff all over the place. At first glance it is like the chemistry test from the Seventh Plane of Hell. And God forbid you make a mistake spending your points. You can't go back and respec if you screw up other than an occasional buyback that come few and far between. And then all your skills are tied to gems that you find that you can put in equipment sockets but the sockets have to be the same color as the gem. Love it.
Creative skilltrees are sex

I might have to check this out

 
I recently played the original Tomb Raider (the one in the PS3 remastered collection) after having never played it before...and I loved it! It was clearly Uncharted before Uncharted was Uncharted. Had some cool scripted set pieces and a really neat stage on a motorcycle trying to run down a bunch of people in trucks. Liked it a lot and will definitely play the others in the collection.
Are you sure you don't mean Tomb Raider Legend? That was also made by Crystal Dynamics and was there first reboot of the series. I really liked it, but I don't think the actual original stands up at all anymore.

Unless you are into triangle boobs or something.
 
Are you sure you don't mean Tomb Raider Legend? That was also made by Crystal Dynamics and was there first reboot of the series. I really liked it, but I don't think the actual original stands up at all anymore.

Unless you are into triangle boobs or something.
Don't tell me you like dose round ones or sumthing

 
PoE is a F2P game w/ micro-transactions.
All micro-transactions are COSMETIC ONLY. You can't buy anything to give yourself stat bonuses,

And that skill tree you all are looking at is only a fraction. See the red, blue and green orbs in the middle? Those are the three attributes. Str, Dex and Int. Notice everything branching off just the blue? Yea. You aren't even seeing the trees for red and green.

 
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While Lara's character does evolve, I still feel it's that transition of her character from the early game from "lone-survivor girl taking a beating" to then grabbing a bow to taking on waves of enemies is way too fast, quickily transitions from stealth-kill to straight-up shoot-outs. I was really digging early-on w/ Lara trying to survive out the middle of nowhere all alone & hunting deer...before waves of enemies come after her. Body count could've been smaller and the game could've been a bit less combat-heavy especially early on (once it transitions), to suit me.
There's an interesting bit in the Last Hours of Tomb Raider book/documentary that addresses the devs thoughts on Lara's evolution. Originally, the scavenging and crafting was going to be a lot more in-depth, literally needing those wolf pelts and berries and such, else your character died. I think it would have been interesting to see more of that game. They found, though, that it didn't necessarily fit some of the more action-oriented nature of the larger game as a whole and started focusing a bit more on the combat. Basically, they said that while the scavenging and learning aspect was neat, they needed to build up into combat a bit quicker in order to keep player's interest and not make it seem as though Lara is stumbling through the entire game.

I think they found a nice balance, but I can see how many would think it would be too quick (and seriously, I agree, there are some instances where the badassitude seems to have progressed further than where you think she might be after a few scant hour before.) Something as simple as a b-movie montage (ooh, it takes a montage) of her practising and refining techniques would have helped in that regard, and fit the type of story being told. ;)

 
I recently played the original Tomb Raider (the one in the PS3 remastered collection) after having never played it before...and I loved it! It was clearly Uncharted before Uncharted was Uncharted. Had some cool scripted set pieces and a really neat stage on a motorcycle trying to run down a bunch of people in trucks. Liked it a lot and will definitely play the others in the collection.
I've never played a TR game before, but I do have the 2013 game. Planning on playing it soon, assumed all the others were pretty dated at this point. Could maybe be convinced the remasters are worth it, though...or would the consensus be to just jump to 2013?

 
I've never played a TR game before, but I do have the 2013 game. Planning on playing it soon, assumed all the others were pretty dated at this point. Could maybe be convinced the remasters are worth it, though...or would the consensus be to just jump to 2013?
Legend is still the highpoint of the series for me. I break out my PS2 disc about once a year and jump around the mansion. Probably should get around to installing it on my PC, but old habits etc...

 
I've never played a TR game before, but I do have the 2013 game. Planning on playing it soon, assumed all the others were pretty dated at this point. Could maybe be convinced the remasters are worth it, though...or would the consensus be to just jump to 2013?
A lot of people will probably say go straight to the new one. But the first game in the HD collection was pretty awesome. Really need to make time for the other two.

 
I've never played a TR game before, but I do have the 2013 game. Planning on playing it soon, assumed all the others were pretty dated at this point. Could maybe be convinced the remasters are worth it, though...or would the consensus be to just jump to 2013?
The first TR I played was Legend, and I absolutely loved it! It has great pacing and a cheesy but enjoyable action movie story that scurries you around a bunch of different environments. It's not particularly long, but I replayed it a few times since it was just a bunch of fun.

Anniversary I didn't care much for. Perhaps if you had nostalgia for the original you'd enjoy it more, but the levels seemed to drag and I found the story and characters particularly dry compared to Legend. Gameplay is more puzzle than platforming centric (also a change from Legend), and all around I was just bored despite nothing being terrible. It was just dull.

I haven't finished Underworld yet (I finally started it recently), but so far I think Crystal Dynamics really found the sweet spot between the puzzles of Anniversary and the action and characters from Legend. It picks up directly after Legend so I wouldn't suggest starting here, but right now it's basically everything Legend did well but on a larger and more impressive scale. Also it still looks surprisingly decent on PC given it's a half decade or so old, and runs smooth as butter.

So my recommendation is if you want to play some of the older games first, get Legend and see how you like it, and if you do play Underworld. I'd skip Anniversary completely unless you really want to see how the series was originally (I'm not sure how much was changed but the graphics in the update, so maybe that's not accurate). I haven't played the reboot yet so I can't comment on that, but even just the three games I've played have made me a pretty big fan of the franchise, so maybe that says something about them.
 
Promised code drops and normally I'd ask for the first quote or pm, but it's late and will be logging off after this post so hopefully a regular gets the code and not lurked so here we go:

doom BFG

HQ0RE-MLMC9-FAV8

last letter/number is the first letter of the last name of one of the greatest guitarists/avant garde artists from the '70s & '80s.  One of his most famous songs offers great advice as we head into this winter season.

Don't you eat that yellow snow...

Cheers all.  Hope everyone had a fun Thanksgiving, Black Friday and all that stuff.  

 
Promised code drops and normally I'd ask for the first quote or pm, but it's late and will be logging off after this post so hopefully a regular gets the code and not lurked so here we go:

doom BFG

HQ0RE-MLMC9-FAV8

last letter/number is the first letter of the last name of one of the greatest guitarists/avant garde artists from the '70s & '80s. One of his most famous songs offers great advice as we head into this winter season.

Don't you eat that yellow snow...

Cheers all. Hope everyone had a fun Thanksgiving, Black Friday and all that stuff.
Somebody grabbed it. Not me. :(

Edit: I know because I misread the riddle and thought it was the first letter of the song name. I went, no bull-honkey, A-Z because I don't know FZ's work at all. :(

 
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If you haven't listened through Joe's Garage & Zoot Allures - go and do so right now.  Go ahead, we'll wait.  So many more for you to now go & discover.  You're welcome.

 
Promised code drops and normally I'd ask for the first quote or pm, but it's late and will be logging off after this post so hopefully a regular gets the code and not lurked so here we go:

doom BFG

HQ0RE-MLMC9-FAV8

last letter/number is the first letter of the last name of one of the greatest guitarists/avant garde artists from the '70s & '80s. One of his most famous songs offers great advice as we head into this winter season.

Don't you eat that yellow snow...

Cheers all. Hope everyone had a fun Thanksgiving, Black Friday and all that stuff.
Wow this brings back memories of falling asleep listening to Dr. Demento on KFOG during the 80s... then waking up sometime after midnight with the headphones still on and Dr. Ruth filling my pubescent ears with all kinds of weird shit. No wonder I turned out the way I did.

 
Amazon don't price-match overseas retailers, and GGG is European (British iirc.)
Oops I goofed, I was reflecting on the PEGI 18 rating earlier too, definitely not USA. And there's no Amazon UK equivalent to the Mac DL version to try there, and the AMEX deal probably wouldn't have worked on Amazon UK anyway. Oh wells.

 
The following deals end today 12/1

Cities in Motion 2 - Lofty Landmarks DLC   - 1.49

Cities in Motion 2 - Lofty Landmarks DLC  - 1.49

Cities in Motion 2: Metro Madness DLC   - 2.49

Cities in Motion 2: Metro Madness DLC  - 2.49

Cities in Motion II   - 9.99

Cities in Motion II  - 9.99

Cities in Motion II: Bus Mania   - 2.49

Cities in Motion II: Bus Mania  - 2.49

Cities in Motion II: Metro Madness   - 2.49

Cities in Motion II: Metro Madness  - 2.49

Cities in Motion II: Trekking Trolleys   - 2.49

Cities in Motion II: Trekking Trolleys  - 2.49

Cities in Motion II: Wending Waterbuses   - 2.49

Cities in Motion II: Wending Waterbuses   - 2.49

Crusader Kings II  - 19.99

Dead Island Franchise Pack (GOTY, Riptide + DLCs) - 33.49

Dead Island Game of the Year Edition  - 9.99

Dead Island Riptide  - 19.99

Dead Island Riptide: Fashion Victim DLC  - 1.33

Dead Island Riptide: Survivor Pack DLC  - 3.33

Europa Universalis III Chronicles   - 14.99

Hearts of Iron III  - 4.99

Hearts of Iron III  - 4.99

Hearts of Iron III Collection  - 14.99

Hearts of Iron III Collection  - 14.99

Impire  - 9.99

Impire: Creatures of the Night DLC  - 0.99

Joe Danger  - 5.996

Joe Danger 2: The Movie  - 5.996

Joe Danger Bundle  - 9.996

Magicka  - 4.99

Magicka Collection  - 9.99

Metro 2033  - 7.49

Metro Franchise Pack  - 36.66

Metro Last Light  - 26.99

Metro Last Light: Ranger Mode DLC  - 3.33

Metro: Last Light - Season Pass  - 9.99

Metro: Last Light RPK Weapon DLC  - 0.66

Mount & Blade Collection  - 14.99

Risen  - 4.99

Risen 2 : Dark Waters  - 9.99

Risen 2 Bundle  - 14.99

Risen 2: Dark Waters - A Pirate's Clothes DLC  - 1.49

Risen 2: Dark Waters - The Air Temple DLC  - 4.99

Risen 2: Dark Waters - Treasure Isle DLC  - 4.99

Risen Franchise Pack - 19.99

Sacred 2 Gold  - 9.99

Sacred Citadel  - 7.49

Sacred Citadel - Jungle Hunt  - 2.49

Sacred Franchise Pack (Citadel, S2G, DLC) - 14.99

Saints Row 2  - 7.49

Saints Row Franchise Pack - 53.32

Saints Row IV   - 33.33

Saints Row the Third - The Full Package  - 14.99

Saints Row: The Third  - 9.99

Secret Files - Tunguska  - 4.99

Secret Files 2 - Puritas Cordis  - 4.99

Secret Files 3  - 9.99

Street Fighter X Tekken  - 14.99

Street Fighter X Tekken Complete Pack  - 29.99

Vanguard Princess  - 2.5

War of the Roses Kingmaker  - 9.99

 
TR 2013's story & characters were the disappointment for me. Also, so was Lara's overly quick evolution from "scared girl getting beat-up" to "crazy body-dropping heroine" within the first 3 hours of the game. It didn't seem gradual enough. It felt extremely rushed. And, anyone who's played a TR game or seen a good deal of Indiana Jones movies, you kind of know what you're getting - story & characters didn't really doing anything of much that was different, special or unique. It was predictable and often followed the formula of those products. It's not terribly, by many means - it's just....there. Puzzles were unfortunately easier than ever, as well - even though most of these were (wisely) put in the side-quest Tombs.
Without a doubt the new Tomb Raider was a good game, amazing even, but it wasn't a real Tomb Raider game... and left me feeling disappointed/sad for the state of the franchise... Hopefully any sequel will help fix it but I doubt it... The move was just too drastic for it to ever become a proper TR game.

A video to highlight the differences...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEN5obhFRj4

 
Without a doubt the new Tomb Raider was a good game, amazing even, but it wasn't a real Tomb Raider game... and left me feeling disappointed/sad for the state of the franchise... Hopefully any sequel will help fix it but I doubt it... The move was just too drastic for it to ever become a proper TR game.

A video to highlight the differences...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEN5obhFRj4
See, this is exactly what I'm talking about - the evolution of Lara in TR 2013 takes place so fast. And, it really can be seen just by looking at the high body count - especially when comparing to older titles. And the body count only gets higher and higher as shootouts get bigger and more open, as the TR 2013 game progresses; especially near the end.

And most of the puzzles that are here, they were put in the side-quest Tombs (smart idea, so players don't get stuck) - they ain't even that hard or difficult, TBH.

For it to be more of a proper TR, puzzles - even if they are only delegated to optional side-quests - would have to also get way more difficult and time-consuming, even if it's just similar to what's in TR: Anniversary & Underworld for puzzles (the two TR's I've actually played - even though never finished them).

Even despite everything w/ having a bit of a change in direction, TR 2013 is one of the best games I've played this year. It's just shy of missing greatness, if you ask me. Certainly, if they take what they had w/ TR 2013; improve story-telling + characters; and just have add back some more elements that made some of the previous TR's game, they'll be onto something even more awesome w/ their next TR game, IMHO.

 
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Without a doubt the new Tomb Raider was a good game, amazing even, but it wasn't a real Tomb Raider game... and left me feeling disappointed/sad for the state of the franchise... Hopefully any sequel will help fix it but I doubt it... The move was just too drastic for it to ever become a proper TR game.
It's not a "real" TR game (I hate the term "real" when the owners take a different direction a fan doesn't like) because "real" TR games have been tanking in sales worse and worse release after release. TR2013 sold far better than the last several "real" Tomb Raider games so I wouldn't expect another "real" tomb Raider game any time soon. People wanna eat.

 
See, this is exactly what I'm talking about - the evolution of Lara in TR 2013 takes place so fast. And, it really can be seen just by looking at the high body count - especially when comparing to older titles. And the body count only gets higher and higher as shootouts get bigger and more open, as the TR 2013 game progresses; especially near the end.

And most of the puzzles that are here, they were put in the side-quest Tombs (smart idea, so players don't get stuck) - they ain't even that hard or difficult, TBH.

For it to be more of a proper TR, puzzles - even if they are only delegated to optional side-quests - would have to also get way more difficult and time-consuming, even if it's just similar to what's in TR: Anniversary & Underworld for puzzles (the two TR's I've actually played - even though never finished them).
Well, the video does cheat a bit and not show the wildlife Lara kills... And she kills quite a bit in the original title. (Granted, their is a handful of wildlife kills in the reboot not seen either.) But the true focus of the original TR games was exploration and puzzles not killing stuff... Its why I was always quick to point out that the Uncharted games had more in common with Gears of War than TR. (Now the new TR is has more in common with Uncharted than its own roots.)

The original TR games... They are really at a massive disadvantage trying to redo or continue them... A) What people tolerate has changed when it comes to questionable game play/camera angels and B) With the internet you're really hard pressed to make some of the labertinte level designs/puzzles that the original games had...

That said they don't need to mail it in on the puzzles either...

 
I'll never forget I had a PS1 sampler from a magazine that had Tomb Raider and it looked so epic yet the controls were ass... some chick bouncing around stupid ass rock columns and then a Siberian tiger came after her but you only have like five bullets to kill it.

 
It's not a "real" TR game (I hate the term "real" when the owners take a different direction a fan doesn't like) because "real" TR games have been tanking in sales worse and worse release after release. TR2013 sold far better than the last several "real" Tomb Raider games so I wouldn't expect another "real" tomb Raider game any time soon. People wanna eat.
Based upon what SE said in regards to sales it sounds like they didn't have enough to eat anyways... And anytime you milk a franchise you start to lose sales... The games came too quickly with too many issues ignored. That doesn't mean the game type was fundamentally flawed.

I suspect the next "true" TR game will come from someone other than SE, which like most companies, is just too adverse to risk and the rebooted TR concept is far less riskier.

 
I'll never forget I had a PS1 sampler from a magazine that had Tomb Raider and it looked so epic yet the controls were ass... some chick bouncing around stupid ass rock columns and then a Siberian tiger came after her but you only have like five bullets to kill it.

tumblr_l6kajjmmk41qzekdio1_500.gif


 
I'll never forget I had a PS1 sampler from a magazine that had Tomb Raider and it looked so epic yet the controls were ass... some chick bouncing around stupid ass rock columns and then a Siberian tiger came after her but you only have like five bullets to kill it.
Only five bullets and a big tiger, eh?

Sounds like a survival-game.

 
far cry 3 deluxe on steam is $10 as a daily sale. will it be price matched?
Are the extras worth it? I kinda wished I'd picked fc3 up for 7.50 when Amazon had it so I could get the Jan credit. Wonder if they'll lower the price again.

 
Are the extras worth it? I kinda wished I'd picked fc3 up for 7.50 when Amazon had it so I could get the Jan credit. Wonder if they'll lower the price again.
FC3 extras are almost all multi-player stuff. I think there's one single player mission but the rest are for multi. I'd skip it. [Edit: Solid Snake Eyes below me says he actually owns it and recommends it so his opinion is worth more than mine]

There's also a single player mission ("Testing Lab") you unlock through Uplay using points rewarded by getting in game achievements.

 
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Based upon what SE said in regards to sales it sounds like they didn't have enough to eat anyways... And anytime you milk a franchise you start to lose sales... The games came too quickly with too many issues ignored. That doesn't mean the game type was fundamentally flawed.
Be that as it may, no one is going to say "This game only sold half as well as we hoped. I know, let's return to the model that only sold 25% as well as TR2013!"

Well, ok, these are game developers so who knows... maybe they WILL say that. I wouldn't gamble on it though.

 
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