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That’s only 1994 everyone. It’s not that long… oh.
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Jun 15, 2021 15:54
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| # ? Jun 4, 2024 17:32 |
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The Goku option in the poll reminds me of my idea of Alien: The Abduction, or something along those lines, with players who are made or created as human/alien hybrids of various kinds and have to deal with their place in the world with the looming presence of extraterrestrial forces of unknown and possibly incomprehensible abilities and movies. Not quite the same thing as Changeling, where at least they tend to know what the True Fae are after. (that is, shits and giggles)
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Jun 15, 2021 16:07
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GimpInBlack posted:I am literally withering into dust as I type this. I've been posting on SA using Inhabit since I started.
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Jun 15, 2021 16:44
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Ghost Leviathan posted:unknown and possibly incomprehensible movies The aliens have Neil Breens we can only dream of. A game pitch probably needs more meat on the bone than this. Deviant can probably handle a particular take on this right out the box: hybridization as Divergence and X-Files style conspiracies composed of human quislings and loyalist hybrids. Demon can handle a different take on it, with an emphasis on what knowledge you've lost from when you were an angel and the God-Machine's now mysterious workings, ineffable to you in your newly individual perspective. But the core idea here sounds to be "you've been changed and you don't know why or by exactly who, what do you do." That doesn't immediately present a core gameplay loop; think of the problem with first edition Geist, where you made a deal with a little god of death, came back to life with ghost powers, and... ??? do whatever. A game pitch in the Chronicles style isn't just a coat of paint designating a swamp thing or a mothman; we now have multiple Chronicles games that can do swamp things and mothmen. It's a genre and a thematic hook. Is it a millenialist game about preparing for a coming apocalypse no one believes is coming? A paranoid game about body-snatching invisible invaders? A personal game about the ways in which you're not truly human anymore (and if so, you better nail down what kind of inhumanity and alienation you're focusing on, because a lot of that ground is well trod)?
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Jun 15, 2021 19:12
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Loomer posted:I'm not saying I'm planning to go steal that artifact and use it for sinister purposes. It belongs in (Loomer's personal) museum!
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Jun 16, 2021 02:34
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I Am Just a Box posted:The aliens have Neil Breens we can only dream of. Now what does that mean? It means millenarianism and apocalypse but it also means the promise of something new, a radical restructuring due to events that are outside of your control. The nature of THEY should be enigmatic and be able to go in several different directions - I think it is best here to avoid 'splats' having a different connection to different alien empires or anything... what's important is that when THEY arrive, everything is going to change. The Arrival won't be "oh, on the DIMENSIONAL level--" or "oh, SYMBOLICALLY--" or the like. It might, barely, be avertable; but if it isn't, then there will be literal aliens present, superior to the residents of Earth. Everything will change. Anyway, your PCs' jobs are to Prepare the way. If you are on sides with THEM this probably involves subverting various details of Earthling defenses and perhaps trying to prepare people to make things easier, one way or another. If you are just looking out for yourself, you are trying to make yourself have the maximum possible advantage when THEY arrive, so that you will be as a king - or as a god... perhaps an angry god. If you are trying to stop THEM, you can make things difficult, or alternatively you can try to prepare some sort of resistance - sponsor X-COM, either to fight off THEM or to prepare a resistance. There would be an intrinsically collaborative attitude with the party because you will have to define THEM, which will probably indirectly define what your attitude is towards THEM. This does not necessarily come down to "friendly space brothers or creepy assplay enthusiasts?" -- it is extremely Gothic-Punk to say "My contribution to THEM is that they want to exterminate the human species. My character's feelings about THEM is that he is 100% on board for that." (This part of the campaign will probably need preparation and X-carding.) I don't know if this fits in with the World of Darkness writ large - I'm sure everyone could say that their Supernal Magic or the God-Machine could surely fight off hostile aliens - but I think that it is definitely in the right mood space, and could be amenable to many of the tropes of the meta-genre.
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Jun 16, 2021 03:40
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That sounds cool, and also a lot like what my imagination tells me Hunter should be like.
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Jun 16, 2021 04:11
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I love the idea of 'clans' in such a setting being people who encountered wildly different types of alien beings in different circumstances, suffering from various side effects of their contact, and each type having lore and implications that are actively, hostilely incompatible with each other at first glance. e: like, you could have people who were abducted and their memory of the experience is harshly, explicitly technological in nature who come back thinking they have implants of some kind, as opposed to people who had a much more metaphysical experience and return with a vague sort of maybe-ESP, people approached by men in black who are afflicted with paranoia and mistrust, or people who just had Signs happen to them and their main takeaway is "dang, grey heads pop real messy when you get 'em with a baseball bat" Babysitter Super Sleuth fucked around with this message at 04:22 on Jun 16, 2021 |
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Jun 16, 2021 04:17
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Nessus posted:Anyway, your PCs' jobs are to Prepare the way. If you are on sides with THEM this probably involves subverting various details of Earthling defenses and perhaps trying to prepare people to make things easier, one way or another. If you are just looking out for yourself, you are trying to make yourself have the maximum possible advantage when THEY arrive, so that you will be as a king - or as a god... perhaps an angry god. If you are trying to stop THEM, you can make things difficult, or alternatively you can try to prepare some sort of resistance - sponsor X-COM, either to fight off THEM or to prepare a resistance. This goes straight back to "this is either Deviant or Demon," though, with only minor reskinning — defining the terrible conspiracy that made you, as a collaborative effort between players and Storyteller, is exactly how Deviant's conspiracies work, while Demon's God-Machine can easily be spun as the forward infrastructure of the posthuman luminous beings who will change everything forever. Which turns the question into "what do you want, hardscrabble zoomed-in struggle or weird cosmic spy action?" Like I said: it's about the gameplay loop, the question of "what do X do?" What does it look like on the ground, what kind of action is typical? I get the vibe from your angle that THEY are not yet present, THEY are basically synonymous with the apocalypse or the singularity or whatever millenial transformation awaits... so if THEY aren't here, what do we do? If we oppose THEM, we can't fight THEM, because THEY aren't here to fight. If we support THEM, we... fight the government? Undermine social institutions? Just generally help make life lovely for people? (That's a Mage game playing as the bad guys. The Mage bad guys do that.) "Sponsor XCOM" is the one detail in here that is definite territory that both has cool and interesting appeal and hasn't been staked out by existing games you would just reskin. "The end of the world as we know it is coming. We have the beginning of a power base. Assemble more; their forward agents are already here working to undermine our operations." That probably wouldn't look much like a typical Chronicles of Darkness game, where you focus on individual characters. If we spend too much time on how Dr. Vahlen's family life is doing and who she meets when she goes for a late night coffee, we're not really playing a game about an oncoming apocalypse. And if it's truly going to be a game about building XCOM, and not a game that says it's about building XCOM but is actually about a few guys brokering deals or doing little heists to smooth over XCOM's bottom line, then you need rules for having at least some of XCOM around doing things, which again won't play well with an individual focus. But you could build something out of the XCOM RPG. The game about building XCOM probably isn't also the game about playing individual alien-human hybrids, though.
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Jun 16, 2021 06:12
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Hey, it was a loose idea. I do like the idea of different abductees having vastly different experiences and the clues not adding up between them. Quote possibly implying there's multiple alien groups or entities with different agendas. Some might be more Close Encounters, some ET, some Species. Maybe it really is alien perverts or frat boys screwing around with no greater meaning, maybe it's scientific study from a cold, alien perspective, maybe there's a Genestealer cult.
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Jun 16, 2021 08:54
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Even if it's hard to make a full game out of it, Aliens is definitely great material for a Blue Book.
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Jun 16, 2021 16:53
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MonsieurChoc posted:It belongs in (Loomer's personal) museum! Loomer and The Project probably also belong in a museum, so it's okay, we'll put the WtO draft in the exhibit next to him, he can read it anytime he wants.
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Jun 16, 2021 20:11
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Tsilkani posted:Loomer and The Project probably also belong in a museum, so it's okay, we'll put the WtO draft in the exhibit next to him, he can read it anytime he wants.
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Jun 16, 2021 20:13
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Chernobyl Peace Prize posted:This is how you end up with an SCP archive. Is that what you want? yes You'd rather have Loomer out in the wild?
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Jun 16, 2021 20:21
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Tsilkani posted:You'd rather have Loomer out in the wild?
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Jun 16, 2021 20:34
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Chernobyl Peace Prize posted:I'm two hemispheres away, I'm safe from even a Keter-class Categorization Event Two hemispheres isn't as far as you'd think. That'd make you and them be in the same place, no?
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Jun 16, 2021 21:07
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DigitalRaven posted:Two hemispheres isn't as far as you'd think. That'd make you and them be in the same place, no?
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Jun 16, 2021 21:10
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Chernobyl Peace Prize posted:I'm two hemispheres away, I'm safe from even a Keter-class Categorization Event The Beckoning will summon us all to Loomer's location. There the Goonhenna Wars will begin.
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Jun 16, 2021 21:41
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Dawgstar posted:There the Goonhenna Wars will begin. Couldn't afford an actually tattoo artist eh
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Jun 17, 2021 00:50
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FirstAidKite posted:Couldn't afford an actually tattoo artist eh 
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Jun 17, 2021 01:10
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Jesus christ I look away for five seconds and a cult starts
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Jun 17, 2021 06:51
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The alien wod splat should be like the MIB movies where you're just losers or petty criminals on the outside of intergalactic society laying low on Earth for one reason or another.
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Jun 17, 2021 06:54
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Loomer posted:Jesus christ I look away for five seconds and a cult starts It happens.
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Jun 17, 2021 06:57
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Mister Olympus posted:The alien wod splat should be like the MIB movies where you're just losers or petty criminals on the outside of intergalactic society laying low on Earth for one reason or another. That'd be the Y splat where it's about why your character left wherever they're from for Earth whether it's laying low while some sort of heat dies down,. trying to make a new home because the old one sucked, acquiring resources to send back home, or simple tourism. X splat would be something like what class of alien is your character which is divided based on what primarily makes them different from humanity.
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Jun 17, 2021 07:10
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Loomer posted:Jesus christ: I look away for five seconds and a cult starts
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Jun 17, 2021 13:09
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When people are talking about an aliens preparing the way for invasion game I can't help but think, "oh that's Changelings, and Loyalists, and wow Loyalists are the biggest pieces of poo poo in the whole game."
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Jun 17, 2021 14:05
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Loomer posted:Jesus christ I look away for five seconds and a cult starts How many dots did you spend on it
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Jun 17, 2021 14:28
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Loomer posted:Jesus christ I look away for five seconds and a cult starts Just lol if you haven't been turned into some mad keeper of knowledge NPC in someones game. Now that I say that......
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Jun 17, 2021 14:49
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joylessdivision posted:Just lol if you haven't been turned into some mad keeper of knowledge NPC in someones game. I'm still convinced The Project could be used as a proxy for the OWoD's True Name the way Tremere was trying to use the Mormon genealogical records to target humanity itself in that one Gehenna scenario.
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Jun 17, 2021 16:18
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Chernobyl Peace Prize posted:When people are talking about an aliens preparing the way for invasion game I can't help but think, "oh that's Changelings, and Loyalists, and wow Loyalists are the biggest pieces of poo poo in the whole game." This is why the idea of humans who got their poo poo all hosed up by alien encounters seems more interesting to me than alien hybrids, imo. Especially since the former leaves room for an archetype that’s basically a dude making poo poo up about aliens for attention/ to help “the cause” who gets caught up in Real poo poo entirely accidentally
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Jun 17, 2021 17:17
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Loomer posted:Jesus christ I look away for five seconds and a cult starts
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Jun 17, 2021 17:31
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Isn't that the main gameplay loop of nMummy?
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Jun 17, 2021 17:33
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God I want a good version of Mummy. I started getting into Egyptian history recently and it's so frustrating how Egypt turns up in games. So often it's just "uhhh lots of dead people, pyramids are there too." And this leads to not just representing a very real and cool culture in an extremely flat way, but to boring crappy mechanics too. There's so much more going on! Video games tend to do better with at least most of them having alive Egyptians, though Age of Mythology is the only one I can name where it's "alive Egyptians plus all their mythological weirdness*" *OK Dominions kind of but I'm not sure if I should count C'Tis since they're lizard people that have a bunch of Egypt-signals rather than just "Egyptian humans."
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Jun 17, 2021 18:17
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Babysitter Super Sleuth posted:This is why the idea of humans who got their poo poo all hosed up by alien encounters seems more interesting to me than alien hybrids, imo. Especially since the former leaves room for an archetype that’s basically a dude making poo poo up about aliens for attention/ to help “the cause” who gets caught up in Real poo poo entirely accidentally I feel like there's room for both, especially with the whole breadth of alien encounter mythos. Actually, there's definitely room for a climax to a storyline where flying saucer descends from the sky and characters have a genuine encounter with unmistakably alien entities that one of them has had cryptic clues and memories about... and then they bring up some of the poo poo they've seen so far and the aliens are like 'Wait, what? Got no idea what the gently caress that's about." ...or even better: "...wait, you've seen those things TOO?!" (Alternatively: "Was kinda hoping you'd bring one of those blood-drinking humanoids, those are interesting... you know, those ones? ...didn't you know...?") Does remind me of Ghostbusters, one of the fun things about Peter Venkman is that while being an accredited psychologist and parapsychologist, he's most comfortable being a con artist and phony psychic who mostly uses his skills to make easy money and hit on women- though he's also actually interested in and enjoys encountering the genuine supernatural. (and one can imagine that he becomes very useful to the deal in distinguishing between the genuine supernatural, and delusions and hoaxes, likely the reason why the Ghostbusters have a battery of tests to run on potential clients to make sure they don't waste their time on the delusional, mentally ill or terminally bored)
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Jun 17, 2021 18:28
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Xelkelvos posted:That'd be the Y splat where it's about why your character left wherever they're from for Earth whether it's laying low while some sort of heat dies down,. trying to make a new home because the old one sucked, acquiring resources to send back home, or simple tourism. I'd play it. A whole splat of Zaphod Beeblebroxes.
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Jun 17, 2021 19:40
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I'm still futzing around with v5 creation and I havw a question re predator aspect... Would a Ravnos out and about trying to form a Neo-Tenochtitlan as much out of shits and giggles as actual belief fall under Osirus?
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Jun 17, 2021 20:02
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citybeatnik posted:I'm still futzing around with v5 creation and I havw a question re predator aspect... Your predator type doesn't necessarily have to play into the conceit of your character but if you wanted to go that route I would say Osiris or Scene Queen would be fitting, depending on which benefits you want and/or how subtle you want to be about it. The book gives a default feeding roll of Manipulation + Subterfuge for Osiris, and Manipulation + Persuasion for Scene Queen. Even though feed rolls don't always have to explicitly be those, it does help point out the Osiris is meant to be more indirect
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Jun 17, 2021 22:25
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GNU Order posted:Your predator type doesn't necessarily have to play into the conceit of your character but if you wanted to go that route I would say Osiris or Scene Queen would be fitting, depending on which benefits you want and/or how subtle you want to be about it. The book gives a default feeding roll of Manipulation + Subterfuge for Osiris, and Manipulation + Persuasion for Scene Queen. Even though feed rolls don't always have to explicitly be those, it does help point out the Osiris is meant to be more indirect I suppose that makes sense and I might just be overthinking the various benefits/drawbacks. Roadside Killer seems like the most fluff-appropriate - character was part of a traveling courier crew that got taken out by a competitor - although the Disciplines don't seem to fit. Unless Protean 1 for going YOLO off roof tops and the like.
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Jun 18, 2021 03:31
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I've been reading the God Machine Chronicle to get plot ideas for another game, and I finally figured out why it's been so drat difficult to get through: almost all of the plot threads don't go anywhere at all. There's little if anything that says "if the PCs fail, X bad thing happens" or "the GM is doing this because [any reason at all]". Piles of "this is happening and the PCs can investigate" doesn't really do much good if there's no real stakes and the only escalation is "maybe this leads to another seed later in the book (which has similarly vague/nonexistent stakes)!" I like the format and framing, but the actual content is just so disappointing.
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Jun 18, 2021 03:54
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| # ? Jun 4, 2024 17:32 |
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I'm glad that people are complaining about random stuff, because I want to complain about Disciplines in Vampire. I was reading V20 and V5 over the past few days and struck by how bad some of them are. I always felt like Disciplines, since they're called that, ought to feel more like an art you learn rather than a series of often disconnected powers. I also think that one-dot Discipline powers should be foundational. Appelcline wrote about how a key to Vampire's success is that the Clans and Disciplines fulfill the role of character classes, and I agree; your starting Disciplines should tell you what kind of vampire you are--how you hunt, and how you vie for power. Most Disciplines are pretty good about this, but for example, Protean 1 just gives you night vision. Earth Meld should be the first power you get! It's funny that playing a rare bloodline was supposed to mark you out as a munchkin, because the Disciplines that were designed later are generally worse. Animalism 1 lets you talk to animals; Melpominee 1 lets you talk to yourself. Lasombra neonates can smother people to death with their own shadow; True Brujah get a free watch. There are like seven different versions of Necromancy and they're all incredibly lovely unless your ST is really into Wraith stuff. I don't think I need to explain why there shouldn't be a dozen different versions of Thaumaturgy that let you talk to trees, set people on fire, or summon two hundred pounds of cocaine.
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Jun 21, 2021 16:35
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