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It's a bit late for this observation but since we're talking about Kerrigan Power: it was really funny to me that after she gets her Primal upgrade, the next mission is a demo of her sick new powers like "dash really fast" and "jump really hard" 
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Mar 24, 2024 16:10
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GunnerJ posted:It's a bit late for this observation but since we're talking about Kerrigan Power: it was really funny to me that after she gets her Primal upgrade, the next mission is a demo of her sick new powers like "dash really fast" and "jump really hard" That is a little funny, but I choose to take it more in the spirit it might have been meant to be. That is to say, "Dash Really Fast" and "Jump Hard" are on army scale. She is dashing at supersonic speeds, and carried with her a wave of energy/damage the size of a tank or larger that is capable of pasting a man in heavy combat armor. Maybe its even a wave of energy the width of an Ultralisk from the cinematic. She is jumping kilometers in the space of a few seconds, and lands with a shockwave as large as a building, able to probably snap a siege tank in half.
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Mar 24, 2024 16:27
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i mean they're very powerful dashes and jumps, but you'd think a scale-breaking psionic who just drank a whole planet's worth of primordial soup could do something a bit more fanciful than basic bipedal movement but extra hard
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Mar 24, 2024 17:51
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Ah, the mutalisk evolutions. Never really used them much unless I specifically tried to design a composition around one of them. Disabling Cloud is really good but it's just not necessary 99% of the time, since either your units are tanky enough to not need it, or they're expendable enough losing them doesn't matter. The Viper evolution mission has an... interesting quirk. It really, really wants you to have aberrations, and will spawn more as soon as you lose all of yours. This has no cap on how many times it can happen. Doesn't matter normally, but in the co-operative campaign mod where you can give away units, and in some of the custom campaigns where aberrations can do... things, it can get real stupid real fast.
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Mar 24, 2024 17:55
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It's interesting how much the mutalisk evolutions shake up the tech tree compared to skirmish. Mutalisks don't normally morph in multiplayer, Brood Lords morph from Corruptors (which I guess the campaign has dropped) and Vipers can be hatched independently. Particularly interesting that for this choice you have to pick between a spellcaster and a heavy hitter. I do think it's neat design that Vipers are basically Defilers with wings. They've swapped the land/sky position with Queens.
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Mar 24, 2024 18:56
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I like the brood lords because they're very thematic in being a perfectly sensible evolution of an SC1 unit. What if guardians but more.
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Mar 24, 2024 20:07
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Brood Lords are also just plain cool
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Mar 24, 2024 21:47
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the most important part of the mutalisk evolutions are which ones make the mutalisks look the coolest
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Mar 25, 2024 02:41
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DTurtle posted:Haven't they only been fighting for like three years or so? Yes. Everything about this entire conversation hurts me deep inside. At least the script gives Stukov an utterly refreshing motivation here. "I just don't like that guy, so imma help you gank him." Nice. Kith posted:the most important part of the mutalisk evolutions are which ones make the mutalisks look the coolest Abathur follows the Rob Liefeld school of design. Add as many extra spikes and bulgy bits as possible. Don't worry about the feet. bladededge fucked around with this message at 03:23 on Mar 25, 2024 |
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Mar 25, 2024 03:17
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Unit Spotlight: Infestor Overview:
However, Kerrigan does exist, which automatically ties up a lot of a player's focus just because of how absurdly broken she already is. Infestors are still a stupidly, stupidly powerful unit, but most people probably won't have the APM needed to juggle both them and Kerrigan. Abilities  Fungal Growth
 Parasitic Domination
The Heroic immunity is effectively meaningless, since there's like one non-Hybrid Heroic unit after you unlock Infestors.  Consumption
Field Manual Artwork 
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Mar 27, 2024 17:54
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The enemy AI seems to know how strong Infestors are, as they try to kill the ones I build pretty quickly. The fact that I usually A-move my entire army has nothing to do with it, I'm sure.
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Mar 27, 2024 18:47
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It's probably worth noting that the multiplayer version of the unit, at this time, had a power that spawns infested terrans. That's what the field manual is getting at. The campaign instead gives it Consume, which is normally a Viper ability. With LotV they replaced Infested Terran with an ability that creates a cloud protecting ground units from air attacks.
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Mar 27, 2024 19:01
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Also “fun” fact: Infested Terrans are timed-life units that are basically Marines but tougher, at the cost of being the slowest units in existence… and if they actually time out, they die by putting their rifles to their heads and pulling the trigger.
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Mar 27, 2024 19:51
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Campaign Fungal Growth is also a hell of a lot stronger than skirmish Fungal Growth. The skirmish version deals like 30 damage and slows units drastically rather than completely immobilizing them. One other thing of note is that using it on cloaked units will reveal the unit for the duration of the spell, just like Ensnare and Plague in SC1.
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Mar 27, 2024 20:13
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Skygeirr Station 3: Phantoms of the Void Video: Phantoms of the Void  Time to go beat up a shapeshifting scientist in a way that I'm sure won't be silly.   To go with their new lore the Tal'darim get an eeeeeeeeeeeeevil color change. Also, Stukov is tagging along!      Organism Stukov misunderstands. Death irrelevant. Only essence important.Essence count: 82  And then Abathur just straight up revives the dead Ultralisk.  He will never do this again.    Stukov shows up for this mission and this mission alone.  He can spawn a pack of four Infested Marines with timed life.  5 damage a shot isn't much, but that's because it's meant to pair with his main ability, Corrosive Blast. It deals 200 damage plus makes the target take 50% more damage for 5 seconds. It boosts his normal attack from 30 damage to 45, putting him almost on par with Kerrigan! He also has an aura that gives regen for all nearby units, which pairs nicely with Mend.  Also, Ultralisks. They're big, they're beefy, they have AOE on their attacks, but they've lost the dedicated anti-Structure attack they had in Wings.    Suddenly, Narud!   And he summons his loving Stand!  And shoots a laser beam!  So Kerrigan responds with her own laser beam!  Resulting in a straight up DBZ beam war.    I thought you'd never ask.  And here's the goal for the mission: Go shut down a bunch of temples with Stukov before Kerrigan loses the beam duel. Unfortunately she already got her mid-season power boost, so she can't just pop Kaioken x4 at the last minute.  Just like The Crucible, even if Kerrigan herself is busy all her chosen passives still work.  The bar on top will slowly shift towards Kerrigan, and I lose if it gets completely pushed over.  Narud now has glowing eyes.   Each temple has a few defenders placed on top.  And the expansion is right next to me.  Stukov's healing aura has a very respectable range to it, so keeping the Ultras patched up is simple.    Once Stukov is on the point, he's immobilized for a full minute.  He can't use auto attacks, but he can use all his abilities.  Each temple also sends some Hybrid at me, but they take a while to reach me so I have time to deal with the Tal'darim.  It's just a bunch of Hybrid Reavers, which are chumps compared to the Destroyers from last mission.  Stukov finishes channeling and rejoins the fight.   Excellent work, Stukov. I can feel Nerud's strength slipping! Success, but only for a moment. We must disable the other temples.And Kerrigan pushes the beam back.   Also, with zero loving warning, Narud gets a new voice actor. Like, at the start of the mission he was voiced by Armin Shimerman, same as last mission and his appearance in Wings. Now he's voiced by Patrick Seitz. For bonus fun, Patrick Seitz also voices Artanis.  Yes, their energy is faint... Hidden near the temples. If time permits, we will find them and destroy them.The bonus.  The first is right next to the expansion.  Attacking it makes some Tal'darim start to warp in.      The Tal'darim attack wave that hits whenever I start a temple is always warped in, which honestly makes it easier for me since I can take a few out before they finish spawning.  Two Hybrid this time.  But spreading them out so much means I can kill one long before the other arrives.    And my army is big enough that I can instantly move on the third.        I clear out some guys on the way to the fourth temple.  Then I take a detour.  Riiiiiiiiight into a full protoss base.  Still don't have to do it.  But this is the only ZvP mission balanced around having a full power zerg army.  I'm getting my loving money's worth.  Fending off an attack wave put me on this side of the map anyways, so I find the second bonus on the way to a temple.     The only things that got to actually attack were two Void Rays.    Oh no.  I can feel your strength leaving you!Anyways.  The last bonus.  The crystals have been shattered. Their power belongs to the swarm now.The guy couldn't even finish before the crystal exploded.  Shut up, Izsha.    And now the last temple.     I have a fully maxed out army and only need to last for a minute. The Hybrid aren't an issue.  And done.  Kerrigan's side of the bar starts rapidly filling.   Narud is completely pushed back.    Then he gets blasted.  At which point he just sorta... disintegrates.    Even so, he's the most powerful being I've ever faced. What will you do? Kill him.Oh wait, he's still alive. I guess ancient shapeshifters can survive a disintegration or two.    And a cinematic to finish things off.          Wait was that the vision the Queen of Blades got that Izsha mentioned earlier?  Narud zooms around in the shadows.    Narud's voice changes again.    Ah, I see he's going for the tried and true method of emotional damage.  Kerrigan buys it.   It must contractually obligated for evil shapeshifters to gently caress with people in this exact way, or something.    Kerrigan sufficently messed with, Narud drops a giant bit of decor on her head.   Then it explodes for good measure.      Kerrigan blasts Narud!     Then she runs so hard the ground shatters behind her! But wait!  It's actually a Nydus Worm giving her a ride!             Kerrigan starts pummeling the poo poo out of Narud.  While he just smirks.      Narud goes for one more twist of the knife.     Before stabbing Kerrigan.     Kerrigan goes for the bear hug!   And Narud realizes the inherent problem of getting into melee combat with someone with swords for wings.        RIP Narud, he showed up for one mission in Wings, revealed himself as evil one game later, then died.     Phantoms of the Void - Complete the "Phantoms of the Void" mission in the Heart of the Swarm campaign. Stukov Strikes Back - Don’t let Stukov die in the “Phantoms of the Void” mission. The Phantoms Menaced - Kill 2 Hybrid within 20 seconds of each other in the “Phantoms of the Void” mission on Normal difficulty. No-Toss - Destroy all Protoss structures in the “Phantoms of the Void” mission on Hard difficulty. Eat, Love, Then Pray - Destroy all Protoss structures before activating a 4th Temple in the "Phantoms of the Void" mission on Normal difficulty.
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Mar 30, 2024 04:03
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and so concludes the long-teased Samir Duran plot, with "yeah he didn't really have a plan beyond bring back some other, worse guy"
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Mar 30, 2024 04:16
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I can't decide whether the Skygeirr story is a relative high point of Heart because it's one of the few parts that has anything to do with Amon, the ultimate high-stakes bad guy of Starcraft 2 who is still presumably preparing to destroy the universe while our heroes worry about Kerrigan and Raynor's dating situation and battles that appear relatively pointless and unnecessary, or if it's a relative low point because it's one of the few parts that has anything to do with Amon, who is incredibly under characterized and is not somebody or something we have much of a reason to care about other than prophecies we hear about in exposition cutscenes.
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Mar 30, 2024 04:39
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*krusty voice* "Kerrigans dead!" (if only)
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Mar 30, 2024 04:49
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Small detail to note, Kerrigan impaling Narud with her wings goes so hard they also go back through HER, so she's dealing with the stab wound from Narud, and the self-inflicted one as well.
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Mar 30, 2024 04:55
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I don't know what the going rate was for actors from a noted sci-fi show a decade and change after it ended to do some voice lines, but I'm not at all surprised that they replaced Armin 'Quark' Shimerman for this, given how penny pinching the entire production of HotS seems to have been. The manner in which, in the middle of a loving level, tough, drat. Guess they had some script changes and didn't have the budget to get them properly voiced.
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Mar 30, 2024 05:43
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I figured it was more a "this is his real spooky villain voice, instead of his fake human voice" situation.
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Mar 30, 2024 05:55
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SirSamVimes posted:I figured it was more a "this is his real spooky villain voice, instead of his fake human voice" situation. That's pretty clearly what it is when you play it. They did not lack money for sci-fi show voice actors.
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Mar 30, 2024 06:25
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I think that cutscene was the point where I said "*sigh* I already paid for this stupid game, so I'll finish it, but I'm loving done. I hate this"
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Mar 30, 2024 08:52
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Remember when Kerrigan was all about manipulating her enemies and backstabs? Good times. BisbyWorl posted:And then Abathur just straight up revives the dead Ultralisk. Remember the Torrasque? It happened before, sorta.
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Mar 30, 2024 09:27
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gohuskies posted:I can't decide whether the Skygeirr story is a relative high point of Heart because it's one of the few parts that has anything to do with Amon, the ultimate high-stakes bad guy of Starcraft 2 who is still presumably preparing to destroy the universe while our heroes worry about Kerrigan and Raynor's dating situation and battles that appear relatively pointless and unnecessary, or if it's a relative low point because it's one of the few parts that has anything to do with Amon, who is incredibly under characterized and is not somebody or something we have much of a reason to care about other than prophecies we hear about in exposition cutscenes. I think it's a high point, because ultimately the story is that Stukov just rolls in and goes "this guy hosed me over and he's your enemy, let's team up and kill him" which is by far the most sensible thing anyone has done so far. The climax is just about the most hackneyed pathos imaginable, but it portrays an actual inner conflict and sidesteps the fuckin mess that is the game refusing to have a consistent take on Kerrigan's relationship with her past and current war crimes. Like it's not good writing by any stretch, but it's the one arc that I'd deem passable. also it ends on a map that takes Kerrigan away and lets you play with another hero because she's stuck in a beam fight, I can't get mad at that
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Mar 30, 2024 09:36
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Blizzard loves a beamstruggle, it's easy to animate
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Mar 30, 2024 09:42
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And thus ends Samir "Duran" Duran. With a DBZ beam clash* followed by shapeshifter battle 101. *" Thank goodness those don't explode on impact with each other"
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Mar 30, 2024 10:03
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You know why doesn't the Queen of the Swarm send in The Swarm instead of rushing in to fistfight her enemies. Just a minor thought.
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Mar 30, 2024 10:22
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PurpleXVI posted:You know why doesn't the Queen of the Swarm send in The Swarm instead of rushing in to fistfight her enemies. it's easier to say "I Am The Swarm" then to learn how to delegate
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Mar 30, 2024 10:51
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PurpleXVI posted:You know why doesn't the Queen of the Swarm send in The Swarm instead of rushing in to fistfight her enemies. because hero units are fun, and BEING a hero unit is even more fun
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Mar 30, 2024 12:38
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As established, she's a psycho who enjoys killing and revenge. It's way more satisfying to do that with your own bare
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Mar 30, 2024 12:49
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also yeah kerrigan is a huge piece of poo poo and always has been. the only real difference between brood war and now is that now she's much stupider
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Mar 30, 2024 12:53
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Regalingualius posted:Also “fun” fact: Infested Terrans are timed-life units that are basically Marines but tougher, at the cost of being the slowest units in existence… and if they actually time out, they die by putting their rifles to their heads and pulling the trigger. Holy gently caress, I never noticed it. Wow.
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Mar 30, 2024 12:56
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Okay, so, Headcanon time. You remember way back at the end of Wings of Liberty, where that REALLY stupid moment of "Oh, Kerrigan was corrupted the whole time, but she managed to reach out and whisper for Jim to save her telepathically" happened? Well, what if that wasn't Kerrigan? Consider who else would have strange psionic powers, who would have a vested interest in Jim managing to set off the artifact to de-infest the Queen of Blades to use the unleashed psionic energy as a big-rear end phoenix down? I think that at the end there, it was actually Duran naruD giving Jim one final little push, to make sure that he would set off the artifact. Its not perfect, I know, but it makes me feel a little bit better about things.
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Mar 30, 2024 13:10
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That's more interesting than the straight read so I choose to believe it
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Mar 30, 2024 13:40
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After all, consider that based on the reactions of Jim and Tychus, only Jim was the one to "hear" it. Part of the reason I think this is plausible is that as we saw at the end there, Narud duraN is also a fully capable shapeshifter, including the voices and everything else. Also we know that someone had to be "close by" to gather the energy, and while that could have just been regular Hybrid, it may also be Duran naruD himself making sure the job is done properly.
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Mar 30, 2024 14:11
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"That's nice but what if we included one more bit of violence against women, as a principled position?" And, good grief, it's impressive how bad they are at writing anything. I can't wait to see how much they gently caress up writing true love next.
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Mar 30, 2024 14:25
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Duran in Brood War: Infiltrating the upper command of every major faction in the sector, playing them against each other to secure resources for his own mysterious schemes Narud in SC2: Evil wizard shot lazer Dungeons 3 had a mission just like this, but they were doing it as an anime parody. And good god, that cutscene. You'd think, with Raynor and Kerrigan's relationship being the big focus of both campaigns so far, they'd have managed to make it not feel contrived by now. Using Jim and her human self's faces to represent the things she's lost and sacrificed might have played out okay if Narud in any way represented the things Kerrigan has lost and sacrificed. The one thing he was that might mean something to Kerrigan is Duran, since he was actually acting as her consort in Brood War!
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Mar 30, 2024 14:37
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What I like is all the elements they introduce in one mission (in every mission as well) that'll come back around never. I'm going to take a wild guess as to how many times the concept of a "null zone" or whatever comes back and say zero, and I will actually be surprised if it does at all because it's a pure mission specific gimmick, but it still manages to decay the plot even there.
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Mar 30, 2024 14:40
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Tenebrais posted:The one thing he was that might mean something to Kerrigan is Duran, since he was actually acting as her consort in Brood War! Wait, they were loving?
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Mar 30, 2024 14:43
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