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Ettin posted:A trans woman who jerks men off for being performatively left sounds like the most Zak thing possible tbh I'm just going to assume, based on the sorts of comments he's made via sockpuppets and as himself, that he'll characterize anyone who objects to this as both conservative and anti-sex*. The SAppelcline account made several gestures in that direction: "he and his friends have opinions that offend the typical conservative gamer and art viewer", "he and his players (being porn actors and actresses) take a hard pro-sex line on RPG content and do not back down", "tying to smear him and his players as socially or politically suspect despite their long public record of progressive activism". (*He's also fond of saying that detractors are some kind of SA cabal of D&D 4e supremacists or storygamers offended by the existence of OSR, but neither of those seems as relevant here.) e; the posts have since been deleted, but are still visible on the userpage. Emy fucked around with this message at 06:40 on Feb 18, 2017 |
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Feb 18, 2017 06:33
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Kai Tave posted:I want to say that at one point a couple RPGnet moderators had weird revenge porn genital mutilation fiction written about them, so there's that. Please tell me you're joking right? Right?
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Feb 18, 2017 06:35
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Strength of Many posted:If any of you were ever doubtful as to the... quality.. of the VtM visual novel game, may this enlighten you. Let me tell you, i am shocked that someone who not only ran a trans lady out of elfgames but off the loving internet throws an oversexed trans lady vampire rapist into his lovely gothic-punk dating sim to try and make it edgier. yes yes i know it's a interactive fiction game not a dating sim FewtureMD posted:What's this about a Mage cookbook? the real "spirit cooking" starts here Ningyou fucked around with this message at 06:52 on Feb 18, 2017 |
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Feb 18, 2017 06:35
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At least Cheiron wants to cure cancer. Sure, they want to cure it so they can patent the treatment and sell it at a profit, but at the very least they aren't looking at weaponized bee-dispensers and going "yeah, this is the good poo poo," all of their Umbrella super-soldier treatments are considered failures, or at best tangential developments not worth pursuing beyond something for the Acquisitions Specialists.
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Feb 18, 2017 06:37
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Ningyou posted:yes yes i know it's a interactive fiction game not a dating sim code:
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Feb 18, 2017 06:39
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Axelgear posted:As for ethics... To be honest, I see Cheiron as opportunistic, rather than monstrous. If you can make a profit off of killing monsters that prey on innocent human beings, why not? Drive an arterial shunt into that vampire's heart and you deserve your bonus pay. One less vampire in the world, right? It's entirely possible to have someone work for Cheiron and be morally neutral, or even outright benevolent. Whether that's the norm is another story, but it's possible. Cheiron doesn't just do that though. They're explicitly monstrous in nature once you peel back the amorally heroic veneer and realize that they're just another group lead by monsters operating as Hunters to give them a solid cover. They're basically Pentex imported to the NWoD and given a veneer of respectability. It's just that it's not evident that they're evil until you're on the inside and have a good look at the belly of the beast. Some stuff they've done that I recall reading about : They'll cut you up and turn you into a frankenstein-esque monster man. Note that if you're stupid enough to try to retire they might not let you keep the parts they put in you. Nor are they guaranteed to give you back human parts. Or any parts at all. Of course this means that some of their operatives are basically slave labor, assuming they don't want to go rogue or get de-limbed for the rest of their life. Also, they're not sure what the gently caress they're doing half the time and will gleefully experiment on their own employees with implants despite the risks. The Ordo Dracul would be proud of them, for that. There's a tiny blurb in one of the books describing one of their products. It's a tiny red pill derived from vampire blood. They have a contract with the military that lets them use it as a combat stimulant for soldiers. Note that the soldiers are completely oblivious to the fact that they're taking an explicitly life destroying substance that could probably drive them into a frenzy and literally bring them kicking and screaming back from the grave as a Draugr or vampire if they OD'd on it or died. On the plus side, if they do? Well, that's more material to make more pills! Speaking of going rogue, it's briefly implied in one Hunter book that the company has a service in perpetuity clause. As in: If you break an NDA or secrecy clause they'll literally summon your ghost back from the grave to make you suffer for it. That's literally something that Wolfram and Hart from the TV spin-off series Angel would do. IE: The company that's basically the setting equivalent of the Devil in the form of a law firm. Their biological weapons department has created a virus that is designed to kill all vampires on Earth in a few weeks. Also, it kills all humans on Earth in a few weeks. This is considered to be a minor design flaw that they might patch out if possible. There's lots of hints that the Cheiron Group is something far older than a megacorp, as far as their history goes. Given the other stuff about them that's really not a good thing. If nothing else it makes the megacorp seem like their latest front. There's also the fact that one of the possible interpretations of their "executive board" is that they're extradimensional lovecraftian horrors that want to basically invade and colonize the Earth. Hell, if the alternate dimension from that one Hunter story (That Cheiron is trying to suppress in the fiction.) is any indication of where they're from then they're basically from a world similar to the Prince of 100,000 Leaves. The Hototogisu would probably be more fitting as an amoral business oriented Hunter group. Their entire thing is buying/stealing the powers off of supernaturals sans drawbacks by supernaturally conning them. Their leader is so good at it that he actually leads a freaking vampire covenant in Tokyo despite still being a human that was born centuries ago. Heck, they even repeatedly get mentions in VTR's fiction right up to Secrets of the Covenants. Archonex fucked around with this message at 07:14 on Feb 18, 2017 |
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Feb 18, 2017 06:43
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Kai Tave posted:At least Cheiron wants to cure cancer. Sure, they want to cure it so they can patent the treatment and sell it at a profit, but at the very least they aren't looking at weaponized bee-dispensers and going "yeah, this is the good poo poo," all of their Umbrella super-soldier treatments are considered failures, or at best tangential developments not worth pursuing beyond something for the Acquisitions Specialists. Man, suddenly I miss the giant wizard space bees from one of my games. That was a good game.
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Feb 18, 2017 06:44
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Tiny Deer posted:Apropos of nothing, but Rick Sanchez is clearly and obviously a Demon and if you disagree you show obvious Mage bias. He fights an enormous bureaucratic mechanism that thinks nothing of existing in multiple timelines and dimensions, he travels with his Fractal grandson to reinforce his Cover, and he thinks magic and curses are for hacks. That makes...a terrifying amount of sense. "m-m-morty I'm actualllyyyy *belch* a wheel of eyes and fire" (you know he's a psychopomp) Demon is the nWoD game I want to play and never get the chance. It looks like a glorious headache.
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Feb 18, 2017 06:49
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Kurieg posted:
You know, someone really needs to send those screenshots of the story to Kotaku or something. They'd be all over doing an article with how clickbait oriented they can be. Or hell, just send it to anyone. This is just disturbing at this point. Archonex fucked around with this message at 07:04 on Feb 18, 2017 |
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Feb 18, 2017 06:52
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Slimnoid posted:But he's friends with trans people!!!!!1* I believe it. Not because he says so, but because said trans friends have come out and said "I'm trans and friends with Zak Smith" or words to that effect. I don't think those people are lying. But. But. Having trans friends does not mean you can't be transphobic. ProfessorCirno posted:It's actually 1000% more disgusting because there's basically no chance in hell that isn't meant to be Actual Real Life Person Avery Alder. I am confused, are we supposed to feel this reflects well on Avery Alder, famous RPG writer, because she kills people who like Trump and is in control of her sexuality, or is it supposed to paint Avery Alder, known storygaming swine, as a serial killer?
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Feb 18, 2017 06:53
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LatwPIAT posted:I believe it. Not because he says so, but because said trans friends have come out and said "I'm trans and friends with Zak Smith" or words to that effect. I don't think those people are lying. Yeah basically, I'm thinking that any trans person who is his friend is only because they don't know the poo poo he's pulled, and continues to pull, on trans folk. Then again, that probably applies to any of his friends, though how anyone can continue to be so despite a plentiful amount of evidence against him just boggles the mind. Cult of personality, willful ignorance, or a combination of the two. Take your pick. quote:I am confused, are we supposed to feel this reflects well on Avery Alder, famous RPG writer, because she kills people who like Trump and is in control of her sexuality, or is it supposed to paint Avery Alder, known storygaming swine, as a serial killer? Yes.
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Feb 18, 2017 07:00
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Slimnoid posted:Yeah basically, I'm thinking that any trans person who is his friend is only because they don't know the poo poo he's pulled, and continues to pull, on trans folk. Given how much bullshit he seems to weave to cover his own rear end i'd be surprised if anyone associating with him was aware of what sort of person he really is. He really seems to have nailed abusing the anonymity of the internet for his own benefit.
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Feb 18, 2017 07:08
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LatwPIAT posted:I am confused, are we supposed to feel this reflects well on Avery Alder, famous RPG writer, because she kills people who like Trump and is in control of her sexuality, or is it supposed to paint Avery Alder, known storygaming swine, as a serial killer? I'm pretty sure he thinks it's some sort of great satire of ess-jay-dubyas, exposing how they think the world works. Or something like that.
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Feb 18, 2017 07:10
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So how exactly do you stop getting work in the RPG industry? Not by tanking a legendary video game franchise, apparently.
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Feb 18, 2017 07:18
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So uh, for all his bragging and bravado, has Swedish Dracula / New White Wolf actually, like...made anything? There was that slot machine? And the advertisement that they'd be making a Werewolf game, developed by some lovely minor league dev team without any actual good games to their name. That's it, huh?
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Feb 18, 2017 07:20
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So far there's a reissue of Dark Destinies with a bad story he wrote added, executive meddling to declare Shattered Dreams non-canon (it was meant to be canon from the get-go. nWW decided it isn't.), the slot machine, the announcement without anything like a trailer to back it, and these mobile phone 'games'. And a couple of LARPs.
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Feb 18, 2017 07:23
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Isn't Shattered Dreams a W20 product anyway? If so that's still a lovely move on their part.
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Feb 18, 2017 07:33
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Kurieg posted:Isn't Shattered Dreams a W20 product anyway? If so that's still a lovely move on their part. Yup, but I guess they wanted to make it crystal clear that they favour the METW20 view, or whatever bullshit they spin with Werewolf 5E.
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Feb 18, 2017 07:35
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With my Mage group meeting less and less frequently, I've found the most success in creating ~3 session arcs of, "Hey look at this thing happening." Right now the Acanthus who just hit Gnosis 3 and Life 4 (I don't understand why either) is leading an investigation into a supernatural plague that's the Infection sub-splat from Hurt Locker. I've been eyeing what to do next, and Princess: The Hopeful caught my attention. Skimming the books, I think a story about some girls in an LA suburb Blossoming (Awakening as a Magical Girl) and immediately getting in over their heads fighting evil seems like a cool idea to explore. Anybody have any opinions yay or nay on if this is actually a topic worth the planning hours?
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Feb 18, 2017 09:03
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I'd suggest actually reading the book before you commit to any planning on it. It's very easy to miss how obtusely designed it is on just a quick skim.
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Feb 18, 2017 09:16
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So wait. The Bloodlines thread is saying that the transgender character is named after the game developer he harassed and threatened out of the industry. Meaning the "I use dominate to force people to have sex with me" character. Is that true? Because if so then holy poo poo.
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Feb 18, 2017 09:37
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Archonex posted:So wait. The Bloodlines thread is saying that the transgender character is named after the game developer he harassed and threatened out of the industry. Meaning the "I use dominate to force people to have sex with me" character. Is that true? Because if so then holy poo poo. No, different trans game designer. The one he named the character after is still active. I've heard he's targeted her too though? I'm not sure there, that's new to me but I saw it said elsewhere. Wouldn't surprise me, at least.
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Feb 18, 2017 09:40
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He's been calling her a pedophile for years, because of monster hearts. Mr. Sex-positive himself.
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Feb 18, 2017 09:47
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Babylon Astronaut posted:He's been calling her a pedophile for years, because of monster hearts. Mr. Sex-positive himself. Is that the active developer? Because still --- Holy poo poo if so. He basically turned Vampire into his own hosed up political screed. 
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Feb 18, 2017 10:05
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The Aristocrats!
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Feb 18, 2017 12:24
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I went looking for it, and between the sock puppets and bullshit my eyes are crossed. I'll go digging tomorrow, but I remember "underage sex werewolf." Which isn't that subtle. I don't know, watch his interview with John Wick, it will make your ears bleed because he argues points of fact with a loving expert and won't concede that his opinions on something do not trump reality.
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Feb 18, 2017 12:38
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I really feel like White Wolf/Paradox should know that they've basically published porny hate fic targeting a real person; not only is it harder to handwave away the way they did the harassment, since the evidence is right there, but it's being done through them. That doesn't seem like something they would appreciate. Also it and the Reddit sockpuppeting/impersonation weren't uncovered/mentioned here, or at least not as extensively covered with screenshotted evidence, last I heard about people sending emails and stuff I think. A few more emails about that should be sent their way I think; I'll probably send one myself, but it's late now and I need sleep; other people contacting them over this as well would be appreciated.
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Feb 18, 2017 13:12
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Babylon Astronaut posted:He's been calling her a pedophile for years, because of monster hearts. Mr. Sex-positive himself. Monster Hearts does the erotic side of vampires a lot better than Vampire: The Masquerade. Actually most of Vampire and now this is just cringe-worthy, like the people involved are teenagers trying to brag about their sexual experiences in a completely ridiculous way. It is not sex positive, it is just pathetic.
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Feb 18, 2017 14:06
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Slimnoid posted:Yeah basically, I'm thinking that any trans person who is his friend is only because they don't know the poo poo he's pulled, and continues to pull, on trans folk. They probably don't follow him much online beyond maybe his bigger "official" projects. I think specifically because we're nerds who a) are interested in a hobby that Zak S shits up and b) are the kind of nerds who spend a decent chunk of time in online conversation, it seems really blatant to us. Even if you are a) and b), you might still wander forums for years and not know who he is or what he's done. I know in my case it wasn't until long after he was banned from RPG.net that I learned much of his shitshow; because I didn't really follow OSR or other topics he was being an rear end in a top hat about, all of it passed me by. Point is, even in a hobby as weird and niche as ours, you've still got a lot of sub-segmentation, and a lot of people who engage their particular interests with little visibility in or out beyond that.
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Feb 18, 2017 14:49
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Yeah, I've only learned that he exists due to this recent release from White Wolf, otherwise I'd merrily continue unaware.
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Feb 18, 2017 15:41
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Why does zak hate Avery/monster hearts?
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Feb 18, 2017 15:57
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Pope Guilty posted:Why does zak hate Avery/monster hearts? I'm not sure, but going by the examples of his other targets, it doesn't have to be more than reblogging comments about an article he doesn't like.
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Feb 18, 2017 16:14
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So the OPP forums are deleting any mention of people pissed off about Zak. Or locking any thread so that it can't be seen. You can't even mention his name in the main thread for the prelude games without it being an offense, evidently. http://forum.theonyxpath.com/forum/main-category/main-forum/the-classic-world-of-darkness/1050293-world-of-darkness-preludes I had to check out cached pages to get some of the threads back. At least the people in the main thread are dancing around saying that it's a terrible game written by a terrible writer. Kind of sours me on them too though. Archonex fucked around with this message at 17:13 on Feb 18, 2017 |
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Feb 18, 2017 17:07
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Archonex posted:So the OPP forums are deleting any mention of people pissed off about Zak. Or locking any thread so that it can't be seen. You can't even mention his name in the main thread for the prelude games without it being an offense, evidently.
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Feb 18, 2017 17:23
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Yeah, this might be a rogue moderator. I'm trying to reach out to some people I know over there to see what's going on.
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Feb 18, 2017 17:29
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Hi WoDthread. Long time no see. I've heard Onyx Path doesn't actually have much to do with White Wolf anymore, but obviously it's the same IP and money is getting funneled there or so it seems, and the fact that they aren't even allowing discussion of it is chilling -- even if it's just because the parent company is telling them to put a kibosh on it. It sucks a lot because I like Onyx Path for the most part, but... yeah. I dunno. I wanted to run more WoD poo poo, but now I don't think I can. They've done a lot of shady, gross poo poo over the years, they started to pull away from that, and then this just throws all my goodwill into the woodchipper.
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Feb 18, 2017 17:35
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I actually got an e-mail back from Fredrik Wester explaining that White Wolf works independently and to contact Tobias Sjögren, CEO of White Wolf, regarding this. I still didn't have Mr. Sjögren's e-mail address, though. So I did a bit of digging through their PR releases, and found the predictable: tobias.sjogren@white-wolf.com As always, if you contact him, be decent, be concise, be vocal. Don't have a contact for Martin Ericsson, but those that see the above can make an educated guess. Also, did you know he uses his  pic as his professional portrait for both linkedin and Paradox? Well, now you do.
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Feb 18, 2017 17:37
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Alien Rope Burn posted:I actually got an e-mail back from Fredrik Wester explaining that White Wolf works independently and to contact Tobias Sjögren, CEO of White Wolf, regarding this. I still didn't have Mr. Sjögren's e-mail address, though. So I did a bit of digging through their PR releases, and found the predictable: Oh cool. Does anyone have that big write up on what's going on? I want to see if I can send it his way and add some supporting details to it. I've been arguing with people defending Zak and have got a fair number of supporting sources at this point as a result.
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Feb 18, 2017 18:07
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Strength of Many posted:If any of you were ever doubtful as to the... quality.. of the VtM visual novel game, may this enlighten you. These are fully in character for Zak, so I don't have a hard time believing he wrote them. But I also haven't seen the Avery dialogue in any of the lets play videos I scrubbed through. So, uh, what's the provenance on these links?
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Feb 18, 2017 18:30
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You bothered with let's plays? More than one?
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