TRPG General Chat

doppelgreener

11:00 AM

@Miniman well. Yes. :) looking for something linkable and can't find much

Miniman

@doppelgreener Can't help you - I don't even read DC, just went for the obvious joke.

BESW

Dear Asus: you say "discrete graphics card" but I can't find one.

@doppelgreener Tweet @Linkara19 and ask him?

Gah. Nothing in here looks, to my limited understanding and Googles, like a graphics card.

eimyr

Dear Chat. I need a good argument to convince myself is should NOT write that RPG idea into a rulebook. I need it before it's too late. Halp, plox.

BESW

How about "You should help me figure out where to look for a graphics card based on this picture instead"?

(Taken from a YT vid, but it's exactly what I'm seeing except I've got a blue RAM card up top.)

eimyr

huh

like, physically

BESW

11:10 AM

Yesh.

eimyr

or do you need to find what video card do you have there?

OK, see that copper heatpipe?

BESW

I'm supposed to have a Nvidia Geforce 610M GPU in there somewhere.

Yes?

Polyducks

@BESW Oh god be so careful. I bricked a laptop doing this once because I touched too many things

eimyr

There are three things in a PC that warrant cooling. CPU, GPU and sometimes northbridge

BESW

I'm touching NOTHING. But, this thing has a reputation for bricking from the slightest power surge.

eimyr

11:13 AM

@Polyducks @BESW Seconded. Touch groundwire before you touch abything inside.

Polyducks

You should buy surge protectors bro

especially on an island

specifically, an island with tropical storms

eimyr

@BESW My bet is that the GPU is one of the big square chips unfer the heatpipe

it should say next to it

BESW

Oh, we've got surge strips for most everything, but surge strips don't really help against aggressive brownouts.

Ahriman

@eimyr Seconded!

BESW

....does it say it in code or something?

eimyr

11:16 AM

@BESW a good quality APC is a lifesaver. It's basically a battery for a PC which also adds the benefit of cutting you off from all power network irregularities

Polyducks

OH I see it

BESW

I've got a good UPS/APC in my office room.

eimyr

@BESW It should say in white letters next to it

Polyducks

Yeah, it's one of the two chips like @eimyr says. There are two levers holding them in place

That heating pipe will lift off with the fan if you take out the screws

...why are you doing this?

BESW

I'm guessing it's the dark square with the coppery pips.

eimyr

11:17 AM

@BESW OR if you don't care about the physical chip but what the chip is really, then just install CPU-Z and it will tell you what is inside your computer no problem.

BESW

Something's been making my colours erratically wonky and I'm pretty sure it's the card.

Would "Erratically Wonky" be a good name for a band?

eimyr

@BESW "Making my colours" would.

BESW

So, I was told by someone with experience in Asus EEEs that my graphics card probably wasn't discrete.

Since I'm already cracking this puppy open to see what the RAM situation is like (only one slot, alas but not surprising), I figured I'd see if the graphics card was upgradeable.

It's probably not worth it, but I figured I'd check if it was possible before I tried to figure out if it was useful.

eimyr

OK, PC building 101. In these kinds of PCs everything is shared. RAM is used by the CPU and the graphics alike, there is no distinct area where both are separated, etc. "discrete graphics card" does not mean you have a card you can take out. You might have a discrete chip that is separate from the CPU, unlike some less powerful designs where a single chip combines CPU and GPU.

BESW

Apparently it's got an Intel Atom D2550 CPU and that's crippling everything else.

eimyr

11:21 AM

Don't expect to be able to replace video graphics on a computer like this.

BESW

Yeah, see, I haven't cracked open computers for fun and profit since about 2002.

And then they were usually Frankenputers my father assembled from a dozen salvaged bits and pieces of computers that were five or ten years old already.

I first surfed the Internet on a tower that had more guts hanging off its edges than inside it.

Polyducks

Anyway, that is definitely a chip. It's not a slot card that you can just take in/out

BESW

Sigh.

Polyducks

Is it a laptop?

it looks like a laptop

eimyr

@BESW seeing components out of your computer usually means it's really crap or really awesome.

@Polyducks nettop

BESW

11:24 AM

So if my colours are sometimes fine, but sometimes flickering or scrolling through the hues like someone turning a hue dial, I'm probably out of luck?

eimyr

@Polyducks it looks like a big router and is based of ITX or smaller custom layout

BESW

It's a very compact desktop miniPC. I think that's what they're called today.

Asus eeeBox PC 1033, to be specific.

Polyducks

aha. Was going to say, not seen one of those before

@BESW I'd say that's either an issue with your monitor

eimyr

@BESW either: your GPU (chip) is bust or your RAM is bust or your cable/socket is bust.

Polyducks

or with your graphics software

if it's a monitor issue, you can check it by plugging it in to another

BESW

11:25 AM

It's a tower the size of a notebook that can go flat, vertical, or attach to the back of a flatscreen monitor.

Polyducks

if it's a software issue, update your drivers

eimyr

Poly, don't forget RAM. It's shared, it can be addressing failure

BESW

I know it's not a monitor thing.

Checked that.

Polyducks

Nah, RAM is just a scratch pad. It's not likely to be that

@BESW have you ruled out cable damage?

BESW

I'm pretty sure my drivers are up to date. At least, I tried to make sure of that.

eimyr

11:26 AM

How about northbridge?

BESW

@Polyducks Yes.

[feels like he's walking into a bad joke] What's northbridge?

Polyducks

^

lol

eimyr

it's a thing that allows your CPU/GPU to communicate with RAM

as opposed to southbridge, which handles slotted cards and hard drives.

tl;dr a chip in you PC

BESW

All I know is, I don't see anything obviously burnt out.

eimyr

hmm

BESW

11:28 AM

How would I check northbridge?

eimyr

Do any condensers have a funny white/black/brown foam near the top or base?

You wouldn't. it's academic mostly.

BESW

Condensers are still the round towery things, right? No foam.

eimyr

yep

BESW

...not many condensers either. I remember boards being dotted with 'em.

eimyr

Then I'm afraid you're out of luck and unfortunately right.

BESW

11:31 AM

So my graphics are dying a slow, choking, incurable death?

eimyr

@BESW these days there are smaller surface-mounted condensers looking like very small plastic rectangles.

something is dying

but it doesn't matter what it is, since you can't isolate the problem

BESW

@eimyr Oh, those. [marvels at modern technology]

eimyr

unless you're willing to spend money on diagnosis and invasive treatment it's better to prepare to buy a new one

Polyducks

haha

Dude just check to update your drivers again?

BESW

I'm not totally ignorant, just way out of date and have no real interest in catching up and keeping up.

Polyducks

11:33 AM

Also if it's the GPU you could screenshot the issue. Try uploading it and see if we can see it?

BESW

I'm decent with the software end of things, but hardware's out of my league now.

You mean the colour shift?

eimyr

perhaps, that's a way

Polyducks

Yes

Get up a picture of something familiar

like a tiger or a duck

and then we can see the colour shifts

BESW

I'll try that some time.

Polyducks

anyway, that'll prove conclusively that the error is in the graphics pipeline

BESW

11:35 AM

Not tonight though, I've already spent a lot of time on it and need to put it back together before I get on to other stuff.

...like why my Internet's decided to go psycho on me.

Polyducks

at this point I'd just move house and get a new computer

Go live in silicon valley

BESW

I've moved house twice and had the same Internet problem follow me.

At this point I'm not sure going to the mainland would help.

Also, nobody in Silicon Valley cares about what I do for a living.

"So you can format in three different kinds of Chamoru and know the difference between a glotta and an 'okina. And?"

eimyr

Sounds like you should move to LA instead.

BESW

Nah, most of the Chamorus in LA were raised there.

eimyr

but it's so hip to be original

BESW

11:40 AM

(And they spell it Chamorro.)

eimyr

like, you're the real thing

you could totally work at buzzfeed, just say you're a leftist Chamorro designer

BESW

No, but my profession is based on living in a place where they care about that kind of detail.

Okay, computer re-assembled and it still turns on. Yey!

[loads tiger as wallpaper]

doppelgreener

@BESW What about him has you recommend him? Does he do much DC commentary?

Polyducks

That's awesome. Gratz BESW

BESW

I've not yet totally bricked anything, so I've got that going for me.

doppelgreener

11:47 AM

@BESW woo!

BESW

@doppelgreener He's the guy who does Atop the Fourth Wall.

Reviewing comic books is his thing.

Polyducks

better go

been caught too often looking at chat

love ya!

BESW

ttfn

Thanks again for all your help, guys.

doppelgreener

@BESW awesome!

eimyr

@doppelgreener could you help, perhaps?

doppelgreener

11:50 AM

@eimyr hmm? What with?

eimyr

43 mins ago, by eimyr

Dear Chat. I need a good argument to convince myself is should NOT write that RPG idea into a rulebook. I need it before it's too late. Halp, plox.

^^this

@Polyducks If you starred my inappropriate buzzfeed joke I would appreciate if you unstarred it. It is really rude in hindsight and might be misinterpreted as poking fun at LGBTQ and not Buzzfeed.

BESW

Only a mod or room owner can unstar something after a short time has passed. I will do so.

eimyr

Thanks.

BESW

(I was gonna unstar it, for the reasons you asked, after enough time had passed that its absence wouldn't be acutely noticed.)

eimyr

You might actually burninate it to Trash if you don't mind.

BESW

11:54 AM

→ 3 messages moved to Trash

...hm. My print screen isn't working.

eimyr

Poly might be interested for further investigation.

BESW

Okay, fine. I'll do the stupid copy-and-paste printscreen, Windows.

But I won't like it.

Right now my graphics are being smugly cooperative, but I wanted to be sure I could take a screenshot quickly when I need to.

Unfortunately, the copy-paste limitation makes it harder to be sure I get the effect if it's flickering.

doppelgreener

@eimyr which RPG idea?

eimyr

My own. The one I can't really evaluate because I'm too attached.

The one that has some competition already.

BESW

This is what happens whenever I run something in chat.

eimyr

12:06 PM

The one that could or could not be appreciated by people, but I'll never know.

doppelgreener

@eimyr You should do it! It'd be great!

eimyr

Noooo!

I am deluding myself already!

BESW

Then publish it as PWYL!

eimyr

I need an argument AGAINST DOING IT.

BESW

You'll earn pennies on the day for your work!

eimyr

12:08 PM

@BESW I would if it was published EVER.

But you know... the problem I'm facing is that I got really good feedback on Courtly Intrigue by my players and the idea seems to resonate with the right people in my new group too.

BESW

If you write it up in a nice Google Doc, chances are good it could be shared on the Evil Hat or SRD sites.

eimyr

I got recommended to use House of Bards by the one and only BESW and I found it lacking and much too fantasy for my taste.

I think I could have a go but there MUST be a reason why I shouldn't do it.

@BESW I would rather write it in a OneDrive Doc or a pdf that I can put somewhere. I would still prefer to maintain a degree of control over it and forfeiting license to Google doesn't seem like a good idea./

BESW

Fair enough.

eimyr

12:24 PM

Because House of Bards already does a good job with quick-starting the game of intrigue I think I would have to go for something more cerebral and bigger, rivalling the magnitude of, say, Atomic Robo or Dresden Files. Otherwise there is little point in writing up another intrigue for Fate.

Also, I struggle to find unique selling points unless I REALLY expand.

doppelgreener

@eimyr oh, this is your courtly intrigue game?

eimyr

Maybe the abandonment of Standard Fantasy Races and the world being slightly more XV-century historically accurate

@doppelgreener Yeah, the one I have been torturing RPG.SE with for 9 months now.

doppelgreener

First I became well aware of it was a few days ago.

eimyr

2

Q: System for a game of courtly intrigue

I'm considering running a game, in which characters take on a role of courtiers in a sovereign ruler's court. The idea is that these courtiers all serve as spies, diplomats, enforcers etc. to some factions, domestic or foreign, to further their causes through intrigue and conspiracy. The PCs woul...

doppelgreener

Go and do it if it's fulfilling. Work out if and how you'll publish it later.

eimyr

12:28 PM

Well.

If you put it that way, there is literally no drawback (apart from free time being wasted on this as opposed to, say, videogames)

Ahriman

@BESW Linkie seems fried

@doppelgreener <- @eimyr Seconded!

eimyr

well, you got me here

FINE!

:P

don't complain if I whine about how crap I am at writing or beg for proofreads and reviews on chat

Ahriman

@eimyr np with that!

eimyr

How would I know that whatever I'm writing would ever have an audience?

BESW

Write it for your group, perhaps.

The thing about writing is that you don't need an audience before you start.

But it can help to have someone in mind.

eimyr

12:40 PM

Well, acclaimed writers can rest assured they will find someone willing to read their work. People like me would get kick out of a double-digit download count

Ahriman

@eimyr I promise to not write a script to help you achieve this goal

eimyr

Similarly, how would I know if it is any good early on? I'm not a native speaker, I fear I might write like a 12 year old.

Ahriman

you don't know until you try

eimyr

Also, I should go to writers.SE

doppelgreener

@eimyr I'm working on a fan RPG and I have no idea whether the people who own the property will find its existence objectionable.

eimyr

12:51 PM

@doppelgreener You mentioned you were working on it. It is a gamble though.

Worse comes to worst, you can always use it for friends and family

doppelgreener

@eimyr Totes.

eimyr

Same here I guess.

doppelgreener

It's been very fulfilling and fun making it anyway, and I've learned things about Fate and RPG design from having to create things and work out why I'm doing what I'm doing and how I want to do it.

eimyr

I just learned that I can write a short piece and go to writers.se and ask if it sounds like it's an adult writing it. Sounds like a good way to start.

@doppelgreener how are you playtesting?

doppelgreener

@eimyr Not at all, yet - but it's at the stage where I want to very soon. :) I'll probably co-opt my group with BESW for it, and test with another group of friends, and with my housemates if they're willing.

eimyr

12:55 PM

My GF is unfortunately non-tabletop, hence I don't quite have that option.

doppelgreener

In part it's going to be important to see how other people play with it without my participation.

eimyr

I always heard "playtest early, playtest often" maxim.

Absolutely. Esp. if you just give the book and tell them to get crackin'

how long is it likely to be?

doppelgreener

@eimyr The thing itself? Since it's just a playtest doc, it'll be a google doc a few pages long. Single digits preferably, but I have some words to write about physical combat that might take one or two alone.

BESW

1:11 PM

Someday I'll dig my Hounds of God game back out and re-build it.

eimyr

1:25 PM

@doppelgreener no, the whole thing once it;'s ready

Unless it's the playtest doc that comprises of more than 50% of intended total volume.

doppelgreener

@eimyr I won't really know until it's done. I can't foresee needing more than 20 pages, or wanting to make anyone read more than that. If there's more, it'll be because of example characters.

eimyr

@doppelgreener I assume you won't describe the setting then.

doppelgreener

@eimyr I'll be publishing it under another pen name, and then I'll talk about it. :)

eimyr

I assumed the setting is formed by other original authors and you gave a fan RPG. I won't poke for more information though

David Wilkins

1:41 PM

TPK TONIGHT!!!! YAY

nitsua60

@DavidWilkins "tonight"=upcoming, or already happened?

David Wilkins

upcoming

my party has lost the objective of their quest and decided that they are going to kill an adult white dragon who has known they are coming for days

nitsua60

well, that sounds about right....

eimyr

2:02 PM

You sound very excited

David Wilkins

Well, it's going to be the first (if it happens) TPK with this group

eimyr

Do you enjoy TPKs?

David Wilkins

We've been playing weekly for over a year an a half

Enjoy is not the first adjective I would choose. But hey, what am I supposed to feel?

I've never DM'd a TPK before

Ahriman

I generally feel sad

followed by wondering what I did "wrong"

did I send enough warnings, did I include enough clues, where the chase of the enough never boils down to a concrete conclusion

David Wilkins

Well, I am hopeful that the party finds a way other than "KILL KILL KILL THE WHITE DRAGON YAH!"

...in its lair

...after spending 3 days murdering its minions

Polyducks

2:09 PM

@eimyr of course I starred it. How did you know? Anyway, problem solved now <3

I'm excited to see how the party cope with unending cold, @DavidWilkins

David Wilkins

If he wins, the White Dragon will Han Solo everyone, only in ice instead of carbonite...Is that what you mean, @Polyducks?

Polyducks

Oh wow. That's pretty cool. Will they uh... thaw out hundreds of years in the future after a series of constitution rolls vs death?

David Wilkins

I think death will be immenent

eimyr

@DavidWilkins When they enter the dragon should have a gallery of ice-cast adventurers. Then the dragon would deliver the Merovingian speech about their predecessors.

David Wilkins

Speech, yes...The gallery was at the very ENTRANCE to this dragon's lair

it's an iceberg, and they saw that as soon as they climbed to the top

Polyducks

2:18 PM

Sick reference @Eimyr

eimyr

Aww @Polyducks, you're my #1 fan

nitsua60

@DavidWilkins will the speech be heard while the dragon is still unseen, echoing through icy tunnels in unpredictable ways?

David Wilkins

Yes, and the entire iceberg will quake as he speaks

eimyr

@DavidWilkins Is there a possibility of your party actually succeeding?

David Wilkins

yes, if they reduce him to 100 HP he will escape

eimyr

2:22 PM

But can they realistically do it?

Or is it completely outside of their competence to drop him that low?

David Wilkins

No, it's possible

He alone is only a "Hard" encounter, but he has 2 aquatic trolls that push it into the "Deadly" range

Those trolls can only get to the party after about 4 rounds, so they may well be witnessing the dragon flee as the trolls arrive. if it gets that far

There are also some traps the dragon can lead the party through

eimyr

2:52 PM

@BESW Your link works now but I completely don't get the joke.

doppelgreener

3:05 PM

@BESW the link fails for me still :(

Oh now it works

I think he means extra people want to join and they're also at work :)

David Wilkins

That link doesn't work for me

or maybe it is slow

nitsua60

4:05 PM

@Jack @Smurfton continuing on "where we draw lines for 'read to me'," I did go ahead and dwonvote this question for just that reason: OP says (paraphrasing) "I haven't read the chapter where I suspect the answer would be: please either tell me what it says or give me the page number to look at." For me that's not showing the effort.

Jack

4:41 PM

@nitsua60 @nitsua60 - yeah, that makes sense. Thanks for the clarification.

nitsua60

@Jack but everyone gets to draw their own personal lines--in aggregate, it all seems to work.

eimyr

4:56 PM

B-U-R-N-I-N-A-T-E

I need to find my own catchphrase.

eimyr

5:45 PM

@Rob Hi there!

Rob

Hey @eimyr

eimyr

Cambridge, eh?

Rob

Happy Monday and all that wossname

Once, really should update that. Now "Up North"

eimyr

Oooo

Where is Up North?

Rob

Oh no, should say "Leeds". Funny

eimyr

5:46 PM

Huh.

Close enough.

I'm based in Chesterfield.

Rob

Ar, just down the road, well, the M1

Don't suppose you know a way/place to price old models?

Not sure it's worth a question in SE

Even though I'm so close to 20k I can taste it...

eimyr

erm...

old models?

models of what?

Rob

Starcraft

eimyr

erm...

Is that a wargaming question?

Rob

Dunno; not really an RPG question tho

eimyr

5:53 PM

I am completely at loss, not only how to price what you have, but also what that thing is.

Rob

Haha, fair enough

eimyr

So, do you do RPGs these days?

Rob

Yep; play Pathfinder, run Earthdawn and running a freeform PBEM :)
Yourself?

eimyr

Yeah, 5e and maybe I'll run something soon.

I have a great group here.

Rob

Heard good things about 5e, not looked at it yet

eimyr

6:00 PM

I have to go, but I'd be happy to talk a bit more with a fellow not to far away:)

ttfn

Rob

Adios!

Tritium21

7:08 PM

5

Q: Is one Proficiency die better than two Ability dice?

My GM often allows me and the other players to roll one skill or another for various checks (Coordination or Athletics is a common option; the character either balances across an obstacle or bypasses it with brute strength). My character has three Ability dice in Athletics, and one Proficiency d...

dice edge-of-the-empire age-of-rebellion force-and-destiny

Do you think if I edited in what those dice actually are, I would get a little traction?

Pixie

8:14 PM

@doppelgreener @Althis Actually, Cronus and Chronos are separate figures, although at times they were confused.

2

I would like to read more of the log than this but the new chat interface is really hard to work with on my phone, so I will do that later. :P

BESW

@Pixie I had to sit on my hands for most of that conversation.

eimyr

9:25 PM

@BESW Are you up yet?

I have an idea I need to bounce off someone smarter than me.

BESW

Hmm?

I might be able to scrounge up someone like that.

eimyr

Okay! Great!

I have a problem with early game outlining

I have goals that conflict and I can't see a way past it.

In a nutshell, I have the following:

I want a game that's veeery low fantasy, closely resembling life in High-Late Middle Ages. That's one. Second is that I want the setting not to be focused around religion very much, and particularly not depicting any real religious movements. Third, I want it to be set in a fantasy kingdom with a little bit of magic in it.

Can you see the problem already?

BESW

Ahuh. Well, hm.

eimyr

No 1 requires everything to revolve around Christianity and the Bible, which conflicts with 2. 2 conflicts with 3, because religion formed those kingdoms I want to mimic. 1 conflicts with 3 in a very obvious way.

I can't see a way out, no matter how I turn, ass is still backwards.

BESW

This isn't necessarily as much of a problem as it seems, if we approach it from just the right angle.

This is gonna depend on how comfortable you are with some potential Implications, but.

Replace religion with magic.

Especially in the time period and place you're talking about, religion is an all-pervasive supernatural part of peoples' lives. It was effectively low-key magic, for all intents and purposes.

eimyr

9:34 PM

It would have to be a very low magic magic.

BESW

Miracles aren't things which happen to other people in that culture.

Stuff that we'd now consider coincidence, or explain with science, is a supernatural religious experience for these people.

Take that attitude, and just turn the dial up the tiniest bit.

The culture you're talking about already believes magic is demonstrably real.

You just need to dial it up to the point that it's demonstrably real to our modern sensibilities too.

Then take away the specifically religious connotations around the supernatural, and BAM.

White witches, hidden fey folk, curses, pacts with dubious powers, rituals for luck and success--it's all right there already.

Thiess of Kaltenbrun

Thiess of Kaltenbrun, also spelled Thies, and commonly referred to as the Livonian werewolf, was a Livonian man who was put on trial for heresy in Jürgensburg, Swedish Livonia, in 1692. At the time in his eighties, Thiess openly proclaimed himself to be a werewolf (wahrwolff), claiming that he ventured into Hell with other werewolves in order to do battle with the Devil and his witches. Although claiming that as a werewolf he was a "hound of God", the judges deemed him guilty of trying to turn people away from Christianity, and he was sentenced to be both flogged and banished for life. According...

eimyr

Okay.

I have that in the setting too.

I imagined a common religion vs magic trope, with magic being totally obsolete stuff of the past, with only minor powers left in the world and religion being also slowly phased out by secular ideas. You know, transition to Renaissance sort of way.

Unfortunately I then remember that if I want to portray a feudal society I would need Christian roots.

I think that it has to go either way: I either let go of some hardcore medieval ideas and manage to keep my fantasy bits or resign from fantasy bits and make it a Historically Accurate Intrigue instead.

An example of such idea is that nobles can buy indulgence or that prince-bishops hold land feudally belonging to the kingdom, but their allegiance is to the religious head and therefore they don't give a crap about kings and their opinions.

BESW

Hmm. There are rough equivalents to feudalism in non-European history you could draw from.

Zemene Mesafint maybe.

Or various parts of Chinese and Japanese history.

To get more specific in advice, we'd need to drill down to why you have these goals and whether they're fundamental, or simply expressions of other more fundamental goals.

eimyr

9:49 PM

I've had this problem once already. I asked myself why would there be castles if there are accurate cannons? I resigned from cannons to preserve castles.

BESW

Like, desiring a lack of focus on religion--is that about avoiding Christianity, or religion, or is it just a playstyle preference?

eimyr

I'm very willing to do that and I tried to do it myself but failed.

BESW

Castles and cannons overlapped a fair amount, and that was a pretty dramatic period to live in if you were anywhere near either.

eimyr

I think I would need a coach to ask me the right questions.

Castles survived cannons actually. They evolved into low earthen ramparts and star forts, but they looked nothing like the mediaeval ones.

BESW

Yeah; I'm more familiar with late Spanish forts.

eimyr

9:53 PM

I like normal castles, but my favourite period in history (in connection to RPGs) is 15th century, esp. First half

BESW

You're quite free to fiddle the details. Perhaps the justification for traditional castles in an era of cannon implies a mystery that people could play to uncover.

eimyr

Well, avoiding religion - it's that I don't want to place the game in historical states. Getting rid of Europe but keeping the Bible seems silly. Also, I don't want to portray the crusades for a variety of reasons

So I wasn't a place like mediaeval Europe but not Europe.

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