I'm moving there. I feel that Blogger is not keeping up with the times, and that its functionality is very limited.
Updates stopped for this blog. Last post 20 August 2013.
Tuesday, August 20, 2013
I have 3 other level 3-11 characters, but I’m not going to mark their storylines out because it’s rather pointless to do so at that stage.
And I can’t believe how I didn’t choose Quaggans. How on earth did that happen?
posted @ 6:53 pm
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Monday, July 08, 2013
It’s coming to the end of the holidays :(Well, I’ve been busy completing and trying out new games. Here’s the list:
Tomb Raider
XCOM: Enemy Unknown
Path of Exile (Act 1 to 3 normal)
Starcraft II: Heart of The Swarm
Company of Heroes 2
Dishonored
Ghost Recon Online
MechWarrior Online
Firefall
Hawken
The Secret World
Warframe
I might have missed out some games. Too forgettable.
Games I am still playing daily: World of Tanks and Navyfield.
Okay, so here’s what I’ll be doing. I’ll be giving a small write up on each game here on this list. I won’t necessarily be writing about how good or bad the game was. I’ll be writing about my feelings about the game, and my experiences with it.
Tomb Raider
Awesome stuff. Best game I’ve played this year, though you could argue that I haven’t played a lot this year. The story was bizarre and interesting enough to catch my attention and keep me going. The combat is punchy, and the game mechanics are slick. The graphics are beautiful as well, even with my crappy graphics card.
Something possibly odd about me is that I do enjoy a bit of linearity in games. When I say this, I mean it in terms of exploration and travel. I enjoy games that put you on a specific path, with specific waypoints on the map for you to follow. I do enjoy having conversational and game-changing choices, like those in Mass Effect or Dragon Age, so don’t think that I like a plain mindless game. In short, I like choices that I have to make, but I hate exploration that I have to do. I was never much of an explorer, and I’m very goal-driven when I play video games. In Tomb Raider, I can just follow the path laid out for me without losing much in the game.There are some optional stuff for you to do, so those who crave for side quests need not despair.
XCOM: Enemy Unknown
While trying to complete this game, I was also playing with another tactics game on my PSP (Tactics Ogre). I was halfway through XCOM when I realized that turn-based tactical gameplay like this is just not for me. Tactical games with a squad, action points, movement tiles, etc, I’m just horrible at them. XCOM is the first turn-based tactical game I’ve played on the PC, but I’ve played many on the PSP. I’ve never completed a single one. I always end up stuck, and I eventually give up.
Fortunately, I didn’t get stuck on XCOM, but unfortunately, I got extremely bored. The pace of the game was too slow, the animations got extremely repetitive without any way of skipping them, and the chance to hit was disgustingly based on the random number generator (RNG). The RNG is so bad, it made me rage in the game.
What did I do next? I went looking for cheats. And I found them. I gave myself unlimited moves, god mode, teleportation, and I killed aliens with my mouse cursor. I zoomed past the sleep-inducing battles, only to complete a story which was less memorable than the cartoons on the Disney Channel.
Bah. At least the PSP tactical games had a good story and game mechanics. Just that it was too hard. How did XCOM get high ratings?
Path of Exile
Many call this the game Diablo 3 should have been. I’m not going to disagree. Path of Exile is a good game, and if you’re a fan of point-and-click ARPGs, you should be playing Path of Exile.
Check out the badass passive skill tree here. And those are just passives. Check out the active skill gems here. And any class can use those skill gems. Be a melee witch (mage), or a spell casting marauder (warrior), it’s all up to you.
Starcraft II: Heart of The Swarm
The heck is this? I always enjoyed Blizzard’s stories and lore, but this one really disappoints me. The ending is just so unsatisfying. It didn’t make me crave for more, and neither did it make me feel happy. It’s so… meh.
Well, at least the gameplay is still the same, which can be a good or bad thing.
Company of Heroes 2
Another disappointment. Definitely is not better than Company of Heroes 1. This post appeared on my Facebook newsfeed yesterday, and look at the comments. I guess I’m not the only one who disliked CoH 2.
The campaign is still okay, similar to CoH 1, in the sense that they give you things to do little by little. Things are slowly introduced to you, and full battle command is only given at the very end of the campaign.
But for skirmish battles, oh man, what happened to annihilate mode? It’s gone! And anti-tank infantry, they seem to be utterly useless now. The only real way to take down tanks reliably seem to be using AT guns or another tank. Infantry seem to only be used for early game now.
Also, the level of RNG seems to be higher in tank battles now. One shot can do absolutely no damage at all, and the next can take off half your health. What on earth is going on? Ugh.
Dishonored
Remember when I said earlier that I liked linearity in my games? Well, that is the main reason why I dislike games made by Bethesda. Bethesda games tend to have a lot of exploration required if you want to earn money, items, and upgrades. You have to scavenge for stuff left in cupboards, ruins, and other places. I hate doing that. While Bethesda games tend to be well-loved by the people, I’ve either not completed any of them properly (cheated), or not completed them at all.
However, Dishonored is the first Bethesda game that I’ve completed properly. I have to admit, I felt like giving up about 3/4 through the game. I just dislike having to poke through every corner of the area, looking for money, ammo, and potions. Maybe I should have just ignored all that scavenging and just went on with my game, but would I have been as effective if I did?
Still, the game was fun, and I really enjoyed how the stealth aspect of the game played out.
Ghost Recon Online
I’ve actually attempted to play this game about a year ago, but because Starhub fibre optic had severe disconnection issues with certain online video games, I couldn’t play this.
Starhub has finally got their shit together with the latest firmware update (SH_2.00B050), so my connection is great now.
Anyway, Ghost Recon Online is a pretty good shooter. Some of you might find it rather typical, since there isn’t really much that separates it from the other shooters already out there. However, I still enjoy the standard shooter with standard guns the best. I’ll elaborate more on the Hawken and Firefall write-up.
MechWarrior Online
Oh boy, the controls are weird, and geez, the view through my mech is terrible. I can’t see anything. I quit after one battle.
Firefall
This is a unique game. If you want to try out something new regardless of what it may be, give this game a shot.
It’s an FPS MMORPG, but I found the PvE aspect of the game extremely lacking at the moment. The little bit of PvE I could find were just dynamic events that appeared on the map, so you just go there, and do them. Quests just involved shooting at stuff, which is typical for a shooter.
I do believe that the core of the game is the PvP, which is rather unfortunate for me. Here’s the elaboration about “standard shooters with standard guns”. Firefall is not a standard shooter. You can jetpack around. You have fantasy abilities that involve poison clouds, AoE stomping, healing, and dashing around. I am terrible at these kinds of shooters. I can never hit anything.
Game isn’t bad, it’s just not my type of game.
Hawken
This is another shooter, but in a mech. Seems like a MechWarrior ripoff, but the controls and view is much better than MechWarrior Online. However, similar to Firefall, it has flying and dashing, which does not appeal to me. Matchmaking seems rather unbalanced as well, as I saw level 26 players in the same battle as me. Maybe it’s a lack of players thing, *shrug*.
The Secret World
I gave this game a go when it was free for one week during it’s first year anniversary.
It’s not too bad a game, but the user interface interaction with NPCs is terrible, and the game itself is definitely not as polished as Rift or World of Warcraft.
I did not play much, so I can’t say much. The skill wheel seems quite interesting though. It seems that you are able to wield two weapons, which gives you access to two different skill sets at a time.
I’m generally quite burnt out on MMORPGs, so my attention span with them are fairly limited. It’s going to take a lot to keep me playing one. Pretty much why I’m playing the games I play daily; they’re unique.
Warframe
This game is pretty cool. It’s a PvE shooter, so you do instanced missions, in a team of up to four players. I’ve always wished for these kind of games, but unfortunately, these type of games are pretty rare, and I’m not surprised. I have played these kind of PvE mission-based games, and after a while, the lower level missions tend to end up empty, so you end up soloing everything. It becomes a huge problem if the mission requires a team because it’s a special boss mission. Sadly, none of these type of games that I have played still operate. I loved these kinds of games.
End of Nations
I have been invited to the alpha for this game again. If it opens before it gets busy in school, I’ll give it a try. I won’t be able to say anything about it though, because games in alpha stages have a non-disclosure agreement.
—- End of write ups —-
I won’t be playing any new games until December, and there doesn’t seem to be a lot of new games to play in the first place.
Until then, I’ll just be play World of Tanks and Navyfield for the daily experience doubles. Bye!
posted @ 6:51 pm
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Monday, July 01, 2013
I’ve been trying out this game creator called Construct 2, and I’ve been following a beginner course from the University of Reddit, here. They have videos.So I’ve made a new link on my blog, and it’s still a work in progress. It will most likely evolve into a side-scrolling shooter.
posted @ 6:51 pm
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Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Hai.It’s the holidays now, so naturally, it’s time to catch up on games, relax, and have fun. Why work so hard? Majority of people’s regret on their deathbed is that they spent too much time working, and not spending time with their family, or doing the things they enjoy.
Unfortunately, I haven’t been playing anything much. 3 games. World of Tanks, War Thunder, and Rift.
I actually have 3 other games sitting around collecting dust. I’m not sure why I do not feel like playing them. I need to complete Dishonored, Tomb Raider, and XCOM. And I still haven’t reached max level in Guild Wars 2. Why am I playing a new MMO (Rift)?
Well, Rift is really fun. In fact, it’s better than Guild Wars 2. In my opinion, many MMOs are better than Guild Wars 2. I just don’t like it.
Rift
Rift is now free-to-play, but I went ahead to redeem the Raptr reward for Rift, which gave me a 30-day subscription, as well as the expansion, Storm Legion. This gave me a substantial head start, so I didn’t need to crowd with the free-to-play horde.
The Raptr reward also grants me patron status, so I have more bag slots, some expansion souls (talent trees) unlocked, and some other benefits I’m not sure of. Awesome.
I played Rift briefly during the beta a few years ago, and I passed it off as a generic MMO that followed in the footsteps of World of Warcraft. Most of the mechanics that are present in Rift can be found in any generic MMO out there, and I passed off the soul tree as some sort of gimmick (to be honest, I didn’t truly understand the soul tree matching back then).
But why is Rift so fun now?
It’s smooth. It’s polished. And it’s polished to a gleaming shine. And yes, the soul tree system is pretty darn good. Classes are so flexible. Each class can do a minimum of three of the four possible roles in the game (tank, healer, damage, support). This makes me an extremely happy man. I’ve always loved to play hybrids in an MMO, and Rift offers this opportunity.
The game is very easy to play as well (I heard it gets hard in level 50-60), which adds to the fun factor to the game. No one likes a game that is too difficult, especially when you’re just trying to level. Fall damage doesn’t even exist!
There is very little travelling to do, which is also a huge plus. I remember my time in World of Warcraft running around the huge areas, and even with a mount, the travelling can be a huge pain.
Even the PvP is fun in this game. Sorry for making so many comparisons with World of Warcraft, but it’s the only MMO that I have had years of experience with (I did high-end heroic raiding). In World of Warcraft, you have the potential to get killed very quickly (especially during the pre-Cataclysm health pool). The pace of PvP in Rift is perfect.
Just try it! The free-to-play model of Rift is not prohibitive at all, unlike some other MMOs, *cough* SWTOR *cough*.
I’m Lordhodor on the Laethys (Oceanic) server if you want to find me.
World of Tanks
This is a game I’ve been playing for the past year, consistently logging in to play daily. The first battle of each day has a x2 experience bonus, and I log in to earn these bonuses only. That is all I do.
Why do I continue to do it? Well, World of Tanks provides a unique gaming experience that cannot be found elsewhere. Sounds rather cliche, but true. I tend to play unique games for long periods of time (remember Rakion?). And hey, who doesn’t like driving a tank and shooting at shiny things?
But why do I not play it more than just the x2 bonuses? Well, the game can get rather frustrating at times, and the downtime on this game is horribly large. If your tank gets destroyed in a battle, you cannot use it until the battle ends. This can result in waiting for an average of 5 minutes before you can use your tank again. I have no such patience.
War Thunder
This is a flight combat game. A simple description for this is: it’s World of Tanks with planes. Eventually, War Thunder will grow to have tanks and ships as well, all in one battlefield. Pretty awesome. World of Tanks, World of Warships, and World of Warplanes are all separated.
I’m not a huge fan of planes, I prefer ships and tanks. However, War Thunder is still fun, and it is definitely plays at a higher pace than World of Tanks. If you die, just leave the battle and join a new one. No waiting necessary!
I haven’t gone far in War Thunder yet (rank 4 British only), so I cannot say much. What I can say is, it has been fun so far. I am impressed with the way the planes get damaged in game though. Fires, wing damage, engine damage, etc. It is all very elaborate and detailed. These damages affect the way your plane flies, and it’s fun to see a badly battered up plane fly/glide around to kill someone before you crash to your death.
What I do not like about War Thunder is the way planes are put into battles. Unlike the matchmaking system in World of Tanks, there are no strict rules for the matchmaking in War Thunder. A tier 1 plane can go up against a tier 4 plane, and it’s no fun when this happens.
There are also objectives in each battle, which is usually either to capture bases, or destroy ground targets. It seems like a good thing, until you realise that the game ends in 3 minutes because everyone rushed to destroy ground targets, and you’ve barely done anything. I find it fun to dogfight and shoot down planes, not win in 3 minutes without doing anything fun.
Again, I seem to only play it for the daily x2 bonuses, and again, it provides a unique gaming experience. It’s all good.
Oh, if you want to sign up for War Thunder, use this link: http://warthunder.com/en/registration?r=2386088. You’ll get golden eagles (premium currency that can only be bought with real money). I’ll only get in-game money. Good enough.
posted @ 6:48 pm
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Tuesday, June 11, 2013
I haven’t blogged for so long. The gaps are getting longer. I’ll probably be typing out a series of posts in the near future. I miss typing out stuff; it’s so calming. Programming isn’t the same as it makes me rage.So, first post that breaks the hiatus will be about my grades for the recently ended semester.
IS1103: C+
CS2100: B
CS1020: B+
LSM1301: A-
SSA2215/GE2018: A-
CAP: 3.8
In the post about my grades last semester, I hypothesized that it is easier to get higher grades in classes with more people. I still believe this to be true.
In the list above, the first module has the smallest class size, and the module at the bottom has the largest class size. And hey, look at the grades! From the worst to the best.
Of course, class size isn’t the only factor that affects your grades. Your level of competency in the module is obviously important as well. What I’m trying to say is that you can mess up more in a module with a larger class size, and the effects will not be as severe.
What implications does this have? I probably do not want to minor in Geographical Information Systems (GIS) anymore. The class size is horribly small (less than 50), and the bell curve in GE2227 (one of the modules needed for GIS) was not forgiving at all. I honestly believe that if GE2227 was not marked based on a bell curve, I would have gotten at the very least an A-. I got a B, which is 2 grades lower.
IS1103: This module is about computing and ethics. It teaches you what you should do in certain situations, weigh the pros and cons, and think about the effects your actions will have to people around you.
I’m not really sure what went wrong here. They seemed to like the presentation, so the problem is either in the report, the blog posts, or the exams. Well to be honest, I still have no idea what I’m supposed to learn from this module, or what the lecturers want in my answers.
So, the reason for the bad grade? Low level of competency and small class size (maybe. This isn’t as definitive as GE2227 last semester).
CS2100: This module is called computer organization. It’s about multiplexers, decoders, flip-flops, number systems, pipelining, and caching.
What went wrong: I failed the first term test (14/30). For term test 2, I got 24/30, which is good. Adding these two together, I still end up average. Also, I messed up some of the graded assignments. Being average gets you a B. I was hoping for a B+ though, oh well. I did what I could to salvage things after messing up term test 1 and the first graded assignment. Could have been worse.
CS1020: Teaches us Java, and more data structures (linked lists, hashing).
What went wrong: Recursion sucks. Did not complete the final paper, though I believe many did not complete it as well. A B+ probably means that I got outclassed by the Indians and Chinese. Not too shabby a grade anyway. Programming in general is getting horribly annoying when things go wrong. And I expect it to go wrong more often and I move up the difficulty scale. Bah. Spending 5 hours trying to figure out why your code doesn’t work isn’t enjoyable at all. I got better stuff to do.
LSM1301: General Biology. Teaches basic biology… yeah.
What went right: I dunno? The module was generally easy. Simple and straightforward, with graded lab sessions and an open book final exam with 60 MCQs.
What went wrong: My lab sessions were either average or below average. Never did well in them.
SSA2215/GE2018: Module is called ‘The Biophysical Environment of Singapore’. It’s about how Singapore is where it is now (plate tectonics), what makes up the rocks and land of Singapore, the mangroves, corals, seagrass and beaches of Singapore, and Singapore’s land use now and in the future.
What went right: Nothing. Maybe that’s exaggerating. I guess you could say that every single assignment I did was average and above. That’s good enough for an A- I guess. *Shrug*. I remember cursing and swearing to myself about this module, that I’ll never ever take an arts module again. Soooooo much memorizing to do. You suggest that I should understand concepts instead? Nope, you can’t understand that Telok Ayer got reclaimed in 1878. But the grades I keep getting tells me that I should continue. I consistently manage to do average in Geography modules and get out with an A-. Go figure.
Sigh. Geography. The path in life that I’ll never know if it’s the right one for me. It just seems to come so naturally to me. I learn it, and I understand the concepts easily. I touch it, and good grades appear.
Anyway, consistent grades so far. If you haven’t noticed, my grades this semester are exactly the same as last semester. My ideal target is to graduate above 4.0 CAP, but if shit happens, I must not fall below 3.5. Should be doable.
posted @ 6:42 pm
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Wednesday, January 02, 2013
"I'd define a hardcore gamer as being someone who makes time to play games, and a casual gamer as someone who plays games to pass time. A simple definition to be sure, but I think it works well."http://kotaku.com/5972510/?post=55742017
posted @ 1:18 am
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Thursday, December 27, 2012
GEK1001: A-GE2227: B
CS1010: A-
CS1231: C+
MA1101R: B+
CAP: 3.8
Surprise surprise. What a joke. Here's why.
I got C+ for my project for GEK1001, and I actually didn't manage to properly complete all my essays during the final exams. I didn't have anything substantial to wrong for the human geography part of the exam, and I was really writing crap during the exam. I got an A-? LOL. I was actually prepared to S/U it (this means that I change the grade to satisfactory/unsatisfactory, and it will not count towards my CAP. This can only be done on a maximum of 3 modules). I think this is probably thanks to the bell curve.
GE2227. This, in my opinion, was the easiest module that I took this semester. The assignments were easy, the project is not too bad, and I actually had free time during the final exam. So getting a B for this is really a disappointment. Bell curve probably screwed me here, since everyone probably did well and getting an A would be really difficult. I think the small class size didn't help either. Note to self: large class sizes are probably better. Bell curve saved me for GEK1001, and screwed me here. Oh well.
CS1010. I'm quite surprised I did well for this since I felt that I messed up the final exam. I really didn't know what I was doing during the exam, my mind was a mess. I seriously hate coding on paper. Not to mention I spent an insignificant amount of time studying for this module. I probably started to study this about two days before the exam, and that was it. I guess I have to thank the fact that I did well for all the small little tests they gave during the semester.
CS1231. My nightmare. This is a module that I prayed that I would get at least a D, and I would be happy with it. No complaints with a C+. I'm just happy I passed. Thank God.
MA1101R. Linear Algebra. This was really a big giant mess for three-quarters of the semester. Luckily about 2-3 weeks before the exam, I had a eureka moment and everything became clear to me. Once you have that eureka moment, this module isn't that hard. The lecturer is awesome too, in the sense that he posts A LOT of help online, so that helps a lot. He's also self-declared "kind", and the exam questions aren't too tough.
Not too shabby for my first ever semester in university. I really expected to do a lot worse. I spent a lot of time adjusting to the high workload as well, and I think I'm ready to ditch 95% of entertainment for semester 2. I got used to it 3/4 through semester 1 anyway.
No life. Still don't understand how people can say this is easier than JC.
posted @ 1:17 am
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Tuesday, December 11, 2012
I'm back! It's been a long time since I posted, pretty much the longest ever hiatus the blog has had.The first semester of university was hell, and I think it's because I took two Math modules at the same time. So, tip: don't do that.
Well I'm not going to be taking a Math module next semester, since it does not fit very well into my timetable. Technically, it does fit, but I will miss 15-30 minutes of Math lecture every week since that's how long it takes to travel from School of Computing to Science.
Anyway, doesn't matter, no rush to take that Math module since it is only a prerequisite for only one other module, and apparently none of the Math modules are prerequisites for any computing module.
I have a feeling that my next semester will be a very relaxed one (relatively), since I will be taking a General Biology module, which according to a friend, is very easy. Also going to take a Singapore Studies module, some "Computing and Society" thing, which leaves only two computing modules.
Since it's the holidays, what do I naturally do? Play games, watch TV shows and movies of course! So far, I've already cleared a huge chunk of the games that I'm supposed to complete. The initial list was:
- Torchlight 2
- The Walking Dead - Episode 3, 4, 5
- XCOM: Enemy Unknown
- Medal Of Honor: Warfighter
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 2
- Assassins Creed 3
- Hitman: Absolution
- Lego Lord of The Rings
- Scribblenauts Unlimited
Medal of Honor is just poor. The shooting is poor, the intro is poor, ugh. The intro managed to piss me off, and that's really something.
Scribblenauts is a good game. The thing is, it's a casual game for people who have a lot of time to spend just doodling around in the game. I don't think I want to invest that kind of time.
So, how about the games I played? Black Ops 2 is pretty meh. I've never liked any Call of Duty game made by Treyarch. I've played every single Call of Duty game available on the PC and PSP, and I really, really find that those made by Treyarch are lacklustre compared to those made by Infinity Ward. In fact, I think Black Ops 2 has got to be one of the worst that I've played. I'm not sure if it's because I'm desensitised to the whole Call of Duty gimmick, but Black Ops 2 didn't excite me or entertain me at all. Not even once. And the story is so dull it's not even funny.
Assassins Creed 3 was a let down. I've always loved the Assassins Creed series. It's one of my favourites. I think I really have to agree with this post http://kotaku.com/5958941/how-has-assassins-creed-iii-disappointed-me-let-me-count-the-ways especially point 9 and 10. I really didn't bother with anything other than doing the main missions. I didn't bother trying to earn money for upgrades, I actually played the whole damn game without buying a single item (unless you count bribes to reduce notoriety), I didn't bother with stealth (well, 80% of the time I didn't), I just rushed in, did the job, and rushed out. I spend an annoyingly high amount of time running from place to place, and when I use a horse, the horse starts spazzing around, being retarded and all. I tried doing some side missions, but after interacting with the NPC, nothing happens. I have no idea why. The main character, Connor, isn't the most likeable character around. The only part that's really fun is naval combat. Really awesome, best naval combat I've seen in a game so far. The story, compared to the previous Assassins Creed games, is nothing amazing; it's average at best, and the ending didn't give a WTF moment like it always has in the past.
The Walking Dead game is awesome. It won the Game of the Year for 2012, by the way. Just... awesome beyond description man. Just play it, I think it's on mobile phones as well.
I'm currently playing XCOM now, and it's not bad. However, it's getting rather boring in the sense that it's very monotonous. The overall concept is good (the whole thing about panic levels, research, engineering, squads), but I swear it makes me fall asleep. I'm not sure if I'll survive this. I think it has something to do with the tactical interface for the turn-based battles. I enjoy turn-based battles for the RPGs that I play on my PSP, possibly because it's simple, straightforward and easy to operate. The interface in XCOM just annoys me somehow. Too much scrolling?
Same for Torchlight II. Getting really dull. I haven't even been following the story since everything is read off the screen. Might as well read a book then. Taking words from a book, pasting it into the NPC's speech, then making us fight mobs by clicking incessantly isn't my idea of a good game. I don't know, Torchlight II is supposed to be a good game. So is Assassins Creed 3 and Black Ops 2.
Sigh, guess I'm stuck with Guild Wars 2 and World of Tanks for the holidays. To be honest, World of Tanks is starting to annoy me. It has never been a game that I could play for a long period of time. The battles never fail to annoy me due to incompetent teammates.
posted @ 1:16 am
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