I just feel sorry for the guy wasting so much money on pixels.
If he can shell out $2-3k easily he'd probably be wasting them anyway in some way (plasma TVs, tranny hoes, iPads...)
If he enjoyed spending them that way, it's ok.
A plasma TV you can enjoy for twenty years or so... bought items in a computer game not so much.
And tranny hoes?!
Big LOL at that one.
But they can still be enjoyed.
If I buy a nice suit it is my intention of having it for a while. However, I am under no illusions that "fabric" is going to last forever.
Pixels are just as real as anything else. One can perceive them and one can appreciate and make use of any forms they take on a computer screen.
After all, we are all on a site for online "video" games that are essentially pixels. Therefore those pixels do have value to us as these games are of interest.
The difference is your suit doesn't disappear in 7-14-30 days requiring you to buy a new one.
-Letting Derek Smart work on your game is like letting Osama bin Laden work in the White House. Something will burn.- -And on the 8th day, man created God.-
I have tested 30 or 40 F2P games and most are not addictive.
I ended up paying a bit of money in two F2P games:
Perfect World (playing it a bit every few months for variety, char customization is very good)
Runes of Magic (Friends had enough from AoC, moved to Aion (very stupid) and do now parking in RoM which is a quite good F2P game so far).
In the end i pay far less then in p2p games but i am not the pvp type of player so i have no problem with the race for superiority, its only an oportunity to play with friends and have some adventures online.
"Torquemada... do not implore him for compassion. Torquemada... do not beg him for forgiveness. Torquemada... do not ask him for mercy. Let's face it, you can't Torquemada anything!"
The "It's only pixels" argument has always been a little weak, in my eyes. It's not that big of a logic stretch to apply that sort of argument to things like alcohol, junk food, and theatre movies. Heck, if you factor in depreciation, buying a new car is insane. Even myself, I've spent thousands of dollars on my computer hardware hobby, most of which maintains their value like a lead balloon. And you know what they say about glass houses and stones...
So personally, while I'm completely unable to relate to the idea of spending huge bucks on an MMO, much less some of the dross out there right now... if the person is spending legit money, and their kids aren't walking to school barefoot and hungry, go for it if you're having fun.
Regarding the OP question, I once paid $15/month for three months in one F2P, because I spent a lot of time in it, I was having fun, and the developer was actually doing a fairly good job. If a game can provide that much, regardless of their payment model, more power (and a few bucks from me) to them. But then it went downhill, so I immediately quit.
A Modest Proposal for MMORPGs: That the means of progression would not be mutually exclusive from the means of enjoyment.
I have not played one of these so called f2p games to high level without paying. So they are more like free to try, pay to play. Games like ROM you need to spend far more than a normal subscription to get your gear to a playable state. A free player can't exist at high levels in ROM for example.
For many of the other games, once you approach about two thirds of max level it almost becomes mandatory to purchase items that increase leveling, otherwise you can spend weeks on one level.
So at lower levels in these games spending is optional, but once you get to a certain point, you can no longer play for free.
If you like to make things, none of these games are free, making things always involves trips to the item shop for more pack space and enhancement items.
So basically anyone in this thread who claims to have not paid for anything in a f2p game has never taken a character to high level in one nor used their crafting system to any extent.
I guess you're not really aware of what's happening around you. There are players in RoM that don' t spend a single dime in the game, just like me. My main is S58/P58 (level cap until yesterday before the patch) and 2 alts at 50/50s... yet i'm 100% f2p all the way. It does take a long time to gear up and stat up my equipments, but i'm not in a rush. I enjoy playing the game as it is and not try to compete with those who spend real cash in the game.
My 2 crafting skills stopped at level 30ish just because i don't think it's worth leveling up anymore... then i started establishing a guild just for fun, a one-man guild. It's just me and my alts though, lol. I was able to level it to 7, now with a level 1 Castle, Academy, Library, Forge, Field, Lumberyard, Stable and a Farm.
The game is fun and i enjoy it a lot even without the convinience that the Item Shop can offer. I'll still play F2P in RoM. I may not be able to play endgame instances as of yet, but i'm working on it. It will take time for sure, but it's possible even without spending real money on it.
p.s.
RoM's community is the best i've encountered so far. Players there are incredibly nice and helpful. Some ppl out there might just want to know. :P
This might not fresh enough. However, i would like to know about it.
I never paid for any F2P games yet. I am not sure if i will. Personally, i think those games are totally pay 2 win. And i know, i am not going to spend like crazy.
Vote your answer and throw some words
I guess I'm the minority then.
I don't know why I do spend a lot on F2Ps, but I do. I don't have much time to play games that are on a constantly reset stopwatch cycle like P2Ps are, but I do have some money leftover to at least make my rather poor and weak character cooler than the higher level ones.
I think I'm aspiring for awesomeness the wrong way...
While I do believe the people who argue these companies are scam artists have some truth to their claims I also believe that if you are willing to fall for the very basic and obvious tactics of a company you deserve to get screwed.
If you want to contribute knowing full well that your paying a lot more for a mediocre product then by all means its your money go balls out.
There's also the other people who just wanna play a game that they enjoy for the hell of it. A lot of people really don't care about spending any money on F2P games in general. I know tons of players who get by in Free games quite well by having friends buy them or give them stuff, in some cases they save up in game money and buy it themselves. There are ways to get by in most free 2 play games without spending money.
Will you compete with the top tier of players? No you won't.
Can you be a mid range "Decent" player? Yeah you can, if you work hard, socialize, and play your cards right.
I have no respect for the people who buy their way to the top in these games but if they want to spend their money on it then its their own deal. The problem is the trickle down effect and the fact these players often think of themselves as the "best" in the game because they can simply swat away all the F2P players and those who spend less than they do. It's quite a pathetic way to boost their egos.
But I digress, If they want to spend their money then its their choice. If you want to play the F2P games for free you can, and you can get quite far, and enjoy a lot of the content for free. They are FREE 2 PLAY and in some rare cases even "FREE 2 WIN, "Sometimes" but a lot of them are also "Pay 2 Win".
The total amount of money that I have spent on Free 2 play games since 2007 when I started giving them a shot is
$155 - About $90 of that was on a game called Sword of the new world which I managed to enjoy for about 6 months and the rest on random action oriented F2P games like Exteel and so on. Most of the time I can play those games for free for a long time, if I really like the game I can pay for it. It's a matter of self control more than principle. If you are willing to work a little hard, and have some sense of self control you should be able to determine if you really want to spend those $15 boosting up your ONE weapon in that "Free 2 play" "Pay 2 win" game or if you rather spend them on 30 days of a Pay 2 play game. The choice is yours.
Expect to be quoted by all the haters as the prime example of how much it costs to play these things. They love toting a single case of being spendthrift as a widespread panic.
there are thousands of "single cases" out there fyi.
there are plenty of news about people spending a few grands in F2P games
the saddest part is that news always name the top spenders, they seem to forget that if the top 1 guy spent 4k, the other 49 in the top 50 spent between 1k and 3k....
so yeah, keep your "its more rare than white rhinos" lies to yourself
Top spenders on a F2P are usually closer to 40k than 4k. Perfect World is a great example of P2W. There are quite a few people who will openly admit they have spent over 30k on the game.
Expect to be quoted by all the haters as the prime example of how much it costs to play these things. They love toting a single case of being spendthrift as a widespread panic.
there are thousands of "single cases" out there fyi.
there are plenty of news about people spending a few grands in F2P games
the saddest part is that news always name the top spenders, they seem to forget that if the top 1 guy spent 4k, the other 49 in the top 50 spent between 1k and 3k....
so yeah, keep your "its more rare than white rhinos" lies to yourself
Top spenders on a F2P are usually closer to 40k than 4k. Perfect World is a great example of P2W. There are quite a few people who will openly admit they have spent over 30k on the game.
edit: The top 50 are all over 10k spent.
And almost all of them would probably say $15 a month is too much to play because they'd have to be on an even field.
-Letting Derek Smart work on your game is like letting Osama bin Laden work in the White House. Something will burn.- -And on the 8th day, man created God.-
Expect to be quoted by all the haters as the prime example of how much it costs to play these things. They love toting a single case of being spendthrift as a widespread panic.
there are thousands of "single cases" out there fyi.
there are plenty of news about people spending a few grands in F2P games
the saddest part is that news always name the top spenders, they seem to forget that if the top 1 guy spent 4k, the other 49 in the top 50 spent between 1k and 3k....
so yeah, keep your "its more rare than white rhinos" lies to yourself
Top spenders on a F2P are usually closer to 40k than 4k. Perfect World is a great example of P2W. There are quite a few people who will openly admit they have spent over 30k on the game.
edit: The top 50 are all over 10k spent.
And almost all of them would probably say $15 a month is too much to play because they'd have to be on an even field.
I LOL'd so hard when I read that but it's soooo true!
Ill admit once I get my Psy.D and I start working 8-10 hour days making decent money I would be willing to spend about $ $30-50 a month on an mmo to have the ability to progress faster and make my life easier than on a standard P2P mmo. However no amount of money made in any career would ever put me in a position where I would feel comfortable spending more than $100/mo for any single piece of entertainment.
I just feel sorry for the guy wasting so much money on pixels.
If he can shell out $2-3k easily he'd probably be wasting them anyway in some way (plasma TVs, tranny hoes, iPads...)
If he enjoyed spending them that way, it's ok.
A plasma TV you can enjoy for twenty years or so... bought items in a computer game not so much.
And tranny hoes?!
Big LOL at that one.
But they can still be enjoyed.
If I buy a nice suit it is my intention of having it for a while. However, I am under no illusions that "fabric" is going to last forever.
Pixels are just as real as anything else. One can perceive them and one can appreciate and make use of any forms they take on a computer screen.
After all, we are all on a site for online "video" games that are essentially pixels. Therefore those pixels do have value to us as these games are of interest.
You can enjoy having your nice suit for several years even if you wear it every day.
I think that buying ingame items is more like buying lots of candy bars than buying a suit... it will give you enjoyment but it will not last for long.
And the point is well taken. However, one buys these things with the notion that you are buying into access for a particular experience in these games.
It's up to the buyer to make the decision as to whether or not it is worth the money.
So yes, as long as the buyer is aware of what he/she is purchasing and is not tricked in any way there shouldn't be an issue.
Like Skyrim? Need more content? Try my Skyrim mod "Godfred's Tomb."
I only spend money on one f2p game (second life) so that I can own land and buy my own house. IMO it was well worth the $6 a month for so much entertainment, and I would gladly pay another game company the same or more if they would come out with a quality MMO with non-instanced housing
1) a monkey pet that follows you around and automatically loots for you (huge time saver)
2) a wolf pet that levels up together with you and does additional DPS when grinding or PvP (increased DPS)
I know, ironic that I spent more in a F2P compared to a P2P. That's why well-constructed F2P games are even more profitable than the P2Ps, and also why so many P2P's are implementing item shops.
There are those that dont need cashshop items in order to enjoy the game, advance to end game or compete. Those i endorse as cashshop items are either pretty fluff or items that while better are not essential.
However there are some "free to play" games that require you to spend cash just to play beyond the noobie area. One example whos name i cant remember has a severe death penalty that both adds large penalties to dying which either needs hours of grinding to undoo or a $2 potion. Also if you die you need a potion to reserrect which costs $5 for 10 reserects. This kind of thinking i do not endorse. Oh also to improve there game they made gear breakable which needs an cashop item to fix.
Cant remember the name but its the one with custom airships.
Another great example of Moore's Law. Give people access to that much space (developers and users alike) and they'll find uses for it that you can never imagine. "640K ought to be enough for anybody" - Bill Gates 1981
I only spend money on one f2p game (second life) so that I can own land and buy my own house. IMO it was well worth the $6 a month for so much entertainment, and I would gladly pay another game company the same or more if they would come out with a quality MMO with non-instanced housing
Could you tell me more about it?
Left second life some time ago due to baad noobie experience bat am curiouse about whay $6 a month gets you?
Another great example of Moore's Law. Give people access to that much space (developers and users alike) and they'll find uses for it that you can never imagine. "640K ought to be enough for anybody" - Bill Gates 1981
I didn't pay for anything in a f2p game yet. All the f2p games I tried are OK but they are only fun for a little while so I don't want to spend money. If I find a f2p game that is really good and I think I am going 2 play for a long time then maybe I would buy something. But I didnt find one like that yet.
Expect to be quoted by all the haters as the prime example of how much it costs to play these things. They love toting a single case of being spendthrift as a widespread panic.
there are thousands of "single cases" out there fyi.
there are plenty of news about people spending a few grands in F2P games
the saddest part is that news always name the top spenders, they seem to forget that if the top 1 guy spent 4k, the other 49 in the top 50 spent between 1k and 3k....
so yeah, keep your "its more rare than white rhinos" lies to yourself
So it's an industry-wide lie that only about 8-15% of the players spend money on F2P games?
There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to play, if you want to use a screwdriver to put nails into wood, have at it, simply don't complain when the guy next to you with the hammer is doing it much better and easier. - Allein "Graphics are often supplied by Engines that (some) MMORPG's are built in" - Spuffyre
I had recently noticed that. I would have never thought that would be such a hot seller but I'm seeing it show up more and more on the 'popular buys' page of the F2P MMOs I try/play.
There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to play, if you want to use a screwdriver to put nails into wood, have at it, simply don't complain when the guy next to you with the hammer is doing it much better and easier. - Allein "Graphics are often supplied by Engines that (some) MMORPG's are built in" - Spuffyre
Expect to be quoted by all the haters as the prime example of how much it costs to play these things. They love toting a single case of being spendthrift as a widespread panic.
there are thousands of "single cases" out there fyi.
there are plenty of news about people spending a few grands in F2P games
the saddest part is that news always name the top spenders, they seem to forget that if the top 1 guy spent 4k, the other 49 in the top 50 spent between 1k and 3k....
so yeah, keep your "its more rare than white rhinos" lies to yourself
So it's an industry-wide lie that only about 8-15% of the players spend money on F2P games?
Thats not what he said at all and you know it. Some idiot spends $4000 in a game and its gets noticed, the lesser morons that only $2000 do not get a mention.
WOW isnt great because it has 12 million players. WOW has 12 million players because its great.
I didn't pay for anything in a f2p game yet. All the f2p games I tried are OK but they are only fun for a little while so I don't want to spend money. If I find a f2p game that is really good and I think I am going 2 play for a long time then maybe I would buy something. But I didnt find one like that yet.
^Same reason.
The F2P games are mostly grind-based in my experience. Paying for more grinding? No thank you. If there would be a really fun F2P game I would certainly pay for it.
Comments
The difference is your suit doesn't disappear in 7-14-30 days requiring you to buy a new one.
-Letting Derek Smart work on your game is like letting Osama bin Laden work in the White House. Something will burn.-
-And on the 8th day, man created God.-
I have tested 30 or 40 F2P games and most are not addictive.
I ended up paying a bit of money in two F2P games:
Perfect World (playing it a bit every few months for variety, char customization is very good)
Runes of Magic (Friends had enough from AoC, moved to Aion (very stupid) and do now parking in RoM which is a quite good F2P game so far).
In the end i pay far less then in p2p games but i am not the pvp type of player so i have no problem with the race for superiority, its only an oportunity to play with friends and have some adventures online.
"Torquemada... do not implore him for compassion. Torquemada... do not beg him for forgiveness. Torquemada... do not ask him for mercy. Let's face it, you can't Torquemada anything!"
MWO Music Video - What does the Mech say: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FF6HYNqCDLI
Johnny Cash - The Man Comes Around: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0x2iwK0BKM
The "It's only pixels" argument has always been a little weak, in my eyes. It's not that big of a logic stretch to apply that sort of argument to things like alcohol, junk food, and theatre movies. Heck, if you factor in depreciation, buying a new car is insane. Even myself, I've spent thousands of dollars on my computer hardware hobby, most of which maintains their value like a lead balloon. And you know what they say about glass houses and stones...
So personally, while I'm completely unable to relate to the idea of spending huge bucks on an MMO, much less some of the dross out there right now... if the person is spending legit money, and their kids aren't walking to school barefoot and hungry, go for it if you're having fun.
Regarding the OP question, I once paid $15/month for three months in one F2P, because I spent a lot of time in it, I was having fun, and the developer was actually doing a fairly good job. If a game can provide that much, regardless of their payment model, more power (and a few bucks from me) to them. But then it went downhill, so I immediately quit.
A Modest Proposal for MMORPGs:
That the means of progression would not be mutually exclusive from the means of enjoyment.
I guess you're not really aware of what's happening around you. There are players in RoM that don' t spend a single dime in the game, just like me. My main is S58/P58 (level cap until yesterday before the patch) and 2 alts at 50/50s... yet i'm 100% f2p all the way. It does take a long time to gear up and stat up my equipments, but i'm not in a rush. I enjoy playing the game as it is and not try to compete with those who spend real cash in the game.
My 2 crafting skills stopped at level 30ish just because i don't think it's worth leveling up anymore... then i started establishing a guild just for fun, a one-man guild. It's just me and my alts though, lol. I was able to level it to 7, now with a level 1 Castle, Academy, Library, Forge, Field, Lumberyard, Stable and a Farm.
The game is fun and i enjoy it a lot even without the convinience that the Item Shop can offer. I'll still play F2P in RoM. I may not be able to play endgame instances as of yet, but i'm working on it. It will take time for sure, but it's possible even without spending real money on it.
p.s.
RoM's community is the best i've encountered so far. Players there are incredibly nice and helpful. Some ppl out there might just want to know. :P
I guess I'm the minority then.
I don't know why I do spend a lot on F2Ps, but I do. I don't have much time to play games that are on a constantly reset stopwatch cycle like P2Ps are, but I do have some money leftover to at least make my rather poor and weak character cooler than the higher level ones.
I think I'm aspiring for awesomeness the wrong way...
While I do believe the people who argue these companies are scam artists have some truth to their claims I also believe that if you are willing to fall for the very basic and obvious tactics of a company you deserve to get screwed.
If you want to contribute knowing full well that your paying a lot more for a mediocre product then by all means its your money go balls out.
There's also the other people who just wanna play a game that they enjoy for the hell of it. A lot of people really don't care about spending any money on F2P games in general. I know tons of players who get by in Free games quite well by having friends buy them or give them stuff, in some cases they save up in game money and buy it themselves. There are ways to get by in most free 2 play games without spending money.
Will you compete with the top tier of players? No you won't.
Can you be a mid range "Decent" player? Yeah you can, if you work hard, socialize, and play your cards right.
I have no respect for the people who buy their way to the top in these games but if they want to spend their money on it then its their own deal. The problem is the trickle down effect and the fact these players often think of themselves as the "best" in the game because they can simply swat away all the F2P players and those who spend less than they do. It's quite a pathetic way to boost their egos.
But I digress, If they want to spend their money then its their choice. If you want to play the F2P games for free you can, and you can get quite far, and enjoy a lot of the content for free. They are FREE 2 PLAY and in some rare cases even "FREE 2 WIN, "Sometimes" but a lot of them are also "Pay 2 Win".
The total amount of money that I have spent on Free 2 play games since 2007 when I started giving them a shot is
$155 - About $90 of that was on a game called Sword of the new world which I managed to enjoy for about 6 months and the rest on random action oriented F2P games like Exteel and so on. Most of the time I can play those games for free for a long time, if I really like the game I can pay for it. It's a matter of self control more than principle. If you are willing to work a little hard, and have some sense of self control you should be able to determine if you really want to spend those $15 boosting up your ONE weapon in that "Free 2 play" "Pay 2 win" game or if you rather spend them on 30 days of a Pay 2 play game. The choice is yours.
Top spenders on a F2P are usually closer to 40k than 4k. Perfect World is a great example of P2W. There are quite a few people who will openly admit they have spent over 30k on the game.
edit: The top 50 are all over 10k spent.
And almost all of them would probably say $15 a month is too much to play because they'd have to be on an even field.
-Letting Derek Smart work on your game is like letting Osama bin Laden work in the White House. Something will burn.-
-And on the 8th day, man created God.-
I LOL'd so hard when I read that but it's soooo true!
Ill admit once I get my Psy.D and I start working 8-10 hour days making decent money I would be willing to spend about $ $30-50 a month on an mmo to have the ability to progress faster and make my life easier than on a standard P2P mmo. However no amount of money made in any career would ever put me in a position where I would feel comfortable spending more than $100/mo for any single piece of entertainment.
@eyeswideopen and mellow:
you are both very correct.
And the point is well taken. However, one buys these things with the notion that you are buying into access for a particular experience in these games.
It's up to the buyer to make the decision as to whether or not it is worth the money.
So yes, as long as the buyer is aware of what he/she is purchasing and is not tricked in any way there shouldn't be an issue.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
I only spend money on one f2p game (second life) so that I can own land and buy my own house. IMO it was well worth the $6 a month for so much entertainment, and I would gladly pay another game company the same or more if they would come out with a quality MMO with non-instanced housing
I could pay for few subscription at same time. However, i am hard to accept so call free to play mode.
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I paid >US$20 a month in Silkroad Online.
For 2 items:
1) a monkey pet that follows you around and automatically loots for you (huge time saver)
2) a wolf pet that levels up together with you and does additional DPS when grinding or PvP (increased DPS)
I know, ironic that I spent more in a F2P compared to a P2P. That's why well-constructed F2P games are even more profitable than the P2Ps, and also why so many P2P's are implementing item shops.
Auto loot always hot sales in F2P game i believe.
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There are 2 types of F2P games in my experience.
There are those that dont need cashshop items in order to enjoy the game, advance to end game or compete. Those i endorse as cashshop items are either pretty fluff or items that while better are not essential.
However there are some "free to play" games that require you to spend cash just to play beyond the noobie area. One example whos name i cant remember has a severe death penalty that both adds large penalties to dying which either needs hours of grinding to undoo or a $2 potion. Also if you die you need a potion to reserrect which costs $5 for 10 reserects. This kind of thinking i do not endorse. Oh also to improve there game they made gear breakable which needs an cashop item to fix.
Cant remember the name but its the one with custom airships.
Another great example of Moore's Law. Give people access to that much space (developers and users alike) and they'll find uses for it that you can never imagine. "640K ought to be enough for anybody" - Bill Gates 1981
Could you tell me more about it?
Left second life some time ago due to baad noobie experience bat am curiouse about whay $6 a month gets you?
Another great example of Moore's Law. Give people access to that much space (developers and users alike) and they'll find uses for it that you can never imagine. "640K ought to be enough for anybody" - Bill Gates 1981
I didn't pay for anything in a f2p game yet. All the f2p games I tried are OK but they are only fun for a little while so I don't want to spend money. If I find a f2p game that is really good and I think I am going 2 play for a long time then maybe I would buy something. But I didnt find one like that yet.
i never have and i NEVER will......i would prefer playing pong if all mmo's would be "free" to play.
I gladly pay my monthly fee of 15 bucks knowing there will be no extra costs to play some race or to buy some life potions with real cash.
Well. some games request to pay for character slot. SOE/
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So it's an industry-wide lie that only about 8-15% of the players spend money on F2P games?
There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to play, if you want to use a screwdriver to put nails into wood, have at it, simply don't complain when the guy next to you with the hammer is doing it much better and easier. - Allein
"Graphics are often supplied by Engines that (some) MMORPG's are built in" - Spuffyre
I had recently noticed that. I would have never thought that would be such a hot seller but I'm seeing it show up more and more on the 'popular buys' page of the F2P MMOs I try/play.
There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to play, if you want to use a screwdriver to put nails into wood, have at it, simply don't complain when the guy next to you with the hammer is doing it much better and easier. - Allein
"Graphics are often supplied by Engines that (some) MMORPG's are built in" - Spuffyre
Thats not what he said at all and you know it. Some idiot spends $4000 in a game and its gets noticed, the lesser morons that only $2000 do not get a mention.
WOW isnt great because it has 12 million players. WOW has 12 million players because its great.
^Same reason.
The F2P games are mostly grind-based in my experience. Paying for more grinding? No thank you. If there would be a really fun F2P game I would certainly pay for it.
There are money way could call as grind. Some are fun thro.
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Errr, i make my first purchase. 5 bucks.
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