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Usl

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Posts posted by Usl


  1. Regarding the outage of Rraisa... there was a big fire at a major power switch providing electricity to the server where Rraisa is hosted. The fire has caused a blackout to Rraisa, a couple of hundred of other servers, and some 300 families, in addition to causing a phone lines outage, etc. It took the supplier a few days to get everything back in working order - especially after the supplementary switch they had brought (on an impressive truck) after a few hours, proved to be insufficient for the needs of the whole complex.

     

    I consider it like a "Mother Nature got pissed at Rraisa" thing in RL... :P:) Sorry for any inconvenience!


  2. As is often the case, the item risks not being useful. One of the following two situations would arise:

    1. Stone too cheap. People would have their stuff embedded with the stone to make things less breakable; manufacturers would see less business, and moreover more good weapons/armours would stay in game, since fewer would be destroyed, hence their value would drop further - up to a point where it become cheaper to replace the broken armour, rather than embedding it with even a cheap stone (or to a point where the value of certain ingreds as set by NPCs prevents the value of the armour from dropping further).
    2. Stone too costly. People would not bother embedding their armour with a stone, if the risk of breakage multiplied by the value of the armour is below the cost of the stone (+ cost involved in the embedding process). Hence, the stone would see little to no use, and Radu would have spent a few hours or days implementing something that would go unused.

    Beside, we already have a similar notion, enhanced armours; so far only the iron armour can be enhanced (by means of serpent stones); they become more resistent, and moreover if "broken" it degrades to normal iron armour, which can then be enhanced again. As you see, instead of reducing the chances of breaking, you get an armour which can be repaired over and over, which in the end (economically at least) amounts to the same thing: more durable armour. Your stone is then called "serpent stone". :pickaxe:

     

    Maybe we could consider making other armour suites enhanceable? After all, we already have books in game to enhance weapons and other items...


  3. Essentially, you should have in your el.ini file a line like

     

    #data_dir = "path to a bad, incomplete installation of EL, probably leftover from an old installation of a previous version which has been deleted"

     

    What you have to do is (in theory at least) rather simple: replace the path to the bad installation with the one to the correct, more recent installation. Also, I believe that if you just delete the entry (it is enough to remove the initial # sign, then the whole line will be treated as a comment), the client will go by default to the correct place. Have a try, and let us know of the results.


  4. It looks like you have a problem with your Bluetooth configuration. In particular, EL is trying to connect to an audio server (most probably, to PulseAudio through its ALSA emulation layer), but you have Bluetooth set up so that audio is redirected to a Bluetooth headset or similar device. Then, you don't really have such a device connected, or in range, hence the error (Connection refused).

     

    Why you should have Bluetooth enabled, is beyond me. It might be a problem with the default configuration: try going System/Administration/Services and have a look at the configuration (might even want to disable Bluetooth altogether, and then possibly re-enable to see if the cycle has cleared things up).

     

    Having said this, I don't think the crash - if that's what you are getting - has anything to do with audio; it some case, it is a problem with video drivers. You might want to post more informations about your system - but then, it would take a real Ubuntu expert; I use an old Debian myself on the game machine, so I'm a little outdated on the latest drivers...


  5. My prioritized wishlist:

    1. unique models for new monsters; some could be just variations (e.g., Legionnaire Orcs), but others would deserve their own unique distinctive appearance (e.g., Bulangiu or Casty)
    2. more variants of furniture: have 2-3 variants of barrels, crates, tables, paintings, etc. - in short, make the landscape more varied, most inside currently look like IKEA has just opened a store nearby :icon13:
    3. add unique parameters to characters' physiology, i.e. add some subtle random parameters to playing characters and NPCs design. For example: a random scale factor along all axes (range -2% to +2% of standard), a random height factor (range -3% - +3%) additional to the previous one; a random breadth scale factor for head (producing more round or more oval heads); a random factor (range ~2 degrees more or less) for the "breathing" animation, etc. The goal is to make each character unique in appearance; currently, when two similarly dressed characters stand side by side, they look like perfect twins - which kind of spoil the illusion of being in a "real" world.
      When I say 'random' above, I mean random but constant per-player; e.g. the same player should always have the same factors. This can be determined on the server side by using some unique Character ID as a seed for a random generator, or on the client by taking other features (e.g., colours, gender, race, name) and hash those into a seed for a random generator. If need be, I can talk Fedora into it :)
    4. monuments and landmarks; the folks of Draia seem to be rather unassuming, and even if we have statues they are usually small, rarely life-size; we have a number of landmarks, but now that we can actually look with a very low angle (thanks to the advanced camera), something to admire from below would be nice. Of course, a 10-meters high statue of myself would be the optimum, but I will settle for a smaller one :D

    This also seems the right time to thank you again for the nice work with the 1.9 release; those trees still amaze me every time I travel through a forest! :)


  6. It looks mostly like a network problem, not an IP ban (you would get a message in that case).

    Diagnosing what it might be without being there is very hard, but here are a few things you may check:

    • You might be unable to reach the game host due to some sort of firewall of misrouting. Open a command window (cmd.exe or a Shell window on Linux or whatever), and try: ping game.eternal-lands.com (if you get a response, you can reach the machine where the EL server is running)
    • It might be a port-related problem; for example, some provider allows access only to web sites (port 80 through HTTP), mail server, and such. To test that, try: telnet game.eternal-lands.com 2000 (if you get some text, then you can actually connect the EL server)
    • It might be that the client is connecting ok to the server, but as soon as it tries to open the 3D view, it crashes or is otherwise unable to continue. To test that, can you close the client regularly with the X button, or is it "stuck" somehow?

    These are the first tests; if you could please try them and post here what output you get, if any, for each test, we might be able to diagnose further. Another option is, of course, to tell her to call the provider's support and tell them that she needs to acces the host 213.152.3.5 on port 2000. Or reading the fine print on the contract she signed :-)

    As a further possibility, it might be some antivirus software on her computer that is blocking access to the network, assuming that the EL client is a virus of sort (it is, it is contageous in fact, and causes addiction :)), in that case you should review the configuration of any antivirus/firewall software on the particular machine. A good test would be to bring your machine to her place, if it is a laptop, and see if you can connect from there; if you can, then the trouble is with her machine, not with her network.

     

    As you see, there are so many possible ways things can go wrong, and only one in which everything works ok... :)


  7. It seems you might have a problem with your video drivers. Try to go into the Settings, Details tab, and set the option "Poor man"; make sure that in particular "Shadows" is disabled. Then, try to log in; if you can see what is around you, then we can work up from that online. Essentailly, Poor man disables most of the fancy graphics stuff, you can gradually re-enable the various options later on to see which one is causing trouble.


  8. The Golem was hunted down and reduced to his cell in Tarsengaard Magic School - ostensibly, he has filed with the local Justice Court for violation of the Geneva Convention, but for now at least, he is again closely guarded by his masters!

     

    The final scoreboard:

    1. Quesar, with 6 kills
    2. bugabear, with 4 kills
    3. Konec, Sonic, Dog_Soldier, LittleLooter and Divine, with 1 kill each

    Congratulations to the winners, and better luck next time to all other players who joined in the contest!

     

    Suggestions? Ideas? Comments? Feel free to post!


  9. I tend to be in the first category, which was easy when NPCs were added in large batches to specific maps... but now I'm lagging behind, damn RL work!

     

    But aside from quests, my favourites are those NPCs that hint at "secrets", like secret rooms or passages; even after a few years of playing, I have found a few of them only by carefully pondering the words used in those dialogues. That's an easy way to add value to NPCs even for those players that are not interested in the role playing aspect at all.

     

    Overall, a big thumb up! :P


  10. I think some of the concerns nathan is raising are legitimate (although not being able to see a web page while on EL, nor wanting to write down a short list beforehand, nor wanting to ask Gossip or Gossip offline, nor wanting to use #abuse nor #help_me... looks like a non-existant situation to me).

     

    But the solution is simple; if a mod tells you something on a channel, or on PM... treat that as you would treat a PM from any other player. PMs from mods are often a more friendly approach, and you should judge them by their contents (i.e, am I really violating a rule?), not from their source (i.e., is this guy a mod?).

    For those cases when mods wants to make sure you are aware of their status, there are "Moderator PMs", those come in red, and prefixed with "[Mod PM from ...]", which is really all we need.

    So, maybe the issue can be solved with full satisfaction and no development cost by having the mods using the harsher red PMs more often... although I still prefer the friendly tone first.


  11. When i run telnet tell me connecting and no connet :whistle:

    the connection type is a DHCP

    This means you have something blocking you connection to the server. If you haven't changed your PC, then the most probable culprit is the cable modem itself; it might include some sort of firewalling. The other possibility is that your new provider is not allowing outbound traffic on non-standard ports, but that's pretty rare. However, you will have to check with them: tell them you can't connect to a server on port 2000.

     

    The fact that you are on DHCP is probably not relevant.

     

    If you can't solve the issue with your provider, you might want to inquire with Learner, maybe his proxy service will help.


  12. Yes, the guild was created by someone with level 39+, and then transferred to Kime.

    This is legal, regardless of whether Kane is an alt of the previous owner, or a totally unrelated character, and regardless of whether the original guild already existed, or was created especially for the purpose of allocating the name HELP.

     

    I am sorry for what happened, but there was no rule broken.

     

    IF Kime is an alt, and his main gets any advantage from the alt (e.g., if s/he tries to get a 'ransom' on its main to relinquish the guild name with the alt, or such), then we might have to investigate the situation. But even in that case, the name would stay with a (possibly locked) character, unless willingly relinquished by the player.


  13. Bots are different from each other, this behaviour may be common to some bots, but it is not a universal feature. For example, the code base I'm using for my own bots (based on OnyxA's code) does not allow you to put a buy order unless you have enough money on the bot - and then, the necessary amount of money is "locked" for that purchase, so it is always guaranteed that the bot will have enough gc.

     

    Since the problem you mentioned depends on a particular bot (and possibly on the way it is configured), your best course is probably to leave a message to the bot owner, which is usually somehow documented by the bot itself - it's not something that can be cured on a "global" level.

     

    At a very least, you could add the name of the bots to your post, so the owner(s) are aware of the problem.


  14. ... and after two hours of unceasing hunting, the Golem was submitted and led back in chains to the mages of the Tarsengaard Magic School!

     

    Here is the scoreboard:

    1. Quesar with 8 kills, wins a Crown of Life
    2. extrapolation with 6 kills, wins a Spear
    3. Ozmondius with 5 kills, wins a Rostogol Stone
    4. Ceili with 2 kills, wins 1000 Health Essences
    5. koolguy3 with 2 kills, wins 7000 Gold Coins

    Also, Stivy had 2 kills, but lost the tie-breaks to Ceili and Koolguy3.

    Raytray, ryddler, secus, MattewF, Haci, AlpEren and chang each scored 1 kill.

     

    A big thanks to the donors who provided prizes, and to all participants - hope you guy had fun! Feel free to post here comments, suggestions and new ideas, and stay tuned... the Golem will be smarter and stronger next time! :)


  15. The Golem has escaped his master!

    Will you be the one to take him down?

     

    The Great Golem Hunt is an event for players of all levels, run on both Seridia and Irilion (lower levels might need MM cape or perk for some map).

    The task is easy: our old friend the Golem has again escaped his masters from Tarsengaard's magic school. He is still very weak, and easily killed by even the most newbie character. But he is getting more and more cunning, and has learned from previous experiences that it is better to stay clear from players (especially those holding pitchforks and torches!).

     

    Your goal

    Find the Golem and kill him. Maps will be announced every time, and the Golem will roam freely of his own will. Every kill is 1 point, at the end of the contest the scoreboard will determine the winners. The Golem is so weak that even the weakest players should be able to kill him with no trouble; the contest is open to anyone.

     

    The prizes

    1st, 2nd, 3rd place gets to choose, in order, among: 1 Crown of Life (donated by SirPantalone), 1 Rostogol Stone (donated by Learner), 1 Steel Helm (donated by chr0nik), 1 Spear (donated by AttilaTheHun).

    4th and 5th place gets to choose, in order, among: 1000 Health Essences (donated by Leaner), 7000 Gold Coins (donated by JerryKV), 2000 Silver Ore (donated by JerryKV)

     

    The timing

    Contest will start today (Saturday) at 7:30pm CET, in about two hours after this post; it will be around 0:00 in the 30th day in the month of Viasia, the year 0021, Age of the Eternals. A bad special day might cause the event to be postponed.

     

    golem.jpg


  16. i might just be reading between the lines here but http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Price_fixing says there are regulations to combat this even in capitalist societys ( pretty free market too http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_market )

     

    funnily it says a controlled market

    It is the opposite of a controlled market, where the government regulates prices or how property is used.

     

    Actually, it says:

    A free market is a market without economic intervention and regulation by government except to regulate against force or fraud. The terminology is used by economists and in popular culture. A free market requires protection of property rights, but no regulation, no subsidization, no single monetary system, and no governmental monopolies. It is the opposite of a controlled market, where the government regulates prices or how property is used.
    (emphasis mine), so I think the point raised above, regarding the difference between free market and regulated market, is established now. There is still a point debatable, i.e. whether what Learner did constitutes a use of force or fraud, against which there should be protection even in a free market. I would consider that there was no use of force (seller sold by their own accord, it's not like he got the stones from their storage - which, ironically, he could have done! :)), and that it was not a fraud either. In fact, even price fixing, with multiple sellers pushing prices up, is not by force, nor fraud (it's not illegal by our own rule set). Of course, one could think that there should be a rule against fixing market prices, but that would be very, very impractical to enforce, and probably do more harm than good. But as things are, we have no such rule.

     

    It is of notice that price fixing (cartel) is not illegal in most of the world; the concept that it is a bad thing is only shared in US, Canada, Austalia and EU apparently; in other countries it is considered a common practice.

     

    but I agree we should disagree USL , because aparently EL is a mixed economy with both aspects of freedom and control, so im wrong on alot of lvls about alot of things but about bots controlling the EL market ? if im wrong about that why did learner remove all these rostos from bot owners to force people to undercut them ?
    Again, it's a matter of consistency. How can you say that bots control the economy, and then blame Learner - a player - for wreaking havoc? I would rather say that Learner controls the economy. :brooding:

    Moreover, bots are mere tools, it's their owners that set prices. It is like saying that PMs control the economy, or channel 3 controls the economy... but no, those are just means people use to put buyers and sellers in touch. Bots are another such mean.

     

    I think the problem you are raising is real, but blaming Rraisa, or bots, or #ignore_bots, or anything else technical is aiming at the wrong target. All decisions in this system are taken by players (and by Radu on the "natural supply" side). Human nature is what it is, most people would complain that what they want to buy is too costly, and yet try to make the greatest possible profit on what they sell. This is driving prices up. But market works both ways; if 50Kgc is too high for rostos (not because someone feels so, but because people don't buy them), then the price will get lower. But if people keeps buying rostos at 50Kgc, then Learner proved his point: people was complaining that 40Kgc was too much without reason ; in fact it was too low. Learner saw that the market price was low, and bought all of them. Was he right? Was he wrong? It all depends on how badly people wants that particular good, what amount of work or $$ they are willing to sacrifice to get them, and so on.

     

    Personally, 30Kgc was already too much for me, but I never complained about rostos being too costly - instead, I stopped buying them, and tried to survive on those that me (and some guildie) could get from Mother Nature or the occasional Feros. As long as people keeps buying, it means they feel the need for rostos more intensly than the need for any other good that could be had for the same amount of money. In turn, this means the price is "right" for them, so to say.

    In my case, I felt the need for 40Kgc more than I felt the need for a rosto, so I simply would not buy it (yes, I'm poor and conduct a miserable life in EL, harvesting and mixing myself, and I could never afford to powerlevel from level 8 to level 100 in a week like others do - but I'm perverse, I even get fun out of it :)).

    How the majority of players feel about it determines the average market price - independently of any technical means. People is not stupid, they would find other ways to search for good bargains.

     

    As a footnote, I have to acknowledge the influence of the Austrian school of Libertarian Economics on my thinking on such issues; you will find the link on the Wikipedia page you quoted above - von Mises' books on the subject are a fascinating and very enjoyable read, if you can devote some time to them.


  17. I feel no urge to debate and argue endlessly (and needlessly), will just try to explain myself better.

     

    I didnt say Rraisa is pushing prices up, I said she damages peoples perception of the free market because she takes away player communication and replaces it with bot ownership rights to price fluctuations. I dont really care too much for algorythms and fancy mathematical equations when the evidence suggests to me that people use Rraisa as the yardstick as to what the price of an object is. By doing this the bot owners have a greater influence on the percieved market value than they would have if people still had to communicate with each other, or check the market channel for a price ( which is usually futile anyways because the price given to you is given after a quick search from rraisa :s )

    Rraisa returns BOTH bot prices and "market" prices. If you want to sell a rosto for 15Kgc, just announce it on @3, and Rraisa will return your announcement to people seeking to buy a rosto (please include the word "rostogol" in it). No need to own a bot - although, of course, bots will post 24/7, while you might not. But if that is a problem, you should ask radu to remove bots from the game.

     

    Don't put the blame where it doesn't belong; right now in the game there is more demand for certain items than supply, so prices go up. It's not even greed, it's how free-market economies work.
    people are banding around this phrase free market economy like it is EL's system. It isnt really, a free market economy does not rely upon God altering the influx of available items.

    Of course they do, it's called natural disasters, wars, famine, and the like. So, in a sense, God (chance, chaos, etc.) is altering the influx of available items in RL. Now, if you want to discuss whether God, or Chance, or Radu are more or less smart in reaching their goals... that's a different issue. :brooding:

     

    A free market economy has rules in place that prevent/discourage price fixing between companies.

    I was referring to a free market economy. You are talking of a regulated market economy (by definition, the latter has rules in place). When you have rules, it's not free anymore - just a technicality.

     

    In a free market economy prices tend to go down when theres more competition between sellers, not up , as has happened in EL.

    My memory is getting worse with age, but I remember tailors forming a cartel, and keeping prices up, then someone refused to join the cartel, started competition, and in less than a week prices were reduced to 1/4 of their previous value. Competition forced prices down. In EL.

    As I noted in my previous post, manufacturers are blaming excessive competition for forcing their prices too low. In EL.

    There is nothing in the EL system per se that impedes the operations of a free market (except for NPC prices, but that's a different issue - they stop prices from going too low or too high for certain items). Learner is just one of the forces in the market. You remember oil prices going to $200 per barrel, up from $70 per barrel, just because people was buying futures in oil, then selling them for more? And there was no dramatic change in demand, nor in production. Just market forces at work. After a while, prices went down again to their "physiologic" prices; bubbles like that on oil, or on housing, or on the .com's, or on credit cards... they all come back after some time. I guess the rosto bubble will burst as well.

     

    And you say the demand outstrips the supply? I disagree again, theres are apparently thousands of each rare item in the game at any one time and around 500 players, so no there is no shortage other than a shortage of logged in players.

    I think you should come to terms with yourself. If there are thousands of each rare item in the game, why do you blame Learner for buying a mere hundred? In reality, the floating mass (i.e., rostos available for sale) are few; 116 apparently. And we have around 500 players. Let's say some 300 of them would like to have 2-3 rostos each. Easy math. More demand than supply.

     

    But as I said above, I did not want to cause any unneeded excitement, so feel free to stick to your opinion as I will stick to mine.


  18. Yesterday I mentioned on @6 that I see nothing so terrific in what Learner did, it's just a common market move - cause an artificial scarcity by hoarding stuff, then sell at higher prices. Of course I don't like it, will just wait for the only possible end - that Learner slowly releases the stones, or that the floating mass (the amount that is actually on the market) rebuilds up from finds, drops, and shop purchases. Any change in price Learner can cause with a finite (albeit large) amount of money available is temporary (albeit long, possibly). I will adjust, the game is about adjusting to changes, not just killing the same monster over and over (and over).

     

    However, I found this comment particularly amusing:

    4.Remove rraisa from the game, she damages peoples perception of the free market. it no longer is a free market when price fixing occurs, and with rraisa, price fixing has occured by proxy.

    Since, you know,

    bleh, this has been covered before, the more direct the price competition is (and aggregating data does this), the more price becomes important, the more prices drop, and the harder it is for everyone else as well

    This is just a random sample of a large amount of criticism Rraisa received, in her primes, by bot owners that were worried that she would have forced fierce competition among bot owners, pushed prices down, reduced margins to 0, and thus destroy the economy.

    Now you tell me that Rraisa is pushing prices up, making sales impossible, and thus destroy the economy.

     

    In reality, she is doing neither: it is the humans (i.e., the players themselves) that set the prices, both on the selling and on the buying side. Market conditions change, and prices follow - prices are, after all, only the istantaneous agreement of two players that want to conclude a transaction. Don't put the blame where it doesn't belong; right now in the game there is more demand for certain items than supply, so prices go up. It's not even greed, it's how free-market economies work.

     

    Also, compare the current situation about rostogols, with manuers complaining because their best weaponry is underpriced. Rraisa offers the exact same service for rostogols and for weaponry; yet people complain that prices for rostos are too high, and prices for manufactured items are too low. Nonsense, this is just the normal hiatus between expectations and reality, between wishful thinking and hard facts.

     

    Just my .02 euros worth.


  19. Great stuff ;)

     

    off-topic: can horses run 2x speed if you use speed hax potion on them? would be cool ;) (provided we don't get speed increase with horses in some other way)

    All gameplay-related decisions are still to be taken (by Ent); for now, we have support in the client. It is also possible that there will be various experiments and changes about what and how you can ride, what advantages and disadvantages you get because you are mounted, what you can't do or where you can't go, etc.


  20. The current grue (at the time of this post):

     

    traceroute to game.eternal-lands.com (213.152.3.5), 30 hops max, 40 byte packets

    1 192.168.0.1 (192.168.0.1) 1.135 ms 1.082 ms 0.990 ms

    2 151.23.226.211 (151.23.226.211) 8.379 ms 9.177 ms 8.259 ms

    3 10.0.61.1 (10.0.61.1) 13.683 ms 8.871 ms 8.756 ms

    4 151.7.22.73 (151.7.22.73) 8.693 ms 8.497 ms 8.235 ms

    5 151.7.12.45 (151.7.12.45) 8.696 ms 8.314 ms 7.831 ms

    6 151.6.4.93 (151.6.4.93) 18.614 ms 17.720 ms 18.359 ms

    7 151.6.1.210 (151.6.1.210) 15.582 ms 15.807 ms 16.428 ms

    8 amsix1.eun.ams.as8218.eu (195.69.145.47) 44.706 ms 48.103 ms 58.702 ms

    9 xe2-2-0.tcr1.rb.par.as8218.eu (83.167.63.226) 61.665 ms 62.368 ms 64.823 ms

    10 ge1-0-23.esr1.rb.par.as8218.eu (83.167.56.183) 59.064 ms 59.621 ms 59.417 ms

    11 ge7-0-4.tcr1.rb.par.as8218.eu (83.167.56.182) 87.377 ms 62.668 ms 62.206 ms

    12 ge1-0-23.esr1.rb.par.as8218.eu (83.167.56.183) 81.868 ms 59.936 ms 59.777 ms

    13 * * *

    14 ge1-0-23.esr1.rb.par.as8218.eu (83.167.56.183) 59.523 ms 60.320 ms 59.073 ms

    15 ge7-0-4.tcr1.rb.par.as8218.eu (83.167.56.182) 237.007 ms 63.308 ms 63.036 ms

    16 ge1-0-23.esr1.rb.par.as8218.eu (83.167.56.183) 60.029 ms 60.382 ms 60.037 ms

    17 ge7-0-4.tcr1.rb.par.as8218.eu (83.167.56.182) 63.264 ms 62.532 ms 63.474 ms

    18 ge1-0-23.esr1.rb.par.as8218.eu (83.167.56.183) 60.812 ms 61.667 ms 59.992 ms

    19 ge7-0-4.tcr1.rb.par.as8218.eu (83.167.56.182) 105.960 ms 63.951 ms 63.441 ms

    20 ge1-0-23.esr1.rb.par.as8218.eu (83.167.56.183) 59.531 ms 59.371 ms 68.205 ms

    21 * ge7-0-4.tcr1.rb.par.as8218.eu (83.167.56.182) 138.510 ms *

    22 ge1-0-23.esr1.rb.par.as8218.eu (83.167.56.183) 119.636 ms 60.410 ms 60.556 ms

    23 * * *

    24 * * *

    25 * * *

    26 * * *

    27 * * *

    28 * * *

    29 * * *

    30 * * *

     

    This is the second grue in minutes; on the first one, it seems everybody and his nanny were affected.

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