Avatar’s Update #366: Play Release 74 Now! Exploring The Clink Livestream Today!

SotA Stratics · Jan 31, 2020

Greetings Fellow Avatars! Here’s what we have for you in this week’s edition of Update of the Avatar:

News Announcements

Community Updates

Release 74 is Live!

Greetings Avatars!

Release 74 includes lots of exciting updates including the return of Envy Angel, revamp of the Upper Tears wave battle, updates to The Clink, new tamable creatures, a new player scripted NPC Dialogue System, 8 new artifacts, and many combat balance measures. These are just SOME of the changes and additions coming in R74. Be sure to read below to find out more!

These are just some of the many exciting items coming your way this year. If you missed out on what’s on the horizon, be sure to check out the 2020 Vision Post by Chris Spears.

Exploring The Clink Livestream Today!

Another content packed weekly Community Livestream is this Friday January 31, at 4 PM CT on Twitch! Sannio and Elgarion will be demonstrating the wondrous new changes to “The Clink” adventure scene today — this time on the stream will be on the secondary Community Channel. Chris is feeling a bit under the weather, so let’s wish him well!

As usual we will be giving out prizes at 4:15 and 4:45! To be eligible all you need to do is either make any purchase in the store or log into the game and type “The weather outside is frightful” in the chat window (no purchase necessary).

Watch on Twitch today, Friday at 4 PM CDT!

Story and Scenes Changes

Envy Angel Returns: The envious witch has somehow managed to miss “Sequanna’s Day” yet again and now she’s especially mad! Poor Hyun the Courier did not learn from last year’s folly and once again has attempted to cut through her territory, and wouldn’t you have guessed it? She stole his letters… again! Avatars, steer FAR clear of the Necropolis Barrens. Hyun indicates she might have another trick or two up her sleeve, or she might even have a new artifact on her person. Also, don’t forget — you can aid Hyun on a daily basis even after Envy Angel departs for the season!

Krampus Goes Dormant: Now that the dark winter is ending, Krampus sleeps once again. Beware Avatars, the naughty brats still roam the lands!

Upper Tears Reborn: For R74, many changes occurred with the Upper Tears adventure scene to make it more balanced and enjoyable. For a full explanation about combat balancing in 2020 to include reasoning behind the redesign of Upper Tears, check out the post by Chris Spears on the forums. Here is a summary of these changes:
- Liches have always been one of the weakest creatures in the entire game in regards to risk versus reward. Their stats have been improved and more importantly, their level has been increased and more abilities have been added. High level lich mages will now push players out of melee range, and lich fighters will now pull players into melee range. Liches of melee variety can also enrage, and lich casters have several new damage type spells in their arsenal.
- The Upper Tears wave events now require a minimum time to elapse before the next new wave type spawns. Before, waves would instantly respawn if you defeated the prior wave. A new timer has been added between respawns. Early waves have an 8 second timer which will grow upwards of 15 seconds for the later more difficult waves.
- A mysterious obsidian shard of power spawns in the middle of the chamber and emanates a strong magical buff onto surrounding enemies. This stone is on a separate respawn timer causing it to appear at different times than the minion wave event spawn times.
- Two additional waves have been added at the end of the wave cycles which are more challenging. These new waves generate less experience per hour but have more desirable loot chances.

Updates to The Clink: The famous prison under Owl’s Head is enjoying a good number of improvements to its layout in R74. Changes include improved guard dialogue, adjusted hallways, more “airlock” gate systems, a mess hall for the prisoners, and even a kitchen (complete with sewage pipe exit)! When checking out these changes, be careful how you enter. The prisoners are always rioting if you use the main entrance, but the prisoners are calm when entering through the pipe that leads to the kitchen (unlocked after acquiring Colman’s quest). There is an even chance of rioting when entering from the guard headquarters.
- When a riot is active, new “high threat” prisoners and guards will actively attack strangers, including players!
- When the prisoners are calm, security is heightened in the cell blocks. If you get too close to a guard, they’ll force you into a conversation. If you don’t have proper authorization, you might get thrown into a cell!
- Speaking of authorization, a Red Sash Forger has been seen across the bridge from young Colman. When you take on Colman’s quest, he puts in a good word with the forger on your behalf allowing you to purchase authorization papers to help you schmooze your way past the Clink guards.
- Be warned! Sneaking into the Clink through the sewage pipe is an option that helps avoid combat, but the Oracle may consider avoiding combat as having a negative impact on your Courage standings.
The Fall: The Fall just got a LOT more dangerous! The bridge spawns were previously 5.5 minute spawns of 2 tier 6 Ebon Dawn humans. Now, the spawns will be 3.5 minute spawns of 3 tier 10 Ebon Dawn humans. Those hunting in The Fall will earn roughly 6 times more experience!
Tartarus: If you haven’t been to Tartarus this month, you might not have noticed the decorations and spawning updates! Many tunnels, rooms, and even the maze have had fantastic layout improvements. Also, scattered around the scene are crates, tables, books, lanterns, rubble, and many props that help tell the “story” of this exciting underground labyrinth. Finally, most enemies within these caverns have better patrols and interactions with their revised environment. (Patched in during R73)

Winter Vault Round!

Current round of Vault items are available until Thursday,February 14 at 10:30 AM Central Time. At that time, the next round of 9 items will be available for two weeks, and then the next, etc.

2016 Cupid Heart Cloak
2016 Valentine Hearts Cloak
2016 Valentine Card 5-Pack
2016 Cupid Ensemble
Double Smoke Heart Emote
Smoke Heart Emote
Triple Smoke Heart Emote
Heart Tub

February Login Reward: Krampus Statue

The /breathehearts emote is just in time for Valentine’s Day, known as “Sequanna’s Day” in New Britannia, a new festive emote will be added to your character’s emote list for February’s login reward. Just log in during the month of February to receive this free reward!

Release 74 Reward Program Exclusive Items: Valentine’s Day Theme!

Winter has arrived so the Rewards Program items for Release 74 are Valentine’s Day themed! Reward Program members will receive these exclusive items immediately upon logging in during Release 74!

Heart-Shaped Footstool
Heart Top Hat
Heart Spear

NOTE: You must login during the release to receive each release’s exclusive rewards.

The Shroud of the Avatar Rewards Program lets you earn the best rate on purchasing Gold Crowns, AND receive exclusive monthly reward items!

For the low price of $9 USD per month you will receive the following:

- 900 Gold Crowns of the Obsidians every month
- Exclusive Monthly Reward Items (~ 3 per month)
- Exclusive Title every 3 months
  - 3 Months: Keeper of the Faith
  - 6 Months: Keeper of the Word
  - 9 Months: Keeper of the Vow
  - 12 Months: Keeper of the Flame
  - 15 Months: Keeper of the Oath
  - 18 Months: Keeper of the Pledge
- Pick any Dye 12 Pack every 6 months
- Pick any three of the 7 Obsidian Potions every month, including:
  - Potion of Capacity: Increases carrying capacity
  - Potion of Conservation: Reduces reagent use chance
  - Potion of Expedience: Swift gathering on all gathering skills
  - Potion of Precision: Increases Meticulous Collection to all gathering skills
  - Potion of Preservation: Reduces armor and weapon damage
  - Potion of Reclamation: Increases Salvage and Repair to all production skills

Teaser Pictures of Episode 2 Overworld Map

List Rostov has been hard at work developing the new land mass for Episode 2. This map will patch in sometime during R74 but in the meantime, here are a handful of teaser pictures captured from Unity to wet your appetites!

New Tamable Creatures

Light Unicorns: Search for these elusive creatures in roaming encounters throughout New Britannia, because now they’re tameable! And don’t kill them. Really… who would kill a unicorn?

Dark Unicorns: Even the dark-coated cousins of the Light Unicorns have become tameable! Find these rare beasts roaming within various overworld map roaming encounters.

Nightmares: Master tamers throughout New Britannia might even be able to tame the Nightmare, if they survive the attempt!

User Interface & Player Scripted NPC Dialogue System

Pooled XP Font Size Increase: On everyone’s skill sheets (default “K” to open), the font size of Pooled Experience was increased so newer players would notice how important this stat is. This item was suggested live during F’zol’s livestream interview with Chris — great input F’zol, thank you! (Patched in during R73)
Polearm Ability “Reach” Tooltip: Tooltip was improved to better indicated the ability’s purpose. Great suggestion F’zol! (Patched in during R73)
Mail System Subject Line: The character limit for subject lines in the in-game mail system has been increased from 50 characters to 125 characters.

Drag Glyph Toggle: A new interface option was added to help prevent accidental dragging of glyphs on your combat bar. If toggled on, dragging glyphs will only be allowed while pressing either CTRL key. This new setting is off by default. (Patched in during R73)

Ink NPC Dialogue System: As part of the SotA 2020 Vision for Q1, the first rendition of the NPC dialogue system has gone live in R74. Soon, a greater number of available NPC’s will be added to this new system with expanded conversation options!
- Initially, the Automaton Decoration Pet is the only pet available with this system. This is perhaps a bad choice on our part since it was a pledge reward NPC. No worries! Currently, anyone with the tradeable Lord Marshal reward “Automaton Decoration Pet” will be able to experiment with this new system, but other NPCs are on the way!
- An introduction and two guides are available for the Ink NPC Dialogue system, which are linked below:

Crafting & Economy Changes

Second Ring Slot: Characters can now equip 2 rings at once! (Patched in during R73)
Second Ring Slot/Off-Hand Item Changes: As mentioned in the Combat Balance section below, players might consider a wider variety of equipment items since there will be restrictions as to what might be equipped simultaneously.
Fishing Book Cover Pattern: There’s a new pattern awaiting players at your local bookstores, which is certainly fine bait to attract the fishermen and ladies out there!
Item Salvage: Players salvaging equipment items will no longer be limited to 15 at a time. Players can now batch 50 at a time to queue for salvaging. (Patched in during R73)
Multi-colored Clockwork Dragon Heads: expect some new varieties of the metallic beasts and related trophy head… Silver, Blackened, Bronze and Gold!
Eggs: Chickens and ducks now drop more eggs.
Feathers: Chickens and ducks now drop more feathers.
Pecan Nuts: Squirrels now drop more pecan nuts.
Durability Increased for Crafted Legs: Leggings now have more durability, allowing for more chances to Enchant and Masterwork the item. Great idea F’zol! (Patched in during R73)
Durability Increased for Crafted Rings: Rings now have more durability, allowing for more chances to Enchant the item. Another great idea from F’zol! (Patched in during R73)
Grass/Tree Removers: Player-Owned-Town decoration limits are no longer affected by tree and grass removers. (Patched in during R73)
Reagent Merchants: Reagent merchants will now sell magical reagents 10K at a time.
New Artifacts: Additional artifacts have been added in R74 to include an armor set and a new drop for Envy Angel!
- Acara’s Plate Armor Set and Shield (drops mostly at control points)
- Quiver of Jealousy (drops from Envy Angel)
- The Tricorn Hat belonging to the skeletal Captain in Tartarus now has stats and tiers

New Store Items

Lots of great decoration items got added to the store this release to include some long-chain chandeliers with brighter lighting to help illuminate those vast halls with ample lighting.

Long Chain Iron Great Hall Chandelier
Long Chain Iron Chandelier
Fancy Bathroom Sink
Fancy Kitchen Sink (will patch in early R74)
Fancy Indoor Toilet
Fine Oak Bookshelves (Empty, Pack of 3)
Snow Paver (Pack of 14)

Combat Balance

As part of the SotA 2020 Vision Post, Atos indicates combat balancing efforts will be a big part of changes coming to Shroud of the Avatar this year. Read what we’ve got brewing for combat balance changes and his reasoning behind it in R74 and the releases to come. Here are just a small number of the balance items addressed in R74:

Simultaneous Use of Identical Artifacts: Coming in with R74, expect a wide range of artifacts to no longer allow simultaneous use. For instance, your character will no longer be able to use dual wands, ankhs or even rings of the exact same variety in each hand or ring slot.
Simultaneous Use of Related Artifacts: Also expect a variety of similar artifacts to be prohibited for simultaneous use. Examples will vary, but Rings of the Frogkin will not be allowed with Rings of the Cuttlekin, and Vexlyn Wands with Wands of Undying Embers.
Earthquake: Earthquake ability for Earth Mages had its casting time reduced if they are specialized.
Root: This Earth Mage ability received a balance pass.
Stone Fist: This short range ability now has a chance to stun.

Bard Skills Inbound!

Expect some bard skills coming to QA shortly with much if not all of the tree going live during R74 this month! For a hint as to what’s coming, check out the names of some of the musical skills coming our way:

Melody of Mending
Atonal Aria
Mesmerizing Melody
Anthem of Alacrity
Concussive Canticle
Psalm of Stagnation
Ditty of Detection
Savage Sonata
Chorus of Conservation
Rhythmic Readiness
Chant of Charming

Updated Player-Owned Towns

Bard’s Rest: Upgraded size.
Britt Mart: Added interconnection with Novia Market.
Jade Mountains: Transferred to new governor.
Novia Market: Added interconnection with Britt Mart.
Port Royal: Added new Municipality to Hidden Vale.
Silk Road: Added new Crossroads Village near Desolis.
Silverdale Market: Added interconnection with Bard’s Rest.
S Mart Factorium: Moved to north of Solace Bridge.
Stonegate: Changed governor. Changed biome to Forest 01b.

Bug Fixes

Albeit MANY more bug fixes went in this release and into R74, here are some of the highlights!

Grass removed and land leveled beneath tavern in PRT Greenfall
Savage Handle once again has a chance to break down into craftable parts when salvaged.
Disco Ball effects will no longer create flashing squares in some situations.
All Gauntlets of Lead variants should now be enchantable.
Small Fancy Shed can now be placed in a player made dungeon.
Guard waypoints in Ardoris are improved.
Second ring slot no longer interferes with equipment changes during deck swapping.
Players now receive a PvP warning as they transition into the PvP areas of Tartarus.
Simone von Eglinger now exhibits an off-duty response when “Buy” dialogue option selected.
Exiting into Savrenoc Stronghold from Tartarus now brings you to the proper location and a bad shader was fixed at that location.
Collision boxes fixed at still in East Perennial Coast moonshine shack.
Water-Lot conversion vouchers were fixed to match pricing of in-game deed upgrades.
Players can no longer walk underwater in Broken Echoes Silver Mine
Book inside of crate at Oracle Colossus can now be collected.
One of the Ankhs in Tartarus is no longer beneath the ground.
All players in a party can now collect the Vermillion Lens shard at Grannus Colossus.
Captain Burnes in Highvale Outskirts no longer refers to multiple deeds when speaking to the player. Only a single deed is mentioned.
The quest from Davropos in Necropolis Barrens to find the Mors Ex Tenebris book now has proper compass markers.
Improvements were made to Valhold NPC conversations.
Cugel, Simone, and Rolf’s dialogue has been improved for the Black Arrow questline.
Compendium of Pain and Suffering (Challenge Dungeon) Teleporter can now be placed as both a house and town decoration.
Central Brittany citizen Fred Becker’s gender has been switched to male.
The visuals of the Braemar NPC Halmar now properly represent his homeland of Norgard. Halmar’s dialogue was also improved.
Sir Patrick questline has been improved for better flow. No longer will players be able to retrieve the key before completing the wave battle with the automaton monkeys.
Pets should now path correctly in the The Rise Shaft player made dungeon room.
Lot decoration pets are now placeable in player made dungeons.
Highvale Outskirts received a large number of improvements, especially the quest related to finding Michael’s note for Hyla/Rebecca.
Kobold Expeditionary Camp: Players can no longer acquire the key to free Sir Patrick at the wrong time (which blocked the quest). Players currently blocked can return to this scene, free Sir Patrick again, and talk to him after he is freed to complete the scene.
The secret room with the Page of Corporeality in Central Brittany will now magically teleport players outside that room when it reseals itself.
In addition to the changes mentioned above, a large number of fixes have been applied to various conversations, journal entries, quest props, spawning, and/or compass markers in many scenes, including Aerie, Blood River Outskirts, Braemar, Brookside, Jaanaford, Middle Downs, Necropolis Barrens, Resolute, Soltown, and Spite!

Are You a Livestreamer?

Soon, the Streaming Reward Program will be returning. As the details are getting reworked, we’ll reveal more information. Traditional streaming rewards included an exclusive in-game Streamer Camera for being a veteran of our Streaming Program! Expect the camera reward to return! More goodies will come to your way as the program fully develops. Thank you for streaming Shroud of the Avatar!

Lord of the Isle Episode 2 Bundles

As one of the biggest and earliest supporters of Episode 2 you will be granted the largest lot deed in the land (Castle), the title Lord (or Lady) of the Isle, a tour of the Portalarium Offices, and dinner with the game leaders including Lord British himself! Only 24 of these unique bundles will be sold!

Complete List of Rewards:

Lord of the Isle Place Anywhere Castle Lot Deed: Tax Free Forever (when placed in a POT) and Tax Free for 1 Year (when placed outside of a POT). Placeable on water as well as land!
Title: Lord of the Isle or Lady of the Isle
Unique Lord of the Isle Home (to be revealed later)
NEW: A Festival of the Avatar FULL ticket (which includes admission, King’s Dinner, Barons Men Play, A Heraldry Banner) and one additional guest at a discounted rate.
PLUS Choice of any 1 House currently available in the store
Castle Basement currently available in the store of your choice
Castle Wall Set currently available in the store of your choice (with enough for Castle Lot)
Unique Lord of the Isle Dungeon Room (to be revealed later)
140,000 Crowns
999 Bank Slots
Pick 12 Prosperity Tools
2 Unique in-game items (to be revealed later)
Early Access to Episode 2
Episode 1 Box and map signed by the team
1 hour one on one with Chris for design discussion (via video-conference)
One real silver ring crafted personally by Lord British: Numbered 1 – 8
In-game version of the Lord British ring: Numbered 1 – 8 (including a place-able decoration version)
Tour of Portalarium Offices
Fine dinner and drinks with Lord British, Darkstarr, & Atos at a location TBD in Austin or NYC.

NOTE: Digital items that are currently available will begin delivery as soon as Release 62 (Jan 31). Other items will be delivered at a future date TBD.

NOTE: Travel costs NOT covered by Portalarium for Tour & Dinner.

Recent Shroud of the Avatar Livestreams (YouTube)

Atos and other members of the Shroud of the Avatar development team go live very frequently on our TWO Twitch Channels: twitch.tv/shroudoftheavatar and twitch.tv/communityoftheavatar — be sure to get these channels on follow and get the latest information right as we go live! Also, if you’ve missed our latest streams, check out our archive of content at our YouTube Channel (complete with “Mojito the dog” cam). Like! Follow! Subscribe! Prizes!!!

Upcoming Events Calendar

Be sure to check out the Community Events section of the forum for events hosted by our wonderful community members! Below is a list of additional events as the year progresses:

2020 Events
Jan 30 – Release 74
Feb 27 – Release 75
Mar 26 – Release 76
Apr 30 – Release 77
May 28 – Release 78
June 25 – Release 79
July 30 – Release 80
Aug 27 – Release 81

Meretz: Win a Dry Docked Huge Pirate Galleon (Vault Edition)

Whether you move a little or a lot, as a Meretz user you rack up valuable Meretz Points (MPs). The more MPs you have, the more stuff you can buy!

Think: in-game SotA goodies, Sweepstakes entries, Relics by Rild giveaways, and tons more. With Meretz, we launch several sweepstakes every month. This month, we’re giving away an Dry Docked Huge Pirate Galleon Keep Sized Home (Vault Edition)! You can also enter to win a Relics By Rild $50 Gift Card and other cool prizes. AND, use your MPs every day for in-game items like potions and emotes.

What’re you waiting for? Download Meretz TODAY!

Community Events: Reaching Out-Rising Up Support Group

[Forum Post by Fionwyn Wyldemane]

Reaching Out-Rising Up is a self-help support group started by @Justyn04 , Samsara Invictus (@Fireblood) and @Fionwyn Wyldemane to provide a safe space for Avatars who are battling depression. We will have weekly meetings going forward every Saturday, same time, same place: 4PM-5PM CST (9PM-10PM UTC) in Wolves Den.

We do have a Discord server available for this and future meetings as well as private channels if you prefer to speak to one of us individually. We have posted articles and videos. Discord is optional, not required. Let us know if you have any questions and we will do our best to answer them or, you can contact us via Forum PM or Discord PM for more information about joining the support group.

Community Events: Festival of the Avatar Heraldry Contest

[Forum Post by Flair]

Hear Ye, Hear Ye!

The Festival of the Avatar shall be an event beyond any experienced this side of a moongate! Imagine a reality where Avatars from all different worlds and shards come together under a single banner to feast, fight, quest, learn, and enjoy general hobnobbery. More information will be published soon about the Festival with dates and an itinerary of events. In the meantime while we prepare the official website for our grand reveal, we need your help with designing the official Festival of the Avatar Heraldry!

We need your help!!!

We are sponsoring a contest to create the Heraldry that the Festival will use on it’s official releases and website. Submissions should be 300 DPI, have a print size of 18”x18” and be received by February 11, 2020.

Please send all entries to: [email protected]

Please do not use copyrighted images or material in your submission, it must be an original creation.

The winner will receive an in game (SotA) full set of specially crafted (light or heavy) armor, a cask of their choice and a banner, all with the Festival Heraldry imbued upon it. In addition, a signed* official banner used during the Festival (real world item – delivered after the Festival’s completion).

The winning entry will be used, whole or in part, for the Festival of the Avatar. The entrants understand that they are releasing submitted artwork and usage rights to the Festival of the Avatar. Author of the winning entry will get credit as the original artwork designer.

* Physical Banner will be signed by Lord British, Darkstarr, and Atos … With possible bonus mystery signatures. For more information and questions, visit the original post on the forums.

If you have an event you’d like publicized during the Weekly Updates, contact Elgarion on the forums!

Project to Support – Crowfall

Be part of shaping the next great MMO by becoming a Crowfall Backer! Crowfall is the first and only online Throne War game. You can win. Join intense PvP battles

that demand strategy, survival and a fierce competitive spirit. Reap the spoils of war as an Eternal Champion!

Claim virtual territory on behalf of your guild or faction. Capture mines, mills, and quarries to secure resources, build castles, and besiege your neighbors. Scavenge artifacts and relics from the Dying Worlds and install them in your temples to grant blessings to your vassals. Capture lost spirits to do your bidding — or bind them into your weapons to infuse them with sorcerous power!

Project to Support – Pantheon Rise of the Fallen

Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen takes place on the high-fantasy world of Terminus, a wildly diverse land formed from fragments of many different realms and times, bringing with them their unique civilizations and deities. Explore long lost realms, as their people and cultures vie for power and form alliances, struggling to gain a foothold in an unfamiliar world. Uncover civilizations and awe-inspiring locales that offer incredible adventures for you and your friends to experience. Enter a world where the environment itself tells the story and where content is always king!

UPDATE: We were stunned to learn of the untimely passing of Brad McQuaid recently. He was one of the true pioneers and visionaries of our industry who brought Everquest to us. We have few words that can express how much we respect him; so we choose to honor him with a flaming sword tomb in Brittany Graveyard that reads: “Aradune: For the Brightest Flame Burns the Least Long”.

Project to Support – Avatar Express

[Forum post by Vladamir Begemot]

I’m pleased to report that The Avatar Express is clacking away furiously. News is being delivered and we have established systems to deliver it directly to your brain. You can use one of those systems by following us on Twitter at @avatar_express. Even more reliable due to its fully automated nature is joining us on the Discord server. News items are posted there via RSS. Or you can subscribe to RSS directly on the site.

If you run an event, quests, etc, please consider helping out by self reporting. The Shroud community is big, and many things are happening that are never seen by others. With 10k monthly users, we would need a full time staff to track down everything that is happening.

You can fill out the contributor form, message @that_shawn_guy here or post in the Discord server that you would like to help. There is no committment once signed up, you can post as much or little as you like.

Writing up your own events has several benefits beyond the immidiate exposure. It serves as a record for others to see the history of New Britannia as we create it, in an attractive format. Publishing in the Express also has a higher chance than the forums of being seen by search engines and random readers, thus bringing more eyeballs and new players to the game.

It will even make posting in the forums easier! You can upload images to your news item, and then link to those images in your forum post. No more need for 3rd party image hosts!

So if you have something going on in your guild or town, or want to be a Reporter, Cartographer or Historian, please join us!

Resources – Players Helping Players

The official SotA New Player Welcome Forum and the Player Created Resources Forum have the best player created resources for Shroud of the Avatar, whether it’s a Player Written Guide, a Video Walk-through, or a Wiki-type Website.

Visit the official Community Resources page for a complete listing of all things community.

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Avatar’s Update #366: Play Release 74 Now! Exploring The Clink Livestream Today!

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