A GA creator noted this on a Ticket to Ride DLC listing, and I didn't see a thread for it.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/108200/Ticket_to_Ride_Classic_Edition/


Announcement: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/108200/view/7032989564142722421

Announcement highights:

  • Delisting Oct 3rd. Game and DLCs will no longer be available for purchase following that date.

  • Game will be replaced by a remake, with no connection to the original release.

  • Remake will release this November.

  • Owners of the original release will receive a code for an exclusive unlock in the new release.

  • Online multiiplayer will only be available for a few months following delisting. Ticket to Ride does have local multiplay, however.

7 months ago*

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You would expect a sale for it then... Since there is as far as I understand no free upgrade connected to the old version (like Skyrim or darksiders)

7 months ago
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Online multiplayer will only be available for a few months following delisting.

Boo! 😠 Surely it can't be that hard to keep a matchmaking server up. 😒

Owners of the original release will receive a code for an exclusive unlock in the new release.

Perhaps you can reword this to emphasize the new version needs to be bought and the code is only for a reward:
Owners of the original release will need to buy the new version, but they will receive a code for an exclusive reward.

7 months ago*
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This sounds like a bit of a money grab. "Let's make a new version of the same game, delist the old one and force people to re-buy the new version if they want multiplayer."

I have played Ticket to Ride a fair bit and enjoyed it. But, I don't really see the need to buy the same thing again, even if it's "updated."

7 months ago
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I don't mind them delisting the older version, but I do mind, that they seem to make the DLCs for it also no longer available.

7 months ago
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Delisting is not the issue. The way it's worded makes it sound like you will only be able to play it if it's downloaded on your PC before 3rd Oct. I am getting a new computer that won't be here for two weeks. That makes me angry. If it was simply a case of closing multiplayer servers and having the game no longer available to buy, that would be somewhat understandable. We could still use singleplayer and remote play.

7 months ago
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Nothing in that post makes it sound like the game will not be downloadable if you already own it. In fact, it very clearly says the game will remain downloadable and playable.

7 months ago
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It explicitly does, as I quote it in an earlier post below, but most likely it's just bad wording on their part.

7 months ago
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While Ticket to Ride: Classic Edition will no longer be available for download from October 3rd, current owners will retain access to the game in their game library and can continue enjoying it without interruption.

This part mostly balances out to low-concern, in that the latter part seems to negate the first, suggesting "download" is a miswrite. That is, until you scroll down and read:

Can I still play the original "Ticket to Ride: Classic Edition" after it's removed?
Yes, you will be able to play the game in solo mode as long as the game is installed on your device.

It's... weird, and when you combine the fact that two seperate points seem to point at a download restriction, it does seem warranting of concern*.

* (Even though all common sense and understanding of the risks to a publisher if they choose to invalidate access to an actual paid product- rather than simply negating secondary functionality related to a product- would suggest such concerns are unnecessary.
On the other hand, humans are an unpredictable species, and we've seen plenty of supporting evidence of that within the context of past actions taken by certain Steam developers/publishers, and Asmodee Digital's already got an absolutely rock-bottom reputation in terms of how they handle development and consumers both.
With that in mind, it's understandable that expectations immediately jump to the worst possible conclusion, especially in light of how very poorly handled this change in versions has been so far, to begin with.)

Note, I'm not supporting an assumption in either direction. I'm only trying to highlight that, if nothing else, the phrasing in the announcement is quite questionable; Likewise, while concerns may be unnecessary dramatic (note, this targeted towards certain replies to the announcement, not anything posted in this thread) in their presentation, there's at least an understandable basis behind those concerns existing.

7 months ago
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Have there been games on Steam that were de-listed and not downloadable from one's library afterwards? Would set a very bad precedent for Steam.

6 months ago
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Yes.

But that isn't an issue to precedent. Just as there are reasons Steam cannot allow games to be on their store.

6 months ago
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in SOLO MODE... which is crappy!

6 months ago
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For achievement hunters.
All achievements are offline only (with bots).

7 months ago
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And requires 20k games (Thousands of hours to be played).

7 months ago
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And requires at least some of the DLC, if not all.

7 months ago
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While Ticket to Ride: Classic Edition will no longer be available for download from October 3rd, current owners will retain access to the game in their game library and can continue enjoying it without interruption.

So far they have not clarify in discussions, if this statement is wrongly worded or if they indeed will remove the possibility of downloading the game, allowing folks to play it only if installed before October 3rd. Probably the 1st, but I would still install it just to be safe.

7 months ago
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They wouldn't be able to do that, unless they somehow removed the game files in an update, but then you could easily get a Steam refund. Pretty sure they just mean purchase.

7 months ago
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Off topic but, in relation to what you say in your comment.
What if you buy a game (csgo), then devs at some point its free to play and then they remove the game from downloads to force you to play version 2?

7 months ago
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Talk to Valve.

7 months ago
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I mean you don't own the game, you just bought a license to play it. The terms under which they distribute that license can change after you purchased it. I also don't agree with them making it F2P as it promotes a cheating rampage but oh well at least they have to buy prime nowadays so maybe in 10 20 years we'll go back to normal.

Part of the reason they didn't keep csgo is because they don't want to split the community even more, as they already have cs1.6 and css. As for them going from CSGO to CS2, it was just the transition from CSGO to the Source2 version(kinda like 1.6 going to css). All the items, be it skins or badges players earned are still there, so it's not exactly a new game, and that wasn't their intention. Other games on steam have undergone name changes and graphical and system updates after many years. It's been in this state for basically 13 years, so to say they took it away from you cause they updated it isn't exactly fair because other multiplayer games have shut down or undergone changes. Can't have it stay exactly the same till eternity, or say you deserve a refund. Multiplayer games can't be forever, and they can't stay exactly the same since the whole idea is that it's a live online world, if nothing happens these games would die instantly.

By the way, you can also enlist in the demo viewer beta and still play on unofficial csgo servers(some servers might not show up so look up servers online as well), or with bots, or workshop maps, and see your old demos, and your old skins if I'm correct. Pretty sure faceit still runs on csgo as well. You just can't play their official servers since they have moved to source 2, and it makes sense. I mean there's no official comp in cs1.6 or css.

I prefer this over the state of like cod or battlefield games, some of which still support some of their older versions although releasing new games and making you pay for them, as the older versions are super cheat infested since there's no point in spending resources to support an old game for that, vs the newer game.

As for the state of CS2, it's literally just the first few days of release. I could be wrong but I'd say give it more time, as csgo itself had it's on problems on release, and so does every single other multiplayer game and seems like every singleplayer game too. Certain commands being taken away in my opinion is a good idea, such as the jump throw bind. As a new player, this should balance the game a bit more and make it more about skill imo. Before you would just hit your jump throw bind and your smoke would hit perfectly, but new players don't know about configs, binds, console, jump throws, positions, whatever. However, they should add right and left hand support.

I myself am a little disappointed that they didn't release an operation with this, but I'd never consider trying to refund it because I understand that the game evolved from csgo to cs2, it's not a brand new release and the old one just got updated. Otherwise we would've all started from 0, we would've had to pay $15 or $60 or whatever to play cs2. It's just an update to a new engine. I also played more than 2 hours in csgo so that's past the limit, and pretty sure a refund would mean they would remove my cs2 license even if it would be approved so at the end of the day, I didn't really lose a game, I traded the old engine csgo for the new engine cs2.

7 months ago
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you can still play csgo, but only on community servers or offline with bots, the official servers (matchmaking) are for cs2 only

this is to avoid having players go back to the old game like it happened to CSS and CSGO first release

7 months ago
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If it is just an engine/ visual upgrade why would they go so far as to wipe all the achievements for everyone?

And I hear a lot of sounds its buggy etc. So I would assume most people would like to continue on cs go until 2 stabilises

7 months ago
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there is lack of content and the movement is kinda crap
i get lag spikes that fucks your movement and stutters
it looks amazing but is not CSGO anymore

the update was TOO EARLY and this feels like open beta

7 months ago
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gonna buy it there is a last sale

7 months ago
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Even if you cant download it after next week?
Because people seem to be split between its downloadable after oct 3rd vs people stating it has to be a wording mistake in the dev announcement

7 months ago
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All delisted game still can be download just cannot buy it anymore. Old key can be redeem too

7 months ago
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But it says that you will be able to play IF IT'S DOWNLOADED. Also, you will miss multiplayer.

7 months ago
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TL:DR: Don't blame the video game devs - blame the board game rights owners.

This happens because of the "rights holders" of the board games -- not the game developers or publishers. The people who own the rights to the board game (usually not the same as the people who invented or designed the board game) - license the design elements, likeness, rules, mechanics, etc. to a video game studio - for a certain amount of time. That company then designs, publishes, sells, and markets the game - usually with little to no involvement from the board game company. Then, when that contract is over, or rather when it is close to being over - the board game company starts farming the idea out to other game studios - often citing the success of the previous video game studio's work as a selling point. It seems to happen every 3 to 5 years, so I expect that the length of the contract.

Of course, if you own the older games, you can still play them, assuming you have access to them and they don't need online servers to work. Part of the appeal of retro games and physical releases. If you own them, you own them. Nobody can take away my Game Boy version of Monopoly! (unless they physically steal it or break it)

DISCLAIMER - I'm not connected to any company involved. I just like board games and video games and video games of board games (also board games of video games!).

7 months ago
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I'm not sure how you could have gotten to any of that from previous discussion or the linked announcement, but there's various additional reasons what you're describing simply can't be accurate:

(TL;DR version: Asmodee is the rights holder and original developer, Asmodee has a history of screwing with customers, and noone trusts Asmodee, and with good reason.)


1. Asmodee Digital (rebranded to Twin Sails Interactive in August 2022, ostensibly due to their terrible reputation under the preceding brand) has a reputation of doing this even with Asmodee licensed games, while there's no history of this happening for other digital versions of Days of Wonder games (ie, Splendor, Small World).

1a. As far as I know, noone's even remotely mentioned the developer (which, in this case, is listed as being Days of Wonder itself, making the argument of license rights being an issue an insensible one).

1b. Days of Wonder was purchased by Asmodee in 2014, meaning Asmodee's long owned the license rights to begin with.


2. Asmodee Digital still holds the rights, they're just moving to Marmalade (a UK developer known for mobile ports of board games, and for the Steam versions of Battleship, Clue, Game of Life, and Game of Life 2) for development of a new game, with the explanation given that it's because the engine of the current game is too dated.

2a. In theory, external development should be something those (rightfully) exasperated with Asmodee Digital's conduct and lazy development should be happy with, but the way Asmodee is handling the transition is so consumer unfriendly, and so in line with expectations consumers have towards Asmodee, that it's obvious the response is going to be negative.


3. "If you own them, you own them." That's normal, sane expectations of ownership, yes. I covered that topic in an earlier reply. In theory, even Valve should only be able to invalidate a license or account if they refund it or can reference a ToS violation. For a publisher to do so would be absurd, and would potentially see them getting banned from Steam (for "trolling the service", the only explicit ban-worthy offense Steam has after they changed policies some years back), after Valve gets hammered by, if nothing else, EU consumer advocacy.

3a. But again, it's Asmodee Digital [AKA Twin Sails]. Noone has high expectations or trust in them.


4. Asmodee Digital [AKA Twin Sail, usually criticism doesn't extend to Asmodee Entertainment itself, regardless of whether that'd be warranted or not] does not deserve anyone defending it. As soon as anyone starts targeting anyone else involved, go wild, but Asmodee Digital's a terrible company that is simply receiving returns for their own actions.
In fact (though I can't find any sourceable evidence of such) Asmodee's scandals have previously been attributed [note, by upset consumers and critics] to a decline in value for mishandled board game licenses, the license holders of those licenses, and for digital board games on the whole, due to a claimed loss of consumer confidence in those elements.
Again, it's not a sure thing that that's the case, but in theory NOT supporting Asmodee would actually be a good thing for both the board game industry and for digital board games (as that'd simply allow the void to be filled by a more responsible company, and even for Asmodee's IP rights to be sold to more responsible caretakers).
Not that Asmodee, a massive company with a popular tabletop division and a digital division known squeezing out money from customers for cheaply developed content, is really at risk of taking any losses from criticism to begin with.
In short, criticism can only serve to potentially affect a positive change in Asmodee, meaning that it's highly encouragable where justified. Again, defending them is not a virtue, and will potentially only cause further harm to digital board gaming. Obviously, that doesn't extend to not standing against irrational harassment or targeted abuse, but constructive criticism and warranted ire shouldn't be stood against.

4a. Though it's worth noting that Asmodee itself was acquired by massive Swedish Video Game company Embracer [owner of THQ Nordic, Saber Interactive, Gearbox, Dark Horse, and Crystal Dynamics, to name only a few additional holdings] in 2021, so there's at least some potential for change. Not that we've seen clear signs to that thus far, and it's not like Embracer's got anything remotely close to a good reputation itself at present (what with it doing layoffs and shutdowns of many of its aquired studios of late [eg, Volition], due to overextension of capital due exactly to their overacquisition of various companies), so it's not like consumers have any reason to factor that element in (at least, in any positive way).

7 months ago*
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I appreciate the insights shared here, especially regarding Asmodee's involvement, which I wasn't initially aware of. My initial impressions were based on the announcement and the Steam Store page, which primarily highlighted Marmalade and Days of Wonder. I'm familiar with Marmalade's previous work on games like Battleship, Clue, and Monopoly, and it's in those titles where I've observed the licensing behavior I described.

To clarify, my comments were directed at the original post and not necessarily in response to the ongoing discussion here. I wasn't aware that Asmodee owns Ticket to Ride or that they were involved with the original video game development.

However, my central argument remains: the responsibility for these licensing decisions typically rests with the board game rights holder. In this unique case, it appears that the same company responsible for the original video game is also the one making these licensing decisions. I doubt that the original development team had much say in this, as is often the case in the industry.

Given the high turnover rate in game development studios, it's also worth considering that many of the original team members may no longer be with the studio. This makes it even more unlikely that they had a hand in the recent changes.

In summary, while the situation is complex, it's important to consider where the ultimate responsibility lies, especially when it comes to decisions that impact both players and original developers.

7 months ago
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I would hope that this game--one of my all-time favorites on steam and IRL--would remain redownloadable after Oct 3. All the same, I'll let someone else try to download it on Oct 5 before I'd consider consider uninstalling.

7 months ago
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I see some concerns about if the game can be downloaded after the delist date, so I'm curious.
If anyone has knowledge about Steamworks, please help to clarify them, thank you!

Is it possible for a publisher to remove previous versions of the game from Steam and make the current version undownloadable/unplayable?
For example, publish a new version with no files, and remove all old versions.

It looks like we can download old versions, assuming that Steam keeps these versions forever.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Steam/comments/611h5e/guide_how_to_download_older_versions_of_a_game_on/
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2353930763

7 months ago
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I'm pretty sure this is just a misunderstanding and standard delisting of a game from store

Here's what they wrote in FAQ part:

Can I still play the original "Ticket to Ride: Classic Edition" after it's removed?
Yes, you will always be able to play the game in solo mode as long as it remains in your library. On the other hand, online multiplayer will be available for a few more months as we will keep the servers running for a last nostalgia ride!

On iOS, due to the store limitations and exclusively on this platform, if you uninstall the game, you will be unable to install it again afterward.

7 months ago
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This.

The only times games or applications weren't downloadable anymore after delisting/purchase disabling/getting banned were when there was either mailcious code in it or an indie dev removed the current build. I doubt Asmodee wants to have a shitstorm.
F2P games were another story in the past. After becoming unavailable, you couldn't download them anymore. But this has changed, since Steam is keeping the free licenses without checking installation for some time now.

7 months ago
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If you look at this comment, it used to say something else: https://www.steamgifts.com/go/comment/34GgxDA

From: "you can keep it if you have it downloaded". To: "you keep it as long as it's in your library; except for iOS".

So it looks like they changed the text to make it more clear after everyone got confused with the original wording. Kinda crazy if you think about it, how one poorly written paragraph can lead to so much discussion.

6 months ago
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Well, anyway, they say the online mode (which is the nice pat of the game, as it's a board game, and that's why me and my friends bought it) it's disappearing "after a few months". And we have lost the DLCs, which in fact are different games.

6 months ago
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Yes shutting down servers in few months is the bad part.
Maybeee there will be a community patch/server at some point allowing online MP.

6 months ago
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Delisting doesn't necessarily follow with removal. Their wording is iffy and wordy, but per a dev who clarified, it can still be downloaded after uninstalling it*

Basically a typical EOL for a game, but not gone.

*With the exception to note for iOS

7 months ago
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View attached image.
7 months ago
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If the new game allows the digital re-creation of all of the expansions, I think it'll be worth investing in.

I loved the old game, but it was missing most of my favorite expansions. (Heart of Africa, Netherlands, Japan, Italy, Old West, etc). It was also missing Rails to Sails, as well as the small 'city' games (London, New York, San Francisco, Amsterdam).

6 months ago
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That seems to be the case for most digital board game adaptations, especially Asmodee pubished ones. Which is ironic, given how Asmodee isn't adverse to DLCs. I've got several other digital boardgames missing some vital expansions.

Even worse is Talisman's digital version, which missed out on all the major house rules I'd been playing with since 2nd Edition Talisman (ones that were brought up by other players to the developer back when the digital version released in 2013, and overlooked when the developer added a House Rules feature in 2014; Mostly notable and very obvious stuff, like deck customization, or some official printed-box house rules from various editions. Not sure if they ever added any of those with more recent expansions, it's been a few years since I checked/played. Didn't seem like they were going to, though.)

Ticket to Ride released around the recession (2007), and by the time I was considering it, it wasn't in any stores, and now I just don't have anyone to play it with (and warrant purchasing it, especially given how tabletop prices have been increasing since covid). So I've never actually played the physical version.. I've heard good things, though. Any differences or highlights [ie, favored expansions] you'd point out especially?

6 months ago
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I think my favorite thing about TTR is that each expansion has a unique mechanic.

Netherlands has bridges; Heart of Africa has terrain cards; Old West prohibits unconnected track building; Japan has a cooperative bullet train; etc.

France / The Old West is probably my favorite single expansion release. I wrote a review on Amazon after playing it for a while.

Old West -- absolutely 5 stars, instantly one of our favorite TTR maps.

Old West is a little different from typical TTR, in a couple of ways. It allows 6 individuals to play; you can't play unconnected trains; and you can get points from trains played by other players.

You claim a "city center" at the beginning of the game, and you play from there. Once you've built your first route, you can split off in whatever direction you like... but any route you claim has to be connected to a previous route. This makes reaching your destination cities a bit stressful, especially if one of your opponents seems to be heading to the same area on the map. The "city centers" are not only your starting point, they also signify "ownership" of a city. If anyone plays a route into that city, you get the points. Billy played a 4-space route into your city center? That's 7 points for you, and zero points for Billy.

We really like this map because it forces interaction between players, and it adds quite a bit of drama to the game, and of course because it can be played with 6 people (the only map that allows for 6 individual players).

France -- a solid addition to TTR, and definitely interesting... but the "building" phase gets old.

France adds a brand-new element to TTR: track-building. Most of the routes on the board have no color. The color is assigned by the players. Every time you draw train cards, you have to "build" track somewhere on the board. You choose the color and the length, from a limited selection of track pieces. There's only one 4-space and 5-space track piece for each color, but multiple 2-space and 3-space track pieces. This track-building element is exciting at first, and it can add some player interaction because anyone can play on track, once it's built. If you build a 3-space orange route, and your opponent has 3 orange train cards... they can claim that route before you do.

However, we found that as the game gets down to about 10 trains left, the track-building gets pretty old. At that point, you really just want to grab the train cards you need to complete your trips before someone ends the game. Being forced to build track when you don't want to is a bit annoying. (Also, organizing the track pieces adds time to the game setup).

We still enjoy France, but we've run into "track-building fatigue" every time we play. Because of that, it doesn't get played too often.

6 months ago
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Rails to Sails is perhaps my favorite not-on-steam expansion.

Agreed 100% of France. The building phase gets old, fast.

6 months ago
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It also missed Meeples in Germany (which totally changes the game), warehouses in Europe, and a few other things.

6 months ago
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6 months ago
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Oof. It seems almost obvious in hindsight, but boy should they have made an effort to actually tell us.

Well, going off review average, I guess we're at least probably not missing too much. Especially given that a highlight of review complaints (at least, of the few I glanced at) is poor UI/QoL elements [notably, too many long, unskippable animations], which is the very opposite of what you want in a kid-oriented release (especially since improved UI is supposed to be the tradeoff for the simplified mechanics, in the first place..)

6 months ago
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