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The Good, The Bad, and the League: 11/9 - 11/15

Couch Commando··11 votes·63,588 views

Your weekly dose of server problems, NA League news, and other!

Our team wanted to be a bit more transparent around server issues, as well as other information that the NA playerbase may want to hear about. This is 100% a work in progress, so feedback around what’s here, or what you might want to see, is highly appreciated!

Ranked just ended, so everyone suffered and worked and triumphed into Diamond 5 for the last time ever. Wave goodbye to that meme, say hello to Diamond 4 (Wood tier where?)! If you saw some boosters, never fear, punishments are forthcoming and a bunch of hopeful cheaters will in fact, cheat themselves out of rewards. Sorry, not sorry, you’ll be punished soon enough. For a fun brief look into anti-cheat, this Nexus article is pretty good (Hi Mirageofpenguins).

A WWE wrestling showmatch is coming soon™, and a whole bunch of pro players now free agents! Seriously, sign them, they’re pretty dang good. Also, NA Scouting Grounds is ongoing this week, and with powerhouse rookies from last season performing so well, this year’s prospects may continue to impress.

With some changes to the new season hinted, a new champion about to be teased, and some really awesome fan-made K/DA art, it’s been a pretty good week. And the servers didn’t break (that much)!

**Server Stuff: **

RP purchasing died on NA for a few hours (11/12/18, ~2 hours). We pushed out a deploy to a database, but had a very very very long query running at the same time, which prevented the deploy from rolling out until it finished. Once it did, the deploy finally worked, everything matched up properly again, and purchasing was turned back on.

Update caused inability to log in or update account info (11/14/18, ~30 min). A series of configuration changes caused authentication to burp, as the new config was implemented. A reboot of the service fixed the problem (turning it on and off again does work sometimes). If you weren’t trying to log in, or change your password, you probably didn’t run into this when it happened.

**Game Stuff: **

Emotes load properly (Fixed 11/12/18). Sometimes emotes wouldn’t work for players when they loaded onto the Rift. We have fed the appropriate poros the correct number of free-ranged Poro-Snax to fix the underlying bug with emotes. Feel free to display, flaunt, and taunt as if nothing happened at all.

_Morgageddon & Couch Commando _

70 Comments

Smokin Penguin29 votes

Can you remove the "Is it meta" video because people are indeed taking your advice and are trying new things...

#BUT THEY ARE TRYING THEM OUT IN RANKED!!!

Hethalean5 votes

[{quoted}](name=Smokin Penguin,realm=NA,application-id=6WpmgL9O,discussion-id=fZcEfRGm,comment-id=0000,timestamp=2018-11-16T23:12:23.393+0000)

Can you remove the "Is it meta" video because people are indeed taking your advice and are trying new things...

#BUT THEY ARE TRYING THEM OUT IN RANKED!!!

Is ranked an important value right now? Isn't your seed next season based off of where you ended in season 8 not during preseason?

aNewMoonIsRising21 votes

{quoted}

Is ranked an important value right now? Isn't your seed next season based off of where you ended in season 8 not during preseason?

ranked still matters as it can higher or lower your mmr which can effect your next season placements.

RiotRiot Morgageddon8 votes

{quoted}

ranked still matters as it can higher or lower your mmr which can effect your next season placements.

Yep.

And don't forget, when the preseason drops, everyone's gonna be trying out new stuff! In Ranked... For the first 4 weeks I think is a good guess.

Hi am Sloth2 votes

So ap riven sup is fine?

Xenonyan1 votes

{quoted}

Is ranked an important value right now? Isn't your seed next season based off of where you ended in season 8 not during preseason?

No. The preseason counts as well. That's why it's so annoying. I don't think I'll be playing much unless they address the issue because every ranked game RN seems like troll normal game.

NongLek1 votes

what is "RN" ?

Silly Neeko1 votes

"RN" = "right now"

FNC 6ixGOD1 votes

TBH, I think he's trolling by asking all abbreviations, like he will ask what TBH is XD.

TheSnowyLeopard1 votes

I mean if you dont know you dont know. People shouldnt be scared to ask

FNC 6ixGOD1 votes

I know and im not saying that its bad. It just looks like kinda funny and like trolling, but if he genuinly didnt know then off course he can ask. No problem.

Slythion1 votes

{quoted}

Is ranked an important value right now? Isn't your seed next season based off of where you ended in season 8 not during preseason?

Your rank placement is based entirely off your rank's mmr. This is usually synonymous as your rank is supposed to be where your mmr is at, but a distinction can be found when a new account (which has never achieved a rank) gets placed. Winning 10 decisive victories can place you at a diamond mmr causing you to be placed in plat 1, or you could lose a lot and end with a bronze mmr.

But anyways, ranked still very much matters during preseason.

NongLek2 votes

WHAT is "mmr " ?

Scuffleboard1 votes

{quoted}

WHAT is "mmr " ?

It stands for "Match Making Rating". It goes up with wins and down with losses. The game tries to group people with a similar MMR together, so new players won't be playing games with high-level people who have mastered the game.

Slythion1 votes

{quoted}

WHAT is "mmr " ?

"MMR" = Match-Making Ranking

It's a value that riot assigns to your account as a skill rating. It's hidden from public view but it can generally be estimated based on the ranks of the players you're matched with and against. A plat-level player who was placed in silver will still be playing against plat-level players, to ensure that they aren't just stomping everyone by intentionally placing at a low elo.

The reason the specific value of one's mmr is hidden is because Riot doesn't want people to figure out the algorithm they use. Keeping it hidden is a prevention tool they use to make sure people can't intentionally inflate or alter their mmr.

Your mmr goes up as you win games and goes down as you lose games.

That's pretty much all there is to know about mmr

NongLek1 votes

speaking of RANKED, WHEN can i PLAY ranked games ? at what level ?

Scuffleboard1 votes

{quoted}

speaking of RANKED, WHEN can i PLAY ranked games ? at what level ?

Level 30.

xBadDocx1 votes

level 30 with at least 20 champs I believe

Minimac20001 votes

{quoted}

Is ranked an important value right now? Isn't your seed next season based off of where you ended in season 8 not during preseason?

Playing ranked in preseason raises your mmr, helps you get placed higher at the start of next season

MikeJ122O1 votes

Does it really? I finished the season in P4 with normal mmr for my rank. So if i win in preseason games, my mmr would be slightly higher starting off when the season starts?

Minimac20001 votes

{quoted}

Does it really? I finished the season in P4 with normal mmr for my rank. So if i win in preseason games, my mmr would be slightly higher starting off when the season starts?

Yes, that is supposedly how it works. However, note that your mmr will be higher and not necessarily your rank as the whole ladder shifts down at the beginning of each season anyways especially with the addition of new tiers this year

DorQuendi5 votes

Yeah, that was my first impression... Why is Rito promoting trolling in game?

Hethalean2 votes

{quoted}

Yeah, that was my first impression... Why is Rito promoting trolling in game?

Because experimentation != trolling, and the big difference is your intention

Smokin Penguin3 votes

Experimentation is for normals and if you don't like blind pick there is always normal draft pick and the Practice tool...   ##Ranked is not for experimenting. Try new things but only after you tried them on normals first!

Because it's like trying out a champion you have never played before in a ranked game and calling it experimenting...

Hethalean1 votes

[{quoted}](name=Smokin Penguin,realm=NA,application-id=6WpmgL9O,discussion-id=fZcEfRGm,comment-id=0000000100000000,timestamp=2018-11-17T00:06:16.939+0000)

Experimentation is for normals and if you don't like blind pick there is always normal draft pick and the Practice tool...   ##Ranked is not for experimenting. Try new things but only after you tried them on normals first!

Because it's like trying out a champion you have never played before in a ranked game and calling it experimenting...

That's your opinion. Riot obviously disagrees. So I'm not sure what you plan on doing. I guess just whine about nothing that'll change. For instance, if your Normal MMR is TONS lower than your ranked MMR, you're not going to learn much at all. If you're that concerned, op.gg everyone with whom you play and dodge. That's what Dodge is for. Avoid things you don't want to play out. Because you can claim what you think ranked does, doesn't mean YOU get to stipulate their play if they're legitimately trying to win the game. That's a stipulation because Riot put it out there.

Smokin Penguin1 votes
  1. That's your opinion.

  2. You're being rude for no reason.

  3. You are creating hypotheticals so that you can have an argument.

  4. You are using "Stipulate" wrong...

  5. You're also making a lot of assumptions.

Because you can claim what you think ranked does, doesn't mean YOU get to stipulate their play if they're legitimately trying to win the game.

What does "Because you can claim what you think ranked does" mean?

if they're legitimately trying to win the game.

Everyone can say that... Doesn't make it true.

guess just whine about nothing that'll change.

Is it going to change or not? Make up your mind...

For instance, if your Normal MMR is TONS lower than your ranked MMR, you're not going to learn much at all.

That's why normal queue is there, so that you can try things out and see if it works without affecting their ranked MMR because a loss on Normal queue doesn't matter but a single loss on Ranked can cost you or someone else a promo or a demotion both of which lead to a lot of frustration...

Hethalean1 votes

[{quoted}](name=Smokin Penguin,realm=NA,application-id=6WpmgL9O,discussion-id=fZcEfRGm,comment-id=000000010000000000000000,timestamp=2018-11-17T23:36:52.927+0000)

  1. That's your opinion.

Right... as everything you say here is YOUR opinion.

[{quoted}](name=Smokin Penguin,realm=NA,application-id=6WpmgL9O,discussion-id=fZcEfRGm,comment-id=000000010000000000000000,timestamp=2018-11-17T23:36:52.927+0000)

  1. You're being rude for no reason.

You not liking what I say does not equal me being rude.

[{quoted}](name=Smokin Penguin,realm=NA,application-id=6WpmgL9O,discussion-id=fZcEfRGm,comment-id=000000010000000000000000,timestamp=2018-11-17T23:36:52.927+0000)

  1. You are creating hypotheticals so that you can have an argument.

That's precisely what you were doing.

[{quoted}](name=Smokin Penguin,realm=NA,application-id=6WpmgL9O,discussion-id=fZcEfRGm,comment-id=000000010000000000000000,timestamp=2018-11-17T23:36:52.927+0000)

  1. You are using "Stipulate" wrong...

If you need to argue semantics, maybe you need to access the validity of your stance. Especially if it isn't for the sake of clarifying the statement, it's a no value statement that is just an attempt to attack at something other than the argument itself.

[{quoted}](name=Smokin Penguin,realm=NA,application-id=6WpmgL9O,discussion-id=fZcEfRGm,comment-id=000000010000000000000000,timestamp=2018-11-17T23:36:52.927+0000)

  1. You're also making a lot of assumptions.

My only 'assumption' is what RIot's opinion is... which I got from what they've said.

[{quoted}](name=Smokin Penguin,realm=NA,application-id=6WpmgL9O,discussion-id=fZcEfRGm,comment-id=000000010000000000000000,timestamp=2018-11-17T23:36:52.927+0000)

What does "Because you can claim what you think ranked does" mean?

You said "Ranked is not for experimenting. Try new things but only after you tried them on normals first!" That's you claiming what ranked should be.... So the sentence is kind of self explanatory and no idea how to break it down further for you.

[{quoted}](name=Smokin Penguin,realm=NA,application-id=6WpmgL9O,discussion-id=fZcEfRGm,comment-id=000000010000000000000000,timestamp=2018-11-17T23:36:52.927+0000)

Everyone can say that... Doesn't make it true.

Yes, i believe that is called 'lying'. Similar to saying "Ranked is for serious play", or "that's trolling", it's no basis in what actually is and if someone is legitimately trying just because people call it trolling, or griefing. If they are legitimately trying to win, then it's not trolling or griefing in Riot's stance from everything I've read on their opinion on the matter. If someone is lying that is different, but it bears down to he said she said. You claim they are lying. They claim they are not.

[{quoted}](name=Smokin Penguin,realm=NA,application-id=6WpmgL9O,discussion-id=fZcEfRGm,comment-id=000000010000000000000000,timestamp=2018-11-17T23:36:52.927+0000)

Is it going to change or not? Make up your mind...

What precisely do you think I'm talking about there? Because I'm not flip flopping on anything. Because "it" in that sentence references Riot's opionion on what is trolling (aka if you're trying to win, you're not trolling), which is not going to change which I base it off of it remaining relatively static in the last few years since those high profile Nunu support / Singed support cases.

[{quoted}](name=Smokin Penguin,realm=NA,application-id=6WpmgL9O,discussion-id=fZcEfRGm,comment-id=000000010000000000000000,timestamp=2018-11-17T23:36:52.927+0000)

That's why normal queue is there, so that you can try things out and see if it works without affecting their ranked MMR because a loss on Normal queue doesn't matter but a single loss on Ranked can cost you or someone else a promo or a demotion both of which lead to a lot of frustration...

[{quoted}](name=Smokin Penguin,realm=NA,application-id=6WpmgL9O,discussion-id=fZcEfRGm,comment-id=000000010000000000000000,timestamp=2018-11-17T23:36:52.927+0000)

  1. That's your opinion.
Smokin Penguin1 votes

You not liking what I say does not equal me being rude.

It actually does, because you being rude towards someone is up to interpretation of the person you are addressing (me) and if i interpret you as rude, that is what you are.

You referred to my comment as "whining" and i interpret that as you being rude.

(the following is an example) A racist never thinks he/she is being racist until someone interprets what they are saying as racist. (this is an example im not calling you a racist)

That's why normal queue is there, so that you can try things out and see if it works without affecting their ranked MMR because a loss on Normal queue doesn't matter but a single loss on Ranked can cost you or someone else a promo or a demotion both of which lead to a lot of frustration...

 

  1. That's your opinion.

That's actually a fact not an opinion...

You have nothing to lose when you lose a normal game! How is that an opinion?

ModThe Djinn4 votes

Thanks for this, guys/gals! Really nice to get a rundown on issues and fixes.

Couch Commando2 votes

[{quoted}](name=The Djinn,realm=NA,application-id=6WpmgL9O,discussion-id=fZcEfRGm,comment-id=0001,timestamp=2018-11-16T23:16:44.464+0000)

Thanks for this, guys/gals! Really nice to get a rundown on issues and fixes.

You're welcome! Glad to read this. We are looking to do more with this in the future so keep an eye out Velkoz

The Blue Rajah3 votes

I just wanted to chime in and say that I really appreciate this breakdown and think it's a really valuable service! For those who are interested, this is exactly the type of thing we want. I sort of doubt that it has mass appeal, but for those that it matters to (which very often are the people most affected), the lack of this is very upsetting. So I don't know if this will turn out to be a very popular segment per se, but I think it's a very important one and really hope you continue to do it moving forward.

Couch Commando4 votes

[{quoted}](name=The Blue Rajah,realm=NA,application-id=6WpmgL9O,discussion-id=fZcEfRGm,comment-id=000d,timestamp=2018-11-17T20:09:31.530+0000)

I just wanted to chime in and say that I really appreciate this breakdown and think it's a really valuable service! For those who are interested, this is [i]exactly[/i] the type of thing we want. I sort of doubt that it has mass appeal, but for those that it matters to (which very often are the people most affected), the [i]lack[/i] of this is very upsetting. So I don't know if this will turn out to be a very popular segment per se, but I think it's a very important one and really hope you continue to do it moving forward.

I am glad that you and others are finding value in this sort of transparency. It's something that we see value in as well so we decided to give it a go. From here on we are looking to y'all to see if this segment will continue providing value, and to help guide where we take this next.

Nalisai1 votes

As far as transparency goes, maybe you guys could drop in a bug 'accidentally' that displays everyone's MMR during pre-season and 'fix' it before the regular season? :p

Pixie Storm2 votes

People who are saying “good” are kissing up because I can talk about a whole stream of problems starting with the client. Many of my friends and I are having this issue where the client will not open then reboot and have to patch the client again even though it was already patched. We even joked about the new client being a lamborghini with a card board engine inside. Many will have issues trying to lock in during ban phase or champion select or selecting accept on the client but still getting the notification that you declined. There’s been no RGM’s or event to be excited about like usual. Like Ascension would’ve been more fun than sitting around the client spamming summoners rift and spending 25 minutes with a bored troll who I don’t even blame for trolling because there is NOTHING to do. Like holy hell. Give us some missions, tease an event, talk about the Christmas/Holiday event you have for us.

Adding on: I’ve spent hours on the client this week alone through ranked and several norms.

RiotRiot Morgageddon1 votes

[deleted]

Pixie Storm1 votes

(deleted; saw you deleted yours)

Yeah sorry about putting you in that rough position, I know you're coming from a tough spot so it was generally directed at any Rioter who could say a bit of something here or there for frustrated players since I know I'm not the only one. I appreciate you responding to the post and being understanding too. I'm glad to know that Riot is aware of the issues with the client and are working on a fix, hopefully it'll be done before season 9? I actually am super excited about those two champion reworks because I like Morgana but her visuals honestly made me feel like not playing her. The champion reveal on 11/19 is the biggest thing I'm ready for though! I've also heard Nexus Blitz is back on PBE with legend of the Poro King after I wrote this post. Since I have PBE I'll hang out there till it hits live for sure. I'm reeeeeeally excited for the christmas skins (if any). I completely respect you personally having to keep it all private as an employee but I really do hope someone who's responsible for that stuff gives us a heads up so we're not bored out of our minds. Again thank you so much for trying!

RiotRiot Morgageddon2 votes

[{quoted}](name=CQR Pixie ,realm=NA,application-id=6WpmgL9O,discussion-id=fZcEfRGm,comment-id=000500000001,timestamp=2018-11-17T05:11:31.553+0000)

(deleted; saw you deleted yours)

Yeah sorry about putting you in that rough position, I know you're coming from a tough spot so it was generally directed at any Rioter who could say a bit of something here or there for frustrated players since I know I'm not the only one. I appreciate you responding to the post and being understanding too. I'm glad to know that Riot is aware of the issues with the client and are working on a fix, hopefully it'll be done before season 9? I actually am super excited about those two champion reworks because I like Morgana but her visuals honestly made me feel like not playing her. The champion reveal on 11/19 is the biggest thing I'm ready for though! I've also heard Nexus Blitz is back on PBE with legend of the Poro King after I wrote this post. Since I have PBE I'll hang out there till it hits live for sure. I'm reeeeeeally excited for the christmas skins (if any). I completely respect you personally having to keep it all private as an employee but I really do hope someone who's responsible for that stuff gives us a heads up so we're not bored out of our minds. Again thank you so much for trying!

No worries Pixie,

It was a huge info dump, and I could very easily have just said 'My area of information an expertise is the operation and maintenance of the NA LoL servers, and related stuff around that' ... which makes it very hard to talk about anything else with any authority that makes sense. But I wanted to give you some explanation and it got a bit longer than expected (long week).

The end result is, I wanted to tell you we're not blind to a lot of things, just sometimes it's not the fastest to get launched. I'd love to tell you about a lot of that, but I'm not the best person, nor is this the best place sadly. Buuuuut if you do see issues with random games or connection problems or server quality, you know who to talk to!

Pixie Storm1 votes

{quoted}

No worries Pixie,

It was a huge info dump, and I could very easily have just said 'My area of information an expertise is the operation and maintenance of the NA LoL servers, and related stuff around that' ... which makes it very hard to talk about anything else with any authority that makes sense. But I wanted to give you some explanation and it got a bit longer than expected (long week).

The end result is, I wanted to tell you we're not blind to a lot of things, just sometimes it's not the fastest to get launched. I'd love to tell you about a lot of that, but I'm not the best person, nor is this the best place sadly. Buuuuut if you do see issues with random games or connection problems or server quality, you know who to talk to!

Thanks dude :D I'm not even worried about it I'm happy you took the time to explain rather than brushing it off, and yeah I'll keep an eye out. The only problem I saw recently this week was on aram where a fizz ult (from my team) kept swimming around the enemy Shen endlessly. It never went away apparently I was the only one who saw it though so I figured it wasn't that important.

This was the match:

https://matchhistory.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/#match-details/NA1/2909226856/237478837?tab=overview

Mysticman891 votes

I have a question you can totally answer, although it's not server related.

As a rioter without "Riot" in your name, how do you feel about players identifying you as a rioter in solo queue lobbies and similar?

(I actually bumped into you in solo queue a week or two ago 19 days ago and recognized you as a rioter, but didn't want to be 'that guy' and say anything about it if you didn't want to draw attention to your rioter status.)

RiotRiot Morgageddon2 votes

{quoted}

I have a question you can totally answer, although it's not server related.

As a rioter without "Riot" in your name, how do you feel about players identifying you as a rioter in solo queue lobbies and similar?

(I actually bumped into you in solo queue a week or two ago 19 days ago and recognized you as a rioter, but didn't want to be 'that guy' and say anything about it if you didn't want to draw attention to your rioter status.)

It doesn't bother me. I come from a time where Riot in front and having high ranking (at one point) meant some rather less than ideal interactions pretty regularly in ranked. You're more than welcome to be 'that guy.' It comes with the territory and sometimes makes for some great conversation/interactions that don't happen that often!

RiotRiot Sudo2 votes

Dang, there's good info here. Thanks y'all; keep it coming!

We (and by we, I mean Morg and Couch =D) will run down info out of this thread with teams next week. No promises but we're always looking to improve where we can.

Silly Neeko1 votes

Well, something that i was hoping for someone from Riot to look at is a suggestion about how Chat Restrictions and the Honor penalties happen.... due to there already being issues made and feedback given about it being seemingly unfair to those that just had a minor slip and only got a chat restriction.

Obviously it would not be for this season at all, but potentially it could help with some issues for next season?

Here is a link to it if there is anyone willing to take a look at it:

https://boards.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/c/skin-champion-concepts/5vRsEA8G-idea-for-chat-restriction-penalties-for-next-season?comment=0000000000010000000000000000

EDIT: (Sorry if this is not really the right area to post it, but it seems like a server issue if there is even an extended deadline due to this.)

OKIDJ1 votes

More like "The Good, The Bad, and The Worse".

RiotRiot Sudo2 votes

{quoted}

More like "The Good, The Bad, and The Worse".

Burned

Minimac20001 votes

I've been getting really bad disconnects at random times for the last two weeks where the game will just freeze and won't display attempting to reconnect or even allow me to even minimize and i have to restart to fix it and I'm wondering if that's server-side, my-side, generally what is happening? It has occurred at several different locations on different wifi. Always on the same computer though. It always gives the windows notification noise immediately before it happens. I thought at first it was focus assist, then xbox game dvr, but I have since disabled these things and this crash keeps occurring consistently. I had it happen two games in a row last night which is a bit unfortunate, up from its average once every 4-5 games before that

Minimac20001 votes

{quoted}

I've been getting really bad disconnects at random times for the last two weeks where the game will just freeze and won't display attempting to reconnect or even allow me to even minimize and i have to restart to fix it and I'm wondering if that's server-side, my-side, generally what is happening? It has occurred at several different locations on different wifi. Always on the same computer though. It always gives the windows notification noise immediately before it happens. I thought at first it was focus assist, then xbox game dvr, but I have since disabled these things and this crash keeps occurring consistently. I had it happen two games in a row last night which is a bit unfortunate, up from its average once every 4-5 games before that

Edit: if I can't get a response I'll just submit a support ticket lol, it's ok lol It's also more likely a crash than a disconnect so idk if you'd even know

RiotRiot Morgageddon2 votes

{quoted}

Edit: if I can't get a response I'll just submit a support ticket lol, it's ok lol

I'd try not using WiFi, the game will freeze if you lose enough packets in a row. If you can't try not using WiFi, try moving your laptop right next to a router for a test hour or two (not the most ideal gaming location, but worth it for a test).

I'd still hit up PS though, it sounds more your computer/connection. I don't see any large scale disconnections from NA servers over the last two weeks with any level of frequency that could line up with what you're seeing.

Minimac20001 votes

{quoted}

I'd try not using WiFi, the game will freeze if you lose enough packets in a row. If you can't try not using WiFi, try moving your laptop right next to a router for a test hour or two (not the most ideal gaming location, but worth it for a test).

I'd still hit up PS though, it sounds more your computer/connection. I don't see any large scale disconnections from NA servers over the last two weeks with any level of frequency that could line up with what you're seeing.

Thanks for the suggestion! I'll try that to see if that works and check with PS if I have any more issues. Have a nice day!

xBadDocx1 votes

Stuff breaks, it happens, but thankfully the team is always there to make sure it gets fixed, troubleshooting isn't always the easiest task but if you ask me you guys are killing it! [slayer-pantheon-thumbs]

RiotRiot Sudo2 votes

{quoted}

Stuff breaks, it happens, but thankfully the team is always there to make sure it gets fixed, troubleshooting isn't always the easiest task but if you ask me you guys are killing it! [slayer-pantheon-thumbs]

Respect! Thanks bud.

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