PoxNora: Battlefield of the Immortals is a multiplayer online game that combines a digital collectible card game with a turn-based strategy game in a fantasy setting. PoxNora was originally launched via Java Web Start through a browser and can be played on Microsoft Windows , Mac OS X , and Linux . The game is free to play with "Sample Battlegroups", and players can purchase additional game pieces, called "runes", and build their own strategies. The game currently includes more than 1600 runes. The game was originally designed and developed by Octopi Media Design Lab, which as of January 2009 became owned by and operated by Sony Online Entertainment . This division of SOE was formerly referred to as SOETucson (because Octopi's headquarters was located in Tucson, Arizona ). SOE closed down the Tucson studio in April 2011 along with its Seattle and Denver studios, laying off over 200 employees in the process. Some members of the PoxNora team were moved to the San Diego HQ to continue development.
62-438: Players build decks, called "Battle-groups", on PoxNora' s website. A Battlegroup consists of thirty runes in any combination of spells, relics, equipment and champions. The game is launched via Java Web Start and players enter one of four game lobbies where they can chat or enter games. A fifth game lobby is reserved solely for trading discussion. Games consist of two players, though matches against AI "bots" are possible now with
124-435: A Shrine representing each player. The first to destroy their opponent's Shrine wins. Players accumulate Nora (magical energy) each turn and can use it to cast spells, deploy champions, place relics, or use equipment. When a champion rune is played, it appears on the game map and can be moved around, just like any other tactical roleplaying game . Champion movement is limited by their Action Points (AP), which they regenerate at
186-548: A background process. To reduce the size of a Java Web Start application Sun Microsystems introduced a compression system called Pack200 in Java 1.5.0. It can compress a large jar file to one-ninth of its original size if it contains only Java classes. Java Web Start has supported Pack200 since it first appeared, but initially this feature required server-side cooperation and a certain amount of expertise to set up. When Sun introduced Java SE 6u10, Pack200 support became available without
248-525: A new MMO, Darkpaw to focus on the EverQuest franchise, and Rogue Planet to focus on PlanetSide 2 . In August 2020, it was announced that Daybreak would acquire Cold Iron Studios which was developing a PC and console game set in the Alien universe at the time. However, the deal never went through and the subsequent purchase of Daybreak by Enad Global 7 did not include Cold Iron Studios. In December 1, 2020, it
310-656: A retail product titled Core Combat , and Aftershock , a free expansion. EverQuest Online Adventures was not as successful, but it spawned an expansion, EverQuest Online Adventures Frontiers . The game was shut down on March 29, 2012, after nine years of operation. EverQuest II was released on November 9, 2004. The sequel was set hundreds of years after the original. Similar in strategy to EverQuest , SOE has released several adventure packs and expansion packs for EverQuest II , starting with The Bloodline Chronicles in March 2005. In January 2005, Sony Online Entertainment announced
372-782: A separate frame. Web Start can also launch unmodified applets that are packaged inside .jar files, by writing the appropriate JNLP file. This file can also pass the applet parameters. Such applets also run in a separate frame. Applet launcher may not support some specific cases like loading class as resource. Like applets, Java Web Start is cross-platform . With JDK9 , several deployment technologies including applets and Java Web Start were deprecated by Oracle. In March 2018, Oracle announced it will not include Java Web Start in Java SE 11 (18.9 LTS) and later. Developers will need to transition to other deployment technologies. A few stand-alone alternatives have since arisen. The developer prepares
434-470: A set of rules defining how exactly to implement the launching mechanism. JNLP files include information such as the location of the jar package file and the name of the main class for the application, in addition to any other parameters for the program. A properly configured browser passes JNLP files to a Java Runtime Environment (JRE) which in turn downloads the application onto the user's machine and starts executing it. The development of JNLP took place under
496-423: A special XML file with JNLP extension. This file describes the application requirements, code location, parameters and additional permissions (if any). The browser downloads this file as any other and (following its MIME type , application/x-java-jnlp-file ) opens it with Web Start tool. Web Start tool downloads all necessary resources and launches the application. Java Web Start provides a series of classes in
558-717: A steady rate until mid-2001 when growth slowed. As of 2004, Sony reported subscription numbers close to 450,000. In March 2000, Verant released EverQuest: The Ruins of Kunark , the first in a long list of expansion packs for EverQuest . In April 2000, Verant hired former Ultima Online developers Raph Koster and Rich Vogel. They formed an office in Austin, Texas, to develop Star Wars Galaxies for LucasArts . SOE acquired Verant in June 2000, and eventually promoted Brad McQuaid to be its Chief Creative Officer. In October 2001, McQuaid resigned and founded Sigil Games Online , drawing many of
620-476: A webserver, which replies with a JNLP file (instead of a HTML file) for the application. The JNLP client parses this file, requests the resources specified (jar files), waits for the retrieval of all required resources, and then launches the application. The JNLP file can list resources as "lazy", which informs the JNLP client that the application does not need those resources to start, but can retrieve them later on when/if
682-489: A whole 30 rune Battlegroup, uses their own nora, and generates the same nora as their teammate (ability and spell based nora gains are not added to both players banks, only the owner). In casual play player battlegroups must be either Full-Faction (30 runes of the same faction) or Split-Faction. Likewise, Theme Decks were also implemented recently. Players can purchase a pre-made deck from each faction and choose to only battle opponents using Theme Decks. PoxNora ' s world
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#1732870124065744-417: Is divided among eight factions. Each rune belongs to a particular faction. Players receive bonuses if their Battlegroups have at least 15 runes of a given faction and a greater bonus if all 30 runes are from the same faction. An additional Shrine Bonus is activated by having 15 runes of a faction. Factions can be split into 15 runes from two factions called "split factions", creating a multitude of options within
806-521: The jarsigner tool that comes with the JDK . The open-source IcedTea project provides an alternative JNLP implementation in IcedTea-Web . As of version 1.7.2, it also works on newer versions without official JWS support. To run Java Web Start-based application after the release of Java 11, the company Karakun AG has released the open source tool OpenWebStart , based on IcedTea-Web. The tool includes all
868-513: The AdoptOpenJDK community, RedHat and Karakun AG , and which is bundled in some OpenJDK installers. Next to this OpenWebStart provides an open source based implementation that is based on IcedTea-Web but offers more features and commercial support options. Unlike Java applets , Web Start applications do not run inside the browser. By default they run in the same sandbox as applets, with several minor extensions like allowing to load and save
930-664: The EverQuest II environment. Fastpoint Games CEO, Kelly Perdew , positioned Fortune League as a new category of "snackable" data-driven games that would help MMO franchises acquire users and tap new revenue streams. On February 1, 2011, SOE unveiled new PlayStation Network games to be released throughout the year. These included Acceleration of Suguri X Edition , Akimi Village , Plants vs. Zombies , Rochard , Sideway and Slam Bolt Scrappers . On March 31, 2011, SOE confirmed that "it will eliminate 205 positions and close its Denver, Seattle, and Tucson studios." Production of The Agency
992-530: The Java Community Process as JSR 56. It includes the original 1.0 release, the subsequent 1.5 maintenance release, and as of 2006 , the pending 6.0 maintenance release. Important Web Start features include the ability to automatically download and install a JRE in the case where the user does not have Java installed, and for programmers to specify which JRE version a given program needs in order to execute. The user does not have to remain connected to
1054-505: The Java virtual machine . Java Web Start was distributed as part of the Java Platform until being removed in Java SE 11, following its deprecation in Java SE 9. The code for Java Web Start was not released by Oracle as part of OpenJDK , and thus OpenJDK originally did not support it. IcedTea-Web provides an independent open source implementation of Java Web Start that is currently developed by
1116-563: The PlayStation Store . On May 15, 2007, Sony Online Entertainment announced that they had completed a transaction to purchase key assets from Sigil Games Online, including Vanguard: Saga of Heroes (described as Sigil's "tentpole property"). On March 13, 2008, Sony Online Entertainment announced that Sony Computer Entertainment will have direct control over SOE. On January 16, 2009, the company joined Steam , selling EverQuest , EverQuest II and Vanguard: Saga of Heroes via Steam. On
1178-505: The Internet to execute the downloaded programs, because they execute from a locally maintained cache . Updates of the software download from the Web and become available when the user has a connection to the Internet, thus easing the burden of deployment. Any computer user can use JNLP simply by installing a JNLP client (most commonly Java Web Start). The installation can occur automatically such that
1240-542: The Kill , along with more recent acquisitions Dungeons & Dragons Online , Magic: The Gathering Online , The Lord of the Rings Online , and Palia . Sony Online Entertainment began with Sony Interactive Studios America (SISA), an internal game development studio of Sony, formed by 1995. In 1996, John Smedley was put in charge of SISA's development of an online role-playing video game . The game would evolve into
1302-527: The MMO industry. SOE has produced numerous EverQuest expansions and spin-off video games, including Champions of Norrath (for PlayStation 2) and Lords of EverQuest (Windows). They published Champions: Return to Arms , the sequel to Champions of Norrath , in February 2005. In August 2005, SOE entered a deal with Warner Bros. Entertainment which saw the acquisition and transition of The Matrix Online to
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#17328701240651364-465: The MMORPG EverQuest . Smedley hired programmers Brad McQuaid and Steve Clover, who had come to Smedley's attention through their work on the single-player role-playing game Warwizard . In April 1998, Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) was formed by merging parts of Sony Online Ventures with Sony Pictures Entertainment . Within a matter of months after this change, Sony Interactive Studios America
1426-589: The PlayStation Network intrusion had no major effect on SOE's online services. SOE developers posted messages of concern and apology, but also assurances the SOE servers and systems were not compromised. On May 2, 2011, SOE interrupted their online services. Players were told "We have had to take the SOE service down temporarily. In the course of our investigation into the intrusion into our systems, we have discovered an issue that warrants enough concern for us to take
1488-607: The Rings Online. On July 1, 2024, Daybreak Game Company announced its acquisition of Palia developer Singularity 6. Sony Online Entertainment's Station.com was a portal to its PC, console, casual and mobile games. Players could access and download games such as EverQuest , EverQuest II and PlanetSide . Station.com also provided sneak previews to new games for Sony PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable, including Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom . November 2006. In August 2006, Station.com added several games by Sony Pictures Digital Entertainment. The ForgeLight engine
1550-526: The Treasury as part of an investigation on Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections . Columbus Nova had previously identified itself as an affiliate of Renova Group, while Renova Group had listed Columbus Nova as part of its corporate structure. Subsequently, it was believed that Columbus Nova, and consequently Daybreak, had also been affected by these sanctions. Daybreak subsequently began to deny that it had been sold to Columbus Nova, stating that
1612-625: The Wookiees in May 2005, and Trials Of Obi-Wan in November 2005. In 2003, the company also explored relatively untouched MMOG territory with the massively multiplayer online first-person shooter PlanetSide and the PlayStation 2 MMORPG EverQuest Online Adventures . PlanetSide enjoyed a reasonably successful launch, however it never attracted wide popularity. SOE released two expansions for PlanetSide ,
1674-500: The ability to convert runes from "crafting recipes", and an added option to obtain a few "Limited Edition" runes that would otherwise not appear with the individually purchased packs. Players trade runes to obtain better runes or to make a better deck. There are several "rune shops" in the Trader forum that can give players a good idea of what their runes are worth. Two versus two was recently added to PoxNora . In this mode each person uses
1736-414: The application requests them. The example below gives a simple JNLP file to launch the applet, specifying code base, source, main class and window size. Such file contains all necessary references and is self-sufficient to launch the application. As no permissions are requested, the code will run in a sandbox. JNLP also states that this application can run offline (if already cached) and should be updated as
1798-693: The company had actually been acquired by Jason Epstein through his company Inception Acquisitions, LLC instead. At the time of the acquisition, Epstein had been a partner to Columbus Nova, though he left that company in 2017. A Daybreak spokesperson claimed that Epstein's exact ties to Columbus Nova had caused confusion in media reporting of the sale, even though its deleted press release made the same claim. Columbus Nova also stated that it had never been owned by Renova Group, though Renova Group had been their largest client. In September 2018, holding company NantWorks announced its strategic investment in Daybreak, and
1860-423: The company reported they were undergoing layoffs, including several senior developers and project managers. Shortly after, Daybreak responded by announcing the layoffs were intended to make the company profitable, but did not detail the extent of the layoffs or whether it would affect the development and support of their new and existing games. On July 22, 2015, Daybreak announced that John Smedley had stepped down as
1922-462: The company's President, and that Russell Shanks, the company's former COO, will take up his position. On August 21, 2015, Smedley left Daybreak to found a new company. In October 2016, Russell Shanks left Daybreak. On December 19, 2016, it was announced that Daybreak games would become the new publisher of The Lord of the Rings Online and Dungeons & Dragons Online , taking over the role from Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment . However,
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1984-511: The creation of Station Publishing, a new label for distributing titles made by external developers. It was renamed Platform Publishing some time later, publishing titles such as Frantix and GripShift . In November 2005, SOE added the New Game Enhancements to Star Wars Galaxies , changing many of the game's core mechanics. This upset players and critics, with the level of concurrent players reduced to around 10,000; relatively few for
2046-426: The end-user sees the client launcher downloading and installing the Java application when first executed. JNLP works in a similar fashion to how HTTP/HTML works for the web. For rendering an HTML webpage , after the user clicks on a weblink, the browser submits a URL to a webserver , which replies with an HTML file. The browser then requests the resources referred to by this file (images, css ), and finally renders
2108-428: The existing line up of SOE games. In April 2006, Sony Online Entertainment, Inc. became Sony Online Entertainment LLC, owned by Sony Pictures Digital and Sony Computer Entertainment America . In May 2006, it was announced that SOE would be co-publisher of Vanguard: Saga of Heroes . However, Sigil retained full development rights, and SOE's role was only that of marketing, distribution, technical support, and hosting
2170-427: The file that is explicitly selected by the user through the file selection dialog. Only signed applications can be configured to have additional permissions. Web Start has an advantage over applets in that it overcomes many compatibility problems with browsers' Java plugins and different JVM versions. Web Start programs are no longer an integrated part of the web page, they are independent applications that run in
2232-554: The first week or so of each expansion release due to balance issues but such hotfixes and patches occur frequently as the game develops. PoxNora was made available to Steam in December 2011. This has caused the game to have a surge of growth. Previously, PoxNora operated as a potential free to play online game through the use of a Fragment system. With this system, a player could obtain Fragments from Campaigns (single-player mode) with
2294-493: The functionality of IcedTea-Web and adds extended features, such as native installers for Mac OS, Windows, and Linux. IcedTea-Web was created with support from RedHat and AdoptOpenJDK . Sony Online Entertainment Daybreak Game Company LLC is an American video game developer based in San Diego . The company was founded in December 1997 as Sony Online Entertainment , a subsidiary of Sony Computer Entertainment , but
2356-568: The game servers. SOE also announced the release of Field Commander , its third game for the PlayStation Portable System. In August 2006, SOE announced the acquisition of developer Worlds Apart Productions, renaming the studio SOE-Denver. The studio has since released an online version of the WizKids pirates constructible strategy game. In November 2006, SOE released its first PlayStation 3 title Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom , within
2418-511: The game's site. As of May 2010 , John Smedley was the CEO of Sony Online Entertainment. SOE is headquartered in San Diego , California , with additional game development studios located in Austin, Texas, Denver, Colorado and Seattle, Washington. On July 15, 2010, SOE eliminated 35 full-time positions and an undisclosed number of temporary positions to "...better align the company's resources..." On August 8, 2010, SOE announced that EverQuest Next
2480-405: The game. PoxNora expansions are released in regular intervals, usually a few months, with a Midterm Legendary (limited time availability) in between. The expansions usually contain at least 5 Runes (cards) of each faction, often either expanding a theme within the faction or creating a new theme. Each faction receive champions, relics, spells and equipment runes. Runes are generally tweaked during
2542-511: The games they work on, and ultimately provide tailored experiences for our players." Following from the October 2019 round of layoffs, Daybreak announced in January 2020 that it would reorganize its internal structure to form three divisions: Dimensional Ink Games, Darkpaw Games, and Rogue Planet Games. Dimensional Ink became responsible for ongoing maintenance of DC Universe Online while working on
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2604-415: The javax.jnlp package which provide various services to the application. Sun designed most of these services with the aim of allowing carefully controlled access to resources (such as files and the system clipboard) while restricting the application to authorized operations. Sun introduced version 1.0 of Web Start in March 2001, while 64-bit Windows support was added only in Java 6 (later than 64-bit Java
2666-647: The launch window of the PlayStation 3 system. SOE also released Pirates Online Constructible Strategy Game , the online version of the WizKids Pirates Constructible Strategy Game. In January 2007, SOE announced that it has licensed rights from Midway Home Entertainment to develop and release six classic Midway games for PlayStation 3 download, including Mortal Kombat II , Gauntlet II , Joust , Rampage World Tour , Rampart , and Championship Sprint . The games were available from
2728-430: The marketplace users can access packs, theme decks, avatars, campaigns and more. Since the change in ownership of the game, this system has been supplanted by the use of an in-house currency system. In April 2014, Sony Online Entertainment sold PoxNora to Desert Owl Games, a company that includes some of the original game developers from Octopi. PoxNora was a runner-up for Computer Games Magazine ' s list of
2790-452: The need for special server support. Application designers can enable or disable this feature within JNLP files. On slow connections Pack200 gives a performance boost in application startup time and download time. By default, Java Web Start applications run "restricted", which means that they do not have access to some system resources such as local files. But publishers can remove these restrictions by signing their Web Start applications with
2852-415: The original developers of EverQuest from SOE. Developed by Sony Online Entertainment, LucasArts released Star Wars Galaxies in 2003, which saw rapid growth, as expected. Bruce Woodcock estimates that Star Wars Galaxies reached nearly 300,000 subscribers within the year, before trailing off. LucasArts has released three expansions for Star Wars Galaxies , Jump to Lightspeed in October 2004, Rage of
2914-402: The page once it has received enough information. Page rendering usually starts before all resources have downloaded; some resources not critical to the layout of the page (such as images) can follow on afterwards. JNLP mirrors this process; in the same way that a Web browser renders a webpage, a JNLP client "renders" a Java app . After the user clicks on a weblink, the browser submits a URL to
2976-518: The rarity of the Fragment depending upon the difficulty of the Campaign as well as the selection of the Campaign. These Fragments could be used to craft runes. This system has been replaced with a broader Gold system that accumulates in both single and multiplayer play. The PoxNora Marketplace supported premium game purchases through Station Cash (used in all games published by Sony Online Entertainment). In
3038-432: The release of single-player campaigns, first introduced in the "Path to Conquest" expansion. Each player's Battlegroup is shuffled (like a deck of cards) and (in standard settings) players reveal two runes per turn (except the first turn, when four are revealed and the second player's first turn, in which five runes are revealed). The game is played on one of 8 different square, "tiled" maps with various obstacles, fonts, and
3100-436: The resulting new venture in which the company will bring popular Daybreak games (including EverQuest and H1Z1 ) to mobile platforms. Three rounds of layoffs occurred between April 2018 and October 2019; the December rounds was estimated to have affected around 70 people. These layoffs were towards "a realignment of the company into separate franchise teams, which will allow us to highlight their expertise, better showcase
3162-419: The same day, the company purchased Pox Nora , an online turn-based strategy game. On August 1, 2009, SOE shut down The Matrix Online after 4 years of operation. Players were treated to about 2 months of gaming despite some initial setbacks that left many veteran players unable to access the game for about a week after the announcement was made. A memory book was developed and was made available for download on
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#17328701240653224-742: The service down effective immediately. We will provide an update later today (Monday)." Later, SOE disclosed that "personal information from approximately 24.6 million SOE accounts may have been stolen", including names, addresses, telephone numbers, email addresses, gender, date of birth, login ID, and hashed passwords. On February 2, 2015, Sony announced that SOE had been sold to investment company Columbus Nova for an undisclosed amount and that it would be renamed Daybreak Game Company. Cutting its ties with Sony, Daybreak subsequently became able to develop their games for platforms other than PlayStation , including Xbox and mobile platforms. On February 11, employees of
3286-650: The start of the player's turn. Champions gain Champion Points (CP) as they participate in battles. Players can spend CP to improve or add to their champion's abilities. Tokens can be used to increase the CP of a champion by 25, 50, 100, or 200, depending on which token is used. Tokens are obtained through purchasing traditional booster packs or separate token packs. Tokens can be traded with other players for alternative tokens or runes. The game can be played free. Originally, to be able to upgrade runes, or to trade for other runes, it
3348-576: The top 10 computer games of 2006. Java Web Start In computing , Java Web Start (also known as JavaWS , javaws or JAWS ) is a deprecated framework developed by Sun Microsystems (now Oracle ) that allows users to start application software for the Java Platform directly from the Internet using a web browser . The technology enables seamless version updating for globally distributed applications and greater control of memory allocation to
3410-472: The two games would maintain their old account system and server centers, not integrating with the rest of Daybreak. The result of this deal would cause the closure of Asheron's Call and Asheron's Call 2: Fallen Kings on January 31, 2017. In April 2018, Viktor Vekselberg , a Russian businessman and owner of portfolio company Renova Group , was sanctioned by the United States Department of
3472-549: Was also discontinued. On December 6, 2011, EverQuest II switched to a free-to-play model, with optional subscriptions. On December 15, 2011, Star Wars Galaxies was closed. SOE maintained a Memory Book for former players. On April 27, 2011, Sony, the parent company of SOE, released statements regarding an intrusion, on or about April 18, into the PlayStation Network, and the potential theft of up to 77 million subscribers' personal data. Sony maintains that PSN and SOE are hosted and run on completely separate subsystems and that
3534-503: Was first available). Since J2SE 1.4 Web Start comes as a default part of Java Runtime Environment (JRE) called javaws , computer administrators no longer have to install it separately. Programmers often speak of the Java Network Launching Protocol ( JNLP ) interchangeably with the term "Web Start". The JNLP protocol, defined with an XML schema , specifies how to launch Java Web Start applications. JNLP consists of
3596-619: Was in the early stages of development. On January 7, 2011, SOE and Fastpoint Games announced the alpha launch of the Facebook game Fortune League . Fortune League integrates real-time performance data such as damages, deaths and healings directly from the massively multiplayer online game environment and uses them to form "Hero Stats" that drive the game. Therefore, player actions inside EverQuest II affected what happened in Fortune League, and prizes from Fortune League helped users advance in
3658-452: Was necessary to purchase runes. A player reward system with "gold" that can be earned in-game now allows access to all aspects of the game with no cash transactions, though some runes are unavailable for gold and must be traded for. Every booster pack has a set number of rarity slots. The premium subscription gives access to Premium Campaigns, store discounts, the possibility of being allowed the privilege of beta testing upcoming expansion runes,
3720-484: Was renamed 989 Studios . Towards the end of 1998, 989 Studios shifted its strategy to making PlayStation games. The company's video game and online development branch spun off; John Smedley, Brad McQuaid and Russell Shanks, as well as 55 other ex-989 employees, founded RedEye Interactive, later renamed Verant Interactive. Verant Interactive launched EverQuest on March 16, 1999, through Sony with modest expectations. The game became successful. Sales continued rising at
3782-516: Was reported that Daybreak Game Company would be acquired by Enad Global 7 for $ 300 million. The transaction was completed on December 22. In December 2021, it was reported that Daybreak Game Company would be taking over development of Magic: The Gathering Online in 2022. The transition to Daybreak Games servers was completed on October 18, 2022. In February 2024, "less than 15" employees were laid off from teams supporting Everquest, Dungeons & Dragons Online, DC Universe Online, and Lord of
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#17328701240653844-541: Was spun off to an independent investor in February 2015 and renamed Daybreak Game Company. On December 1, 2020, Daybreak Game Company entered into an agreement to be acquired by Enad Global 7 . They are known for owning, maintaining, and creating additional content for the games EverQuest , EverQuest II , The Matrix Online , PlanetSide , Star Wars Galaxies , Clone Wars Adventures , Free Realms , Vanguard: Saga of Heroes , DC Universe Online , PlanetSide 2 , H1Z1: Just Survive , and H1Z1: King of
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