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is bzpower dying?


squidmaster

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hey you all, 

 

so ive been on this site of a year and a but now but have been looking at this site since 2009 and i want to know what is the future of BZP? now that it has been a while since bionicle g2's ended and only the core fanbase is left intact and alive on this site what do you guys think will happend in the future?

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Yes. But we can save it if the Toa can recover the Mask of Life.

 

In all seriousness, the core will probably stay active on here for a bit before some start to drop. Though some will stay, especially those looking for specific items, or those that are involved with more than Bionicle.

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Didn't this topic get asked last year?

I'm pretty sure it's been asked at least once every year since G1 ended and the old forums went down, maybe even before that.

 

And, for the first time I think I'm going to answer "yes". Activity is way down from a few years ago, or even just last year. There's no real new info to discuss, even less than there was during 2011-2013. Mafia games struggle to find 20 players when 30+ was the norm not too long ago. I can't remember the last time a topic went to 5 pages. Although, it seems like official LEGO support will continue for at least a while, even if there are like, half as many people entering into raffles as there were when they were introduced.(Which was pretty recent.)

 

So, yeah, might be on it's way out, but don't let that stop you from enjoying it while it lasts. I know I am.

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No community is "dead" until there is at least some activity, and BZP still gets several new topics per day, which is more than some other sites, so calling it dead already is utter sensationalist nonsense.

Sure, activity is going down, the site had to branch out beyond Bionicle, but the Bionicle fandom won't go away just because the line was cancelled (like it didn't the first time) and I don't see the core leaving BZP behind - I know I won't. Even if, say, we reach a point when only 10-5 people are active, it still won't be "dead" and we're far from that.

 

This empty doomsday talk seems overly pessimistic while not serving any purpose.

 

 

:kakama:

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:kakama: Stone rocks :kakama:

Model Designer at The LEGO Group. Former contributor at New Elementary. My MOCs can be found on Flickr and Instagram

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nah. it died a long time ago.

 

This, no matter how many times people try to argue that it's just a different atmosphere. It's dead, y'all, and not even the Gay Agenda can save it now.

 

 

I can't believe we're all ghosts.

 

Actually, we're trapped on the Red Star

 

:kakama:

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:kakama: Stone rocks :kakama:

Model Designer at The LEGO Group. Former contributor at New Elementary. My MOCs can be found on Flickr and Instagram

:smilepohatunu: :smilehuki:

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nah. it died a long time ago.

 

This, no matter how many times people try to argue that it's just a different atmosphere. It's dead, y'all, and not even the Gay Agenda can save it now.

 

 

I can't believe we're all ghosts.

 

Actually, we're trapped on the Red Star

 

:kakama:

 

 

Why'd you have to go and imprison us like that. I was happy being an internet ghost.

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I think the words 'dead' and 'dying' are too open to interpretation.

 

To me, BZPower the forum has been long dead; the number of active users, new topics and new blog posts per day has plummeted, there are less contests and activities on the forums to get involved with, and most of the people I used to interact with are no longer active on the forum (if they even visit at all).

 

Other people may see the forum as still active; we probably do get more daily posts here than a lot of forums these days, and I'm sure certain subforums see more activity than others. (I think the date you joined also plays into your perception of the forum's health - those who joined later might not have seen a huge difference compared with those who joined in the forum's heyday.)

 

Here's what I see as the facts:

  • Any forum is going to be less active in the age of social media and instant messaging
  • Any fandom community is going to be less active once the subject of said fandom has officially concluded (and has little chance of coming back)
  • Any fandom community based on a children's franchise is going to be less active once those fans have grown into adults with less interest in the franchise, more responsibilities, less time etc
  • Just because a forum is 'dead' or 'dying', it doesn't mean that the communities and sub-communities that forum built aren't still active on social media and other platforms (and even IRL events such as conventions)
Edited by Distorted
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Naturally. Eventually the forums will go offline entirely. It makes me sad but how can a Bionicle community survive without Bionicle?

 

I still check the site every day but I never post anymore, ever, because there is nothing for me to talk about here.

 

It's fun being a ghost, especially now that I've rode off into the sunset in the gayest way possible with the best OBZPC on the site.

 

I can't believe how much I used to care about this site's activity, like what the heck was I even thinking.

I loved when you were a mod!

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Didn't this topic get asked last year?

I'm pretty sure it's been asked at least once every year since G1 ended and the old forums went down, maybe even before that.

 

And, for the first time I think I'm going to answer "yes". Activity is way down from a few years ago, or even just last year. There's no real new info to discuss, even less than there was during 2011-2013. Mafia games struggle to find 20 players when 30+ was the norm not too long ago. I can't remember the last time a topic went to 5 pages. Although, it seems like official LEGO support will continue for at least a while, even if there are like, half as many people entering into raffles as there were when they were introduced.(Which was pretty recent.)

 

So, yeah, might be on it's way out, but don't let that stop you from enjoying it while it lasts. I know I am.

 

Frankly, there's routinely plenty of new LEGO info to discuss, it's just that hardly anybody seems to really want to discuss anything that isn't Bionicle. I didn't at all mind the forum's less active years during Hero Factory and G2's run (certainly it became much easier to connect with other members instead of always feeling drowned out in a flood of activity or overwhelmed by endless back-and-forth arguments) but I'm definitely beginning to miss when there was more point to coming here.

 

I've done my best as a news reporter to try and make this a welcoming place for fans of other LEGO themes. It hasn't been very successful as far as I can tell. Even the people who do discuss other LEGO themes on occasion seem to be people who've been here for years — LEGO fans who weren't around for Bionicle G1 seem to have an easier time connecting with others on social media or in private chat groups. Some of this site's strengths over other FOL forums had always been in story/media discussion and non-brick-based creative expression, but while there are still amazing LEGO fan artists out there, and still plenty of people getting super excited for LEGO stories, it feels like there's nothing I can do to make them want to set up roots here.

 

So yeah… wasn't having a good day today and this topic hasn't exactly warmed my spirits. I'm going to stick around on BZPower as long as I can, but for whatever reason I don't think the community's on the verge of making any big strides adapting to a status quo where Bionicle isn't a prominent fixture.

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It's fun being a ghost, especially now that I've rode off into the sunset in the gayest way possible with the best OBZPC on the site.

 

I can't believe how much I used to care about this site's activity, like what the heck was I even thinking.

I loved when you were a mod!

 

God, I wish I could look back and say the same. I should never have come back to staff in 2011.

Edited by Kagome
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Activity hasn't been the same since the golden years since G1 sure G2 brought a bit of activity back but its nothing compared to the days of old.

 

What saddens me the most is that a lot of forums have less pages for storing older topics including "Bionicle Based Creations" which only has one page for MoC topics which is dreadful in my opinion.

 

Not dead but we seem to have been cutting back or trimming too much content.

Edited by necross hordika
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What saddens me the most is that a lot of forums have less pages for storing older topics including "Bionicle Based Creations" which only has one page for MoC topics which is dreadful in my opinion.

 

Not dead but we seem to have been cutting back or trimming too much content.

That's based on forum activity. It means BBC has only had that many topics active in the past two months and is also deader than it's ever been, wow. All the older topics are there, but you'll get thrown in jail for reviving them.

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oh hey this website still exists

 

i just remembered it was a thing and i've been browsing and feeling nostalgia about the days when niche forums were a thing that existed and everyone didn't use twitter all the time

 

looks pretty deceased to me though

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man remember when no one would dream of making a forum site without signatures

 

 

that was tight

 

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To be fair, I think that if BZP is going down (and I reserve judgement on that fact), then it's got less to do with the absence of Bionicle than it has the simple fact that forum sites themselves are massively out of fashion these days. There's just not that appeal anymore - and I think that even if Bionicle were to regain its former level of popularity, any forum site would have trouble attaining a higher level of activity now. People looking to talk about any subject no longer gravitate towards forums, generally.

 

...in fact, BZP is quite literally the only forum site I've been on in recent years that's still doing even this well anymore xD

Edited by Darth Jaller
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"New legends awake, but old lessons must be remembered.
For that is the way
of the BIONICLE."

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To be fair, I think that if BZP is going down (and I reserve judgement on that fact), then it's got less to do with the absence of Bionicle than it has the simple fact that forum sites themselves are massively out of fashion these days. There's just not that appeal anymore - and I think that even if Bionicle were to regain its former level of popularity, any forum site would have trouble attaining a higher level of activity now. People looking to talk about any subject no longer gravitate towards forums, generally.

 

...in fact, BZP is quite literally the only forum site I've been on in recent years that's still doing even this well anymore xD

Eurobricks still gets a lot more activity, but then, perhaps because they covered less specific subjects in the first place. Much easier to keep a general LEGO forum covering general LEGO than to try and expand a Bionicle-specific forum to cover general LEGO.

 

Brickset Forum also seems to do pretty OK for itself, but it's a much younger forum that spun off from the main news site and database. I feel like most Brickset Forum users originally joined to comment on news or use the database.

 

We certainly seem to be doing a lot better than other theme-specific LEGO forums like classic-castle.com (forums largely inactive) and classic-space.com (once a fairly active discussion site, but it changed ownership and seems to have been replaced with a poorly written site advertising random non-LEGO products).

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To be fair, I think that if BZP is going down (and I reserve judgement on that fact), then it's got less to do with the absence of Bionicle than it has the simple fact that forum sites themselves are massively out of fashion these days. There's just not that appeal anymore - and I think that even if Bionicle were to regain its former level of popularity, any forum site would have trouble attaining a higher level of activity now. People looking to talk about any subject no longer gravitate towards forums, generally.

 

...in fact, BZP is quite literally the only forum site I've been on in recent years that's still doing even this well anymore xD

forums were pretty much a 2000s thing; the trend on the internet today is towards consolidation. i mean, just look at the massive increase in centralization between 2007 and 2009, and then again between 2009 and 2014, and it's only gotten worse since.

 

and i mean i'm guilty of this too; this has been my first time on bzp in literal years (if nothing else it's been an interesting exercise in remembering how to communicate without profanity); i've mostly been using reddit and twitter, which are respectively the 6th and 12th most-browsed websites worldwide per alexa. it's so much easier than a forum, and the content is neverending. and since we're all addicted to content it's only natural that we'd gravitate towards the places where we can get our fill of it.

 

the tradeoff, especially on twitter, is that it's curated by impenetrable algorithms rather than people and forming any sense of community is very difficult. you can't talk to an algorithm. you can't tell it what you don't like about it, and if you could it wouldn't care.

 

i miss forums, but i don't see them coming back. which is a massive shame.

 

i could also get really political with this but i think that's still against site rules so i won't

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man remember when no one would dream of making a forum site without signatures

 

 

that was tight

 

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As one of the new members who joined in the G2 era I have even seen a decline.

It saddens me to think one day BZPower will just get shut down from a lack in funding. For when that happens BZPower will be dead.

Till then I'm going to enjoy my time here.

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Hey I got a Flickr because I like making LEGO stuff.

https://www.flickr.com/people/toatimelord/
 

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Wow after this got posted I've have seen a boost of people I have not seen before or in a long time. Edited by Rassilon (TTL)
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Hey I got a Flickr because I like making LEGO stuff.

https://www.flickr.com/people/toatimelord/
 

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Wow after this got posted I've have seen a boost of people I have not seen before or in a long time.
 It'll be back to dead as usual after a day or two. Drama does the same thing.

True, but this does show that there are people lurking around and maintaining at least some sort of presence even when there isn't anything new to discuss.

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Wow after this got posted I've have seen a boost of people I have not seen before or in a long time.
It'll be back to dead as usual after a day or two. Drama does the same thing.
True, but this does show that there are people lurking around and maintaining at least some sort of presence even when there isn't anything new to discuss.
Now we must sacrifice a member to Denmark to bring back Bionicle.

Hail Denmark.

https://cowcraft.net/attachments/haildenmark-png.3102/

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Hey I got a Flickr because I like making LEGO stuff.

https://www.flickr.com/people/toatimelord/
 

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The rampant fatalism and, dare I say, nigh elitism displayed in this thread is disgusting. Sure, as time goes on and people's mindsets and attitude towards certain topics change, a medium that is deemed obsolete will slowly decay. I cannot say that BZPower's traffic and interaction isn't stagnating because I myself haven't even made a post in a month. Yes, BZPower, much like any other platform, may be dying, but by jove, you do not have to get off on it. I've only been around here for about three years, so I do not have as much experience with this website as you, and of course, I wasn't here for its "heyday". But to me, it sounds like the time you've had here meant very little and you have completely accepted that nothing can be done.

 

The atmosphere of a website is the spirit and attitude of its members and those who frequent it. And well, if this is the state of BZPower's spirit (and has been since before I even got here, from what I can grasp from what you all have said), then does it not make sense that it would be dying? Interacting with those who think they're platform is already dead doesn't sound like much fun. 

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The rampant fatalism and, dare I say, nigh elitism displayed in this thread is disgusting. Sure, as time goes on and people's mindsets and attitude towards certain topics change, a medium that is deemed obsolete will slowly decay. I cannot say that BZPower's traffic and interaction isn't stagnating because I myself haven't even made a post in a month. Yes, BZPower, much like any other platform, may be dying, but by jove, you do not have to get off on it. I've only been around here for about three years, so I do not have as much experience with this website as you, and of course, I wasn't here for its "heyday". But to me, it sounds like the time you've had here meant very little and you have completely accepted that nothing can be done.

 

The atmosphere of a website is the spirit and attitude of its members and those who frequent it. And well, if this is the state of BZPower's spirit (and has been since before I even got here, from what I can grasp from what you all have said), then does it not make sense that it would be dying? Interacting with those who think they're platform is already dead doesn't sound like much fun. 

This whole thread feels like certain people insisting on the site's death out of spite or something, shooting down every positive notion. 

"It's already dead"

"It will be back to dead in a day or two"

"I don't care anymore"

 

When BZP does actually die sometime in the future, it won't be the lack of an active Bionicle theme, or the decline of forum traffic in general, but attitudes like that which will be responsible.

 

I hope I never become so hopelessly cynical that I consider a forum community which produces multiple new threads per day as "already dead". 

 

:kakama:

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:kakama: Stone rocks :kakama:

Model Designer at The LEGO Group. Former contributor at New Elementary. My MOCs can be found on Flickr and Instagram

:smilepohatunu: :smilehuki:

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"It's already dead"

"It will be back to dead in a day or two"

"I don't care anymore"

 

When BZP does actually die sometime in the future, it won't be the lack of an active Bionicle theme, or the decline of forum traffic in general, but attitudes like that which will be responsible.

I mean, I'm right about all of those. Also hey, I wasted so much time trying to help bolster activity as much as possible as probably the most active upper-ranking staff member. I was convinced I could help, had the right attitude, whatever. It did absolutely nothing.

Edited by Windseeker
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As long as that B6 or whoever's paying the bills keeps the servers going and there's at least one person to look at them, BZPower isn't dead in my eyes. I wont argue at all though that activity here has dramatically declined to a snail's pace at best ... Here's some ways I can see to increase activity in the forums, at the very least with those who still lurk and are active here:

  • Less Subforums: Back in the day, having so many were great, because activity was so incredibly high it was hard to keep all a day's content on a single page, sometimes even on two. Nowadays, it's making BZP as a whole feel a mile wide and an inch deep. Sticking some of the subforums back together like they were in the real early days (where General art, fan created Media and Comics were all just a single art subforum for example, if I'm not mistaken) would let us see what others have to offer without having to sail nearly as far to other corners of the map, so to speak. Not to mention it would create the illusion of more content and activity, a tactic which has been known to often lead to an actual increase in more content and activity, as people would see there being more things and would be more compelled to be a part of it. Look at it this way: think of hosting a party with ten people in your home. Pretty fun and packed, right? Now picture hosting that same party in a large gymnasium, still only with ten people. Suddenly the party isn't going to feel nearly as big, people are going to feel less compelled to speak and socialize with one another unless their family or good friends, since they don't have to stand nearly so close to each other.

     

  • Give people more time: Most of us have grown up, have college, university, work, families, etc. etc. People are much more busy now and for the most part see interest in bionicles as just a hobby rather then their sole love and passion, so we view and create things about it fairly less. Now, there's a small, seemingly trivial detail, that seeing topics where they no longer have their title in bold with that faint blue backdrop from inactivity after just a month, almost certainly gives people the impression that the topic is dead. People see a topic that looks dead, they're not going to be interested in it, because they think nobody else was interested in it either. If it's a story, a comic, a library or an art topic, they'll think the author has abandoned the project since it's greyed out and therefore also isn't worth looking into, even if the author was just taking their time. and with all of that not looking interesting to the average viewer, what's left? Just a few of the most recent things posted, making the place look like a wasteland because of the decrease in activity, and then you've lost the viewer to another site that has content available a little quicker. Few weeks or months later the content makers come back, get demotivated that hardly anyone has commented or looked at their work, and decide to abandon the project they were working on completely, or take it elsewhere, and then there's even less content for viewers to find or get inspired to make their own by. I guess my point is that since things are slower and take longer for people to make and see it, means it shouldn't be put out of the spotlight as quickly as back when everything was moving fast as lightning (And to my understanding, that was only done in the first place as another way to keep pages less cluttered back when the site was so popular). I wouldn't say remove the effect completely, but extending it to two, three, maybe even four or five more months would help.
Now, I'm not saying these are foolproof solutions. Heck, I'm not even saying they would work, I'm just basing these idea's on my own experiences, and others that used to frequent this site that I've talked to over the years. but I figure it's at least worth a shot with the current state the forum is in, especially since I cant see it making things much worse if say it doesn't help at all; I doubt any of those dedicated to staying on here this long already would leave over such relatively small changes (small on the front end of things/visually at least, changing subforums could be an entirely different story under the hood) after all this time, especially since they're made with the idea in mind to bolster activity in the forums.

 

Any thoughts on this? Do you guys agree, disagree, or think I'm on to something, but there's just a better way to do it? :P

 

--Akaku: Master of Flight

Edited by Akaku: Master of Flight
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"I've brushed with death so often I should start giving him high-fives while I pass."

Recent Work: Return to Forum (2024)
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"It's already dead"

"It will be back to dead in a day or two"

"I don't care anymore"

 

When BZP does actually die sometime in the future, it won't be the lack of an active Bionicle theme, or the decline of forum traffic in general, but attitudes like that which will be responsible.

I mean, I'm right about all of those. Also hey, I wasted so much time trying to help bolster activity as much as possible as probably the most active upper-ranking staff member. I was convinced I could help, had the right attitude, whatever. It did absolutely nothing.

I don't doubt you're right about the third, because that's on you, but the other two? Not even remotely.

 

Not only has it been more than one or two days and the boost from LOMN is still lasting, but it isn't dead in the first place so the statement is a fallacy.

 

And this cursed thread alone is proof that the site isn't dead - look how active it is. Is the irony of a site's alleged death being discussed *on a long and active thread on that very site* lost on everyone else?

 

Peddling this cynical "it's already dead" doomsday nonsense is pointless, and probably the most damaging thing to this community at present.

 

:kakama:

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:kakama: Stone rocks :kakama:

Model Designer at The LEGO Group. Former contributor at New Elementary. My MOCs can be found on Flickr and Instagram

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Quite frankly, I'm surprised it's not gone already. There didn't seem to be much excitement over G2 when I popped in, given that this has generally been a story-focused forum, and G2 was kind of weak on that. And while it wasn't the reason I left, the forum was prone to toxicity after BIONICLE ended. I guess that tends to happen when the forum is focused on a dead story.

 

Not that I've poked around that much, but is Ninjago helping this place stay afloat? I was just thinking about it after I saw some ninjas on one of my church's staff's fridge, and I realized that Ninjago's been around longer than I was following BIONICLE. Which makes me feel old, but also proud of LEGO for catching lightning in a bottle twice, and perhaps more successfully the second time.

 

Also, hai.

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How well will you die?

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Quite frankly, I'm surprised it's not gone already. There didn't seem to be much excitement over G2 when I popped in, given that this has generally been a story-focused forum, and G2 was kind of weak on that. And while it wasn't the reason I left, the forum was prone to toxicity after BIONICLE ended. I guess that tends to happen when the forum is focused on a dead story.

 

Not that I've poked around that much, but is Ninjago helping this place stay afloat? I was just thinking about it after I saw some ninjas on one of my church's staff's fridge, and I realized that Ninjago's been around longer than I was following BIONICLE. Which makes me feel old, but also proud of LEGO for catching lightning in a bottle twice, and perhaps more successfully the second time.

 

Also, hai.

 

Unfortunately, while Ninjago is huge (very probably bigger than Bionicle was at its peak), it's been hard to sustain Ninjago discussion here on BZP. A likely factor is that the Ninjago fandom tends to be centralized on social media, which both is more native to the current generation of kids than message boards, and serves a function much like BZPower used to back in the day (a direct line to the creators of the sets and story). BZPower has an entire subforum devoted to Ninjago, but it only has a few topics and doesn't get much activity. And even what it does get is more than you tend to get discussing other themes like Elves, Friends, or Nexo Knights. What remains of BZP's userbase seems pretty content discussing what little news (or regurgitated arguments) about Bionicle tend to trickle out, with little interest in branching out to other themes.

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