Battlefield 5 Beta - 4th/6th September

[Tallpaul77]

I played for a bit last night. It's pretty good although I feel the old PS4 is struggling to run it... Might be time to get a pro.
Loading times were long, again, maybe a pro would do this better? I've been playing a lot of Warframe where loading times are pretty snappy so maybe I'm just impatient af.
Time to kill, which I've seen mentioned above, seemed fine to me. Long enough that you can duck between cover and quick enough that if you get the jump on someone, you tend to win. Not sure how well its balanced between the auto weapons and the single shot rifles? I found I was having more success (and more fun) with the sniper class as I could kill way quicker, looking forward to getting my hands on a decent rifle when I unlock them...
Finally, having not played BF in yonks I felt slow, probs need to up the sensitvity a bit (or is it slow?).
I'll try and find a squad with AUF tonight cos that makes a BIG difference

[SpudRotor]

Hey TP. I will be on tonight as well. Squad havemt had the opportunity for squad play, but Squad play would be awesome. See you on tonight.

Sent from my GALAXY far far away.

[Tallpaul77]

Hey TP. I will be on tonight as well. Squad havemt had the opportunity for squad play, but Squad play would be awesome. See you on tonight.

Sent from my GALAXY far far away.

Champion, I'll look for you when I log in. Playing with randoms last night wasn't giving me much in the way of squad spawn options :/

[AStiffBreeze]

Thanks everyone for the games last night. After a shitload of waiting in server queues, random server disconnections, etc., we did eventually manage to get eight AUFers on a server, including a lot of people I hadn't played with in ages

Don't forget to look out for (and join) the AUF Community chats. If you're trying to get into one and it's already full, send a PSN message and we can start up a second one. That's a good problem to have!

Some thoughts on the Beta:

• Its very buggy. In particular, there's one revive glitch that permanently renders you unable to play, requiring you to quit the match and rejoin (a 20 minute process last night) in order to fix. Three of us experienced it in a single night's play, so it's not uncommon.
  
• It doesn't feel like a WW2 game at all. Just feels like BF4 really, with a few weird antique props. The scopes and uniforms are pretty horrific.
  
• It's very hard to tell classes apart in the Beta, with zero customisation. Once customisation is added it will be impossible.
  
• Operations was pretty good, but it's still not a good substitute for Rush.
  
• Conquest still feels a bit boring and brainless.
  
• TTK felt good to me.
  
• The health and ammo changes felt fine.
  
• The game did definitely feel more tactical, despite the faster TTK. I liked it.
  
• The new spotting stuff (no spots, but you can place markers for your squad) felt OK. I really wish you could spot tanks the old way though.
  
• To put indicators for your whole team, you need to use the recon spotting scope, or the recon flare, or have a support suppress the enemy.
  
• Suppression is worthless, don't bother.
  
• Audio is OK. I was hoping for more if I'm being honest, DICE usually raise the bar for the whole industry when they release a new BF game. Not the case here.
  
• Vehicles feel really janky. Tanks in particular don't feel very powerful, they're more useful as moving cover than an offensive weapon for punching a hole in enemy lines.
  
• The revive system feels really janky. All sorts of major clipping issues and bugs.
  
• The vault system feels kind of janky. Clipping issues.
  
• Player animations feel pretty janky. You notice it most on the squad spawn screen, but it's in-game too if you watch for it. Watching back some of my footage I had to shake my head, the animations looked they belonged in a F2P game a lot of the time. And not a good one.
  
• The world and vehicles don't feel solid. The clipping issues mean that the world and vehicles feel like textures wrapped over voids. Which is what they are, but the player should never feel that. Probably the single biggest problem with the game.
  
• The game feels a long way from finished. There's no way this was ever hitting their original release date. I think they'll struggle with the November date.
  
• There's no water effects at all (try ducking your head underwater in Rotterdam). Wow. That's some PS2 era stuff.
  
• Textures aren't the greatest, even on the Pro.
  
• Rotterdam looks pretty damn rough at times. On the end of match screen where the camera pulls out, it looks more like BF3 than BF4.
• The fortifications stuff felt a bit like a white elephant. Maybe over time it'll become more useful as people learn the available options better.
  
• PSA: the support can repair tanks with the fortification tool. I don't know about other classes. Double tap down in the d-pad to get the fortification tool out.
  
• Needs a better kill cam now that there's no spotting.
  
• Accurate ping is displayed for all players on the scoreboard, including yourself now.
  
• The upgrade system for weapons and vehicles is worrying. As you level up and use weapons, your weapons and vehicles get better (less recoil, less spread, more damage for tank shells, etc.). That's a really, really bad idea. They clearly want people to spend money on microtransactions. That's the definition of pay to win
  
• The user interface and general menu design is terrible. It feels like there wasn't really any design, various coders just made their various shit and then it was all slapped randomly into menus at the end with no overall thought.

I think that's about it. In summary I would say that the TTK and health and ammo changes all work. And it was awesome playing with AUFers. The core BF experience is still there, but the game is super janky right now, and I don't think that will change before release. Honestly, I think it probably needs another 6 months of dev.


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[SpudRotor]

Good write up stiffy. Hopefully A lot of the Lanky things are not big fixes they are the little QoL things that people will slam the game for

Sent from my GALAXY far far away.

[OvACoNfIDeNT]

What you mean not feeling like WW2...? it has German accents.

Tanks are very powerful tho when you place them in the right spot nearish ammo

[AStiffBreeze]

A lot of the Lanky things are not big fixes they are the little QoL things that people will slam the game for

Sent from my GALAXY far far away.

The biggest problem is the clipping. I don't know how big of a task sorting that out is. I'd imagine that's some serious dev time, but I don't know. BF3 had similar (although nowhere near as dramatic) issues that they were never able to properly fix, and BF4 carried over many of them too, so I'd imagine it's some serious work.

Tanks are very powerful tho when you place them in the right spot nearish ammo

First BF game I've played where I haven't enjoyed driving tanks. Maybe once you buy all of the upgrades they'll feel better. To be fair, we didn't figure out how infantry could repair them until the end of the night. Maybe that makes a difference too.


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[ELMO-LIKES-BOOBY]

Thanks everyone for the games last night. After a shitload of waiting in server queues, random server disconnections, etc., we did eventually manage to get eight AUFers on a server, including a lot of people I hadn't played with in ages

Don't forget to look out for (and join) the AUF Community chats. If you're trying to get into one and it's already full, send a PSN message and we can start up a second one. That's a good problem to have!

Some thoughts on the Beta:

• Its very buggy. In particular, there's one revive glitch that permanently renders you unable to play, requiring you to quit the match and rejoin (a 20 minute process last night) in order to fix. Three of us experienced it in a single night's play, so it's not uncommon.
  
• It doesn't feel like a WW2 game at all. Just feels like BF4 really, with a few weird antique props. The scopes and uniforms are pretty horrific.
  
• It's very hard to tell classes apart in the Beta, with zero customisation. Once customisation is added it will be impossible.
  
• Operations was pretty good, but it's still not a good substitute for Rush.
  
• Conquest still feels a bit boring and brainless.
  
• TTK felt good to me.
  
• The health and ammo changes felt fine.
  
• The game did definitely feel more tactical, despite the faster TTK. I liked it.
  
• The new spotting stuff (no spots, but you can place markers for your squad) felt OK. I really wish you could spot tanks the old way though.
  
• To put indicators for your whole team, you need to use the recon spotting scope, or the recon flare, or have a support suppress the enemy.
  
• Suppression is worthless, don't bother.
  
• Audio is OK. I was hoping for more if I'm being honest, DICE usually raise the bar for the whole industry when they release a new BF game. Not the case here.
  
• Vehicles feel really janky. Tanks in particular don't feel very powerful, they're more useful as moving cover than an offensive weapon for punching a hole in enemy lines.
  
• The revive system feels really janky. All sorts of major clipping issues and bugs.
  
• The vault system feels kind of janky. Clipping issues.
  
• Player animations feel pretty janky. You notice it most on the squad spawn screen, but it's in-game too if you watch for it. Watching back some of my footage I had to shake my head, the animations looked they belonged in a F2P game a lot of the time. And not a good one.
  
• The world and vehicles don't feel solid. The clipping issues mean that the world and vehicles feel like textures wrapped over voids. Which is what they are, but the player should never feel that. Probably the single biggest problem with the game.
  
• The game feels a long way from finished. There's no way this was ever hitting their original release date. I think they'll struggle with the November date.
  
• There's no water effects at all (try ducking your head underwater in Rotterdam). Wow. That's some PS2 era stuff.
  
• Textures aren't the greatest, even on the Pro.
  
• Rotterdam looks pretty damn rough at times. On the end of match screen where the camera pulls out, it looks more like BF3 than BF4.
• The fortifications stuff felt a bit like a white elephant. Maybe over time it'll become more useful as people learn the available options better.
  
• PSA: the support can repair tanks with the fortification tool. I don't know about other classes. Double tap down in the d-pad to get the fortification tool out.
  
• Needs a better kill cam now that there's no spotting.
  
• Accurate ping is displayed for all players on the scoreboard, including yourself now.
  
• The upgrade system for weapons and vehicles is worrying. As you level up and use weapons, your weapons and vehicles get better (less recoil, less spread, more damage for tank shells, etc.). That's a really, really bad idea. They clearly want people to spend money on microtransactions. That's the definition of pay to win
  
• The user interface and general menu design is terrible. It feels like there wasn't really any design, various coders just made their various shit and then it was all slapped randomly into menus at the end with no overall thought.

I think that's about it. In summary I would say that the TTK and health and ammo changes all work. And it was awesome playing with AUFers. The core BF experience is still there, but the game is super janky right now, and I don't think that will change before release. Honestly, I think it probably needs another 6 months of dev.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Just a question stiffy, how much do these Beta’s reflect the finished product in the modern era of BF games?

Having been reducing my gaming over the last few years or so, I am not to up to date of how the beta now operates. Back in the day, betas used to be early builds, or they just seem to be demos.

[Fluxburner]

Ok, Check and Check janky piece if unfinished shite, that has BF4 launch written all over it.......... looks like I'm passing this installment also.....

Our Battlefield Bad Company 2 who art in heaven hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom is done.Thy will be no fun on earth nor in Heaven.Give us back our spotting ability, and forgive us for hating Dice.As we forgive those Devs who destroy our Battlefield Game; and lead us not back to BF4 launch saga.But deliver us the sequel.Amen

[Centaurus-201]

Nice review stiff,
I like it better then BF1 it's still rough on edges but what bf game has ever been smooth. Hopefully they sort a lot out b4 launch.
I do like the changes that focus more on squad play and I have no problem with the new health ammo setup.
Fortification to me works better on routesdam because of the urban map. Being able to funnel enemies and block them off on a few flags making squads change their attack plan on the fly too. In open areas/maps it's just extra cover. Remember support builds faster and has more options as to what they can build. MAYBE the building is best suited to operations (conquest you tend to be on the move more often to cap flags) but I can't stand that mode every team I end up on either defend or attacking just sit back and snipe just like rush of old.

I played a few rounds today SQUADS AND SQUAD joining was all working smooth and we could squad up and squad leader could find game and take us in fine

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[jackal_84]

My sentiments are similar to Stiffs. The BF1 beta was in a much better condition than this build is. I think they still have a shit load of work ahead.

I like it more than bf1. No spotting, ammo and health changes all make for a slower more tactical game. You can actually flank now. You really have to slow down and watch your corners. And it forces you to fall back to supply stations if you don't have team mates to supply health and ammo.

Tanks feel underwhelming. Had fun with one on Rotterdam. I like the fact that you have to fall back to resupply. However because they are so slow and not that strong I think they are going to be very venerable when everyone gets panzerfausts. And they need to make it so you can drive over stuff better. Cars, and hand rails on gardens must be made from adamantium because tanks can't run over them. In a map as cluttered as Rotterdam it means you are getting stuck on everthing. The gunners on half tracks and third gunner in tanks need more protection or be able to duck and have more powerful guns. At the moment you last about three seconds if you try to use these guns. The half track is useless and usually gets driven to a flag by one or two guys and then dumped. Waste of vehicle potential. And planes still suck.

Support weapons need some work. The bipod animation is terrible. It takes half a second to put up and down. And if you try to put it on the edge of something it keeps redeploying it. Makes you aim go all over the place. And the reload time is unacceptably long considering the small magazine size.







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[OldSarum]

Im not sold either. This hyper realistic shooter business is really getting me to the point where i want to try COD again. Or just give me a lineal map that has 8 buildings on it and 2 objectives every 100m.

I personally cant get into this. Ive had good rounds do t get me wrong. Even an MVP. But its just to chaotic and im practically an old man now, and the matches are too long.

Rant over

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[AStiffBreeze]

@Elmo: the last proper Battlefield Beta on consoles was BFBC2 on the PS3. That was Arica Harbour Rush in Nov, with the game not launching until Mar. TBH it already looked ready to ship at that point.

With BF3 you had a beta right before launch. It was a glorified demo. It was pretty buggy, and the only major thing that changed between beta and launch was that they switched off terrain deformation (which was totally broken in the beta). It was still very buggy.

With BF4, it was a launch PS4 game. Buggy as hell obviously, and blue screened every 15 minutes at launch. It was 2-3 months before it was really in a state where I'd call it ready for release. But with a console launch you kind of expected it might be rough around the edges, especially launching on five platforms.

With BF1 there was basically no change between the Beta and launch (glorified demo again).

With BF5, now that the game has been delayed there is actually some time for them to fix stuff. They've got their work cut out for them though.

I don't know, where BF5 ended up is really disappointing to me, because Rush in a BF1944 style of game could've been so amazing, and actually felt new.

It feels like they're going for the lowest common denominator though. It's a shame the Medal of Honor series didn't survive, because then they could've had that competing with COD while Battlefield continued to do its own thing. Instead Battlefield is slowly becoming COD.

I'll reiterate it though, I do like the TTK and health and ammo changes in BF5. If you pair those with a proper tactical game mode you might have something (if they can fix the jank).

I might sit this one out at launch, and wait to see what the BF1942 maps look like. Unfortunately the upgrade system means that anyone who comes late to the game will be doubly screwed, because players who've played longer or spent more money will literally have guns that shoot straighter and tank guns that hit harder. So even if the 1942 maps are great, I still might sit it out. I'll put some more hours into the Beta and then wait to hear reports at release.


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[Tallpaul77]

I didnt enjoy grand ops. Conquest is gonna be the better game mode in this so hopefully they have some decent map design. The beta map isnt in that category.

[SpudRotor]

GrandOps is so unbalanced at the moment, as we discovered last night.

Sent from my GALAXY far far away.

[jackal_84]

I think 64 player grand operations is a cluster fuck. Same as in BF1. I think it would be better with 40. Once the first three objectives are blown up you have 64 players fighting over one point. It's just a meat grinder.

And attacking up a hill full of snipers is shit.

Sent from my HTC 2PS6200 using Tapatalk

[Pinhed81]

I just find it a bit boring. There's nothing I love about it that will keep bringing me back, I felt the same way with bf1 and hardly played it. Playing the beta has probably convinced me to not buy it on release. Although I had heard rumours of a HD remake of bad company two being released with bfv, and that would probably sway me in to purchasing.

[keppida]

Well it looks like they cant please everyone.. I like the game, I'll be keeping my preorder and I'll be playing it..

[ELMO-LIKES-BOOBY]

Although I had heard rumours of a HD remake of bad company two being released with bfv, and that would probably sway me in to purchasing.

[ELMO-LIKES-BOOBY]

@Elmo: the last proper Battlefield Beta on consoles was BFBC2 on the PS3. That was Arica Harbour Rush in Nov, with the game not launching until Mar. TBH it already looked ready to ship at that point.

With BF3 you had a beta right before launch. It was a glorified demo. It was pretty buggy, and the only major thing that changed between beta and launch was that they switched off terrain deformation (which was totally broken in the beta). It was still very buggy.

With BF4, it was a launch PS4 game. Buggy as hell obviously, and blue screened every 15 minutes at launch. It was 2-3 months before it was really in a state where I'd call it ready for release. But with a console launch you kind of expected it might be rough around the edges, especially launching on five platforms.

With BF1 there was basically no change between the Beta and launch (glorified demo again).

With BF5, now that the game has been delayed there is actually some time for them to fix stuff. They've got their work cut out for them though.

I don't know, where BF5 ended up is really disappointing to me, because Rush in a BF1944 style of game could've been so amazing, and actually felt new.

It feels like they're going for the lowest common denominator though. It's a shame the Medal of Honor series didn't survive, because then they could've had that competing with COD while Battlefield continued to do its own thing. Instead Battlefield is slowly becoming COD.

I'll reiterate it though, I do like the TTK and health and ammo changes in BF5. If you pair those with a proper tactical game mode you might have something (if they can fix the jank).

I might sit this one out at launch, and wait to see what the BF1942 maps look like. Unfortunately the upgrade system means that anyone who comes late to the game will be doubly screwed, because players who've played longer or spent more money will literally have guns that shoot straighter and tank guns that hit harder. So even if the 1942 maps are great, I still might sit it out. I'll put some more hours into the Beta and then wait to hear reports at release.


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Thanks for that Stiff. Good run down.


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[Sir_eFFex]

Well it looks like they cant please everyone.. I like the game, I'll be keeping my preorder and I'll be playing it..

It has alot to improve on, it's better than bf1 but only just... very run and gun still, I can still get 50+ kills just running flag to flag collecting ammo.

I'd buy it after it come on sale maybe, the black ops 4 battle royale looks more interesting

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[AStiffBreeze]

I didnt enjoy grand ops. Conquest is gonna be the better game mode in this so hopefully they have some decent map design. The beta map isnt in that category.

GrandOps is so unbalanced at the moment, as we discovered last night.

Sent from my GALAXY far far away.

I think 64 player grand operations is a cluster fuck. Same as in BF1. I think it would be better with 40. Once the first three objectives are blown up you have 64 players fighting over one point. It's just a meat grinder.

And attacking up a hill full of snipers is shit.

Sent from my HTC 2PS6200 using Tapatalk

I've actually really enjoyed Grand Operations. It's true that taking all 4 objectives at the first set is difficult, but you don't actually need to in order to progress. I've even enjoyed playing it with randoms, and that's the true acid test

Conquest just puts me to sleep


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[Centaurus-201]

Well it looks like they cant please everyone.. I like the game, I'll be keeping my preorder and I'll be playing it..

I'm with you dude been enjoying the beta a lot more then bf1.

It's true players coming in late will be at a slight disadvantage due to players with upgraded weapons but it's no different to past BF games and having attachments unlocked!! They have said TIME AND TIME again that micro-transactions will be COSMETICS ONLY!! And even if you can buy credits (which you use to upgrade weapons) it would mean nothing since you have to use said weapon level it up for upgrades which you get credits as you go anyway.

My personal opinion on operations is that it's a sniper game mode because everyone seems to do just that.

Anyway by the sounds of it I won't be able experience the huge AUF nights on another BF game which is a shame. When BF3 was big and I had my own small platoon of 6-8 regular players we would avoid the AUF server at peak times due to it being filled with AUF working together destroying teams. When I joined AUF it was something I was looking forward to experience from the other side of the fence. I understand people's game preference change and people move on but i would of been nice to play in a server with 1 side full of AUF

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[mmmgilly]

I'm with you dude been enjoying the beta a lot more then bf1.

It's true players coming in late will be at a slight disadvantage due to players with upgraded weapons but it's no different to past BF games and having attachments unlocked!! They have said TIME AND TIME again that micro-transactions will be COSMETICS ONLY!! And even if you can buy credits (which you use to upgrade weapons) it would mean nothing since you have to use said weapon level it up for upgrades which you get credits as you go anyway.

My personal opinion on operations is that it's a sniper game mode because everyone seems to do just that.

Anyway by the sounds of it I won't be able experience the huge AUF nights on another BF game which is a shame. When BF3 was big and I had my own small platoon of 6-8 regular players we would avoid the AUF server at peak times due to it being filled with AUF working together destroying teams. When I joined AUF it was something I was looking forward to experience from the other side of the fence. I understand people's game preference change and people move on but i would of been nice to play in a server with 1 side full of AUF

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I think it's a bit unfair to say that peoples preferences change when the real issue is Dice not knowing what made their earlier iterations so popular. The fact is that this is their worst beta to date on a technical level. Despite all the good changes they've made, they've made just as many poor choices. Poor controls, and their UI designer needs to be fired.

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[Fluxburner]

I think it's a bit unfair to say that peoples preferences change when the real issue is Dice not knowing what made their earlier iterations so popular.

Exactly mate, they've obviously lost something there,? perhaps key influencing Dev's at DICE between the BFBC2 -BF4 era of games?
I still think those 3 games to this day to be the best of Battlefield on console, even though BF4 took over 1 yr beyond release, and some of the biggest game patches I can ever remember on a MP game to get right, it is still one of the best Battlefield games DICE made.
These beta's nowadays are supposed to be nearly release ready I thought? , fixing small bugs and user stress testing the gaming servers with player counts to gauge performance, not continually coding new textures into water etc, and primary game code this late in the piece.

fact is that this is their worst beta to date on a technical level. Despite all the good changes they've made, they've made just as many poor choices. Poor controls, and their UI designer needs to be fired.

When I hear something like this from Gilly here, who I have spent at least a 1000 hrs or more squading up with in various Battlefield games over the years, I can believe he knows what he is talking about, and this is the only reason we don't have massive AUF FPS gaming sessions like we used too. It's not the players changing, its the game turning to garbage, and all of us watching and hoping that once again AUF can all collectively game enmass and destroy whole servers......Why they can't recognise what their best titles were and draw from them is beyond me?, instead of just turning Battlefield into just another shit FPS....

I still can't believe they took spotting out the game? .....that was an integral key mechanic in Battlefield games...idiots!

[SpudRotor]

I've actually really enjoyed Grand Operations. It's true that taking all 4 objectives at the first set is difficult, but you don't actually need to in order to progress. I've even enjoyed playing it with randoms, and that's the true acid test

Conquest just puts me to sleep


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I enjoyed GrandOps till last night, 2 games of basically spawn camping. Dead while parachuting out of the planes. Or not long after dead. Team didn't even manage to get 1 on the first objectives. Also bombs glitches into the map as well

Sent from my GALAXY far far away.

[Centaurus-201]

Fair enough everyone has ther own opinions.
I too have played 1000s of hours in most BF games since BFBC1 all I was trying to say is I was hoping for those famous nights I hear all about and never see.

I have met some great people here that I have played many great gaming sessions with over my time in the last couple years , but I think it's time I move on and find a group with similar gaming interests as me

Thanks for the fun games

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[Sir_eFFex]

Well you cant really blame anything but life, most people can't stay on like they once could... I play battlefield and sometimes get asked by randoms what happened to AUF etc.
We get older and have kids, or life dramas... bf3 was released 7 years ago. Lol alot has changed for all of us

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[Fluxburner]

Yes also true that def plays a huge part in it as well.....


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[French_Maiden]

Our Battlefield Bad Company 2 who art in heaven hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom is done.Thy will be no fun on earth nor in Heaven.Give us back our spotting ability, and forgive us for hating Dice.As we forgive those Devs who destroy our Battlefield Game; and lead us not back to BF4 launch saga.But deliver us the sequel.Amen

This

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