Imperator: Rome (2019)

Aaron

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Considering practically the entire Paradox Stream/YT crowd has gone back to playing EU4/CK2 and to some extent HoI4 then not really. The main complaint seems to be that they went overboard with the "mana", and it also lacks depth. I can understand both, the mana they started with in EU4 is not the best mechanic for strategy games, and with regards to depth, well, they dig their own grave here both in terms of having to account for massive DLCs in the future (so you can't start out too feature heavy) but also they're competing with their own games that have years and years of added content.

Stellaris went the same path and took about 2 years (until they released 2.0) to feel right, and I expect the same here.
 

Loser Araysar

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50% off right now, is it worth buying?

 
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Quineloe

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In the steam thread someone said its free for five days right now and that seems true, so just give it a really long try.
 

Loser Araysar

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I played through the tutorial last night. I like it so far.
 

Aaron

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Have they made any significant improvements to the game? I remember after the initial hype most Paradox streamers dropped this, and few people played it. Seemed like they had got the whole "mana" economy wrong and a bunch of other stuff too.
 

Agraza

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It's better than it was. Gold and influence are used more frequently. Stability also depends heavily on your expansion and assimilation rate. Naval everything is still lame.

I use a LOT more provincially assigned armies than I used to. Which is actually fun/dangerous. They pay more of the cost of the army and I don't have to pay wages to a separate general, but I have to keep the governor loyal.

I find the economic min/max a lot more keenly refined than it was. I do find managing trade and slave pops for surplus trade goods very micro. As I expand I stop importing entirely not to shut out the world market, but because the constant cancelled trade deals are absurd. Having my own pops cancel trade deals due to promotions is bad enough.

I still think the game is a lot too short. 600 BC to 400 AD would be awesome. You can launch Rome, but you can't enjoy sitting atop your empire because the game ends. Likewise you can't explore the very important events leading up to the start date. I care less about the diadochi and/or Alexander than I do Greece vs. Persia or Egypt vs. Hittite. I feel like they wanted to avoid Alexander and Attila.
 
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Aaron

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Thanks for the analysis. Might see if there are any good recent LPs for it. Also, don't worry about the game being too short. I'm pretty sure they'll sell you a DLC soon to expand it lol.
 

Loser Araysar

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Spent about 50 hours in this so far.

The learning curve isnt as steep as EU4 and the game is pretty fun. I like the personal politics mechanics where you have to keep all your Roman politicians in line. Its a nice combo of EU4 and Crusader Kings.
 

Loser Araysar

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Been playing this exclusively since August, love this game.

Theres a new massive update (2.0 AKA Marius) coming out soon


Everything (almost all mechanics) is getting overhauled including the UI


1606230683548.png
 
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Aaron

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Lol, considering how people were saying how broken it was at launch, and how imbalanced "mana" was and all, eventually making most quit playing (hardly any of the big PI streamers play it any more), it makes me think that with this new patch, everyone was just play testing a long, convoluted beta "pre release".

But let us know what you think of the changes, maybe there is some hope left for this game.
 

Loser Araysar

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Lol, considering how people were saying how broken it was at launch, and how imbalanced "mana" was and all, eventually making most quit playing (hardly any of the big PI streamers play it any more), it makes me think that with this new patch, everyone was just play testing a long, convoluted beta "pre release".

But let us know what you think of the changes, maybe there is some hope left for this game.
i have no idea about this "mana" mechanic.

was there actually a stat called Mana or is that just a catch-all term for "political influence" or something similar?
p.s. i already like the game even before the 2.0 patch. i dont get the hate for it and i have about as many hours in it (700) as I do in Eu4 (1000)
 

a_skeleton_05

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i have no idea about this "mana" mechanic.

was there actually a stat called Mana or is that just a catch-all term for "political influence" or something similar?
p.s. i already like the game even before the 2.0 patch. i dont get the hate for it and i have about as many hours in it (700) as I do in Eu4 (1000)
People call the points you spend on things in these games mana because it is essentially no different than mana in RPG's. Paradox started using a lot of mana systems since EU4, where the gameplay is less about making choices than it is spending mana to get stronger
 

Aaron

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Yeah, what Dom said. A big criticism early on was that mana was unbalanced. Such as things costing the same regardless of population size and such.
 

sadris

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free Marius update is out.

They keep trying to put lipstick on this pig, years later.
 

Loser Araysar

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I thought it was out in mid february along with the new expansion?

Steam doesnt have Marius yet
 

Loser Araysar

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Free update and the paid expansion drop today


###################
# Free Features
###################

  • UI: Entirely redesigned UI with a new visual style
  • UI: Added nested tooltip and game-concept support
  • Inventions: Technology advances now provide 1 Innovation per level
  • Inventions: Spend innovations in new branching trees to specialize your civilization
  • Inventions: Numerous augmentations to existing mechanics, government interactions, and unit abilities can be unlocked through the invention tree
  • Military: Raise Levies from your integrated pops in times of war
  • Military: Form standing Legions, appoint Legates and Tribunes, and track their accomplishments
  • Military: New Engineer unit type which aids in river crossings, sieges, and paving roads
  • Military: Combat Width is now dynamic and based on terrain
  • Military: 9 new unique 3D unit models for Legions
  • Military: Military traditions now displayed in tree structure
  • Military: Military tradition groups now unlockable based on integrated cultures [If enough integrated pops are present, theoretically any military tradition group can be acquired]
  • Military: New Legacy of Alexander wargoal for successor kingdoms, in which the ownership of conquered territory is flipped immediately [as in civil wars]
  • Military: Occupying a province’s and forts capital now occupies the entire province, removing need for carpet sieges
  • Buildings: Ports can now be built in any coastal territory
  • Buildings: Ports now come in tiers, with higher tiers able to build larger ships
  • Buildings: Buildings can now be limited to a specific cap
  • Buildings: Buildings now contribute to civilization level in territories
  • Buildings: Various buildings are now unlocked by invention trees
  • Buildings: All buildings rebalanced, including larger effects, rebalanced prices, and AI weighting - see below for detail
  • Trade: Individual Provinces can now be set to automatically (but slowly) seek goods to import
  • Character Interactions: Added Support Pretender, boosting the powerbase of a chosen pretender in any foreign monarchy [old succession crisis interaction renamed to Intervene in Crisis]
  • Character Interactions: Added Espionage, unlocked by invention, allows visibility of foreign manpower and treasury counts [now hidden by default] with events for sabotage and more

###################
# Expansion Features
###################

  • Great Wonder designer has been added, enabling customized wonders to be constructed
  • New Great Wonder modifier tiers can be unlocked in invention trees
  • 18 new Diadochi Mission trees have been added, covering Thrace, the Antigonid Kingdom, Egypt, Macedon, and the Seleukid Empire
  • 24 Honors and Dishonors can be earned by Legions distinguishing or disgracing themselves with their actions
  • 13 new Deities have been added - hail Sobek
  • 29 new Treasures can now be acquired
  • League City subject type added, acquired through the invention tree system
  • Alexander’s Panoply and Anthologia Philosophike treasure decisions have been added, allowing you to consolidate the effects of multiple smaller treasures
  • 3 new music tracks with a focus on war and battle

###################
# Gamebalance
###################

# Economy
  • Manpower pools now regenerate faster, but only store 12 years-worth of manpower
  • Freemen and tribesmen now provide increased manpower
  • Most sources of tax income have been reduced
  • Population output in all territories is now reduced by 30%
  • Settlements now have 50% reduced ship building speed and a 15% malus to pop output, from 25%
  • Tributaries now have their tribute removed from their resources instead of just adding to the overlord
  • Build Road cost is reduced by Engineer cohorts
  • Food production now possible without surplus
  • Added an additional integrated culture for Antigonids, to give them a bit more fighting power
  • Governors now receive a standard wage of 0.2% of national income in addition to the provincial wage
  • Governor’s standard wages increased by 100% when their levy is raised
  • Low Fort Maintenance now reduces fort maintenance by 15% from 25%
#Buildings Rework City Details:
  • Granary: 100 gold, +200 Provincial Food Capacity, +2% Civilization Level
  • Library: 100 gold, +5% Research Points, +2.5% Conversion Speed, +2% Civilization Level
  • Marketplace: 100 gold, +2.5% Base Trade Routes, +2.5% Assimilation Speed, +2% Civilization Level
  • Training Camp: 100 gold, +10% Manpower, +2% Civilization Level
  • Tax Office: 100 gold, +10% Tax, +2% Civilization Level
  • Academy: 150 gold, 3 per city, +4% Noble Happiness, +5% Noble Desired Ratio, +0.01% Monthly Civilization Change, +3% Civilization Level
  • Court of Law: 150 gold, 3 per city, +6% Citizen Happiness, +10% Citizen Desired Ratio, +0.01 Territory Provincial Loyalty, +3% Civilization Level
  • Forum: 150 gold, 3 per city, +6% Freeman Happiness, +10% Freeman Desired Ratio, +2.5% Monthly Food, +3% Civilization Level
  • Mill: 150 gold, 3 per city, +6% Slave Happiness, +6% Slave Output, +10% Slave Desired Ratio, +3% Civilization Level
  • Aqueduct: 150 gold, +4 Population Capacity
  • Earthworks: 150 gold, 1 per city, +25% Fort Defense, -10% Population Output, +1 Hostile Attrition, -3 Combat Width
  • Theater: 300 gold, 1 per city, +10% Integrated Culture Happiness, +2 Pop Assimilation Speed, +0.05 Provincial Loyalty, +5% Civilization Level
  • Temple: 300 gold, 1 per city, +10% State Religion Happiness, +2 Pop Conversion Speed, +0.05 Provincial Loyalty, +5% Civilization Level
  • Foundry: 300 gold, 1 per city, -4 Slaves for Surplus, +10% Population Output, +50% Starting Experience, +5% Civilization Level
#Buildings Rework Settlement Details:
  • Barracks: 200 gold, +20% Manpower, -25% Migration Speed, +8% Freeman Happiness, +15% Freeman Desired Ratio, +5% Civilization Level
  • Mine: 200 gold, -5 Slaves for Surplus, -25% Migration Speed, +5% Civilization Level
  • Tribal Settlement: 200 gold, +10% Population Capacity Modifier, -2.5% Citizen Desired Ratio, +30% Tribesman Output, +8% Tribesman Happiness
  • Slave Estate: 200 gold, -25% Migration Speed, +50% Monthly Food Modifier, +30% Slave Output, +5% Civilization Level
  • Farming Settlement: 200 gold, -5 Slave for Surplus, -25% Migration Speed, +50% Monthly Food Modifier, +5% Civilization Level
  • Provincial Legation: 200 gold, +75% Migration Speed, +15% Assimilation Speed
#Buildings Rework Shared Details:
  • Fortress: 150 gold, -5% Manpower, +1 Fort Level, +5% Fort Defensive, +1% Civilization Level
  • Port: 150 gold, +1 Population Capacity, +15% Ship Recruit Speed, +0.1 Migration Attraction, +0.1 Migration Speed

#Population
  • Population growth speed and capacity now scale with civilization value, and are increased less by external sources
  • Tribesmen now consume less food
  • Population migration speed reduced significantly, with the exception of tribesmen
  • All settlement buildings now reduce migration speed from their territory by an additional 25% (bringing it to -100%: this will now effectively remove migration unless there are extenuating circumstances such as occupation/famine/unrest)
#Technology
  • Civic technology now grants 1% population capacity and 1% global food per level
  • Civic technology no longer grants Commerce Income
  • Oratory technology now grants 0.5% global civilization value per level, from 2%
  • Religious technology now grants 2% Omen power per level, from 2.5%

# Governments
  • Monarchies can choose a primary heir from the pretenders with the Anoint button, with positive and negative event consequences possible
  • Added rare event for large unstable AI tribes to splinter into subjects and free states
  • Added Elective Monarchy government type
  • Improved republic agenda selection logic
  • Rebalanced ‘Senatorial Chambers’ harsh happiness modifier in tribal reform mission

# Religion
  • Added Hellenic deities Dioskourai (Greek) and Castores (Roman)
  • Treasures can now be individually removed from non-pantheon Holy Sites as well

# Units
  • All cultures or culture groups now have a levy template, indicating which unit types their poptypes will raise. This should result in geographically appropriate levied armies
  • Levies are now raised from integrated culture pops in governorships
  • If a governorship is incapable of supporting raised levied units; the associated units will begin taking attrition until they are removed
  • Levies no longer have a maintenance cost - instead their pops cease producing base resources while raised
  • Regular unit (legion) maintenance increased significantly
  • Mercenary maintenance cost reduced to 150% of base
  • Military experience is acquired when disbanding experienced levies
  • Levies may not be disbanded during war
  • Powerbase from loyal veterans reduced significantly
  • Loyal levied units now grant loyal veterans to their governor when disbanded
  • Strategic trade goods have no bearing on levy composition, we now assume that cultures bring their horses/elephants with them.
  • Strategic trade goods are now required to be present in a governorship/region in order to recruit units of the linked type in a legion.

# War & Peace
  • Woo General interaction now transfers foreign legates
  • Triumphs may now only be held for generals who have won sufficiently large battles
  • A provincial Fortress limit has been added which will incur costs when exceeded
  • All countries with Pirate Heritage now have access to the Slave Raid naval ability
  • Forced March unit ability is now unlocked in the Martial invention tree
  • Carpet Siege unit mission added, replacing Fight Rebels, useful in civil and Diadochi wars
  • Being at Peace once again reduces War Exhaustion (by 0.08pm) to counterbalance new sources of War Exhaustion gain (levies and great conquest wars)

#Characters
  • Brave trait no longer reduces loyalty

# Other
  • Happiness for Same Culture modifier significantly increased for top rank nations
  • Tyranny now reduces character loyalty by 15% less
  • Colonization now requires 8 pops in a neighboring territory, from 10
  • Reworked all modifier durations to be at least 1 year
  • Reworked costs for event options
  • Vassal Integration costs (per pop) reduced by approximately 20%
  • Global monthly state loyalty malus removed from nation rank
  • Non-dominant primary culture territories now have +2 slaves required per trade good produced

###################
# AI
###################

# Diplomacy
  • AI now less willing to join defensive leagues far away
  • AI now has a default willingness to grant military access [as opposed to the previous default unwillingness]
  • AI significantly better at economic diplomacy: integrating subjects, improving opinion through gifts, and insulting potential war opponents

# Economy
  • AI now significantly more careful about exceeding budgetary restrictions
  • AI better at handling integrated cultures, and removing integrated cultures that are no longer economically sound

# War
  • AI nations with republic or monarchy government types will be far less likely to expand into tribal territory without a pre-existing claim. *Note: this behaviour is not an absolute rule*
  • Antagonist AI is now appropriately horrifying

# Other
  • AI will no longer be blocked in their missions by complex tasks
  • AI will now change missions after 60 years following the same one

###################
# Interface
###################

# Mapmodes
  • Removed the river Region/Area names to clear up the associated mapmodes

# Tooltips
  • Game Concepts and tooltips added to explain major mechanics

# Unit Models
  • Each culture group now has a seperate Levy and Legion model

# Other
  • Available casus bellis are now displayed in the diplomacy view
  • Characters can now be searched by textbox across all countries
  • Cohort information breakdown moved to the Ledger
  • Sacrifice button localization no longer fails to account for non-pantheonic religions
  • Loading quotes revised and expanded with more high-quality doom and sass from the past!

###################
# Usermodding
###################

# Triggers
  • Changed 'country_culture' trigger name to 'primary_culture'

# Other
  • Added script support for Legions
  • Added GetCulture('tag') and GetCultureGroup('tag') loc promotes
  • Added GetLegionDistinction('key') loc promote
  • country_culture event link now works
  • Inventions can now have effects on adoption
  • Military traditions can now have effects on adoption
  • Sea territories are now assigned to areas
  • Impassables now have their own terrain type
  • max_amount can now be defined for any building

###################
# Script
###################

# Achievements
  • Added 10 new achievements

# Decisions
  • Added 9 Anatolian formables: Lycia, Caria, Lydia, Cabalis, Milyas, Pamphylia, Lalasia, Isauria, Pisidia
  • Added decision for tribes to gain extra capital civilization for a price
  • Tweaked territorial requirements for Reunite Alexander's Empire decision
  • Added decisions to install Philokles of Sidon and Eunostos of Soloi for Diadochi

# Events
  • Reworked ‘Antigonid Cause Wavers’ events and the splitting of the Antigonid kingdom
  • Added regnal name events for Egypt, Seleukids, Pergamon, Bithynia and Mithridatids if ruled by the relevant family - long live Ptolemy XXIIV
  • Characters can now die during battles, not just after battles
  • Reworked Mithridates event chain, a new kingdom is now created in Paphlagonia and can annex Pontus diplomatically - player can start as either Kios or Pontus
  • Added option to boost Antigonos’ health for a price in his opening event
  • Clarified happiness impact of family adoption event after annexation
  • Pergamon is now playable via an option in the ‘Antigonid Cause Wavers’ event
  • ‘Granary Fire’ event now only targets territories with granary buildings, destroying them
  • Added outcome of ‘True Weather of the Soul’ where Thrace annexes part of Macedon
  • Added Espionage interaction events for stealing technology and sabotaging legions
  • Added an event chain for Egypt on the Athenian Tragedies
  • Increased cooldown of city sacking events to prevent cash farming
  • Added costly Ptolemaic dynasty event to optionally acquire Blood of the Argeads trait
  • Researchers with Scholar, Intelligent, Obsessive, and Polymath traits have a chance to generate additional innovations over time. This effect can stack, and will show up when assigning research positions
  • ‘Scientific Breakthrough’ now correctly describes tech progress as a percentage

#Missions
  • Added bypass events to the generic infrastructure mission tree

# Setup
  • Updated map in Greece, Anatolia, and Phoenicia
  • Added starting trade routes for Antigonids, Macedon, and Egypt to help with their economy, mostly with their own subjects
  • Added new tags in Anatolia, Black Sea, Adriatic, Paeonia, and Balearics
  • Split Bithynia and Cappadocia regions with new region of Cappadocia Pontica
  • Removed Pontic culture from Anatolian group (merged with Cappadocian) and renamed Greco-Pontic to Pontic
  • Added Pisidian, Milyadian, Oroandian, Cabalian, Lalasian, Cennataean, Morimenian, Cataonian cultures to Anatolian group
  • Moved Bithynian and added Mariandynian culture to Dacian group
  • Added Talaiotic culture to Occidental group
  • Added Paeonian culture to Illyrian group
  • Added several major rivers
  • Added many missing historical characters

# Other
  • Boni and Traditionalist parties will no longer disapprove of attacking the same religion or culture, instead balking at truce-breaking
  • Updated some laws and tooltips to better accommodate monotheism/Judaism
  • Royal Marriage Character Interaction can now be used on children above the age of 12, with the marriage events firing once both parties are 16
  • Assassinate character interaction renamed to Assassinate Rival, and can now be used on the target directly, as long as they are a rival of the ruler
  • Tutor character interaction can now be used on a child directly, and for any close relative of the ruler or the ruler themselves

###################
# Bugfixes
###################

# Code
  • Addressed stability issues on Mac and Linux
  • Best possible province capital will now be picked when annexing a province
  • Fixed on_becoming_adult on_action not firing
  • Threaten War and Demand Military Access actions now work as advertized
  • Fixed some missing line-breaks and names in tooltips listing modifiers
  • Fixed Dismiss button not working for Researchers
  • Fixed stability cost of integrating a culture remaining even if that culture no longer existed
  • Fixed changing resolution on Linux making the game unplayable until restarted
  • Fixed battles against barbarians not accepting reinforcements
  • Fixed Mac crash after a few years of gameplay
  • Fixed ‘Occupation’ war exhaustion modifier appearing on declaring war
  • Fixed glowing borders sometimes not disappearing

# Script
  • Fixed the Optimates party disliking that you gave holdings to family heads
  • Fixed the Olympic games events sometimes not firing
  • Fixed infants arguing their corner in senatorial war councils and being used as scapegoats in trials
  • Fixed limit to number of Bloodline traits inherited by eligible children
  • Fixed wrong territory being targeted in the Athenian ‘Hekatomnid Legacy’ mission task
  • Fixed wrong claims given on formation of Assyria
  • Fixed Naval Parity Roman mission task requiring only 1 more ship than Carthage instead of 20
  • Fixed ‘Mutiny!’ event being able to target mercenary generals
  • Fixed Rome being able to make Ancona a feudatory despite differing culture groups
  • Fixed broken goto button in Unfriendly Neighbors event
  • Fixed wrong characters referenced in ‘Wild Oats’ events and ‘Scandalous Dominus’ events
  • Fixed ruler appearing on both sides of the 'Unconventional Politics' event
  • Fixed a missing portrait in the event 'Bountiful Harvest'
  • Fixed rulers receiving loyalty modifiers in some events
  • Fixed several cases where settlements were referred to as cities
  • Fixed Clan Chiefs complaining in the ‘The Neglected’ event
  • Fixed mercenary characters appearing in ‘Veteran’s Due’ and ‘Scholar of the Divine’ events
  • Fixed cases where local instead of global happiness modifiers were used
  • Fixed cases where the wrong party’s approval would be changed
  • Fixed negative tribal subject opinion modifier after reforming to a monarchy/republic
  • Fixed many typos and text overflow issues
  • Fixed some character loyalty modifiers not being cleared when moving country
  • Added some extra checks to reduce the chance of mercenaries being chosen in events where they could be given loyalty (as Mercenaries are always at 100 loyalty)
  • Fixed cooldown of the ‘Gratitude’ tributary subject event
  • Fixed ‘Word from Syracuse’ Roman mission event not starting a war
  • Fixed Epirote Macedon not being eligible for Antipater’s Dream achievement
  • Fixed multiple families of almost the same name in Anatolian countries
  • Fixed ‘Massaesylian Menace’ mission task for Carthage being impossible if they are already removed from the map
  • Fixed Governors and Generals demanding Offices in the ‘Political Ambitions’ event
  • Fixed some cases where numbers in tooltips had too many decimal places
  • Fixed ‘Suppression of the Massyli’ event firing for Carthage when already at war with Massylia
  • Fixed issues with ‘no other diplomatic tasks ongoing’ checks in Epirote mission tasks
  • Fixed disloyal subjects joining scripted wars which they otherwise would not
  • Fixed inconsistent place names in mission tasks
  • Fixed characters taking loyal veterans with them when moving countries
  • Fixed Clan Chiefs taking the Demanding an Office scheme
  • Fixed ‘Adriatic Opportunities’ Roman mission task making feudatories of another culture group

# Setup
  • Fixed missing section of the Euphrates
  • Fixed some lakes and shores not being on the painted map
  • Fixed bad Latin and Greek in some territory names
  • Fixed references to yet unborn Roman emperors in some territory names
  • Fixed Antigonos’ half brother’s mother being the wrong character
  • Fixed Salluvian culture being called Alluvian
  • Removed impassable in Egypt’s Eastern Desert which would not be colored
  • Added territory in India to avoid uncolorable impassables
  • Fixed Trapezous starting at tech 0 instead of 2
 
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Aaron

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Looks like a whole new game lol. Maybe more people will play it now.