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What are you playing?

Discussion in 'Gaming Forum' started by Desides, Aug 19, 2013.

  1. Unlucky 13

    Unlucky 13 Team Raheem Club Member

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    With my kids starting back to school 4 days a week, I decided to finally start Breath of the Wild yesterday. Its certainly a very challenging experience, but one that I'm having a lot of fun with. I absolutely love the open exploration.
     
  2. invid

    invid Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    Welcome dude. It gets easier. Fantastic game. Enjoy the ride.
     
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  3. Unlucky 13

    Unlucky 13 Team Raheem Club Member

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    Its a ton of fun. Especially since I've upgraded my stamina several times. The fact that bows break as quickly as they do is maddening, though. I like to hide and snipe from a distance in games, and this one is clearly set up to make that less of a viable strategy.
     
  4. invid

    invid Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    It'll get to a point where you'll have to drop good equipment to pick up new good equipment that'll be hard to choose. I really enjoyed how sparse all the stuff was in the beginning of the game. You feel the progression of mastering the environment the more you play (and explore).

    Regarding combat, I found myself using a mix of bow, melee, and the magic skills. Remember, you can use Stasis on enemies. When I found that out it changed everything.
     
  5. Unlucky 13

    Unlucky 13 Team Raheem Club Member

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    I just gained the ability to do that, but I've barely tried it out. I froze a mini-boss and used the time to escape to high ground, where I could shoot him to death.

    But so far, the very most frustrating thing in the game are the puzzles that make you rotate the controller to move something around. It's a lot like some early PS3 games that used the sixaxis features of that one, and it drove me crazy back then too. My instinct is to move the controller about 5X more than they want you to. Its also really, really hard for me to get it lined up and leveled out.
     
  6. invid

    invid Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    Yes those puzzles are terrible. Luckily I think there are only a couple in the game.
     
  7. Unlucky 13

    Unlucky 13 Team Raheem Club Member

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    I've done three so far. Hopefully that's about it!
     
  8. invid

    invid Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    Probably around 10-20 total.
     
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  9. Unlucky 13

    Unlucky 13 Team Raheem Club Member

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    When it was revealed at E3 two years ago, I was very interested in Tales of Arise and have followed it ever since. Now that its almost ready to be released, they're giving a lot more info out, and its a very different game than it was back then. No more open world, and the battle system looks really sub par. Im not interested at all any more.
     
  10. invid

    invid Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    Looks like a fairly decent evolution of the Tales franchise to me. But yeah, I wouldn't expect any more than your typical JRPG trappings. For some people, like me, that kind of game is like a bowl of chicken soup; not gonna change your world, but is reliable and delicious when you're in the mood for it.
     
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  11. Unlucky 13

    Unlucky 13 Team Raheem Club Member

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    I had no previous experience to the franchise before seeing the initial stuff about this one, so I wasn't really concerned about how the older ones were done. I was just intrigued about the possibility of an open world, party based RPG, which are obviously so rare.
     
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  12. invid

    invid Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    Yeah, from what I remember, it's more akin to Trials of Mana combat-wise but instanced and a little deeper with the move sets. But you can expect a mostly linear game if it's like the rest of the Tales series. Combat partners are either AI controlled or co-op controlled and switchable any time. This one looks a lot more polished than the recent ones, as they've almost become yearly releases. The best ones are Tales of Symphonia and Tales of Vesperia.
     
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  13. Unlucky 13

    Unlucky 13 Team Raheem Club Member

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    That's the understanding I've gotten over the last few days too. Not what I was hoping for, which originally seemed to be more like a cartoony graphics kind of Dragon Age Inquisition as far as the broad idea went.
     
  14. invid

    invid Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    A month after launch, my first experience/night with Outriders was terrible. Spent 25% of our time as a group waiting for one another to wade through any given technical issue. The aiming is terrible with a controller and the game was frequently chugging on a PS4 Pro with lots of hitches and strange freezes. The game crashed twice in 5 hours.

    Can't believe they're charging $60 for this right now the way it performed tonight. Fun game beneath all of the bull**** but may go back to playing Monster Hunter Rise until this gets fixed up. Then again, the way games are sold nowadays, how long will that be?
     
  15. Dol-Fan Dupree

    Dol-Fan Dupree Tank? Who is Tank? I am Guy Incognito.

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    I played Humankind Open Dev this weekend.

    A very interesting idea for development to have weekend where you give a demo build of the game and then get feedback from people who have preordered a game. Both as a way to get continuous feedback, while getting paid to get people to playtest your game, but also as a way to build community.

    The game is a 4x game similar to Civilization. The main differences is that only one city per area, and you build districts to better take advantage of the resources of that area. Battles are done in turn-based combat that I don't know if I like yet. And through each era you choose a new culture and keep an aspect of the old culture. So you can play a food based culture for one era and then next era pick an industry based culture, while keeping a legacy bonus from the food based culture.

    Also the other huge difference is how pretty the game is. It looks a lot better than any of the civilizations. Finding a natural wonder is very fun to just look at it.

    I don't know if I will like it over all. I did buy it already after watching some let's plays of the last Open Dev. It is one to look out for if you like 4x style games.
     
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  16. Stitches

    Stitches ThePhin's Biggest Killjoy Luxury Box

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    My experience is on Xbox Series X, and I don't feel like there is frequent chugging (thought it has happened), but have definitely crashed a dozen times. Luckily it is included in Gamepass, so it's difficult for me to complain too much. I don't find aiming terrible, but I have played Gears of War before, and just find it to be reminiscent of that (in more than just aiming).

    I have a Pyromancer at level 30, and beat the game with my friend around a week ago probably. Only done one of the end game things, but it was fun.
     
    Last edited: Apr 26, 2021
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  17. invid

    invid Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    There were rumors that they will add a dead zone or aim acceleration option. The game so desperately needs it.

    The game probably runs better, if not the best, on Xbox Series X which has the most under the hood of any console right now. Unfortunately it feels like we're entering the era of older generation versions being afterthoughts which is doubly concerning with how hard it is to get a PS5 right now. More concerning, however, is the fact that these versions aren't being thoroughly tested and are being rushed out the door. It'd be nice if the publisher, Square Enix, offered more support to the developers they're so eager to affiliate with as well.
     
  18. Stitches

    Stitches ThePhin's Biggest Killjoy Luxury Box

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    Oh, I see now you said PS4 Pro, I was thinking PS5. Yes, I can imagine this being hard for PS4s to handle (even pro). I can't imagine it's optimized, like you said.

    I can't even play Destiny 2 any more on my old Xbox One X, because it's so drastically different on Series X. I don't even want to try this game on my One X.
     
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  19. Unlucky 13

    Unlucky 13 Team Raheem Club Member

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    Speaking of cross platform games, I had a conversation the other day that confirmed what I had been suspecting for a while. I have a standard PS4 that I bought back in 2014, and I've felt that the graphics - especially the lighting, shadows and other fine details, of the last few editions of MLB The Show have looked worse than they did in earlier versions on the console.

    With the new version of the game just coming out there's been talk about things like that, and a few other guys said that since the PS4 Pro was released, they've been designing the game so that you need to have a Pro to get what I would consider the basic experience these days. I had thought that the Pro would offer benefits above and beyond what the standard model did, but it seems like Sony has just decided that those of us without it are basically left like people trying to play a new PC game on an old version of Windows. I knew that there are certainly other games out there that have been designed to work at their best on the Pro, but for an annual sports game to look worse on the base unit than it did three or four years ago seems dumb.

    And apparently, this is now taken to the next level, with the PS5 version of the game being the standard, and of course beautiful and awesome. And they say that on the Pro, people are experiencing the same sort of thing that I described above, and that the 21 edition looks worse in a lot of ways than 20 did. Its also been recommended that if you have a standard PS4, don't even bother getting the game.
     
  20. Stitches

    Stitches ThePhin's Biggest Killjoy Luxury Box

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    I'm playing the Show 21 through Game Pass on xbox, and aside from the inherent weirdness of seeing "Sony" on a start screen on a Microsoft console, it's a lot of fun. With that said, I don't care for the progression (or lack thereof) in RttS so far.
     
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  21. Unlucky 13

    Unlucky 13 Team Raheem Club Member

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    I haven't done much on RTTS in a while. Im a single player franchise guy. But people are majorly up in arms over things being removed this year. Its a huge thing. Apparently dymond dynasty has gotten everything now.
     
  22. invid

    invid Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    So.

    I managed to get a PS5. My brother-in-law coaches a baseball team and held a raffle for the parents to just have the opportunity to buy one. The parent that won had already gotten a PS5 for her son, so passed it off to another parent who had to pony up the money. After 7 or 8 months, they never did. Luckily, my brother-in-law knew I was in the market for one and that I could pay right away and, literally a day after the new HZD trailer dropped, I managed to get one.

    Unfortunately, it was the digital edition. I'm not philosophically opposed to a digital library, just had already began a physical library on PS4 and wanted to keep that going. With quarantine, it definitely became more 50/50 digital vs. physical. Now, this weekend, I'm going through the long arduous task of selling my physical collection on eBay to recoup some cash to transfer it to a digital collection. Some games won't make the cut (Ni No Kuni 2, The Division 2) and some will need rebought (Ghost of Tsushima, Devil May Cry 5, etc.) Luckily, I've nabbed a couple older games on deep sales or they were outright free (Shadow of Mordor for $5, Bloodborne for free). PITA but I'll be happy when it's all sold.

    I have not gotten any true PS5 games yet but there are some I have my eyes on. For one, I will be playing through the FF7 Remake on Hard, and through the new episode, when Intergrade is released next week. Demon Souls is on the list but before that, I'm 2/3 done with Bloodborne and need to finish that, and want to play Sekiro which apparently is a glorious 60FPS on the next gen consoles. I also have my eye on Returnal but will be waiting for a deeper sale, perhaps around the holiday time.

    The one that's really grabbed my attention and may be going under the radar is the anime action game, Scarlet Nexus, which I played the demo of this past week. Two characters with a 2 hour mission, respectively. I thought the music was really good and the action was accessible and fast-paced, one of those easy to learn/easy to master systems that has you balancing telekinetic powers, melee attacks, and squad power ups. I thought it was really cool how these systems were wound together. The initial environment the missions take place are a little drab but the trailers show other environments that look much better. The demo didn't seem optimized for PS5 but I could be wrong, it certainly didn't seem like 60FPS. This will be a day one buy for me if the length is right. It's an interesting hybrid between Control, Devil May Cry, and Nier.
     
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  23. Unlucky 13

    Unlucky 13 Team Raheem Club Member

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    I've been paying attention to Scarlet Nexus for a while, but now that its out there, its just too dark for my tastes - both literally and metaphorically. All red and black and demons and whatnot. And as you mentioned with the gameplay, just generally not my style.

    Congrats on getting the PS5, though! I don't expect I'll be able to find one this year, so I'm trying not to get my hopes up too high.
     
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  24. Dol-Fan Dupree

    Dol-Fan Dupree Tank? Who is Tank? I am Guy Incognito.

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    I miss football. So I decided after around 10 long years I will try Madden again.

    Got it for $20.

    It is not great. If the game was 10 years old I would think the gameplay was alright. Still fun watching problems that were fixed in old games pop up. My favorite bug is the one where over 7 billion minutes is displayed on how long each scoring drive.

    It is barely worth $20. I am having fun with it. I think I am going to throw 50 interceptions with my first season.
     
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  25. Unlucky 13

    Unlucky 13 Team Raheem Club Member

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    Sadly, Madden is nothing but a microtransation machine now. The gameplay is worse than it was at the end of the PS3 era, the graphics haven't improved in years, and they strip more features out of if every release. Even online play is now basically an empty shell.

    And as a franchise/owner mode guy, its just a sick joke. The game peaked at the end of the PS2 era, fell off a cliff, gradually clawed its way back, and hasn't gotten any better since the start of the PS4 era. Given that I basically want it to be a NFL GM simulator more than anything, its pretty painful.

    I've been buying it every other year once it goes on sale for $20 myself.
     
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  26. Dol-Fan Dupree

    Dol-Fan Dupree Tank? Who is Tank? I am Guy Incognito.

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    Same here.

    There are aspects of the new game I like. I think the quarterback is better at leading the receiver and pass rushing is more fun. I do enjoy the people talking to me before the game with little goals.

    However, the franchise presentation isn't nearly as good as NFL2k5.

    Plus all of the clipping. I threw interceptions through my receiver's hands. Like the cornerback's hands warp through the receiver to cleanly intercept the ball.
     
  27. Unlucky 13

    Unlucky 13 Team Raheem Club Member

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    I've never understood the love for the 2K games. I thought it was garbage in its day, but that's neither here nor there.

    As far as the current Madden's game play, I actually think that the passing game is the hardest its been since the PS1 era, even with sliders in my favor. Its easy to take advantage of the CPU by passing deep, but I want to nickel and dime them down the field 5-10 yards at a time, but they play press coverage so damn much that its rough. I haven't played in months, but in the games that I did play in the most recent one, I didn't like it.

    Same goes for the pass rush. I just can't generate any with the DEs myself. Almost all of my pressure and sacks come from calling the blitz at the right time and the CPU controlled defenders making the play for me. Which I hate, because I'd rather not blitz very often, and have my LBs play the run and the pass. I end up controlling one of the DTs most of the time, and sometimes get lucky and get into the backfield.
     
  28. Dol-Fan Dupree

    Dol-Fan Dupree Tank? Who is Tank? I am Guy Incognito.

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    I generally switched year by year. 2k generally had better blocking and running. Unlike old Maddens and this new Madden it didn't feel like the runningback was running on a rail. It felt more realistic type running. They also had multi-tackles first. The ability for more than one player to make a tackle at the same time. Plus, the ESPN Prime time was super fun. I thought they did a great job of having competition and pushing Madden.

    I get O.K. pressure with the DEs.
     
  29. DrAstroZoom

    DrAstroZoom Canary in a Coal Mine Luxury Box

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    Do any of you have Tabletop Simulator on Steam? I have killed so many hours playing board games and card games on it.
     
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  30. Unlucky 13

    Unlucky 13 Team Raheem Club Member

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    I've read so many stories lately with people complaining about how Sony's games for the PS5 are also going to be available on the PS4, and how that's an awful thing and they need to be exclusive to the new system. I just shake my head.

    Number one, the games are clearly better on the PS5 than they are on the PS4. They have much better graphics and often added features that the last gen version doesn't include. This is the exact same thing that happened when the PS4 was new. And the PS3, and the PS2. Its normal!

    And then there's the fact that a huge percentage of people who would love to buy a PS5 can't get their hands on one. And so Sony is making the business choice to also offer a lesser version of the game for sale should they want to buy it.

    I for one am not buying the PS4 versions. I'll just wait. But I understand why they're doing it.
     
  31. invid

    invid Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    @Unlucky 13 Did you ever play Dragon's Dogma?

    Capcom is supposed to have a showcase at E3 this year and if you go by the leak that happened earlier in 2020, Dragon's Dogma 2 should definitely be teased during this presentation as it was supposedly planned for a mid-2022 release.

    Can't wait to see if it actually appears.
     
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  32. Dol-Fan Dupree

    Dol-Fan Dupree Tank? Who is Tank? I am Guy Incognito.

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    I thought Dragon's Dogma was as fun as it was frustrating.

    It was so easy to walk to a place where everyone is way over your level and just get killed. Plus I never felt connected to the story. I quit after 6 or so hours.

    However, the fighting was really fun. Especially the big monsters.

    I hope they take what was fun and make it more fun and then improve the world building.
     
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  33. Unlucky 13

    Unlucky 13 Team Raheem Club Member

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    I seriously considered it, to the point that I was in its page on the PSN pondering pulling the trigger. But I decided that the graphics are just too dark and outdated for me to enjoy.

    My eyes have always been bad at seeing things that aren't bright, and my current TV makes it hard with the PS4. Last year, with Ghost of Tsushima, I had to go onto a few forums and learn how to completely turn the HDR settings off and adjust the brightness in the TV instead of just the game, and it made it work for that one. But I have a few PS3 era titles where its a real obstacle.

    I'll keep an eye out for the sequel on the PS5 though, for sure.
     
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  34. invid

    invid Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    I had a mixed, but mostly positive experience with it. Loved the classes, art design, and the setting. It was pretty unique for the time it came out. The damage scaling was done terribly though and was actually covered in a video. I was not a fan of the end game at the time as all we had was fighting the Ur Dragon over and over again and by the time the expansion came out, which expanded the end game a bit, I had mentally checked out. I heard it was great though and I always wondered how good a sequel could be so I'm excited. Plus I don't think an ARPG has done magic spells as well as Dragon's Dogma did. Maybe FF15 or 7R come close but when you casted a spell in DD the whole in-game world knew it.

    I'll be happy if they add more class variation and allow for co-op.

    It's definitely a darker game both in mood and well.. how it's lit. There's also a great deal of caves, tombs, and traveling at night. So totally get it.
     
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  35. Unlucky 13

    Unlucky 13 Team Raheem Club Member

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    I had a Samsung LED TV for a long time that I loved, and it had a really bright backlight. Undfortunately, it died about two years ago and after shopping around a lot, I settled on a LG 4K model. Its pretty for watching Netflix or Disney Plus, but for the PS4, its extremely dark compared to the other one. And PS3 remaster games are the worst offenders.

    I can't even use mods in Skyrim that make the graphics better any more, because they change the lighting so much that its completely pitch black outdoors or in dungeons on my TV now. And no messing around with the settings seems to fix it.
     
  36. invid

    invid Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    I had this problem (owner of an LG OLED C9) and I bought blackout shades and it went a long way in fixing the problem. Those TVs need played in dark rooms to really get the most out of them.
     
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  37. Unlucky 13

    Unlucky 13 Team Raheem Club Member

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    Absolutely true. But even at night with minimal light on in the house, it's still an issue.

    It's fine watching TV, most of the time. It's the PS4 that it struggles with. Hopefully the ps5 us better for that.
     
  38. invid

    invid Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    I'm not sure it will, gaming is just about the purest HDR experience you can get and the LGs are a double-edged sword when it comes to that. They're typically on the dim side but their dynamic range is pretty high which is why they thrive in dark rooms. My C9 is renowned for how black it's blacks are, lol. Not sure if yours is much different. If anything, you'll want to utilize the high performance modes in games when there's an option between that and a higher resolution mode (typically). The high resolution modes might be darker on average.
     
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  39. Unlucky 13

    Unlucky 13 Team Raheem Club Member

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    That's good info. Do you have any insight on what the brighter brands are, without going to the added expense of the QLED? I'd really like to try and go in that opposite direction the next time I get one.
     
  40. invid

    invid Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    I don't, unfortunately. Only know the characteristics of my TV because that's the one I bought, haha. Internet will definitely help there though, and then the best thing to do would be to cross-reference some narrowed down choices in person.
     

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