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$1000 C-Store Ships barrier has been broken!

zerobangzerobang Member Posts: 0 Arc User
edited July 2013 in Star Trek Online General Discussion
i just did the math,

logged in with an empty F2P account and went through the complete Ships/Shuttles section of the C-Store.

I ignored the current 15% sale.
I used 5000 Zen Packs over the 3x2500 Zen variants.

If my math is correct (i might have lost the line i was at one time, so there is a LOW chance i'm off by just a few points)... then

there are now Ships in the C-Store for 109750 Zen


that is actually closer to $1100 than $1000


that is not counting any Slots / ground Costumes / Bridge Packs or other services.
No LockBox Ships, no LifeTime/1000 day Ship... no Steamrunner Class from the Steam Starter Pack and no Fleet Modules....

and also NO VAT or any incorrect $ to Euro conversion that might hide somewhere (last time i bought points it was still under Atari and back then the conversion rate from $ to Euro was way off.)


....

isn't it time to at least reduce prices for the really OLD Ships (and maybe also the badly selling ones?) permanently, not just for a temporary sale?

Just so that it isn't so extremely impossible for NEW Players to play catch up?



PS: personally i got ALL of them now, (just bought the last odd ones thx to the sale), but i've been playing since Day 1 and did grind the hell out of the game to always get the latest one. I only skipped a few LockBox Ships that didn't strike my fancy.

Just saying... i am not asking for a price reduction for myself but for anyone else who might decide to still join the game at this point.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
Post edited by zerobang on
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    pyryckpyryck Member Posts: 6 Arc User
    edited July 2013
    You just HAD to go and put a financial number on my collection impulse? :P

    Good thing no one tracks Zen or C-points... ;)
  • Options
    virusdancervirusdancer Member Posts: 18,687 Arc User
    edited July 2013
    zerobang wrote: »
    i am not asking for a price reduction for myself but for anyone else who might decide to still join the game at this point.

    Well, considering they don't have to buy anything...it's a want and not a need...if they can't control those impulses to spend, rather than asking Cryptic to make it easier for them to spend - shouldn't it be a case of directing them to some form of therapy that might help them with their problem?
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    lordvalecortezlordvalecortez Member Posts: 479 Arc User
    edited July 2013
    As Mr. Burns would say, "Excellent."

    Well, its nice to know someone has crunched the numbers for us. I don't have ALL the ships but I have a super majority of them. Add in ship slots, boff slots, costumes etc I've probably joined the 1k spent club.

    Can we get a forum avatar for that? Maybe a title? Cause, that would go over really well right? (In case anyone doesn't get sarcasm, I'm only kidding about this)
    Cheers from Antonio Valerio Cortez III, Half-Celestial Archduke of the Free Marches Confederacy.
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    zerobangzerobang Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited July 2013
    just trying to put the "micro" in microtransaction into perspective

    PS: and thx to all the people buying my Dilithium on a daily basis, i could not have gotten ALL the ships without spending a $ in the last year without you :)
    add in a bunch of pre F2P purchases for lower prices etc. i can't even calculate how much i've really spend on STO but i'm over 1000 Euro for sure if i count everything in from my collection of pre order boxes to DOff Slots.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
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    thecosmic1thecosmic1 Member Posts: 9,365 Arc User
    edited July 2013
    Only $1,000.00? I thought it would be a lot more.

    Of course since the game went FTP I have routinely earned between between 500,000 and 600,000 Dilithium each month. Which is about 4,000 Zen per month right now, which is around 76,000 Zen since the game introduced the Dilithium Exchange - not to mention the 10,000 in Stipend I've gotten. By the time I factor in all the low exchange rates pre-LoR I'm sure i've made over $1,000.00 in free Zen. I guess that's why I own ever Fed ship, most of the KDF ships, and going to buy the Scimitar pack and haven't spent a dime of my own money since the game went FTP. :)
    STO is about my Liberated Borg Federation Captain with his Breen 1st Officer, Jem'Hadar Tactical Officer, Liberated Borg Engineering Officer, Android Ops Officer, Photonic Science Officer, Gorn Science Officer, and Reman Medical Officer jumping into their Jem'Hadar Carrier and flying off to do missions for the new Romulan Empire. But for some players allowing a T5 Connie to be used breaks the canon in the game.
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    twg042370twg042370 Member Posts: 2,312 Arc User
    edited July 2013
    virusdancer wrote: »
    Well, considering they don't have to buy anything...it's a want and not a need...if they can't control those impulses to spend, rather than asking Cryptic to make it easier for them to spend - shouldn't it be a case of directing them to some form of therapy that might help them with their problem?

    Allow me to answer this with a quote that may explain all of this;

    "This is everybody's fault but mine." - Homer Simpson.
    <3
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    zerobangzerobang Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited July 2013
    109750 Zen

    at the current 1:118 exchange rate that is...

    12.950.500 Dilithium

    that is

    1619 DAYS of full 8000 Dilithium refinement with ONE character

    with 10 Characters and absouletely NO LIFING it and grinding out 80000 Dilithium a day that is still

    162 DAYS


    <3 F2P


    ...if anything this math example shows that you can't keep up with just one character doing the 8000 a day. So go forth and start some ALTs.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • Options
    pyryckpyryck Member Posts: 6 Arc User
    edited July 2013
    lordvalecortez wrote: »
    As Mr. Burns would say, "Excellent."

    Well, its nice to know someone has crunched the numbers for us. I don't have ALL the ships but I have a super majority of them. Add in ship slots, boff slots, costumes etc I've probably joined the 1k spent club.

    Can we get a forum avatar for that? Maybe a title? Cause, that would go over really well right? (In case anyone doesn't get sarcasm, I'm only kidding about this)

    A new forum title for like Platinum or Diamond or even Gold-Pressed Latinum accounts? ;)

    1k spent club? Heck with all the different special items from different retailers, I probably got near that before the game even went live! :)

    I looked thru the C-Store yesterday at the ships listed for sale. I only saw 5 ships (none of them a 3-pack ship) with a sale price listed next to them. All of the rest just showed "available".

    Those 5 ships plus the KDF EV suit and KDF Academy attire are all I lack in my collection.
  • Options
    thecosmic1thecosmic1 Member Posts: 9,365 Arc User
    edited July 2013
    zerobang wrote: »
    ...if anything this math example shows that you can't keep up with just one character doing the 8000 a day. So go forth and start some ALTs.
    You can't really rationalize 3.5 years of items that must be immediately sold to someone. Most people aren't going to buy everything, as they just don't need everything.

    If you look at what ships come out monthly/bi-monthly it's not that difficult to "keep up" with the C-Store and slowly get some older items as well. Just as us old-timers didn't buy it all at once new people don't either.
    STO is about my Liberated Borg Federation Captain with his Breen 1st Officer, Jem'Hadar Tactical Officer, Liberated Borg Engineering Officer, Android Ops Officer, Photonic Science Officer, Gorn Science Officer, and Reman Medical Officer jumping into their Jem'Hadar Carrier and flying off to do missions for the new Romulan Empire. But for some players allowing a T5 Connie to be used breaks the canon in the game.
  • Options
    virusdancervirusdancer Member Posts: 18,687 Arc User
    edited July 2013
    twg042370 wrote: »
    Allow me to answer this with a quote that may explain all of this;

    "This is everybody's fault but mine." - Homer Simpson.

    Meh, that quote left me wanting a donut...and no, it's not my fault that I want the donut. ;)
  • Options
    tekehdtekehd Member Posts: 2,032 Arc User
    edited July 2013
    play catchup? Why would someone need to buy ALL the ships? I see no reason to "play catchup", it does not really give you anything.
  • Options
    turbomagnusturbomagnus Member Posts: 3,479 Arc User
    edited July 2013
    Thanks. Now when I win the lottery and get a million dollars, I know what to do with about two thousand of it.
    "If you can't take a little bloody nose, maybe you ought to go back home and crawl under your bed. It's not safe out here. It's wondrous, with treasures to satiate desires both subtle and gross; but it's not for the timid." -- Q, TNG: "Q-Who?"
    ^Words that every player should keep in mind, especially whenever there's a problem with the game...
  • Options
    ussdelphin2ussdelphin2 Member Posts: 525 Arc User
    edited July 2013
    thecosmic1 wrote: »
    Only $1,000.00? I thought it would be a lot more.

    Of course since the game went FTP I have routinely earned between between 500,000 and 600,000 Dilithium each month. Which is about 4,000 Zen per month right now, which is around 76,000 Zen since the game introduced the Dilithium Exchange - not to mention the 10,000 in Stipend I've gotten. By the time I factor in all the low exchange rates pre-LoR I'm sure i've made over $1,000.00 in free Zen. I guess that's why I own ever Fed ship, most of the KDF ships, and going to buy the Scimitar pack and haven't spent a dime of my own money since the game went FTP. :)

    While I think that is good.... and it is.... its not really a good idea to brag that you don't financially support the game in my opinion. Its up to people if they want to spend money or not on the game... but they really should keep it to them selves.
    How I picture a lot of the forumites :P
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    rathelmrathelm Member Posts: 69 Arc User
    edited July 2013
    zerobang wrote: »
    just trying to put the "micro" in microtransaction into perspective

    PS: and thx to all the people buying my Dilithium on a daily basis, i could not have gotten ALL the ships without spending a $ in the last year without you :)
    add in a bunch of pre F2P purchases for lower prices etc. i can't even calculate how much i've really spend on STO but i'm over 1000 Euro for sure if i count everything in from my collection of pre order boxes to DOff Slots.

    No problem. It takes way too long to grind that TRIBBLE out. My time is worth more than that.
  • Options
    mandoknight89mandoknight89 Member Posts: 1,687 Arc User
    edited July 2013
    rathelm wrote: »
    No problem. It takes way too long to grind that TRIBBLE out. My time is worth more than that.

    More-or-less this... the pay for dilithium grinding is kinda terrible, unless you can grind out the dil for more than 11.5 characters per hour. (That's for about minimum wage, depending on the area)
  • Options
    thecosmic1thecosmic1 Member Posts: 9,365 Arc User
    edited July 2013
    ussdelphin2 wrote: »
    While I think that is good.... and it is.... its not really a good idea to brag that you don't financially support the game in my opinion. Its up to people if they want to spend money or not on the game... but they really should keep it to them selves.
    I have an LTS, purchased 3 different box sets of the game, and spent plenty of money in the C-Store in the 2 years before it went FTP. I've paid my dues - and if Cryptic didn't want people using the Dilithium Exchange they should have added it to the game. :)
    STO is about my Liberated Borg Federation Captain with his Breen 1st Officer, Jem'Hadar Tactical Officer, Liberated Borg Engineering Officer, Android Ops Officer, Photonic Science Officer, Gorn Science Officer, and Reman Medical Officer jumping into their Jem'Hadar Carrier and flying off to do missions for the new Romulan Empire. But for some players allowing a T5 Connie to be used breaks the canon in the game.
  • Options
    thecosmic1thecosmic1 Member Posts: 9,365 Arc User
    edited July 2013
    mandoknight89 wrote: »
    More-or-less this... the pay for dilithium grinding is kinda terrible, unless you can grind out the dil for more than 11.5 characters per hour. (That's for about minimum wage, depending on the area)
    Your work time is your work time. Your hobby time is your hobby time. I earn around 4,000 Zen per month playing 2-3 hours per day. I played the same 2-3 hours per day before the game had Dilithium. The only difference now is that I get free C-Store items for playing. :)
    STO is about my Liberated Borg Federation Captain with his Breen 1st Officer, Jem'Hadar Tactical Officer, Liberated Borg Engineering Officer, Android Ops Officer, Photonic Science Officer, Gorn Science Officer, and Reman Medical Officer jumping into their Jem'Hadar Carrier and flying off to do missions for the new Romulan Empire. But for some players allowing a T5 Connie to be used breaks the canon in the game.
  • Options
    zerobangzerobang Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited July 2013
    not true for me, i definitely started playing more after F2P.
    The Dilithium Exchange finally gave me a GOAL in the game again, before that i played on and off and was sometimes bored for weeks with nothing to do.

    Now i have a reason to play and a reward to grind forward to, even if it is just *the next* thing that is thrown at the C-Store that i don't even know about.


    The DOff System also was FUN for me. (i just love all the micromanagement and figuring stuff out)... grinding out the PewPew maps gets boring fast though.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
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    mandoknight89mandoknight89 Member Posts: 1,687 Arc User
    edited July 2013
    thecosmic1 wrote: »
    Your work time is your work time. Your hobby time is your hobby time. I earn around 4,000 Zen per month playing 2-3 hours per day. I played the same 2-3 hours per day before the game had Dilithium. The only difference now is that I get free C-Store items for playing. :)

    Yes, but if you are playing for the purpose of grinding out dilithium to trade in for Zen to avoid having to pay money for it, you're missing the point of the game. If you're playing the game, and then getting some Zen back as a bonus (rather than as your objective for playing more), that's different.
  • Options
    imadoctornotaimadoctornota Member Posts: 469 Arc User
    edited July 2013
    Wow! I remember back when I owned every C-Store item there was! My, my. I've got hundreds and hundreds of dollars of catching up to do! lol
    Thanks for the expansion that had "as much content as the last"
    9 Episodes = 30+ episodes...?
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
    It's pronounced "S.T.O." "Stow" sounds idiotic! lol
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    kaltoumkaltoum Member Posts: 135 Arc User
    edited July 2013
    virusdancer wrote: »
    Well, considering they don't have to buy anything...it's a want and not a need...if they can't control those impulses to spend, rather than asking Cryptic to make it easier for them to spend - shouldn't it be a case of directing them to some form of therapy that might help them with their problem?


    Huh? can you actually tell me with a straight face that players don't need the T5 ships from c store?
    Once upon a time in galaxy far far away......
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    nadiezjanadiezja Member Posts: 629 Arc User
    edited July 2013
    kaltoum wrote: »
    Huh? can you actually tell me with a straight face that players don't need the T5 ships from c store?

    I can. The PvE content is sufficiently easy that you can do it in a basic Tier 5 ship. I see Star Cruisers and other basic T5 ships in STFs all the time, and they pull their weight. Except in PvP, which is ALWAYS going to reward spending money in an F2P game, and disproportionately reward tiny increases in power, there's just not that much power difference between even a basic T5 ship and a fleet or lockbox or three-pack ship. The lockbox/three-pack/CStore ship is just more interesting.

    And, even if you did... it's a $20-25 fee, once, possibly with an extra $5 later for the fleet upgrade. That's less than the cost of a new boxed MMO, or two months' subscription under the old model. It's really cheap, given how much game there is.

    And that's the ONLY think I can think of that there's any reasonable argument is required.
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    kaltoumkaltoum Member Posts: 135 Arc User
    edited July 2013
    nadiezja wrote: »
    I can. The PvE content is sufficiently easy that you can do it in a basic Tier 5 ship. I see Star Cruisers and other basic T5 ships in STFs all the time, and they pull their weight. Except in PvP, which is ALWAYS going to reward spending money in an F2P game, and disproportionately reward tiny increases in power, there's just not that much power difference between even a basic T5 ship and a fleet or lockbox or three-pack ship. The lockbox/three-pack/CStore ship is just more interesting.

    And, even if you did... it's a $20-25 fee, once, possibly with an extra $5 later for the fleet upgrade. That's less than the cost of a new boxed MMO, or two months' subscription under the old model. It's really cheap, given how much game there is.

    And that's the ONLY think I can think of that there's any reasonable argument is required.

    There are no basic T5 ships. You are confusing T4 with T5. All the ships in C STORE are T5 ships and yes they give you quite an advantage both in PVP and PVE.

    The question is not whether it is cheap but you statement about 'not need but want'. Which i disagree with completely. All C STORE ships and fleet ships are designed in a way to make sure you 'need' it.

    And i don't know what STF's you are running but i have never seen a T4 ship (as you call them basic T5 ships) in an elite STF.
    Once upon a time in galaxy far far away......
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    ussdelphin2ussdelphin2 Member Posts: 525 Arc User
    edited July 2013
    thecosmic1 wrote: »
    I have an LTS, purchased 3 different box sets of the game, and spent plenty of money in the C-Store in the 2 years before it went FTP. I've paid my dues - and if Cryptic didn't want people using the Dilithium Exchange they should have added it to the game. :)

    I'm not saying you or anyone that is not spending money is doing anything wrong, im saying you should keep it to your self instead of bragging about no longer financially supporting the game.....
    How I picture a lot of the forumites :P
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    lan451lan451 Member Posts: 3,386 Arc User
    edited July 2013
    kaltoum wrote: »
    There are no basic T5 ships. You are confusing T4 with T5. All the ships in C STORE are T5 ships and yes they give you quite an advantage both in PVP and PVE.

    He's correct. There are basic T5 ships. T4 are the Captain rank ships and T5 begins with RA. Using his example of the Star Cruiser, the STO wiki clearly has it listed as T5.

    http://sto.gamepedia.com/Star_Cruiser

    Furthermore the devs themselves have listed this in their LoR blogs:

    http://sto.perfectworld.com/news/?p=883911

    Specifically, if you scroll down to the Subadmiral rank (which is level 40) it has those warbirds listed as "TIER 5 - Subadmiral I Rank". Since Subadmiral is the Romulan equivalent of Rear Admiral, T5 begins at level 40. The level 50 VA ships are still T5 but are more like T5.5 or so.
    The question is not whether it is cheap but you statement about 'not need but want'. Which i disagree with completely. All C STORE ships and fleet ships are designed in a way to make sure you 'need' it.

    And i don't know what STF's you are running but i have never seen a T4 ship (as you call them basic T5 ships) in an elite STF.

    You really don't need the C-store ships for PVE. I myself have run ESTFs in the basic T5 ships, specifically the Sovereign and Luna, and did very well. I see plenty of Sovys, Star Cruisers and Lunas in ESTFs all the time. They do rather well for themselves. On that same token I see people in decked out C-store ships blow up constantly because they don't know what they're doing. The C-store/Fleet ships give you a definite edge but they aren't necessary by any means for PVE. It's about how you fly the ship you have, not the ship itself.
    JWZrsUV.jpg
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    ursusmorologusursusmorologus Member Posts: 5,328 Arc User
    edited July 2013
    virusdancer wrote: »
    Well, considering they don't have to buy anything...it's a want and not a need...if they can't control those impulses to spend, rather than asking Cryptic to make it easier for them to spend - shouldn't it be a case of directing them to some form of therapy that might help them with their problem?

    therapy costs more than the ships
    [img]http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x57/UrsusMorologus/MechWarrior Online/Catapult_K2 sig.jpg[/img]
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    thecosmic1thecosmic1 Member Posts: 9,365 Arc User
    edited July 2013
    ussdelphin2 wrote: »
    I'm not saying you or anyone that is not spending money is doing anything wrong, im saying you should keep it to your self instead of bragging about no longer financially supporting the game.....
    As I said above, I believe my hundreds of dollars spent on STO over the years gives me the right to "brag" about anything I want no. YMMV. :)
    STO is about my Liberated Borg Federation Captain with his Breen 1st Officer, Jem'Hadar Tactical Officer, Liberated Borg Engineering Officer, Android Ops Officer, Photonic Science Officer, Gorn Science Officer, and Reman Medical Officer jumping into their Jem'Hadar Carrier and flying off to do missions for the new Romulan Empire. But for some players allowing a T5 Connie to be used breaks the canon in the game.
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    aquitaine985aquitaine985 Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited July 2013
    Join PvP Boot Camp! We have cake, skill respecs, exclusive sexy "PvP Boot Camp Graduate" ingame titles! Be the envy if your fleet mates! Don't be a square! Be a triangle for STO's round hole ;) BANG! ZOOM! WIZARD LEMONADE GIGGLE SWISH!

    Sign up in the sub forum and learn from some of the community's best! Learn how to work as a team, get the very best out of your ship, make keybinds to make you faster, harder, longer lasting in all aspects of space combat!

    Are you feeling lonely? Are the same o' STFs leaving you unsatisfied? Do you long for some ever evolving goodness to shake your nacelle at? Join PVP Boot Camp! The only community suited & booted project to leave you wanting more... *Sean Connery eye-brow wiggle*
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
    @Aquitaine985
    Lag Industries STO PvP Fleet - Executive
    A Sad Panda of Industrial calibre.
    2010: This is Cryptic PvP. Please hold the line, your call is very important to us...
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    kaltoumkaltoum Member Posts: 135 Arc User
    edited July 2013
    lan451 wrote: »
    He's correct. There are basic T5 ships. T4 are the Captain rank ships and T5 begins with RA. Using his example of the Star Cruiser, the STO wiki clearly has it listed as T5.

    http://sto.gamepedia.com/Star_Cruiser

    Furthermore the devs themselves have listed this in their LoR blogs:

    http://sto.perfectworld.com/news/?p=883911

    Specifically, if you scroll down to the Subadmiral rank (which is level 40) it has those warbirds listed as "TIER 5 - Subadmiral I Rank". Since Subadmiral is the Romulan equivalent of Rear Admiral, T5 begins at level 40. The level 50 VA ships are still T5 but are more like T5.5 or so.



    You really don't need the C-store ships for PVE. I myself have run ESTFs in the basic T5 ships, specifically the Sovereign and Luna, and did very well. I see plenty of Sovys, Star Cruisers and Lunas in ESTFs all the time. They do rather well for themselves. On that same token I see people in decked out C-store ships blow up constantly because they don't know what they're doing. The C-store/Fleet ships give you a definite edge but they aren't necessary by any means for PVE. It's about how you fly the ship you have, not the ship itself.

    Look at the new romulan ships and tell me if you feel the same way that c store ships are not needed for PVE.

    And ships are tied to level progression. The ships you get upto lvl 40 are T4. Tier 5 ships are either bought through C store or ship modules from fleet base.
    Once upon a time in galaxy far far away......
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    lan451lan451 Member Posts: 3,386 Arc User
    edited July 2013
    kaltoum wrote: »
    Look at the new romulan ships and tell me if you feel the same way that c store ships are not needed for PVE.

    I absolutely do feel the same way.

    I ran some ESTFs in the Ha'feh Assault Warbird and it was perfectly capable of handling them. I see others in the Ha'feh and Ha'nom and they do just fine.

    I just had a CSE yesterday with 2 Scimitars. Both of them had no idea what they were doing and we failed the mission even though both of them were attempting to guard the Kang. They seriously couldn't do anything. So once again, it's about how you fly the ship you have and not about the ship itself when it comes to PVE.
    kaltoum wrote: »
    And ships are tied to level progression. The ships you get upto lvl 40 are T4. Tier 5 ships are either bought through C store or ship modules from fleet base.

    I just posted 2 links, one of them from the devs themselves, that disprove this. T5 begins at level 40 with the free RA level ships and are not solely attained through the C-store/Fleet system. If you wish to ignore that then I can't help you, but know that you are incorrect. Otherwise please post your sources as I have already posted mine.
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    Mine Trap Supporter
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