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| [april Fools] Wrapping Up Things | |
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| Topic Started: Apr 1 2013, 11:16 AM (601 Views) | |
| Mr_Otyugh | Apr 1 2013, 11:16 AM Post #1 |
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SCoD is Shutting Down in Two Weeks Time... That is the long and short of it I am afraid, so it's time to wrap up on going storylines. Really the decision boils down to being ran out of juice finally from development and administering aspects, some of the first stages could really be seen with the website and cloudhosting service having been shut down prior to the actual announcement. Though this is the inevitability of all servers, I still feel we had an admirable run. Of course we sympathize the players and DMs for their prolonged effort which is why we want to give at least a few weeks (perhaps more, but two weeks was arbitrarily chosen for now) to get through their stories, or content transfer to potential new hosts as well as getting character files moved up, regarding that we might open up the exporting option once more for the ease purposes if there comes high demand for them. So indeed while what the server is at the very moment might cease to be, there is still means for content continuity - the exact decisions we will be leaving to the Prospective Hosts Contact: cryptc For Your Character Files Contact: Mr_Otyugh, Ceremorph For those whom have enjoyed playing in here for as long or brief time as you did, thank you for your participation to the planar fun and adventures. ![]() And now... an overlook of the history of SCoD. SCoD From the Beginning of Times Sigil the City of Doors has been around for a decent amount of time, while definitely not one of the oldest servers, but its gone through quite a few changes over the years. With the final verdict to shut down the server, it felt only natural to make a memorial observation of achievements and progress from an annual scale. 2008 - The Beginning Late 2008 me (Mr_Otyugh), cryptc, Eandril, pelhikano, Pashan01 and Shyntree came up with an idea, well cryptc did anyway, to make a server. A big process it was too and most of 2008 was spent pre-planning how things should be. We discussed the basic, yet numerous aspects over a couple of meetings we had a rough idea of where we wanted to go. The Early Plan of Sigil Structure. Other options that were discussed were: 5 highly detailed wards, 1 single highly detailed ward, all wards would've been small, and the version which was chosen, a bit of a compromise between them all. Areas Oinos - Gray Wastes of Hades This is one of the least changed areas in the entire server, only during later years the difficulty of the creatures and essence drops were modified. OOC Room The early version of the OOC room was built and it is quite similar to that of what it appears today too. Though it did not have the Styx Oarsman, there were no information signs, only rulebooks, store and appearance changer. Features Appearance Changer The early version of the Appearance changer was mostly copied from social servers. Haks We used a combined social hak list as well as scod.hak which contained our 2da changes and the likes, though highly modified each year. Store Gold Stores bought for 200 gold pieces per sale only, a feature later to be changed. This was done due to economy problems we had experienced on other servers. Alpha Tools During these times we had alpha tools given on character creation that could change ECL, experience, gold, raise dead, or port you to any area. Death System You lost only 1 exp and 1 gold piece during alpha and pre-alpha. DMs cryptc Server owner and brains behind the server. Mr_Otyugh Just some dude from the streets. pelhikano DM, scripter and builder behind some of the cool features. Shyntree Third admin from the server starting period and a perfectionist roleplayer and builder. 2009 - Alpha and Beta Stages This year was an important one for SCoD as it was the start of open gaming within the server. The first part of the year was an open alpha during which we didn't market the server much but from August of 2009 the beta was up and we started to market it as well. The last year of Obsidian support for NWN2 as well as the last update came in the form of a hotfix and ADL applied to the game, about time! The SCoD server ran on an old machine during these times which ensured one of the important philosophies for building was performance due to low resource requirements. Working with such constraints meant our systems for spawns, cleanups, etc, were highly optimized, wihch has served us well over the years. Areas Under Sigil These were the original versions of Under Sigil and consisted of 4 areas. Later the village was implemented and with it came the temple of Tharizdun which now is in ruins. Nishrek Still very much like its original incarnation, however in 2013 it received new set of spawns. Outlands Outlands general structure was the same as now, however the portal was originally placed within the maze and the maze didn't yet have the chessboard game. Beastlands Beastlands consisted of two areas, the grasslands and the forest. However creatures were mainly animals and few fey in the mix. This also changed in 2012. Paraelemental Plane of Ice Consisted of three areas, single cave area for salamanders and another for giants. The exact location of the cave entrances have changed from the original. Minauros Area structure is the same, however spawns were different in the first version in which kytons were ruling around the place. However, this was changed later to the current variety of spawns due to the poor quality of the models. Abyss same areas as now, however new content has come since time in form of new tanar'ri spawns. Didn't have a separate portal cave originally, it was added due to issues induced by creatures walking to the portal trigger. Sigil Main Original version of Sigil Main is roughly the same shape as it is now, however there was no Foul Olde Spirit Inn nor was there Khazeet or his bar. Instead the meeting point was where the current Root of Nines warehouse lingers as the inn called "Smoking Hammer Inn", however due to events later in the year caused the inn to explode. Originally loading the area took a long time if there were more than 10 people, performance has since been improved greatly. Hive Ward This Hive Ward was different than what it currently is, a very small one, while the tattoo parlor existed in its current form, it didn't yet provide a tattoo service at that time. This version of Hive Ward was at least four times smaller than current version. The Ladys Ward The current version of Lady's Ward is version number three. Year 2009 saw two versions of it. First was roughly a single street, the second was huge construction yard. Ethereal Plane Same as it is currently, however the creatures have been modified since then. Carceri Exists mostly in same form, however it consisted of only two areas originally. The portal area had to be implemented later due to issues with NPCs stepping on the portal trigger. Mercuria Mostly the same version as original, has since gained texture and walkmesh improvements as well as creature modifications and improvements. Harmonium Barracks The barracks used to be almost twice as large, later made smaller and instead improved in quality. Civic Festhall Original version of the Civic Festhall consisted of two lecture halls, spice rack, store, and two sections of art galleries. During later years an office was included in a room which consisted largely of plants. Hall of Records Exists in same form as it did originally. Mortuary Exists in same form as it did originally. Lower Ward Late 2009 was also the last of the planned wards implemented, it exists in same form as now. However the "Temple of Abyss" nor the "Shattered Temple" existed during this time. Great Foundry Exists in same form as it did back then. Features Death System Death system as it works now was applied, although the gold penalty was initially less. The first version also could remove levels if you lost too much experience, that feature has been removed. Alpha Tools Alpha tools as in 2008 existed during alpha stage, but were removed upon stepping to the Beta. Appearance Changer A fix was added to the appearance changer to resolve the most glaring duplicating issues, a solution was provided to original server that used the script as well. RP Experience The pools for RP experience came into being at this time, these are the same pools which exist now. Styx Styx or experience removing works as it did back then, a few updates were made to ensure no cheating was possible. From Haks and PWC to Obsidian ADL Obsidian's final patch added the ADL option which meant the end of the hak and PWC manual download era, although it brought its own issues with it as well. We implemented it relatively quickly after having viewed how it functioned in other servers as to ensure no problems carried over to us. PC Tools This feature was finally added, although the save function was repaired by Netrunner later on. First of the Spell Fixes Living Death, Stonebody and Ironbody were fixed to act properly. Clothing Weight Fix Clothes were made to weigh 1lbs instead of 10 as in the base game. First of the Loot Scripts The first versions of loot script came to be, first items were granted through not a global script but through local area scripts which made sure each area had different loot, however it was restricted to 142 different types of items as opposed to the current thousands. Luckily during same year a better version was implemented, the very same which works now, and variety has been added ever since. (and a new feature that people may spot soon, which means the variety will increase dramatically). Automatic Server Restart Late September, the 24 hour reset was applied, it wasn't set to a static time as to ensure it would reset during different times and not be predictable. Custom Deities Hundreds of deities reviewed to make a selection of deities to be added to the deity selection list. Final selection added, although later "The Great Unknown" was also added properly. Basic Guides Still Available RP Guides, Faction Guides, Base Race guides, Rules, Courtesy Guides and Class Guides still exist in same form as they did back in 2009, some spelling matters fixed since then though. Resting Fixes Buffs remove the moment you start resting, this fix made as to prevent creative cheating of cancelling rest to maintain the buffs and get healed. Warlock Buddy Implemented This feature was added, and customized for multiplayer purposes as the original was quite heavy for server side usage, some sanity checks were made, but at its core it works the same. Item SR fix which allows them to work consistently was implemented, in the base game SR failed after the first touch of spell. Enchanting first small list of recipes was added, this consisted mostly of AC, EB, and stat bonus only, majority of finer recipes were to come later on. Remarkable Events of 2009 Vault Wipe First and last vault wipe marked the end of alpha stage and the first step towards heading to a live server, of course the beta stage was to last a decent amount of time. First Ban of SCoD! Late September became the first and only ban of year 2009, one of the few whom gets into the under 10 club. Burning of Smoking Hammer Inn And so the main inn burned, not to worry, for it was the beginning of Khazeet's bar and the Foul Olde Spirit inn. Trials regarding its destruction. DMs Promoted During 2009 Ravel's Heart Our young man whom is non-directly part of the group of friends during production phase DM! And still active! LittleMissWonderfulWonderful quirky person, alas has been away for a couple of years. 2010 - Going Live! 2010 the server finally stepped out of beta and became live as a server officially, this was celebrated by also becoming hak-independent of other servers, while bad for server swappers it provided freedom of customizing our content. Area wise the year was quite tame, but a number of features was applied this time. Areas Under Sigil Additions Elemental Plane of Earth First version of Elemental Plane of Earth was added this year, it received modifications however in one of the areas due to the custom walkmesh creating some issues for folks. Armory Created by player and implemented to the server, has since received heavy modifications as well as NPC whom is able to craft. Mercykiller Prison Implemented in its all glory during 2010, for justice Gatehouse The lovely bleaker home still exists in the form it was created in. Niflheim - Gray Wastes of Hades One of the rare few co-production areas that was work split between Ceremorph and Mr_Otyugh, though spawns have been modified a bit and minor fixes applied, it exists mostly in the same form as it did back in the days. Features Tail Adder Styx Oarsman started to grant tieflings tails, no longer did I have to give them manually to every tiefling out there knowing fully well where those tails would go anyway! Styx Oarsman & Character Deletion Finally you could delete your PCs on your own, it worked well with the RP reward system as well as it does now. Works as it does currently. Deity Additions Dragonlance deities added to the list. Faction Boards Added Factions finally received their own forums, initially they had been found unnecessary due to lack of involvement (could argue there still isn't whole lot!) Anti-Muling Scripts This year we started to track down muling via scripts (oh and those of you who think you've been able to avoid it, you're probably wrong we've just been a tad lazy in contacting you.Scry Tool The scry tool that works still was added, the philosophy behind the creation was that we didn't want it to be too specific as for it to be means to spying or lack of privacy, however it gave rough idea in where you could find folks to roleplay with. New Playable Species Monstrous species implemented to be selected via the starting screen. Summons Improved Summons were improved during this year by removing standard Obsidian from majority of the summons and instead implementing alignment based summons. Appearance Changer Modifications Large modification was made to the custom item models this year which caused to some grief of having lost their favorite (which we deemed ugly! Sorry!) models, that were then reworked back in to the next change. Hak Changes We finally moved away of the multi-server shared hak system into using our own entirely. Donation Link Worked Until Paypall became sillies and we just scratched the idea... but the link is there since this! Gambler NPC The shady merchant within the Under Sigil Village was implemented, first version of him was actually seen in the first Carnival event. Sleight of Hands Disabled Due to the grief it had induced we decided to finally disable Sleight of Hands working on PCs, it still however works on NPCs. Special Race Requests Since the beginning of 2010 we started to work on the SRR's and the model hasn't much changed since, however it might get change soon. Remarkable Events of 2010 New Server Machine! We finally moved away from 2004 server machine into a much more efficient 2008 server machine which also made much better performance overall. Could have 40 players with only minor lag unlike before. One of the many tests conducted: Picture of Crash Testing Router Upgrade Not only was the server machine improved, so was the connection speed improved. First of the Cage Carnivals The multi-factional event was set out first time this year to create intrigue for all around. Shaper Event by DM Duke came the big Shaper event with earth shattering climax. DMs Promoted During 2010 DM-Stitch(es) From the player state risen relatively quickly for even minded personality. Ceremorph Still active builder, content and scripter extraordinaire with a weird fascination to tentacles. DM Rust Rusting it up since year 2010. DM Cadence Though player had been here already from the alpha, the planescape lore expertise had escaped our notice. DM Lemonade Quirky little scripter and custom content maker whom has recently resurfaced from the pits of NWN2 servers. ex-DM DukePromoted during year 2010 and provided high activity, however in year 2012 stepped down graciously from his role. Deekinslute A little less active since the promotion, but promoted none the less! Netrunner A DM and advanced scripter of SCoD and creator of special species. 2011 - A Bland Year Areas Hall of Speakers The Hall of Speakers finally becomes open, and still remains in the shape it has been. And thus far it has more seen legal usage by Guvners than politics of Signers! The irony. Civic Festhall Revamp A facelift to the old Civic Festhall to make it what it is today. Outlands Revamp A small alteration was made to move the portal location as well as implementing the chessboard to the Outlands. Abyss Addition Endless Labyrinth was applied to the Abyss as was the temple of Abyss for Lower Ward. Hive Ward Revamp The tiny little slot of Hive Ward now was made into the glorious dump of scum and villainy, seeing the opening of Bottle and Jug, although also losing out one of the private appartments. Under Sigil Revamp Under Sigil received a widescale revamp to get an update for their tilesets that were base NWN2, but now they are of custom models for the most parts. Weary Spirit Infirmary This addition came after the Hive Ward revamp and was created by one of our lovely players. Clangor Clangor is here and competition for the Infernal Battlefield of Acheron continues! Besides few creature fixes, the area is in same shape as it used to be back then. Features Special Material Crafting Crafting is finally done and implemented by Ceremorph, this means the SCoD specific special materials, not the base NWN2 ones. Racial Classes Opened Those classes of outsider, aberration.. and the likes were opened to support Special Race Request purposes. Elemental Damage Special Trait Elemental damages now creates additional effects such as acid -> daze, cold -> slow, electricity -> paralyze/kill, fire -> morale check or run. (needs to do at least 25% of their fully healed HP to even get to roll the low DC to see if they apply. Unlikely at higher levels.) Ranger Summons Rangers received their own category of specialized summons instead of using same alignment as the other classes. Kemo Additions animations for chairs and general usage were finally added, granted a lot of the more lewd positions were removed by design. XP script adjustments First time since beginning the experience script received an adjustment that widened the group level allowance from 5 to 7 while still maintaining mostly the same experience flow. Tattooes So Hive Was added roughly two years earlier as was tattoo parlour, but finally the tattooes were here! Mystic Theurge Only custom class of SCoD was applied this year and it exists in the same form as it did back in the day. Class Adjustments Multiple classes saw adjustments this year... DD and AA no longer required specific species for example, palemasters could progress warlock blasts, DC received some extra uses of their class abilities and the likes. Akin addition of MT the favored soul and spirit shaman dualcaster bug was fixed. Additional Druid Shapes Druid were given additional options for choosing which shapes they want through background choice. Remarkable Events of 2011 BioWare Authentication Server Down BioWares authentication server went down this time, gracefully they also removed CDkey checks as to ensure that it didn't blow out of proportions also, but never went to fix it. The problem persists still to the date, and that would be the annoying delay you have when you first go to multiplayer. DMs Promoted During 2011 LiquidDreamerStill active LiquidDreamer can occasionally be spotted in puddles and during sleep spying upon thee. Agony Aunt Complains all the time he has no time to DM. Spends hours a week in the toolset. :rolleyes: Chronepsis All I could think of this draconic deity. Daylight It turns out Sigil has little of this! Ah well, we tried. 2012 - The End of the World So we come to the year 2012 which was supposed to be the end of the world if consulting Mayan Calendar... well not really, it was just the end of 13th Baktu...of which there's actually 20! Oh and the alignment of earth, sun and center of the galaxy. Yes... yes that's true. Except it happens every year so, yeah! As for serverside, well there was the faction badges and EMs as well as the great downfall of gamespy support to NWN2. Areas Merkhant Warehouse Root of Nine finally took the space where the burned remnants of Foul Olde Spirit Inn lingered making the fine Merkhant Warehouse that stands to the date. Mercuria Addition Do-goody temple added to the Mercuria, the small one! Not the large one. Carceri Addition High epic area implemented to the Carceri, like it wasn't dangerous enough already! Later in the year the spawns were also modified in the previous areas. Slags The maze-like place created by a player, fancy (though I swear still some houses float!) Ladys Ward Revamp Finally a big new flashy Ladys Ward is here, from dusty and dirty mudhole it as earlier to the glorious shiny rich ward it is today. Features Event Masters finally chosen to take up a different view to how should server be managed were the EM system implemented which meant any player could step up to create events, not just the selective few of the DM team. Hezrou Stench Fix Finally marked as poison! You could become immune to it without death ward unlike previously. New Spells! Large number of new spells were implemented both revisiting spells from NWN1 that hadn't been completely implemented as were entirely new planescape spells... and then of course dimension door which fits to neither category. Auto-Tell Feature First of auto-tell features that could be made to tell others if you are AFK or for people to bugger off because you're concentrating to roleplaying. Cleric Domain Features Elemental and construct domains now allows either turning elementals or harming constructs as they did in the NWN1. Automatic Character Archiving System Until 2012 none of the characters were removed or archived, but with increasing difficulty and speed issues it cost to the daily back-ups it was decided that all characters not used for 12 months would be archived automatically. Faction Badges Factions started to receive upon selection badge, while initially these were tracked by giving faction points that idea has been scratched and instead just promotions given where due and relatively easily if some faction stuff is done. New features implemented later on. Economy Shift Until this year the price stores bought things was capped at 200 gold pieces, however there were some issues where mixtures of SToA, high appraise and the likes allowed infinite jink, so something had to be done. A massive economic alteration was done, but it also made it easier to make jink as now stores bought with 300 gold pieces tops. New Coins Planar coin merchant was implemented and they exist in the form as they did earlier. Further Experience Script Fixes This time to bring some love for level adjustment species, the penalty of level adjustment was capped at LA +4. Loading Screens and Tips New loading screen and tips appeared during 2012. Ammunition and Throwing Weapon Crafting All of the ammunition and throwing weapons became craftable with some interesting and decent selections, later on the quantity these provided was modified. Moar Appearance Changing Changes Haks were once more modified and new appearance choices came to be for most. Appearance of Elite Monsters First of randomized elite monsters came to be, to some peoples peril and to others great glee as the experience also becomes improved in progress. NPC Remote Control Device Who wouldn't want a remote control to move others? Well now it's possible!... if you pay them! Kind of like in real life. Perform Opened for All Classes to Pick Perform skill while crossclass skill can now be taken by everyone. Poison Crafting Made Massive list of poisons can now be crafted. First Appearance of Set Items The first of the Set Items started to drop around and cause intrigue in the market. Genasis Improved Some love for the genasis as their racial abilities were improved slightly to make it easier to justify their level adjustment. Autosave On/Off Feature To assist the issues of transitioning and automatic saving it does this text command based feature now allows you to remove autosave as to avoid the issue. Bard Specific Summons Bards finally receive their share of love by gaining own class specific summons to utilize in and out of combat. Sneak Attack Ranged Touch Attack Spells Most ranged touch attack spells were opened up for sneak attack benefit. Trap Crafting New massive selection of trap crafting was implemented. Remarkable Events of 2012 Gamespy down Gamespy went down and halted their support of NWN 1 and 2 among several other games. Panic panic panic! DMs Promoted During 2012DM Deliria Still around swaying and stumbling during US times, keep eyes on delirious folks and that's where you find her/him/it. 2013 - Still Going Strong Areas Astral Plane The latest addition to our pool of areas is the complex of Astral Plane consisting of several areas, most thanks to a former player whom sent us the areas, though some modifications and additions are made by our staff as well. Features Place-able placeables Players can now plop down some placeables on their own to create intrigue and better resemble their characters representation in game. Choose your Difficulty! Now available to modify the difficulty on your own manually or allow it to go automatically. Manual Description Changer No longer am I whipped to change your description, no no.. now you can do it on your own live! Remarkable Events of 2013 Skywing-List Though the gamespy had went down late previous year, swift actions of Skywing and upkeepers of the http://www.nwnlist.com/ the hope of NWN2 was anything but lost, thanks to their hard work those using client extension can now view in game the lists and servers that applied nwnx updates. Edited by Mr_Otyugh, May 15 2018, 08:54 AM.
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| cryptc | Apr 2 2013, 06:08 AM Post #2 |
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Advisor
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In case people are still not sure, this was in fact an april fools joke
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| "One of the most curious statements I've seen on this list is that PlaneScape is a logical world. I must have erred. I was trying to create a world that defied logic." - David 'Zeb' Cook | |
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| Ravel's Heart | Apr 3 2013, 03:16 AM Post #3 |
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The history is fascinating, though. I love the links, especially the server stress test! So many names of people I miss, though.
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| "What can change the nature of a man?" | |
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| LittleMissWonderful | May 1 2013, 04:33 PM Post #4 |
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Wonderful
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WHERE DID YOU GET THAT PICTURE OF ME? |
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| Mr_Otyugh | May 1 2013, 04:42 PM Post #5 |
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Wow! Long time no see ![]() As for source of the picture - you know, stalking. <_< |
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Time Zones - Alignments - Name Generator NWN 2 Mechanics - PnP Mechanics - Dice Roller Character Builder - 2nd edition Monster Database - Monster Finder In-case of problems: Click Here | |
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| LittleMissWonderful | May 1 2013, 04:44 PM Post #6 |
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Wonderful
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Yeah... I'm a horrible person. A friend mentioned the new Neverwinter MMORPG, and that reminded me of NWN, which reminded me of this place, which made me kind of take a wander around... OR I'm a time traveller and just popped in right now, and my absense in the last couple years is because I haven't, or won't, visit in that time... Time travel is weird. |
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| Mr_Otyugh | May 1 2013, 05:01 PM Post #7 |
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Welcome back then and been hearing mixed things about that whole MMO one, I'd presume "average MMO experience" to be the way to sum it up in short. How's life anyway?
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Time Zones - Alignments - Name Generator NWN 2 Mechanics - PnP Mechanics - Dice Roller Character Builder - 2nd edition Monster Database - Monster Finder In-case of problems: Click Here | |
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| LittleMissWonderful | May 1 2013, 05:07 PM Post #8 |
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Wonderful
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I "played" a bit last night, which meant waiting in queue for a long time. It's very much just another MMORPG. Nothing crazy, nothing exciting. I won't spend money on it. It's forgettable. Life's life/ It's not horrible, so that's good, right?. I'm working from home like a BOSS. 'cept I'm not the boss... but my boss is also working from home today, so it is kind of like a boss... |
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we've just been a tad lazy in contacting you.







12:31 AM Jul 11