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[Kazza]

We did the thing

A rather large announcement

ooblets.com

Here's a trailer from 2018 for those that have never heard of the game:




Given all the recent controversy regarding games previously listed on steam becoming Epic exclusives, they have been smart enough to anticipate a backlash, and have preempted it by explaining the decision in their announcement (I personally think it's quite humourous, but opinions may vary depending on your view or Epic). Some highlights:

We asked Epic if we could talk frankly about the situation and they were like whatever, so here’s a bit of insight into what this all means and why we did it:


Who is Epic and what are you talking about?

• Epic is a company that makes the Unreal game engine, a bunch of popular games including Fortnite, and the Epic Game Store (EGS).
• EGS is a PC game distribution platform like Steam, Origin, Itch.io, and GOG Galaxy.
• Epic paying for PC exclusives has become the latest thing Gamers™ have gotten angry about, which I’ll talk more about a bit further down.

What it means for Ooblets:

• Ooblets will be launching on PC through EGS. We won’t be selling the game on other PC stores for a pretty long while (that’s the exclusivity bit).
• We’ll still be launching on Xbox One. The Epic exclusivity is just limited to PC.
• We got some cash money upfront from the deal so we can make the game we always wanted to with fewer compromises.

What it means for you:

• You’ll have to install EGS if you wanna buy Ooblets on PC. I know that’s asking a lot but I believe in you and your ability to download a free thing and create a user account (if you haven’t already done so to play Fortnite which I KNOW YOU HAVE).

Why’d we do this?

So we had a big decision to make, and we didn’t take it lightly.

Because Epic doesn’t yet have the same market share as their competitors, they offered us a minimum guarantee on sales that would match what we’d be wanting to earn if we were just selling Ooblets across all the stores. That takes a huge burden of uncertainty off of us because now we know that no matter what, the game won’t fail and we won’t be forced to move back in with our parents (but we do love and appreciate you, parents!).

Now we can just focus on making the game without worrying about keeping the lights on. The upfront money they’re providing means we’ll be able to afford more help and resources to start ramping up production and doing some cooler things.

Angry at Epic, us, the world?

We’re aware of the backlash that’s been hitting games that sign with Epic. I don’t expect much of our uniquely-lovely community to fit into this weird anti-Epic contingent, but I figured I’d share our thoughts and have an open conversation about the issues.
I’ve read through all the arguments against Epic and they all basically come down to a couple core issues:

“EGS doesn’t have as many features as other stores”

As a user of both Steam and EGS myself, I haven’t had any issues with using EGS to buy and play games personally. But regarding the features that are still missing, that’s just sorta the way software is developed. Things take a lot longer to develop properly than people tend to realize and nobody comes to market with perfect software.

I remember waaay back when I plopped the disc for Half Life 2 into my PC for the first time and was forced to install this new thing called Steam. It was a barely-functional mess back then, as anyone who used it from that time period can tell you. It’s had like 15 years to improve. If it wasn’t worthwhile to improve, it wouldn’t have been and you wouldn’t still be using it.

I’m sure there’s a team of folks working on launcher features for EGS, but their work depends on the platform being worthwhile from a market-share perspective to keep going.

“It’s anti-consumer to have exclusives”

This is the most common complaint about Epic, but I don’t think people have really thought it through.
I can understand the frustration of having to buy different consoles to play the games you want, but there’s no extra cost to use EGS. The store and launcher just require a free signup. It’s not like having to pay for HBO and Netflix and Hulu to watch all the shows you want, it’s more like just having to press a button on your remote to change between free TV channels.

It’s also really disappointing to see folks threatening to pirate a game just because they can’t get it on the game launcher they’re used to. Feeling like you’re owed the product of other people’s work on your terms or else you’ll steal it is the epitome of that word “entitlement” that people use to discuss immature, toxic gamers.

I get the appeal of wanting to seek out things to get angry about. Venting anger is cathartic and natural, but let’s have just a little perspective about what we decide to get angry about. Look at the things going on around you and ask yourself if there might be anything just a tad more worthwhile to be upset about.
Here are just a few suggestions:

• Climate change
• Human rights abuses
• The new Twitter desktop UI
• The last season of Game of Thrones

(Those last two were jokes, please don’t yell at people about them)

So let’s remember that this is all low-stakes video game stuff we’re dealing with here. Nothing to get worked up about. And I (Ben/perplamps) will be around on our Discord to answer any questions and talk through any concerns or confusion you might still have.

Okay, that was a lot so thanks so much for reading through it all. We’re really hoping this Epic stuff is something you can all celebrate with us for the good thing that it is, and we’ll have a lot more fun stuff to share with you moving forward.

Joking aside, their explanations all sound pretty reasonable to me. It was never a kickstarter, so at least they don't have that to deal with, although one of the programmers does seem to have a Patreon, strangely enough.

 

[Starfield]

My answer to every developer who wants to have my money by selling their souls to epic:

 

[A Rifter in Space]

That passive-aggressive twee writing style that most Londoner/coastal hipster devs have adopted is so offputting. You can just see the thick-rimmed glasses and expensive loft apartment in that post. I don't want the game purely based upon the fact that the dude seems like one of those spoiled trust funders that feels entitled to my money and gets pissy when I won't give it to him.

I guess that's what makes Epic good for people like him, it's exactly like how he grew up, spoiled and shielded from risk so that they can look down on anyone who isn't at least upper-middle class.

 

[Holammer]

If they're so committed to Epic, delete the Steam Store page. Do it!
Right now it'll just be the support forum for the EGS version.

Sweeney: "Build a store, and make Valve pay for it"

 

[Dontero]

If they're so committed to Epic, delete the Steam Store page. Do it!
Right now it'll just be the support forum for the EGS version.

Sweeney: "Build a store, and make Valve pay for it"

??

Why should Epic care what Velve does ?

Why people expect to find stuff on Velve forums to begin with which are worst place to look for help if game doesn't run.

Why people at all want Velve forums to begin with considering they are shit in everything.
Velve forums are like youtube comments.

 

[Krappadizzle]

 

[Ban Puncher]

 

[zeorhymer]

You can fuck right off with the white knighting.

So let’s remember that this is all low-stakes video game stuff we’re dealing with here. Nothing to get worked up about.

And yet they make a full page FAQ about why they signed with EGS. Everybody knows that they got paid. It's a business decision, but for some reason, they think taking money is bad and needed all the bs pr to look innocent.

 

[Generic]

How dare developers accept funds to make their games.

You can fuck right off with the white knighting.



And yet they make a full page FAQ about why they signed with EGS. Everybody knows that they got paid. It's a business decision, but for some reason, they think taking money is bad and needed all the bs pr to look innocent.

Actually, it's people who have a hateboner for Epic that think a developer taking money is bad.

 

[LordRaptor]

??

Why should Epic care what Velve does ?

Why people expect to find stuff on Velve forums to begin with which are worst place to look for help if game doesn't run.

Why people at all want Velve forums to begin with considering they are shit in everything.
Velve forums are like youtube comments.

steam forums are the first port of call for most steam users encountering technical support issues.
they're free and are 100% dedicated to the specific product in question.

And yet they make a full page FAQ about why they signed with EGS. Everybody knows that they got paid. It's a business decision, but for some reason, they think taking money is bad and needed all the bs pr to look innocent.

they literally left their previous publisher (double fine) like, 2 weeks ago or some shit, purely to get some of that sweet sweet epic moneyhats, so to now frame that as "we were soooooooooo worried about money that we left our publisher and those guaranteed returns to self publish but LUCKY FOR US epics showed up" is kinda dishonest

 

[Juke Joint Jezebel]

Not Ooblets! Oh noooooooo!

And god, their response screams "Hurr durr, we're trying to be so eccentric and randumb guys!"

 

[Generic]

they literally left their previous publisher (double fine) like, 2 weeks ago or some shit, purely to get some of that sweet sweet epic moneyhats, so to now frame that as "we were soooooooooo worried about money that we left our publisher and those guaranteed returns to self publish but LUCKY FOR US epics showed up" is kinda dishonest

"Because Epic doesn’t yet have the same market share as their competitors, they offered us a minimum guarantee on sales that would match what we’d be wanting to earn if we were just selling Ooblets across all the stores. That takes a huge burden of uncertainty off of us because now we know that no matter what, the game won’t fail and we won’t be forced to move back in with our parents (but we do love and appreciate you, parents!)"

 

[LordRaptor]

"Because Epic doesn’t yet have the same market share as their competitors, they offered us a minimum guarantee on sales that would match what we’d be wanting to earn if we were just selling Ooblets across all the stores. That takes a huge burden of uncertainty off of us because now we know that no matter what, the game won’t fail and we won’t be forced to move back in with our parents (but we do love and appreciate you, parents!)"

yeah; thats bullshit.
If they were worried about that, they wouldn't have left the publisher who would have given them a fixed return at whatever recoupment rate they offer, in order to go the self published route which is entirely a gamble.

 

[Revolutionary]

Really disappointing. I was looking forward to this game but the tone of that statement is basically "yeah we got paid, fuck you; there are more important things in the world to whine about".


Yeah no shit. There are more important games to play as well.

 

[Generic]

yeah; thats bullshit.
If they were worried about that, they wouldn't have left the publisher who would have given them a fixed return at whatever recoupment rate they offer, in order to go the self published route which is entirely a gamble.

Or the Epic deal is simply better.

Really disappointing. I was looking forward to this game but the tone of that statement is basically "yeah we got paid, fuck you; there are more important things in the world to whine about".


Yeah no shit. There are more important games to play as well.

It isn't like you need to buy a new hardware to play the game. Downloading thr Epic client costs $0.

 

[LordRaptor]

Or the Epic deal is simply better.

Of course its better for them, thats why they did this. They'll make more money upfront, and they don't have to split any profits above that with a publisher taking a risk.

I'm saying that phrasing that as "Oh man, we're soooooo worried about making our money back and not losing our house!" is a fucking lie, and its kind of scummy to imply that its a move of necessity and not greed in the PR statement.

 

[Generic]

Of course its better for them, thats why they did this. They'll make more money upfront, and they don't have to split any profits above that with a publisher taking a risk.

I'm saying that phrasing that as "Oh man, we're soooooo worried about making our money back and not losing our house!" is a fucking lie, and its kind of scummy to imply that its a move of necessity and not greed in the PR statement.

Well, if they were honest people would outrage even more. Developers can't be honest about their intentions without suffering a huge backlash.

 

[Fuz]

That passive-aggressive statement is so fucking stupid.

Should have taken Epic's money and stayed silent.

 

[drotahorror]

And nothing of value was lost.

 

[Herr Edgy]

You can fuck right off with the white knighting.

And yet they make a full page FAQ about why they signed with EGS. Everybody knows that they got paid. It's a business decision, but for some reason, they think taking money is bad and needed all the bs pr to look innocent.

They don't. People do. If someone came at you with accusations and false statements you'd usually explain why those are wrong instead of just ignoring the gun pointing at your head, no?

That passive-aggressive twee writing style that most Londoner/coastal hipster devs have adopted is so offputting. You can just see the thick-rimmed glasses and expensive loft apartment in that post. I don't want the game purely based upon the fact that the dude seems like one of those spoiled trust funders that feels entitled to my money and gets pissy when I won't give it to him.

I guess that's what makes Epic good for people like him, it's exactly like how he grew up, spoiled and shielded from risk so that they can look down on anyone who isn't at least upper-middle class.

I didn't pick up any passive aggressiveness., just playfulness. I suggest reconsidering your priorities if you value your Steam features over the dev's continued existence. It's honestly baffling to me how anyone can think that a dev should take the optional risks just so he can use Steam, which could potentially mean no more games for you. You literally value a launcher's features over the games themselves. You know, the things you are supposed to launch with your launcher.

If anything, your image of the dev fits how you come across pretty well. the hypocrisy is astonishingly obvious. Complaining about someone not risking his way to make ends meet just so you don't have to use an alternate free service... quite literally Gamers™.

 

[LordRaptor]

Well, if they were honest people would outrage even more. Developers can't be honest about their intentions without suffering a huge backlash.

No, not at all.
Lying about their motivations, and then dressing that up as "Well of course GAMERS GON BE MAD" to dismiss the laundry list of valid criticism which people have with EGS - along with good old debunked talking points "just a launcher bro / everyone hated steam too 15 years ago! / all those missing features on EGS are definitely on their way / But EVERYONE already plays FORTNITE!" is PR damage control bollocks, and shows that they don't actually understand their audience, and don't particularly care to.

It's honestly baffling to me how anyone can think that a dev should take the optional risks just so he can use Steam, which could potentially mean no more games for you.

But the 'risks' are entirely self inflicted?
They chose to leave their publisher, in return for more money.

 

[Herr Edgy]

But the 'risks' are entirely self inflicted?
They chose to leave their publisher, in return for more money.

If that were true I'd agree, but that's not how publishers work. A publisher pays the developers proper wages by simply giving out a calculated budget that the developer has to work with. If the game flops, neither developer nor publisher get any money and in case of small indie games, the publisher cuts ties with the developer since their business decisions didn't work out and they lost money.

Then the developer has no money due to the budget being spent on the game and no publisher left to continue financing their next project that (hopefully) doesn't flop. A publisher doesn't just hand out money to the developers for more than the development of the game. They need sales to continue existing. Sales that they could replace by going with EGS, without risks.

 

[Kamina]

That Epic money must be oh so sweet

 

[Revolutionary]

It isn't like you need to buy a new hardware to play the game. Downloading thr Epic client costs $0.

I don't have a problem with EGS. I have it installed and have purchased several games from it already.
I do, however, have a problem with how condescending the statement eventually becomes; basically telling their POTENTIAL customers to shove their complaints elsewhere.

Had they stopped the statement after the "Why'd we do this?" section, I still would have been disappointed (I prefer Steam, when given the choice), but I probably would have been willing to pick it up regardless.

Their first order of business should be to use that Epic money to hire a qualified PR rep, because their Twitter and Discord responses indicate that I'm not the only one who is being driven away by the condescending attitude. Or maybe he just doesn't give a shit anymore, now that their funding is secured. Like I said, it has a real "fuck you, we got paid" tone to it.

Edit: Oh dear

Edit2:

 

[LordRaptor]

If that were true I'd agree, but that's not how publishers work. A publisher pays the developers proper wages by simply giving out a calculated budget that the developer has to work with. If the game flops, neither developer nor publisher get any money and in case of small indie games, the publisher cuts ties with the developer since their business decisions didn't work out and they lost money.

There are multiple different studio : publisher relationships, because there are - if for no other reason - multiple different publishers.
What you are describing is closer to an inhouse studio relationship, such as a Treyarch : Activision, not an indie publisher.

An indie publishing deal - such as a Double Fine, a Team 17 or a Devolver would offer - will be a lump sum payment based on expected sales, which will be repayable at a negotiated recoupment rate, and subsequent sales (additional profits) will be at a percentile cut for the publisher, probably in perpetuity, and in return the publisher will offer a range of services such as marketing, assistance with translation or porting to other platforms, technical assistance for post launch bugs, QA services prior to release, compat testing, physical copy print runs, etc etc etc (these will all vary by publisher).

Abandoning a publisher means they are refusing assistance - financial or otherwise - for any or all of these services, in exchange for not having to pay anyone any percentage of revenue to offset those costs.
I strongly doubt that the Epic moneyhat they are receiving is going to be spent on any of these services.

Then the developer has no money due to the budget being spent on the game and no publisher left to continue financing their next project that (hopefully) doesn't flop. A publisher doesn't just hand out money to the developers for more than the development of the game. They need sales to continue existing. Sales that they could replace by going with EGS, without risks.

If a developer is unable to be self sufficient via sales of their titles, why exactly should that developer continue to exist?
Its the games industry, not the games charity.
Why should an equally 'deserving' studio go bust because they refuse to participate in a corporate proxy war?

A business relationship is still fundamentally a relationship, and the first action of this studio is to lie to me about their circumstance and intentions, and to tell me they don't give a shit about any of the issues people have with that business decision.
Is that really the type of business that ends up building customer goodwill and being successful longterm?

edit:
I mean, let me put it a different way: why should I trust this studio to care about things like long term product support and ensuring their product still works after a major DX revision rollout, if before they even have my money they are being dismissive of issues people have with their product? Do I expect them to change that attitude once they've taken my money?

 

[Shifty]

GAMERS TRADEMARK SYMBOL AM I RIGHT

The writing style reminds me of Polygon, right down to the condescending tone.

Their rebuttal to the claims of anti-consumerism is weak as hell too- "but it's free" does nothing to address the actual problems expressed by us folks who would rather Epic stuck to making game engines, and the various "it's not like this" comparisons are all nonsense because it is neither a subscription service, broadcast TV channel, or fully-integrated console platform. It's a store.

Rubbish analogs for a rubbish argument, much akin to your average Epic Defense Forcer.

 

[Slings and Arrows]

The salt in this thread.

I liked their statement. It was light-hearted, sincere and honest. They're taking money to keep the lights on. Epic have given them the cash amount they wanted to earn by letting the game go on all platforms.

Any Gaffer who was going to make their first game and turned down that kind of certainty vs looking good for gamers, is a liar.

Not that anybody wants to discuss logic. Fuck Epic, amirite?

 

[Ichabod]

FUCK, not Ooblets....Epic's gone too far this time.

 

[LordRaptor]

Any Gaffer who was going to make their first game and turned down that kind of certainty vs looking good for gamers, is a liar.

And yet dozens if not hundreds of studios make exactly that choice every month, to not take a money hat for exclusivity.

 

[Slings and Arrows]

And yet dozens if not hundreds of studios make exactly that choice every month, to not take a money hat for exclusivity.

Receipts and how many survive?

 

[LordRaptor]

Receipts and how many survive?

receipts that not every game coming out is an EGS exclusive? What?

was like, a few days ago

 

[Vawn]

If I had a game to sell and I determined I'd make the most profit by selling exclusively on Epic, that's exactly what I would do.

 

[Shifty]

The salt in this thread.

I liked their statement. It was light-hearted, sincere and honest. They're taking money to keep the lights on. Epic have given them the cash amount they wanted to earn by letting the game go on all platforms.

Any Gaffer who was going to make their first game and turned down that kind of certainty vs looking good for gamers, is a liar.

Not that anybody wants to discuss logic. Fuck Epic, amirite?

Nobody can blame them when thinking from a purely business perspective- get money, make the numbers go up, keep the doors open, that's how it works.

But GAF isn't a purely business forum, and I'd say not wanting to see the console exclusivity platform war circus make its way onto PC is a reasonable opinion to hold in that context.

And well, yes Fuck Epic, but there's little to be gained in assuming that there's no reasoning behind the statement.

Edit: Oh dear

Edit2:

The fallacies just keep on rolling. Nobody informed them that buying their game and calling them out on their bad PR statement aren't mutually inclusive?

It's hard to take the low-poly hipster avatars seriously when they're spouting deflections and building strawmen ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[Alexios]

All but the "we liked getting the money up front" stuff is bs obfuscating the real (indeed, not important in the grand scheme of things, but this is a gaming forum and those not important things are what we're all about, duh) issue and trying to guilt people into still buying the game or calling them out as cunts for not wanting to do so. If I don't want to use EGS it's my choice, as is discussing it online, telling me to care more about other issues than the deficiencies of the chosen platform is dumb and implies anyone ever talking about such things can't also care about these issues and is therefor a horrible piece of shit. If that's all one should do then we shouldn't buy (and in their case develop) any games ever and just involve with those issues every waking minute of our lives. You should care more about those issues than people talking about how they won't buy your game for whatever reason online then, rather than try to tell them they're wrong to do so or were lying about wanting to buy the game prior to this. Oh I didn't have a problem using EGS so you shouldn't either unless you're an entitled little gamer bitch, great logic. People have different priorities and tastes, duh. They had different priorities and tastes prior to getting the deal too. I guess now they're one of the chosen few indies Tim thought are an asset to his store every other indie relying on actual open indie friendly platforms like Steam is a jerk, as is every gamer using said platforms. They should have left it at the "why did we do this" rather than do Epic's PR for them. That's perfectly reasonable unlike the self righteous bs that followed. I guess that could be part of the deal given how everyone somehow comes up with the same stupid non-arguments as if it's Tim's own bullet points.

 

[Vawn]

Perhaps you guys should start getting upset with Valve for not even attempting to make it more worthwhile to bring their games on Steam.

 

[Hero Of Gallowmere]

Now those 2 poor hard working devs can finally afford all the overpriced starbucks coffee and avocado toasts money can buy.

You god damn Gamers™ and your entitlement.

Just shut up and buy the product.

 

[Alexios]

Perhaps you guys should start getting upset with Valve for not even attempting to make it more worthwhile to bring their games on Steam.

How are they not doing that by keeping up with their business as usual (which means an ever expanding and ever improving platform since its inception by gamer and developer and publisher feedback which is why it's such a far cry from its inception and from EGS in terms of features and business direction, when EGS appears to ignore all of said feedback in favor of not putting in the work and just handing out money deals) when pretty much every game goes there by default which is why whenever a game announces they got money to not launch on Steam it's considered news and is reported and talked about like this? You speak as if Steam has no games when there are so many it's easy for anyone to just say his piece in such threads and move on to buying and playing tons of other games on Steam and elsewhere. Indies are on Steam by default as it's the only big platform so open to them, big companies like Bethesda and Microsoft go to Steam by default even when they have their own launchers, etc. In the grand scheme of the industry, it's a tiny minority of games that go to EGS (I mean, it still only has a single store page to dump every release on, lol) and it's inevitable that such exclusivity deals are not going to be a long term thing, not to this degree, and given how such deals are shown to be the only reason games ever go to EGS then EGS needs to do more to attract devs to their platform, more than the PR talking points like the fee which prove to not be good enough which is why exclusivity deals are necessary for every game getting on there, not Valve. I mean, Ooblets was coming to Steam too, getting a money hat to avoid it shows it was considered the best platform for it too before that, lol, not the opposite you claim now. Now if all the related news were about this or that game or publisher or developer leaving Steam behind to try their luck on a different platform based on its own merits and not because they got paid for it maybe you'd have a point but in that case EGS would probably have some service Steam doesn't to demonstrate and in that case Steam would have probably actually reacted to that by developing their own. At this point the only thing Valve can learn from Epic is to moneyhat devs and I'm sure glad they don't take that lesson but just keep on trucking (and dominating still), lol.

 

[ROMhack]

They're right, it is pointless being angry.

Perhaps you guys should start getting upset with Valve for not even attempting to make it more worthwhile to bring their games on Steam.

I've said this before but Steam is not a great platform anymore. At least not worth getting into a console war-esque furore about.

 

[Goff2k]

And nothing of value was lost.

Yeah I never heard of it so no care.

 

[iconmaster]

That's a lot of words to say "We got some cash money" (direct quote) and "so we don't really need to try to make you pissants happy anymore" (paraphrase).

 

[quest]

I guarantee almost everyone belly aching would do the same if their boss offered the same deal.
Guaranteed salary and 18% tax or no guarantee you get a pay check and 30,% tax but maybe you make more money maybe if the stars aligned.

 

[Shifty]

Perhaps you guys should start getting upset with Valve for not even attempting to make it more worthwhile to bring their games on Steam.

That can also be arranged.

 

[petran79]

We’ll still be launching on Xbox One. The Epic exclusivity is just limited to PC..

Console gamers should worry

 

[Kazza]

The devs are really doubling down and aren't taking any shit from anybody. While I can understand how the snark could rub some people up the wrong way, I can't help but admire their honesty and ownership of their decision, rather than offering a corporate style non-apology.

 

[Fuz]

No words.

 

[Ryllix_]

It speaks for itself when a company feels obligated to make a FAQ to explain why they have made a controversial decision. It doesn't matter what customers think, this developer is acknowledging they know they are being anti-consumer for the money. They have the freedom to do that. At least have some dignity and stop the pandering.

 

[Fuz]

I smell a new phil fish.

 

[lukilladog]

"(if you haven’t already done so to play Fortnite which I KNOW YOU HAVE). "

 

[Holammer]

heh, gamers.

 

[Conan-san]

Any Gaffer who was going to make their first game and turned down that kind of certainty vs looking good for gamers, is a liar.

See, the difference is I wouldn't be a flaming cockbag about it.

The page was bad enough, If I was in charge of Ooblet's PR I'd have who ever wrote that's arse for target practice, but the statements made in Discord are just fucking disgusting.

A simple "This is how it is, it was either this or no ooblets at all" would have been fine. Might have even raised questions about the viability of indie development but, no, we can't have that discussion now as Ooblet man has clearly made his decision to be for Epic and against customers (which has been a throughline in all of Epic's horsecock) by treating everyone like an idiot baby child and anyone who has issues as being a GAMER(tm) who would never buy the game in the first place as they'd be too busy sig-heiling the nearest photo of Trump which is blatantly untrue.

I really hope Ooblet man likes his cash for this one game cause no one in their right mind gonna go anywhere near him the next one.