{"id":2186,"date":"2017-12-15T15:34:29","date_gmt":"2017-12-15T15:34:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/?p=2186"},"modified":"2018-09-06T14:57:59","modified_gmt":"2018-09-06T14:57:59","slug":"new-survey-shows-skin-betting-having-major-impact-on-children-in-great-britain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/new-survey-shows-skin-betting-having-major-impact-on-children-in-great-britain\/","title":{"rendered":"UKGC Report Finds Skin Betting Having Major Impact On UK Children"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/ryan-archer.jpg\" alt=\"Ryan Archer\" width=\"300\" height=\"197\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-2188\" \/>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/worldwide-gambling-licensing-authorities\/uk-gambling-commission\">UK Gambling Commission (UKGC)<\/a> carried out a survey which revealed that thousands of children as young as 11 years old are betting and losing real money on a form of gambling called skin betting.<\/p>\n<p>Concerns over <a href=\"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/australian-gaming-regulator-in-agreement-that-video-game-loot-boxes-constitute-gambling\/\">lootbox gambling made headlines across the world<\/a> in November thanks to <strong>Star Wars: Battlefront II<\/strong>. This cause a number of gaming regulators to turn their attention to video games and the UKGC reviewed for the first time in its annual report the widespread phenomenon of skin betting among younger people.<\/p>\n<p>According to the report, thousands of students in Great Britain are knowingly and unknowingly engaging in gambling activities online through trading and selling virtual items promoted via video games. This form of betting via video games is widely known as skin betting.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Laymen Gaming<\/strong><\/p>\n<div style=\"position:relative;height:0;padding-bottom:56.25%\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/8y3JK9783ws?rel=0&amp;showinfo=0?ecver=2\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"position:absolute;width:100%;height:100%;left:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div>\n<p>In video games, skins are cosmetic enhancements for players\u2019 characters and weapons. Usually, these skins can be won through the game or bought for a price. The UKGC found that these modified weapons and skins have become a new betting currency as a number of gambling websites accept these skins as wagers. Some websites offer players the chance to get a higher-tier or more valuable skin if a lower-tier skin is gambled.<\/p>\n<p>Some websites take it to the next level and offer players the chance to win virtual coins that can either be sold on the online black market or used in real gambling sites. According to the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk\/news-action-and-statistics\/Statistics-and-research\/Levels-of-participation-and-problem-gambling\/Young-persons-survey.aspx\">UKGC survey<\/a>, <strong>45 percent of children between the ages of 11 and 16 year were aware of skin betting and how it works<\/strong>. The survey also showed that 11 percent of these children had placed bets using in-game items. Students in this age bracket have spent around \u00a3370,000 over the past week in England, Wales, and Scotland.<\/p>\n<p>Bangor University student <strong>Ryan Archer<\/strong> (shown above) testified to the predatory and addicting nature of skin betting, and said that he has lost more than \u00a32,000 from his student loan which he used to bet on virtual items. Archer revealed that his gambling had become so bad that he would struggle to buy food because all of his money goes to the gambling.<\/p>\n<p>In February 2017, YouTubers <strong>Craig Douglas<\/strong> and his business partner <strong>Dylan Rigby<\/strong> were fined by the UKGC after they were <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/uk-news\/2017\/feb\/06\/dylan-rigby-craig-douglas-nepenthez-fined-futgalaxy-fifa-virtual-coins-gambling-rules-breach\">convicting of operating an online website known as <strong>FUT Galaxy<\/strong><\/a>. The website allowed players to transfer in-game currency from the FIFA 17 video game and use it to bet on real-life football matches. Winnings earned could then be transferred back into their FIFA 17 accounts.<\/p>\n<p>With these cases proliferating in the UK, the UKGC has promised to continue its crackdown on these kinds of websites that normalize gambling and make it accessible to younger people.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) carried out a survey which revealed that thousands of children as young as 11 years old are betting and losing real money on a form of gambling called skin betting. Concerns over lootbox gambling made headlines across the world in November thanks to Star Wars: Battlefront II. This cause a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2186","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uk"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>UKGC Report Finds Skin Betting Having Major Impact On UK Children<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/new-survey-shows-skin-betting-having-major-impact-on-children-in-great-britain\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UKGC Report Finds Skin Betting Having Major Impact On UK Children\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) carried out a survey which revealed that thousands of children as young as 11 years old are betting and losing real money on a form of gambling called skin betting. Concerns over lootbox gambling made headlines across the world in November thanks to Star Wars: Battlefront II. This cause a [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/new-survey-shows-skin-betting-having-major-impact-on-children-in-great-britain\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-12-15T15:34:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-09-06T14:57:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/ryan-archer.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"David Nugent\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Nuge1983\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"David Nugent\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" 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Nugent\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/02\\\/david-nugent.jpg\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/02\\\/david-nugent.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/02\\\/david-nugent.jpg\",\"caption\":\"David Nugent\"},\"description\":\"First off, I want to say hi and wish a warm welcome to all gambling aficionados out there! My name is David Nugent and I am editor-in-chief of LegalGamblingAndTheLaw.com. I have always enjoyed various sports, primarily soccer, as I am a die-hard Everton fan. Over time, I learned more about sports betting and discovered the fascinating online gambling industry. Eventually, I decided to turn this passion of mine into a project, and that\u2019s how this platform came to be. I am excited to share my story with you and talk about this platform that\u2019s a result of over 20 years of experience I have in the industry. My Beginnings My love for sports has always been a big part of my life. It all started with my dad and me playing in the backyard, but I continued to play sports throughout both elementary and high school. At that time, I knew very little about sports betting since it wasn\u2019t legal in Pennsylvania, but I quickly learned that other states have different laws and that sports betting was legalized in some of them. When the time to pick a college came, everyone thought I was going to do something sports-related. However, that wasn\u2019t my plan. Since there are many lawyers in my family, I decided to follow in their footsteps. I studied law at the University of Pennsylvania, and during that time, my passion for sports only grew bigger. I would watch various sporting events with my friends and attend all matches and games that were happening in the area. On one occasion, I decided to go on a road trip to Vegas with my friends, and, needless to say, I fell in love with the bright lights, humongous buildings, and fantastic casinos. That\u2019s when I discovered the whole gambling scene I knew nothing about. Of course, I knew how to play some games, such as poker and blackjack, but I never realized how well-developed this industry actually was. That trip changed my perspective on what I wanted to do with my life. After I graduated, I took some time off and I traveled through the US, exploring various casinos and land-based sportsbooks. I also spent one year in the UK, where my dream of watching Everton play finally came true. There, I realized how advanced the whole gambling industry is and that the legal aspect of it was quite different than in the US. I spent that time writing for various online platforms where I had the opportunity to share my extensive knowledge about sports. When I came back to the US, I was given a chance to write for an international soccer magazine where I covered the Premier League \u2014 which I was crazy about \u2014 Bundesliga, and other international tournaments. After having written hundreds of sports-related articles, I knew what I wanted to do \u2014 create my own platform and share my knowledge with others. How LegalGamblingAndTheLaw.com Came to Life Once I set the goal, I started doing extensive research on the online gambling industry and the laws surrounding it. I wanted to combine my background in law and the passion I have for sports and create a high-quality online platform. While the online gambling industry was flourishing in Europe, the exact opposite was happening in the US. That is, until 2018 when PASPA (Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act) was overturned. After that, every US state was allowed to introduce new laws and provide operators that wanted to offer various online gambling opportunities with licenses. That was the start of the online gambling industry in the US. Since I knew how online gambling worked thanks to the experience I gained when I was in the UK, I was extremely excited to have the opportunity to introduce US players to the best online gambling platforms and show them that online sportsbooks and casinos can offer an immersive gambling experience, just like their land-based counterparts. Why I Do This What attracted me to online gambling was the possibility of placing bets on my favorite teams from the comfort of my home. I wanted to be able to do that using safe platforms and secure payment options to fund my betting account. And that is exactly what I want for my fellow bettors, too. Naturally, I was a bit of a skeptic myself at first when it came to online gambling simply because I knew how unsafe some sites can be. But once I did some research and talked to fellow European experts, I realized that there is a way to find perfectly safe online gambling platforms. Every gambling site you find on this platform has gone through extensive and rigorous testing to ensure its safety and reliability. Additionally, I have studied the laws of each state in the US, as well as of other countries worldwide, to gain a deeper understanding of how online gambling works in different parts of the world. I\u2019d like to note that the online gambling industry has just begun its journey and we are yet to see its significant growth and improvement in the future. It will be my pleasure to witness all of that with you. I Couldn\u2019t Have Done This on My Own Of course, none of this would have been possible if it weren\u2019t for the amazing team of people I gathered for this project. Since I have only basic knowledge of web development, I started working with some experienced developers who have helped me build this platform. Today, they are here to make sure everything runs smoothly. Also, I knew from the beginning that I wouldn\u2019t be able to take care of all the content on my own, which is why LegalGamblingAndTheLaw.com has an incredible team of experienced gamblers, writers, and people with a background in law. They help me conduct in-depth research and find all the necessary information. Naturally, since this industry is still new in the US, we are all learning a lot, and we will continue to do so in order to improve our platform and make your experience better. Finally, I would love to hear your feedback, suggestions, and comments, so feel free to contact me at any time.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/Nuge1983\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/author\\\/david-nugent\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"UKGC Report Finds Skin Betting Having Major Impact On UK Children","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/new-survey-shows-skin-betting-having-major-impact-on-children-in-great-britain\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"UKGC Report Finds Skin Betting Having Major Impact On UK Children","og_description":"The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) carried out a survey which revealed that thousands of children as young as 11 years old are betting and losing real money on a form of gambling called skin betting. Concerns over lootbox gambling made headlines across the world in November thanks to Star Wars: Battlefront II. This cause a [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/new-survey-shows-skin-betting-having-major-impact-on-children-in-great-britain\/","article_published_time":"2017-12-15T15:34:29+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-09-06T14:57:59+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/ryan-archer.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"David Nugent","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@Nuge1983","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"David Nugent","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/new-survey-shows-skin-betting-having-major-impact-on-children-in-great-britain\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/new-survey-shows-skin-betting-having-major-impact-on-children-in-great-britain\/"},"author":{"name":"David Nugent","@id":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/62b95ea7a9ef19e9ed907cf260f88242"},"headline":"UKGC Report Finds Skin Betting Having Major Impact On UK Children","datePublished":"2017-12-15T15:34:29+00:00","dateModified":"2018-09-06T14:57:59+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/new-survey-shows-skin-betting-having-major-impact-on-children-in-great-britain\/"},"wordCount":455,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/new-survey-shows-skin-betting-having-major-impact-on-children-in-great-britain\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/ryan-archer.jpg","articleSection":["UK"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/new-survey-shows-skin-betting-having-major-impact-on-children-in-great-britain\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/new-survey-shows-skin-betting-having-major-impact-on-children-in-great-britain\/","url":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/new-survey-shows-skin-betting-having-major-impact-on-children-in-great-britain\/","name":"UKGC Report Finds Skin Betting Having Major Impact On UK Children","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/new-survey-shows-skin-betting-having-major-impact-on-children-in-great-britain\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/new-survey-shows-skin-betting-having-major-impact-on-children-in-great-britain\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/ryan-archer.jpg","datePublished":"2017-12-15T15:34:29+00:00","dateModified":"2018-09-06T14:57:59+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/62b95ea7a9ef19e9ed907cf260f88242"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/new-survey-shows-skin-betting-having-major-impact-on-children-in-great-britain\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/new-survey-shows-skin-betting-having-major-impact-on-children-in-great-britain\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/ryan-archer.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/ryan-archer.jpg","width":380,"height":250},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/","name":"","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/62b95ea7a9ef19e9ed907cf260f88242","name":"David Nugent","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/david-nugent.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/david-nugent.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/david-nugent.jpg","caption":"David Nugent"},"description":"First off, I want to say hi and wish a warm welcome to all gambling aficionados out there! My name is David Nugent and I am editor-in-chief of LegalGamblingAndTheLaw.com. I have always enjoyed various sports, primarily soccer, as I am a die-hard Everton fan. Over time, I learned more about sports betting and discovered the fascinating online gambling industry. Eventually, I decided to turn this passion of mine into a project, and that\u2019s how this platform came to be. I am excited to share my story with you and talk about this platform that\u2019s a result of over 20 years of experience I have in the industry. My Beginnings My love for sports has always been a big part of my life. It all started with my dad and me playing in the backyard, but I continued to play sports throughout both elementary and high school. At that time, I knew very little about sports betting since it wasn\u2019t legal in Pennsylvania, but I quickly learned that other states have different laws and that sports betting was legalized in some of them. When the time to pick a college came, everyone thought I was going to do something sports-related. However, that wasn\u2019t my plan. Since there are many lawyers in my family, I decided to follow in their footsteps. I studied law at the University of Pennsylvania, and during that time, my passion for sports only grew bigger. I would watch various sporting events with my friends and attend all matches and games that were happening in the area. On one occasion, I decided to go on a road trip to Vegas with my friends, and, needless to say, I fell in love with the bright lights, humongous buildings, and fantastic casinos. That\u2019s when I discovered the whole gambling scene I knew nothing about. Of course, I knew how to play some games, such as poker and blackjack, but I never realized how well-developed this industry actually was. That trip changed my perspective on what I wanted to do with my life. After I graduated, I took some time off and I traveled through the US, exploring various casinos and land-based sportsbooks. I also spent one year in the UK, where my dream of watching Everton play finally came true. There, I realized how advanced the whole gambling industry is and that the legal aspect of it was quite different than in the US. I spent that time writing for various online platforms where I had the opportunity to share my extensive knowledge about sports. When I came back to the US, I was given a chance to write for an international soccer magazine where I covered the Premier League \u2014 which I was crazy about \u2014 Bundesliga, and other international tournaments. After having written hundreds of sports-related articles, I knew what I wanted to do \u2014 create my own platform and share my knowledge with others. How LegalGamblingAndTheLaw.com Came to Life Once I set the goal, I started doing extensive research on the online gambling industry and the laws surrounding it. I wanted to combine my background in law and the passion I have for sports and create a high-quality online platform. While the online gambling industry was flourishing in Europe, the exact opposite was happening in the US. That is, until 2018 when PASPA (Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act) was overturned. After that, every US state was allowed to introduce new laws and provide operators that wanted to offer various online gambling opportunities with licenses. That was the start of the online gambling industry in the US. Since I knew how online gambling worked thanks to the experience I gained when I was in the UK, I was extremely excited to have the opportunity to introduce US players to the best online gambling platforms and show them that online sportsbooks and casinos can offer an immersive gambling experience, just like their land-based counterparts. Why I Do This What attracted me to online gambling was the possibility of placing bets on my favorite teams from the comfort of my home. I wanted to be able to do that using safe platforms and secure payment options to fund my betting account. And that is exactly what I want for my fellow bettors, too. Naturally, I was a bit of a skeptic myself at first when it came to online gambling simply because I knew how unsafe some sites can be. But once I did some research and talked to fellow European experts, I realized that there is a way to find perfectly safe online gambling platforms. Every gambling site you find on this platform has gone through extensive and rigorous testing to ensure its safety and reliability. Additionally, I have studied the laws of each state in the US, as well as of other countries worldwide, to gain a deeper understanding of how online gambling works in different parts of the world. I\u2019d like to note that the online gambling industry has just begun its journey and we are yet to see its significant growth and improvement in the future. It will be my pleasure to witness all of that with you. I Couldn\u2019t Have Done This on My Own Of course, none of this would have been possible if it weren\u2019t for the amazing team of people I gathered for this project. Since I have only basic knowledge of web development, I started working with some experienced developers who have helped me build this platform. Today, they are here to make sure everything runs smoothly. Also, I knew from the beginning that I wouldn\u2019t be able to take care of all the content on my own, which is why LegalGamblingAndTheLaw.com has an incredible team of experienced gamblers, writers, and people with a background in law. They help me conduct in-depth research and find all the necessary information. Naturally, since this industry is still new in the US, we are all learning a lot, and we will continue to do so in order to improve our platform and make your experience better. Finally, I would love to hear your feedback, suggestions, and comments, so feel free to contact me at any time.","sameAs":["https:\/\/x.com\/Nuge1983"],"url":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/author\/david-nugent\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2186","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2186"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2186\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2186"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2186"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2186"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}