@Auspice I tried. 
I think the one spot the magic fails is that it doesn't fit into a case fitted to the tablet. It's not huge, about a inch and a half longer. Flat enough to tuck into things nicely.
Mine last about a year or two, but I abuse the crap out of them as the 'all the things forever' keyboard in heavy daily use. This one was $99 when we got it two years back.
@Tinuviel Characterize it however you want. It's the second time this wank has gone on in a week or so. I mentioned it then, too, so where's your 'if I tell someone something isn't cool and they do it again' approach now?
Some people make rape jokes thinking they're just being funny, too. "I was just being funny!" is not a universal defense.
It's especially uncalled for when I was replying specifically to Auspice, who has the same inquiry regarding Apple compatible products.
@Derp sorry, but no. Have the wank elsewhere. It is not remotely relevant to this hobby, and it's fucking tiresome and juvenile.
Go refer to the youtube classic 'it's ok to not like things' often referenced here and recognize it applies in full.
For anyone not familiar with it, if's pretty fucking simple: 'it's ok to not like things but don't be a dick about it'. You, Ark, and WildBabboons could use a refresher course on that little tune, because this is truly needless dickery being slung at fellow members of the community.
@WildBaboons Since the AppleII!
And if in keeping with that dismissive tone, go with this reply instead: and you're probably kind of a wanker if you think this nonsense hasn't been tiresome since then, and that the reality you describe, as Auspice and Seamus laid out clearly, is well past its sell-by date on accuracy.
Which brings us right back around to 'the 90s-00s want their wank back', and it's almost 2020.
@Arkandel Could we please give the OS wank back to the 90s? Seriously, it is not cute or endearing, and is possibly the most useless form of negativity possible in the day and age. It graduated from 'tiresome', got a Masters in 'eyeroll fodder', and went on to become Dr. Don't Do That somewhere in the 00s.
@Auspice For iPad, the Apple Magic Keyboard works. Works on iPhone, too. They aren't cheap, but I use mine for both desktops, then pack it up to take with me on the rare occasions I need to type much from 'somewhere other than my desk' and there's not even a need to briefly retrain the fingers to an alternate keyboard scale.
ETA: hooooooooly crap, they're still way cheaper than that logitech.
A quick addendum to the rest: some things may appear to be mobbing/dogpiling, but are not that, and we should endeavor to not misidentify it.
Main example: almost all of the true bad actors have done quite a bit to earn that reputation. If ten people come forward with individual, first-hand experiences about them? Not a dogpile. Not a mob. In the rare cases in which someone has accrued the kind of genuinely game-wrecking nightmare interactions-- again, this is extremely rare -- then people should be aware.
First-hand account is stressed for a reason. The game of telephone/whisper down the line/rumor mill simply distorts too much.
Knowing explicitly why someone is diving in is not irrelevant, and, "X intentionally violated a no-contact order three times trying to get in my character's pants and was banned three times for it," is going to have a different weight than, "my bestie heard they were shady," or "oh, I just know they're just the worst," or even, "I just can't stand that way of thinking!" or the most realistic "all my friends are doing it!" and rightfully so.
It is no surprise at all that the reasons for joining in are very rarely disclosed. They would out the real bad actors like lightning from on high.
There are four kinds of people primarily identified as bad actors in the community, to my reckoning:
People who are wholly aware of the negative impact they have on others and give none fucks about the harm they do, and see no reason to change any of these behaviors. I feel these folks are owed precisely the same consideration they show others in that I have no sympathy for them when a hundred voices shout at them at once. They are very few and far between; I could likely count them on the fingers of one hand and have fingers left to spare. It typically doesn't serve any good to shout at them, however, because they revel in the attention, or use it as something to point at to cry about how they are the victim.
People out of control with no interest (or only lip service paid to the interest) in re/gaining it. This may be do to addiction, untreated mental conditions, extreme loss, health concerns, trauma, etc. These people do not have bad intentions on the whole. They are not innately horrible people. Normally, they're great. When out of control, they cease to care what harm they cause and piling on tends to escalate the problem dramatically, so, again, it's a bad idea to do. Most likely to attempt to avoid any attempt at admitting they did anything that could ever be held accountable for. (Ex: "I'm sorry I said those things. It wasn't ok, and you didn't deserve to be treated that way. I had a migraine and was taking my grouchy pain out on you." vs. "What do you want from me? I had a migraine.")
People who had a crap day. May be longer than a single day, but it isn't a persistent state like the above. Usually they will feel awful about whatever occurred during the lapse. Piling on and hanging it over their heads forever is garbage past the point at which they realize they screwed up and make an attempt at amends. This is a really good way to ensure people get much less willing to accept culpability for their mistakes or admit it when they make them.
Tripped over a land mine. ...pretty self-explanatory. This is where dogpiling bullshit gets especially vile.
Of these four, I only consider the first two to be bad actors. The second group has some chance of being otherwise; the first, not so much.
The irony is, these people aren't the primary targets of dogpiling in the community. Those are:
^ All of this is irritating to a fault for how junior high it is.
Delaware was in the 90s before we drove to Florida and got to say in earnest incredulity: it's cooler here.
Granted, it dropped forty degrees overnight while we were leaving, because the duPont super villain weather satellite (which we are sure exists) is a spiteful ass, and is clearly malfunctioning again.
@Auspice It is not, but I feel it should be. It so, so should be.
@Auspice We have other pieces from the furniture set in the room that take less wear and tear, which makes it tough. It's also a very odd size/shape corner, so even things in the same dimensions don't always fit. Once the center was unsagged with the supports -- which also brace a diagonal keybard shelf into place -- it made a huge difference. I was able to resurface the top with linoleum floor tile, which has held up brilliantly.
One of the shelf fronts is off kilter, though, which is the smallest thing, but it drives me nuts.
@Auspice When I get home and can clean a little, I'll post the desk of doom. Sadly, I can't get the support joists in a shot because the room is to small for the distance. Thing is falling apart here and there after a decade but damn if I don't patch the shit out of it.
In my case, it's less monitors, and more 'two iMacs'.
Boomerang is a 2010. All the social and entertainment foo is on it. On the left.
The unnamed iMac pro is on the right, usually rendering batches of fractals. It has email on it now so I don't lose anything when Boomerang finally doesn't come back, but it requires less steady attention.
We were going to hook up the old monitor, but we're still trying to figure out how. It's stumped many a pro. If I'm being honest with myself, though, there's not really room for it unless I build it a lift to hover above the current pair, which wedge into the corner of a 70x70 L desk; I just spin the chair as needed.
For sanity, I use keyboard and mouse sharing software.
Roanoke is as my favorite so far, I think. But I have a weakness for paranormal shows, and it nailed the tropes.
@mietze I think the limited interaction scenario tends to come with other limits, too. Some people are cool with that, and I kinda view this as not just natural, but necessary to actually enforce at times.
For example: someone who doesn't want anything to do with the metaplot is not going to get RP from it, which may be precisely what they want. I don't think it should be changed to forcibly include them; if they wanted to be included they'd seek to participate. The enforcement part comes in regarding the folks who don't want to participate, but want the benefits (IC prestige, XP, special items, whatever) of having participated. That's when it's time for the NOPE. ( Barring cases in which the world is altered or similar and everyone is impacted by a thing.)
The other examples are similar. My preference is to let people be as insular as they wish provided they aren't interfering with others by inaction (faction heads, etc.) but that choice limits their opportunities in a variety of ways as well.
The current AHS tickles my 80s fetish, so I'm obligated to love it. Some bits I've seen coming, some less so. It's still fun to watch it play out.
A lot of people seem to hate the current cast, which is sad to me since I have crazy love for two of the shows by the same producers where some of them were regular cast and were fantastic: Scream Queens and Popular.
Heard twice verbatim yesterday:
Parent: "That game is called cornhole."
Child: "Why?"
Parent: <sudden extremely awkward silence>
One of the big ones is something the board has touched on briefly in other threads over the past year or so: have a mission statement.
Have one summary sentence. Give it a paragraph or two explaining what this means.
Everything else -- on game, wiki, or wherever this information can be found -- should support this statement, be it code, policy, RPG system, grid design, etc.
This is not the same as theme. Most games have multiple themes at play at any given time. Making a list of these concepts -- again, a single summary statement and a brief explanation is most useful here. This is where you talk about the kinds of stories you want to tell.
Policy should make sense. If your game is PvP, policy should support this. If your game is strictly collaborative and consent-based, your policy should be structured to support this. Policy is not one size fits all. This is where you talk about the way you want the community to behave in relation to one another.
The RPG system should do what you want to see on the game, and not do the things you don't want to see on the game. This may require house rules if you are using an existing system; make them clear and explain why they're there. If you're making a system from scratch, don't set it up to do things you don't want happening on the game.
The grid is your playground. If you're cool with people holing up in small groups, provide for this in some form. If you want to make every scene publicly accessible to all at any time, build the grid in that way instead.
This is all a matter of making choices, explaining those choices and what they will mean for the players, and maintaining consistency regarding those choices.
Minor compared to many things here, but annoying.
It is vacation. Long road trip drive was fucking long and I cannot for the life of me sleep in a car.
20 hours of crampy uncomfortable drive. OMG did the bed at the hotel look like heaven. Tomorrow -- well, technically today at this point -- is the one day we can definitely sleep in.
Sleep! Magical sleep!
...ending with waking up after precious few hours with a caffeine withdrawal headache so brutal that opening my eyes was enough to make me wish for death.
But there's an easy fix!
...that will guarantee I don't actually get back to sleep any time soon, and that the long, later than usual exertion day tomor-er, later today is gonna suuuuuuuuuuuck.
Mrph. Loki's pet project forever.
The only thing I can really suggest here is how I'd handle it:
If a player is missing something IC that I, as the person leading the plot, know they would know in character, I'd page them with something like: "As the cryptozoologist on the team, you'd recognize the sound you just heard from recordings you've encountered over the years purported to be of a bigfoot." This comes across as less 'you're a dummy, player, and missing this!' and more as intended: 'As a GM keeping your character's specialty in mind, this is extra info that's tailored to your character. Here's a good place for your IC specialty to come into play!'
Ask at the start of the scene if people want some nudging, or not. For instance, per the example given with the well, an OOC comment of, "The well appears to be normal, but X seems more out of place/unique/unexpected for this environment."