In reply to phoenix9lives (msg # 954):

Just as a minor note, Craigslist has several warnings about people like this, and does tell you to report them as you did. I remember the only time I ever put something up on Craigslist I got something like five of these guys. The warning signs are pretty obvious once you've seen one or two, and I guess we're both at that point now.

After my cat turned out to be all right (updates on the Good Stuff thread), I thought things were going pretty well.  Then it turns out that my two best friends I have in town are going to be moving as soon as the wife (an engineer and the primary breadwinner) can find employment in their desired area.  This might be next week, or next year, but it is happening.  The husband's younger brother's children have health issues, and of the husband's very extensive family, only he and his family are in any position to move.  I always knew they wanted to move back out west (where the husband is from and where they both went to college) at some point, but this is still sad news.

I've known them for over 12 years, and they're the only really good friends I have in town.  They're also my face-to-face gaming group, and I don't have another.  Another woman in our group moved out of town two years ago, and with this couple gone, it's just my dad and my husband (and my husband only wants to play a very limited selection of my very extensive collection of RPGs).

I'm more of an introvert, and while I have several friendly acquaintances, I don't have any other close friends.  Certainly not any other gaming friends.  So now I must plunge back into the social waters to widen my circle, because while we're going to keep being friends, we're going to lose that continuous social connection of being in the same town, having conversations and sharing movies and TV shows, of gaming together face-to-face.  And that just makes me really sad.

Statistics Canada has released some results from the 2016 national census, and the numbers are worth two vents.

1) Adults living alone is now the single largest demographic in Canada, at about 38%. This now exceeds adults living as couples or other family groups, whether with or without minor children; that demograhpic is around 33%. We are very polite and pleasant with each other around here, but we also wrap ourselves in plastic bubbles and avoid meaningful connections with each other.

Also, adults aged 18 to 34 now have a higher than ever rate of living with their parents, whether since birth or after having moved out and returned. In my city, the percentage of adults aged 18 to 34 living with their parents is around 40%. This can be attributed to the VERY high cost of housing in this city, as well as the fact that permanent, full-time jobs for new workforce entrants have mostly disappeaared and pretty much the only work available when entering the workforce is part-time. Young folk simply don't have the income to live on their own.

Interesting, I figured that was mainly a trend the US took.

It's cheaper for the corporations to hire part-timers.

In reply to phoenix9lives (msg # 959):

It's not just the lower wages of part-timers, it's Canada's labor laws. We don't have at-will employment, although we do have contract employment that can work similarly to at-will with some protection for the contractor not available in parts of the US. But permanent full-timers are entitled to sick days, maternity/paternity leave, a minimum number of vacation weeks, some modicum of health and pension security, etc. Employers tend not to distinguish between those costs and wage expenses. But what really killed off the permanent, full-time job here is the difference in the minimum wages for full-timers and part-timers. Soon the minimum wage in our province is going up to CAD $15 per hour (about USD $12 per hour) and there is worry that the private sector will retaliate by making the labor market for minimum-wage workers even worse.

All that said, the official unemployment rate in Canada is fairly low. I thin it was around 5 to 7% last I heard. But that includes only the official unemployed who are collecting Employment Insurance benefits or registered as looking for jobs while not receiving some form of social assistance. I'm not sure what the figure is for all Canadians who are able to work but don't have jobs.

In reply to mickey65 (msg # 960):

That seems to be an issue restricted to Eastern Canada. Out here in BC; full-time jobs are still somewhat plentiful. Our minimum wage is only $11.35 as of this September, so we do have a lot of young adults still living with their families.

I have a free phone through a state-program that allows people a few years to be in touch with family. So I get more than I pay for, and I know that.

Still, I rely on the phone to be able to conduct necessary business, call my roommate/caretaker, and then my mother who's in a cult. So it's very frustrating when they keep saying they can't hear every other word I'm saying.

Part of that is the cellular coverage too, since the phone worked well enough at our old place, but still my roommate's phone (which she pays way more than I could afford) works fairly well.

It's a gripe and I should be glad I have a phone at all. It's just frustrating, especially since it acts up at the financial lows more than when I have the money to afford a phone card.

It's going to expire by January though, for good or ill. It's a charity act by the state that's primarily still coming from a business. Essentially the state paid the first three years of the plan, and so far I've paid $0.00 for it. Which has saved me countless number of times. But it's not covered next year. So I'll have to get a pre-paid phone for emergencies and hope it has slightly better coverage than this one. If that doesn't work, I'll have to arrange for payment of home phone land-line.

I REQUIRE the ability to call the doctor and my caretaker at the very least. So whatever is takes, I'll just have to do.

In reply to V_V (msg # 962):

I'm curious what the cost of living in B.C. is. I've heard that Vancouver/Victoria have a housing shortage and housing is just as expensive as in Toronto, if not more expensive, but what about other costs? Your minimum wage seems low given what the general cost of living in Toronto is.

In reply to mickey65 (msg # 963):

Yes. We have a massive housing shortage out here in Vancouver. There's not much for rent, and buying is ridiculous. Houses that cost $300,000 a decade ago now are around double that, if not higher.

Minimum wage is low (especially compared to the East), but general cost of living isn't too bad. It's mostly just the housing that makes Vancouver a nightmare. And the fentanyl crisis. That too.

Also, Min wage is going up to 14/hr at the end of the year and then 15/hr the following year for the Provence.

Reception on cell phones is a disgrace. And, people have been dropping their land lines!?

Yeah, the cost of a land line starts high, for the service you get: local, intraLATA, and long distance, and then there are the add-ons for this and that; but at least one can hear the other person most of the time!

And, I'm in a major metro area! Some of my relatives are in the rural west of the US where cell service is spotty at best.

And, now AT&T has the OK to do away with land lines!!

In reply to azzuri (msg # 966):

Where I live, the land line isn't any more reliable. My house phone often fails to ring, or rings once, and then immediately ceases... and sadly, it's not a problem with the individual handset (I've tested several) or that particular jack in the house (every one is like it) and the phone company can't replicate the issue enough to figure out what to do with it to make it stop.

Years, it's been like this. I hate my landline. I can't actually receive calls on it reliably, so the only times it ever rings are for automated messages from my kids' school and if someone is trying to sell me something. Oh, and I can only make local calls on it, too, because a long time ago I cut the long-distance off to save money.

And for that - crappy, unreliable local-only service, I pay three times as much as I do for my unlimited-use cell phone!

I hate my landline. The only reason I still have it is because I have small children, and they need to be able to dial 911 from something that can be accurately traced.

In reply to SunRuanEr (msg # 967):

You pretty much nailed all the reasons on the head with me as well. Why pay 90+ a month when I pay 45$ for a cell? If my babysitter did not have his own cell I would consider a land line, but dang that would hurt my spare cash. The only real complaint I have about my phone is the auto-correct will not shut off, and the sound quality for discord is a crime against humanity.

Heck when I am single I only pay 15$ a month phone bill anyway.

Perhaps I should have been more specific. I receive many many more calls than I make, and few intraLATA and long distance.

I pay $51 a month for my landline, which includes a medium speed Internet, and $22+ for a cell. My three rotary phones are almost beyond price. :) One is over 50 years old.

The only time my landline has issues is when a bulldozer or equivalent is working right outside. My dish has issues with some weather, but my cell seems to have static with any storm.

A guest left behind a big o' bag of weed, then sends their cousin (supposedly) to come pick up their "shirt," and their deposit. Uh, no. That ain't happening. lol

Discord is a crime against humanity. The one time I made the mistake of installing it, there was no way to prevent it from starting automatically every time I powered up my computer. Even my premium startup editor couldn't find the file that was causing it to start automatically.

In places other than RPoL where people do text games, an annoying majority want to use Discord. It irritates me.

In other news, I think I'm being trolled by one of my players.

I made the mistake of telling potential players in the recruitment post that I have never run a game in that particular game system before. Now I'm getting incoherent and confusing questions that appear to be intended to push the limits of what I know about the system, either for exploits or just for some spitefully malicious fun akin to pulling the wings off insects.

Players trying to use exploits is nothing new. In the age of MMOs and MOBAs it's going to happen whether you like it or not. It's something a GM just lives with. But players taunting me for amusement is not acceptable.

Hi Mickey, I'm not sure what you mean by exploits, but being straight with your players isn't a mistake. I've frequently playtested games and I've been up front about it. My players have generally been OK with that.

What I would do with a player who seems to be causing trouble is to take a two tier approach.

1. Assume everything is fine and your player is genuinely trying to learn about the system. Do what you can to help them along. If there are things you don't know - well, you've already told them its a new system. Tell them you don't know and either look it up, get them to look it up for you, or fudge it using Rule Zero (the GM is always right).

2. If your time spent on tier 1 seems confirm that they're being an apple, have a straight PM chat with them advising them of your suspicions and warning them off in a firm but friendly way, or if you really get pizza-ed simply remove them from your game.

Either way, don't let them ruin your game - for you or for the other players. You're the GM, it's your game, you're in charge. Not being an 'authority' on the rules doesn't mean you can't have authority in your game.

In reply to mickey65 (msg # 971):

Uh, Discord is super easy to disable run on startup. If you run Windows, right click on its icon in your system tray, then uncheck "Run Discord when my computer starts". No fancy premium startup editors required.
This message was last edited by the user at 20:04, Sun 06 Aug 2017.

In reply to mickey65 (message no. 971):

What icosahedron152 said in spades. (So very well said, by the way!)

Being honest with players is by no means an invitation for them to run over you, and is, instead, a mark of good character and an indication of respect and trust. These are what we should offer as GMs until someone proves they deserve differently.  Even then, it's best to proceed calmly and deliberately.

If a point of contention concerning rules or game mechanics comes up, work to resolve it, either through consensus, research and interpretation, or just by making a ruling (pro forma Rule 0 equivalent), but above all continue that honesty about what you're doing and why in all things.  Players generally respect a GM they feel is trying to give them all a fair shake (at least my players do).

The only other advice I'd offer in the situation is this:  A GM should never post when feeling angry or irritated.  It doesn't matter how fired up you might be, resist that urge to hit the Post Message button until you've had a chance to cool and then review.  For one, if a player who is actually being troublesome can make you lose your cool, they've won... don't give in to that.  For the other, taking the time to collect your wits will often allow you to see things you may not have seen at first glance, and make for a better outcome.
This message was last edited by the user at 01:31, Mon 07 Aug 2017.

Thanks, Horus. Good point there - GM responses should always be firm but friendly, never angry and accusatory. This is PbP, there is never a need for an immediate response. Keep calm, think your reply through, and post when you're good and ready.

And that advice is good for players, too, not just GMs. :)

In reply to mickey65 (msg # 972):

Well, it is possible they are learning the system. I was playing with a gm that pretty much should have rewrote the book for his own needs, however you never got a warning before hand on what was ok or not. Trial and error I guess was how we figured it out. This guy thought I was being a Apple, just because I kept asking questions, especially where the rule books differed from his style. How can I expect to play if I do not know what is ok or not?

Now, this was doubly frustrating as I am trying to learn the rules to run my own game while dealing with his... quirks. This is one of the reasons I left his game. I was not trying to be a fruit about it, I just needed to know. >.<

Things will be resolved within the next 48 hours.

Whatever is being planned for me, the status quo is unsustainable, so any change will be a good change.

Will it be simple minor surgery with less than a one-week recovery time? Or will it be death? Or will it be some unspeakable horror I can't be bothered to speculate about?

In all of those cases, things will be different by this time on Tuesday. And that's a good thing.

I'm looking forward to it.

My voice was fine when I left home this morning. I had to bellow for my dog, who'd gone off down to the road (my driveway is a tenth of a mile long!). By the time I'd reached town coming in to work, however, all I had left of a voice was a weak croak.

My allergies are pretty flared up right now (monsoon rains have the weeds and grasses going wild, and I'm allergic to all grasses, and 50% of all weeds...), which has my asthma almost out of control, so it's probably also behind my sudden voice loss. It's a given that if I get a sinus infection, I will lose my voice, but I've never lost it before getting an infection before. Grrrrrrrrrr.

And I'm supposed to be DMing a game tonight....