Main Difficulties in Hosting Local Games (GMs)?

One question I have regarding "compatible personalities":

How often is the problem finding personalities that specifically work well with each other, and how much of it is just avoiding a set of toxic personalities that no one wants at their table? Does anyone have a table where the constantly arguing, inconsistent, and self-serving rules lawyer is a valuable group member, for example? Or is everyone just having trouble avoiding these sorts of people?

InVinoVeritas said:

One question I have regarding "compatible personalities":

How often is the problem finding personalities that specifically work well with each other, and how much of it is just avoiding a set of toxic personalities that no one wants at their table? Does anyone have a table where the constantly arguing, inconsistent, and self-serving rules lawyer is a valuable group member, for example? Or is everyone just having trouble avoiding these sorts of people?

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Avoiding the toxic personalities for the most part, I think a lot of random additions to the table can be these types. They get angry and threaten to leave the game, and it's like no, I won't have the game held hostage to threats, and if you are getting angry, what fun is it for me? Nor having to mediate conflicts within the group. Work within the group and don't try to cut the other players out of the process while making me be the center point where I then have to make sure the others understand the plan.

LordEntrails said:

Have you considered going chat based? Not as fast as voice, but much more tolerant of poor internet connections. And those people that play using chat say it's much more immersive than voice.

Or what about play by post?

I know, too slow, not the same, etc. But if you want to play, you are going to have to make a compromise somewhere. If you can't play FtF because of where you live, you're going to have to compromise.

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I hate play by post. I've tried. Repeatedly. I just cannot handle the slow, nor the lack of interactivity.

Play by text chat is doable, but problematic. I've got trigger finger in all 8 fingers. Not the thumbs...

InVinoVeritas said:

One question I have regarding "compatible personalities":

How often is the problem finding personalities that specifically work well with each other, and how much of it is just avoiding a set of toxic personalities that no one wants at their table? Does anyone have a table where the constantly arguing, inconsistent, and self-serving rules lawyer is a valuable group member, for example? Or is everyone just having trouble avoiding these sorts of people?

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I've only had a few "generally toxic" players. Let's see... I can think of 4. Out of several hundred players. I've rejected another dozen or so before play.

I've had players whose playstyle didn't work with the rest of the group well more than that. Some, it's genre specific. Some, it's just general problems with A vs B.

EG: X is has a diagnosis of paranoia, and is strongly into character competence and shared screen time, and a non-smoker due to allergies. Y is a chain-smoking scene stealer. The two in the same group has always lead to issues - (1) that Y wants a break hourly to go self-poison, and comes in triggering X's allergies, and (2) that Y attention hogs. There's also element (3) both of them try to lead the group, whichever group they're in. This leads to friction. Add in Z, who always wants humor, but never melodrama, and also screen hogs intermittently... Can't have all three in the same group. It's not that they're toxic, it's that they need different player types to keep up with them. (Note that all three are specific real people, and these are real issues that cropped up. And all three I consider close friends, and have for decades,)