How have you gotten rid of unwanted players?

[Emirikol]

OK, third post in a row. Sleeper gamers really suck. I've had two over the years. They're usually VERY reliable at showing up, drinking a beer, socialising and then as the game starts...dooooop and they're out. We 'cancelled' the game for both of them.

Problem is that they just raise the APL of the party and take up a good spot that another player should be sitting at (or the potential to experience YET another idiot player

jh

 

[Hammerhead]

I've made it unpleasant for them to be there.

Well, actually, I snuck up behind them and garroted them with piano wire. I suppose that killing someone makes a situation rather unpleasant, doesn't it?

 

[Sidereal Knight]

As a DM, I haven't had to eject a problem player from my games. As a player, there was one incident... and I'm not very proud of how it happened.

The group in question was playing a very long-running 2nd edition D&D game, with a large number of players (at that time 9 + the DM, IIRC). One player (who we'll call Carrie) started playing because she was the girlfriend of another player, and was jealous of the time her boyfriend spent gaming. The group met at my house, since I had the most room and a large table.

After they broke up, both continued to play with the group. Carrie was rather bitter about the breakup, and continued to belittle her ex with snarky side-comments. It became apparent that she was only playing because a few other players were taking her out to bars after the games.

As time went on, she contributed less and less to the actual game. She started taking paralegal classes, and brought her homework to the games. When she wasn't trying to do homework at the table, she was playing with her cell phone. A few times, she even napped at the table. This behavior continued for months.

Things came to a head one night when the party was facing a major battle. While the rest of the players were planning how to approach the situation, Carrie was sleeping with her head on her homework. Just as we were finalizing our plans, she woke up and said something like "@#&%* it, aren't we ever going to do anything tonight? Stop talking and play!"

At that point, I lost my temper. I really don't remember what I said (although I do know I refrained from swearing), but it went something like this:

"You know exactly how we play this game. You haven't been paying attention or participating at all... you've been asleep! If you want to play, PLAY! Don't take up space and be disrespectful to everyone else!"

Her response was something like "*&#% you, I don't have to take that &#^@! I'm outta here!" She packed up her things and left. No one else said a word.

I appologized to the rest of the group for HOW I confronted her, but not that the confrontation happened. I shouldn't have lost my temper with her, but I'm glad she left.

If something like that ever happened again, I would say something earlier and in a more controlled way.

 

[kigmatzomat]

I've had to boot one and carefully not invite another.

The bootee was your classic blow-hard-know-it-all you find at college. Trouble was, he was surrounded by very intelligent people, the kind of people who know they don't know everything but are confident in the things they do know. Bootee contradicted everyone. He'd argue a rule saying I was "remembering it wrong" when he didn't realize I had the book open behind my screen. He'd argue with the metallurgist about the composition of a sword. He argued with the SCA fighter jocks on what it would be like to have your shield get hit. The kicker was when he argued with an artist about a piece of cover art that she and the SCA fighter jock had posed for!

Bootee's character died through blatant stupidity. The Rogue spots a basilisk 50yds away. The party averts their eyes and ride the other direction. Bootee decides to fireball the basilisk "to get the XP." When I ask him where he wants to place the fireball the idiot says "right between the eyes!" So of course he turns to stone. His statue is damaged later and a wildsurge turns him into bleeding meat (all rolls made in the open). He'd asked to play a witch class (not unbalanced, surprisingly) and he failed the "mentor spirit may claim your soul" die roll. Poof, dead & non-resurrectable character.

I told him he wasn't getting my gaming style, as evidenced by the way he died, and he should find another GM.

The other guy was in irritation I had to put up with at work. Nothing specifically wrong with him but he completely rubbed me the wrong way just by existing. He and several mutual friends were in a game that was wrapping up when I was about to start a new one. Trouble was, everyone in that group was switching to my game. It took a lot of tap dancing and basically finding the one night a week he couldn't play to schedule the game.