Tips on weeding out lousy players from your group

[Ulrick]

Just on the first page alone today, there are at least two threads pertaining to bad gamers.
The game-wrecking hordes are out there. It's easier to keep them out than to kick them out.


Here's my advice to DMs to keep bad gamers from your group.

1. Only game with people you would enjoy yourself with in another social setting.
I think Monte Cook says this on his website and I know its been said elsewhere. But it is completely and totally true.

I'd rather not game than game with a bunch of people that I can barely tolerate. This hobby is supposed to be fun, after all.

2. If possible, host the game in your own home. Then you can ask yourself this question, "Would I invite this person into my home?" Also, if a bad gamer acts up, you can rightfully kick them out.

3. If you're new to town and want to run a game but are short on players, post flyers at various LGS. Hold interviews in a neutral area. Ask a series of questions related to your game. Ask about where they work, etc. But most importantly, check your gut instinct about them.



Players have it tougher to keep bad gamers out of the group. But the following advice might be helpful:

1. If your DM is talking about recruiting somebody you don't like into the group, talk to him about it.

2. Don't "roleplay" your real-life annoyance with the bad gamer.




Unfortunately, sometimes you realize that everybody else in the group are a bunch of game-wreckers. Or maybe, just maybe, YOU are the problem. Then its time to just move on. If you're a DM, just fold the game. If you're a player, find another group, but just stop playing with your current one.


Does anybody else have any tips they would like to share?

 

[Tinner]

Step One: Read this and realize that you don't have to be friends with everyone.

Step Two: Kick them to the curb.

It really can be that easy. Be honest with people. You can be polite and still be honest.
Something along the lines of "I'm sorry, I don't think this game is working out with this group. Let's cancel it right here, and I'll contact you another time, and we'll see if we can make a better fit."

It's truthful without being hurtful.

 

[Ulrick]

Step One: Read this and realize that you don't have to be friends with everyone.

Step Two: Kick them to the curb.

It really can be that easy. Be honest with people. You can be polite and still be honest.
Something along the lines of "I'm sorry, I don't think this game is working out with this group. Let's cancel it right here, and I'll contact you another time, and we'll see if we can make a better fit."

It's truthful without being hurtful.

Yeah, definitely read Step One. I think a lot more gamers need to read that. Very good link, Tinner.

 

[sniffles]

We've never had any truly bad players in our group, but we do have a couple who are best described as frustrating or annoying. Trouble is, they *are* people we all like socially. We even enjoy gaming with them under the right circumstances. But we fortunately found a way to exclude them from one campaign without having to tell them flat out what a pain they can be.

One player gets bored with his characters after a while. He's just not cut out for long-term play. Luckily he'd already expressed a desire to limit his gaming commitment. Since he'd already said he didn't want to play every Friday, we scheduled the game on alternate Fridays to another game he's already involved in. He ended up starting his own campaign on Fridays, so he is gaming every week, but at least this way he doesn't feel left out of our new game.

The other problem player is just not a roleplayer. He plays a character sheet, not a character. He takes the bus everywhere and refuses to accept rides from anyone. He expressed a complaint about getting to the GM's house by game start time. So when we started the new campaign we assumed that he wouldn't want to come because it would be a hardship for him to get there.

Use peoples' complaints against them. If they say they don't like a particular type of game, for example, tell them you're starting a game of that type and knew they wouldn't want to be involved. They may whine about it later, but they said it.

 

[MarkAHart]

Step One: Read this and realize that you don't have to be friends with everyone.

Reading this was quite eye-opening...as I read it, I realized just how much of it applied to a former member in my group. Good link!

 

[frankthedm]

VERY good link.

When you do not know the person asking to play, saying No Does not make you the bad guy.

 

[The Thayan Menace]

Worst Roleplayer ... EVER .... (a.k.a. Our First True Munchkin)

We recently ejected a new player from our group after only one session.

Somehow he managed to hijack the entire game and alienate himself from everyone else at the table.

In my 22 years of gaming, I have never dealt with such a blatantly obstinate individual.

He consistently argued with everyone, falsified his character sheets, rules-lawyered, and hogged the spotlight.

Hell, I knew this guy was trouble after he came to our table with his necromancer PC ... when he knew full well that another player was already playing a necromancer.

Yes ... this idiot purposefully upstaged someone else's specialized role within the party, and then he wondered why the other player was spending most of the session thinking of a new character concept instead of enjoying the game.

Furthermore, this offensive player would often brag about how his character's henchmen were the best fighters in the party, essentially insulting two other players ... who had fighter-type PCs.

To top it all off, he demanded a full share of treasure for his henchman at the end of the adventure. This callous manuever triggered a player argument that lasted for nearly an hour.

In my entire gaming career:

I have never seen one player manage to consistently piss off everyone at the table.

I have never had to give one player so many rulings, in order to limit his abuses.

I have never played with such a rules rapist.

I have never played with someone who was such a liar and a cheat.

Anyway, a player like this deserves special treatment .... So, after we booted him out, I made a poster to commemorate the occasion and distributed it to all my friends.

 

[HeapThaumaturgist]

Harsh ...

--fje

 

[Jacen]

Step One: Read this and realize that you don't have to be friends with everyone.

Reading this was quite eye-opening...as I read it, I realized just how much of it applied to a former member in my group. Good link!

Huh, for you former group. I... I... just realized how much that applies to me.
Well I think I have had at least minor from all and probaly still minor or moderate GSF 1 and minor GSF 2.

Stop analyzing me...

But the truth is that there is only thing that doesn't change and that is a fact that everything changes.

But knowing what to change and then changing it to better is the hard part. It helps when you know what and from your past you can find why. Even if that link is not the whole truth there is truth enough to let us understand and to step further.

 

[The Thayan Menace]

Harsh ...

Yeah, I know ... but I dare you to game with this guy and try keeping a civil tongue.