Would you drop this player?

[Raven Crowking]

"Almost every", but most of the ones that do that think the guy is in the wrong think it is being done on purpose to disrupt the game. I won't name individual posts, but at least 4 on the first page, and one recently just prior to my last post seem to suggest the player is doing it on purpose for the purpose of disrupting the game or just not playing along.

There may well be a sense that, if the guy running on a game is asking the question, the answer is usually obvious. I am reminded of Dan Savage saying "DTMFA". Dan assumes that you are asking for advice because you know what you should do, but don't want to be the cold heartless person who does it. I think that might well apply to booting D&D players as well as ex-lovers.

YMMV, though.

I hope it isn't "something in the water" though. That would, however, explain much over the last few weeks.........

 

[frankthedm]

You said 'Running a Superfriends game!' and he signed up and then handed over the Punisher as his character? It's what, 10 seconds into the game and he's already making it less fun by trying to mess up the introductory scenario?

You surely don't owe any antisocial troublemaker who wants to come in and wreck your game the chance to do so.

Tha Boot.

It's a PBP. People who *want to play the game as advertised* get priority over random warm bodies who just want to cause trouble and 'be different.'

Damn right. IMHO The OP was more than clear enough. The player is gone.

I started a PbP asking for 'Heroic characters, willing to risk personal harm to jump in and help a stranger in trouble.'


His response was "Help people I don't know, or take their things? No contest really."

I might say ask the offending player why he chose to ignore the DM's character guidelines, but that is if the DM wants to give the player a chance to explain. I do not recommend keeping the play though. Once you call someone on something like this, there is too great a risk even if the player stays, you'll have to watch for the person trying shenanigans later to 'get even'.

I always assume incompetence before malice.

I'd rather assume malice than be surprised by it.

 

[Starbuck_II]

I'd rather assume malice than be surprised by it.

That works better in D&D when you can question the body (Speak with Dead).

 

[Dausuul]

"Almost every", but most of the ones that do that think the guy is in the wrong think it is being done on purpose to disrupt the game. I won't name individual posts, but at least 4 on the first page, and one recently just prior to my last post seem to suggest the player is doing it on purpose for the purpose of disrupting the game or just not playing along.

Again, this may be true, but it is sad to see people first think that way; then later suggest communication. My own first post here included starting with negative assertions about the game.

*shrug* This guy sets off my "Does Not Play Well With Others" alarms. He was given pretty clear guidelines - "willing to jump in and help a stranger in trouble" - and made a character whose explicit impulse was to do exactly the opposite; when he sees strangers in trouble, he doesn't help them, he takes their stuff.

My experience has been that this sort of thing is usually the sign of a player who... well, put it this way: Such a player behaves in ways indistinguishable from someone being disruptive on purpose. Whether he actually is being disruptive on purpose is beside the point. As far as his DM and fellow players are concerned, he might as well be.

(I find that most such players have plenty of excuses - usually about how they're "just playing their characters." And in their minds, I think this actually does justify their behavior. But somehow their characters are always disruptive jerks perfectly suited to wreck whatever campaign is underway.)

That said, I agree with the general sentiment that the DM should talk to the player first. He might just have not read the guidelines, or he might have spaced out the bit where the character is supposed to be an altruist, or he might have some idea that he's going to take his character through a journey of personal growth from amoral thug to genuine hero. It's possible - unlikely, but possible - that he'll turn out to be a good player after all.

But given that it's a PbP game and you don't have an existing friendship to maintain here, and given that there are probably any number of other players ready to join, I see no reason to cut the guy any slack beyond that. Give him one chance to shape up, and if he doesn't do so instantly, out he goes.

 

[avin]

Why are always rogues doing this?

 

[Delta]

This thread has sure taught me a lot about the people here. First thing they do is jump to some conclusion based on partial information that leads them to think someone who may have misunderstood something is acting out of malice and purposefully trying to disrupt a game.

I've presented the following position a few times. I lead a punk band in NYC and I've had to get good practice at firing people over the last few years. When I started out, I thought that as people started to flake out a good talk would fix things. It never did; it was always a waste of time. People are going to follow their propensities and desires regardless of what you'd prefer them to do.

So, I no longer spend time psychoanalyzing people. I don't bother having to decide whether their acting out of good or bad faith. All of that doesn't matter and only serves to delay the issue. My only capacity is to lay down requirements, and then fire them if they fail to meet those requirements. (i.e., end our working relationship, in a social/gaming context).

MY thought on EnWorld is that I'm constantly surprised at how many people want to blather on with bad fellow players, talk-talk-talk literally forever without any need for a resolution. I literally cannot fathom that. If I did that in the past, it was because I was socially awkward and afraid to take the action I really had to take.

Fire' em. It takes courage but you'll get better at that the more you practice it. And it feels great to know you have that courage and capacity in the world. And, amazingly, people respect me and like me *better* after the fact! I'm still friends with everyone I've fired from my band, we still like each other, we go out and do stuff and have a better time than before.

So the talk-talk-keep-talking-forever, maybe-we-don't-yet-understand-each-other-need-more-information crowd leaves me bemused. Set behavioral guidelines, fire 'em when they cross it, saves you 98% of your otherwise wasted time. You'll respect yourself more and so will they.

 

[Arnwyn]

I'm just dying to know what the response is to the OPs IM.

(Yay, acronyms!)

 

[ironfang]

An opportunity for a quick lesson in TEAM WORK.

Have the woman in the apartment scream and have the Players turn on him and turn him over to the guards. I mean, if the party is going to keep one group of thugs from committing a crime, why not stop another lone thug from committing a crime? Right? The party should treat him just like any other criminal.

End of his run AND you teach the rest of the party that being a douche will not be tolerated.

Win win really

 

[ravin_raven]

I'm just dying to know what the response is to the OPs IM.

(Yay, acronyms!)

He posted in the OOC thread today asking the other players for ideas to help integrate him into the party. So, I guess he just wasn't thinking about it, as opposed to being actively insubordinate, which is good. People have tossed out ideas there, so I'm going to try and bring him into the fold, so to speak.

 

[justanobody]

Glad it is working out for you.