Knowing when to give the ol' boot

[Squee]

So I've GM'd plenty of RPs but to be honest I've never had to properly remove a member from any of them, usually people resign. However recently I've had a member attempt to jack way too many aspects of my current RP. Don't get me wrong, I like to give creative freedom, stunting said creativity is a good way to kill a roleplay very quickly and I don't wish to watch this one crash and burn. There is one particular member though that concerns me. So far, we're only on page 2 of the IC and already this person has attempted to or succeeded in jacking the narrators role, the antagonists history, the surrounding world, and the creatures that inhabit it, and lastly trying to shoe horn in a MacGuffin Device. Again, we're only on page 2 of the RP and day 1 hasn't even ended. In character the story has only been going on for roughly 3 hours. On top of everything, not a single change they've desired to make has been so much as mentioned to me or any other members.

So to other GMs and players, I'm wondering when you know when and how to remove someone from a roleplay. I'm not going to remove this person, but if the problem persists then I just might have to. I've even added a rule to try preventing this, a rule I thought I'd never have to explicitly say. If you want to change something that effects the world and/or important NPCs it has to go by me. I don't think this is a ridiculous rule, it's not like I will instantly reject the idea but I might want to modify it so it makes more narrative sense, but there are things that I have made non-negotiable because I have plans and goals for the story.

Again, I want people to have their creative freedoms but hijacking the world and the plot and twisting it without so much as speaking to the GM is a little overboard. A lot overboard, actually. I don't know what kind of roleplays this person has been in in the past but usually when I make a roleplay I have a plan, a goal, a rough layout of the path to be taken but still allowing for deviations from this path and breaks for player contribution. Creating a linear story is not my objective and I would rather not have a player jack my goals and try changing them to suit what he wants to play. It's not his RP, it's mine, and I really don't want to be the guy that says "get out of my RP because it's mine not yours", the story should belong to all the players, which is why I really don't know when it comes time to boot a person or not.

Am I being too strict or should I watch him like a hawk? Again, I've never had to boot someone before and I really don't want to be the [expletive deleted] that does. I have no problem being abrasive and assertive, I just don't know how much I should take before saying enough. Even if I'm in the right in watching him he wasn't warned yet so I will be keeping him in, it's not fair to not give him a chance.

 

[Kagayours]

I'm not going to remove this person,

I don't see why you shouldn't. They're clearly being problematic.

You're the GM. You have every right to kick someone out if they aren't following the rules and causing problems for yourself and other players. Putting your foot down in order to run a game properly is kind of your job as GM.

So, let's start with this -- have you told this player that they're breaking the rules and causing problems? Because that's the first step. I wouldn't recommend kicking them out right out of the blue, but definitely make it clear that they're causing problems and that they need to stop. Try to be polite about it, of course, but firm, as well. You're the GM and they should respect your wishes.

If they don't improve after that point, then you could maybe give them a couple more warnings. What I usually do is let the first warning just be a simple "Hey, you're breaking the rules, please stop that", but if the problem persists, make it clearer and clearer each time that you'll have to kick them out if they don't comply. In the end, if they're still causing problems, you have every right to do just that. It's not like you didn't warn them or make it very clear why you had to do it.

And then, of course, if they throw a fit (which is, sadly, a possibility), the report button is there for a reason. Don't let them make you feel like the bad guy -- that's bullshit. You're just running your RP the way a GM should, and they're the ones repeatedly breaking the rules and throwing a tantrum when you try to punish them for it. I sincerely hope it doesn't go this way and that this RPer can act a bit more maturely about these things, but, players like this do exist. If you do wind up in a situation like this, just report them and move on, knowing that you did the right thing for your RP and you have no reason to feel guilty about it.

 

[Squee]

I don't see why you shouldn't. They're clearly being problematic.

My bad on phrasing, I meant I won't boot them just yet. This person has been informed that a lot of these changes simply can't happen and hasn't shown anything yet, but there hasn't been much time for him to try anything else and I want to be prepared accordingly.

So, let's start with this -- have you told this player that they're breaking the rules and causing problems? Because that's the first step. I wouldn't recommend kicking them out right out of the blue, but definitely make it clear that they're causing problems and that they need to stop. Try to be polite about it, of course, but firm, as well. You're the GM and they should respect your wishes.

I haven't directly stated a rule was being broken but I have stated that he cannot change the world to his wishes as I have created the world and will not budge on certain aspects of this world, the rule was added after the fact and hopefully will keep things in check. I will remember this, though!

And then, of course, if they throw a fit (which is of course a possibility), the report button is there for a reason. Don't let them make you feel like the bad guy -- that's bullshit. You're just running your RP the way a GM should, and they're the ones repeatedly breaking the rules and throwing a tantrum when you try to punish them for it. I sincerely hope it doesn't go this way and that this RPer can act a bit more maturely about these things, but, players like this do exist. If you do wind up in a situation like this, just report them and move on, knowing that you did the right thing for your RP and you have no reason to feel guilty about it.

Thanks for the info! It's weird thinking about actually kicking someone, never done it before.

 

[Kagayours]

Thanks for the info! It's weird thinking about actually kicking someone, never done it before.

Hah, really? I suppose you're lucky that you've never had to deal with such a thing. I don't want to say I've done it a lot, but, it certainly comes up often enough that I'm amazed you've gone so long without encountering a single problem player like this.

 

[Squee]

Hah, really? I suppose you're lucky that you've never had to deal with such a thing. I don't want to say I've done it a lot, but, it certainly comes up often enough that I'm amazed you've gone so long without encountering a single problem player like this.

It's probably less luck and more I don't GM often to be honest...Hehe, I'm not the most confident when it comes to world building and story writing.

 

[Minibit]

So I've GM'd plenty of RPs but to be honest I've never had to properly remove a member from any of them, usually people resign. However recently I've had a member attempt to jack way too many aspects of my current RP. Don't get me wrong, I like to give creative freedom, stunting said creativity is a good way to kill a roleplay very quickly and I don't wish to watch this one crash and burn. There is one particular member though that concerns me. So far, we're only on page 2 of the IC and already this person has attempted to or succeeded in jacking the narrators role, the antagonists history, the surrounding world, and the creatures that inhabit it, and lastly trying to shoe horn in a MacGuffin Device. Again, we're only on page 2 of the RP and day 1 hasn't even ended. In character the story has only been going on for roughly 3 hours. On top of everything, not a single change they've desired to make has been so much as mentioned to me or any other members.

So to other GMs and players, I'm wondering when you know when and how to remove someone from a roleplay. I'm not going to remove this person, but if the problem persists then I just might have to. I've even added a rule to try preventing this, a rule I thought I'd never have to explicitly say. If you want to change something that effects the world and/or important NPCs it has to go by me. I don't think this is a ridiculous rule, it's not like I will instantly reject the idea but I might want to modify it so it makes more narrative sense, but there are things that I have made non-negotiable because I have plans and goals for the story.

Again, I want people to have their creative freedoms but hijacking the world and the plot and twisting it without so much as speaking to the GM is a little overboard. A lot overboard, actually. I don't know what kind of roleplays this person has been in in the past but usually when I make a roleplay I have a plan, a goal, a rough layout of the path to be taken but still allowing for deviations from this path and breaks for player contribution. Creating a linear story is not my objective and I would rather not have a player jack my goals and try changing them to suit what he wants to play. It's not his RP, it's mine, and I really don't want to be the guy that says "get out of my RP because it's mine not yours", the story should belong to all the players, which is why I really don't know when it comes time to boot a person or not.

Am I being too strict or should I watch him like a hawk? Again, I've never had to boot someone before and I really don't want to be the [expletive deleted] that does. I have no problem being abrasive and assertive, I just don't know how much I should take before saying enough. Even if I'm in the right in watching him he wasn't warned yet so I will be keeping him in, it's not fair to not give him a chance.

GMs have absolute control over their roleplays (within site policy of course!) so if you look at a player objectively and see something that's harming your roleplay and making it not fun for yourself or the players, you're within your rights to politely ask them to leave (I recommend in private; it can be embarrassing when you're asked to leave a roleplay)

However you want to watch how much you say about specific cases when asking for advice here; there's every possibility the player you're talking about will see this thread and feel hurt/angered/embarrassed by it, which only exacerbates any existing hostility :(

You're probably okay with this level of detail, since you're more describing a problem that frankly I've seen/heard a lot before, but just putting it out there that you don't want to get specific :P

 

[MootMoose]

I've had to kick people many times, even IRL friends and online friends I've known for years. I'm pretty straight when it comes to that stuff and honestly I just tell them: "Hey you've been causing issue1/2/3 and I'm removing you from my RP. Thanks for playing." That is it, it's my roleplay and I call the shots as the GM. Sometimes the RP does die, but other times it survives just fine.