What would you do in this situation?

Marlowe

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Okay, as we all have roleplayed before...

What do you do when you're encountered by a person who is tasteless/unfriendly/not likeable? Someone whose personality makes it hard to crack jokes or somewhat hostile when you try and ask if they are still interested in the roleplay? Maybe even someone who does something with their characters that you don't want them to do?

This brings up a rather long story from years ago.

Okay, so I was on a specific forum running a Hetalia roleplay. This was years ago so each reply was a short paragraph and that's it. A person joined our very tight knit group, and she was accepted into the group. Yet, every time I, as the GM, said something as a joke, she took it way too seriously and didn't find it funny, almost to the point of ignoring said joke. About three quarters into the lifetime of the roleplay, she got into Homestuck. At first, I didn't know what it was, but she was extremely obsessed and so curiosity got the best of me. I started to read the comic and...

Holy fuck. People are actually into this crap? I know it's all due to preferences, and everyone has an opinion, but overall I thought it was the shittiest thing on the internet. I really, really, really hated it (and still do!).

I left her alone, though. If she liked it, who cared as long as we were having fun? However, I noticed something... she would make references to the webcomic in something that was completely unrelated to the comic. We had separate arcs that involved animals, parallel universes, etc, and we all called them arcs rather easily. But of course, said person said "oh I'm going to call them AUs now" (AUs are a thing from Homestuck btw), and while everyone continued to say Arcs for a while, due to her saying AU everyone just said AU. I liked the sound of Arcs better than AU, but whatever, it wasn't that much of a big thing.

We had a specific Arc/AU which involved medieval times. Of course, we decided which characters would be royalty while others would be peasants. The person said it would be "cool" to have "color coordinated blood" to determine which person was royalty or higher ranked than others (which is also from Homestuck, mind you). I, of course, said no; she responded by backlashing and stating "oh, it's my characters, I do what I want with them, blah blah blah". To avoid problems, I simply let her do what she wanted. In the end, all of the characters were forced to have color coordinated blood. Not only that, we all settled that one of my characters would usurp the queen and take her place at the end, but she went ahead and killed her off with one of her characters and took over the whole plot in order to make her character the king. When I complained, she backlashed again, stating that "we shouldn't plot so far in the future" when she completely overrided what was planned without asking if she could.

At this point, I was growing weary of her. Several of the roleplayers told me to kick her, but she was such a vital person that kept the roleplay interesting and fun, I decided not to. Over time, she became more and more aggressive. Someone had wanted to join and she flipped out on them (I don't know what happened, it was a while ago). When everyone told her to calm down, she threw a tantrum and PMed me, complaining how everyone treated her unfairly and such. I replied that maybe she should be nicer and less assertive and aggressive in the kindest way possible, when I really wanted to tell her she was being a bitch. She had turned two of my closest friends against me and made others leave. What was her reply, you ask? A simple "whatever". That's right.

The roleplay didn't last much longer after that, though. I quit, but I told the people who wanted to stay that, whatever they did, do not let the bitchy person take over the roleplay. They of course, agreed. Sadly, the new roleplay did not last long either, and the person dropped off the map (thank god she did).

Now that I am older, I would have thrown her out after the first major issue occurred. I feel like I am an idiot for not doing so, and if I had, maybe I would not have made enemies or lost contact with friends.

What would you have done in this specific situation?
 
When she first started to cause problems? Give her a warning. When she tried to change things about the RP that I didn't like? Told her "no". When she continued to be a problem, and couldn't be reasoned with? Kicked her the fuck out.

If you're the GM, you need to be in control. Someone else is trying to take over your RP? Unac-fucking-ceptable. I wouldn't stand for that.

She was a vital player who made the RP "fun"? Ok, that first point may have been an issue, but fun? By the sounds of it, not so much.

Aaaaaalso this is a tangent, but,

Holy fuck. People are actually into this crap? I know it's all due to preferences, and everyone has an opinion, but overall I thought it was the shittiest thing on the internet. I really, really, really hated it (and still do!).

If you only read the 1st Act, then I don't blame you at all. It is considered (even among most fans) to be the most boring part of the whole comic and a chore for many to get through in order to reach the "good parts" that all the fans tell them about. But seriously, once you get into Act 2, the plot actually picks up and grows exponentially from there. The much later parts of the comic that people obsess over look nothing like Act 1.

Admittedly, I was one of the few people who actually enjoyed Act 1, which was why I didn't have a hard time getting into it, but uh, looking back on it... yeah, the rest of the comic makes Act 1 look really really lame.

BUT UM ANYWAY yeah. Players shouldn't take over the RP. I certainly would've put my foot down way before it reached such a point. Hell, usually just being argumentative with me is grounds for getting onto thin ice. I don't mind people questioning my rules/reasoning as a GM, so long as they're polite about it and up-front as opposed to silently disobeying a rule that they disagree with without explaining why they don't like that rule. But uh, there's a difference between (politely) questioning a rule or decision I've made and just being all "fuck you, I do what I want" and not listening to anything I say. And I certainly wouldn't have let myself be walked on like that. I admit, I sometimes give people more chances than they deserve and let them get pretty far before booting them, but... hijacking pretty much the entire RP and turning it into something it wasn't supposed to be? Fuck no. Certainly wouldn't have let that happen.
 
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If you only read the 1st Act, then I don't blame you at all. It is considered (even among most fans) to be the most boring part of the whole comic and a chore for many to get through in order to reach the "good parts" that all the fans tell them about. But seriously, once you get into Act 2, the plot actually picks up and grows exponentially from there. The much later parts of the comic that people obsess over look nothing like Act 1.

Admittedly, I was one of the few people who actually enjoyed Act 1, which was why I didn't have a hard time getting into it, but uh, looking back on it... yeah, the rest of the comic makes Act 1 look really really lame.
I read pretty deep into it. Never got into it, and still hated it. The artstyle and everything irked me. :/ I read maybe to Act 3. Not sure, since I'm pretty sure it gave me cancer.

She was a vital player who made the RP "fun"? Ok, that first point may have been an issue, but fun? By the sounds of it, not so much.
She provided numerous ideas and things that made the whole roleplay fun and awesome. I was young, maybe thirteen or fourteen, so I didn't wanna lose her.

... hijacking pretty much the entire RP and turning it into something it wasn't supposed to be? Fuck no. Certainly wouldn't have let that happen.
Yeah, I realized I was pretty stupid. I cried when my best roleplaying buddy left just because of her. She once told me she would return if I went ahead and booted her. Not only that, but my other best roleplaying buddy was once really friendly to me, but after she became friends with her (and also got into Homestuck), she became slightly bitter toward me as well. Sometimes I wonder if said person had gone so far as to brainwash her via PMs, but I think I'm just being paranoid.
 
I have dealt with people railroading my group rps all the time, which was why I stopped doing group roleplays. One guy (I swear he was the same person on two different accounts, but I don't have proof of that.) was flirting with me, and trying to convince me to send him pictures while his 'friend' was warning me about him in PMs. I ended up ignoring all OOC chat from both of them and focused on the roleplay. Once I did that the original guy dropped stating that he had real life stuff going on, and the other guy decided to use something from the canon that we had agreed as a group to keep out of the roleplay, and then had his character disappear. The roleplay died soon after that, and I was upset because it was a plot I'd been wanting to do for a long time. Eventually I just stopped attempting group roleplays and simply stuck with 1x1's. I'd rather deal with one asshole at a time rather than multiple assholes.
 
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I read pretty deep into it. Never got into it, and still hated it. The artstyle and everything irked me. :/ I read maybe to Act 3. Not sure, since I'm pretty sure it gave me cancer.

Well then, if you read that far into it, then I respect your opinion. I kind of feel the need to defend it in regards to Act 1 alone because of how different it is, but if you got into the real meat of it and still didn't like it then, eh, you're entitled to that opinion.

Yeah, I realized I was pretty stupid. I cried when my best roleplaying buddy left just because of her. She once told me she would return if I went ahead and booted her. Not only that, but my other best roleplaying buddy was once really friendly to me, but after she became friends with her (and also got into Homestuck), she became slightly bitter toward me as well. Sometimes I wonder if said person had gone so far as to brainwash her via PMs, but I think I'm just being paranoid.

Underlined: I really don't see how one friend getting another into Homestuck makes them less of a friend to you. I mean I realize you don't like it, but, not all Homestuck fans are as obnoxious as she was. Hell, most aren't. And the same goes for pretty much every fandom, really.

Bold: Wat? O_o
 
No, you can't do that. It doesn't work with my roleplay.

No, you can't do that, please stop insisting.

No, it's not going to happen and if you don't like the way I run this roleplay, you do not have to play.

GET OUT.

-reports Crazy Member that WON'T STOP-


And that is how Diana handles problem players! :D

Always remember if you are the GM, your word is law. It's okay to compromise sometimes, because a good GM will compromise. But if a player takes advantage of this and tries to force issues that do not work with your rp, they need GO. There are plenty of roleplays, they can find a new one!
 
That sucks, Nyd. :/ Sounds frustrating.

Underlined: I really don't see how one friend getting another into Homestuck makes them less of a friend to you. I mean I realize you don't like it, but, not all Homestuck fans are as obnoxious as she was. Hell, most aren't. And the same goes for pretty much every fandom, really.
She began to insist on adding Homestuck elements as well. And became her lackey, in a way.

Bold: Wat? O_o
I've heard that they've PMed a lot. And after that, she became hostile towards me too. I have no idea, because overall, I thought I was friendly enough and not offensive at all. So I guess they talked behind my back or something. IDK.

How about someone who doesn't like to fool/joke around and makes it awkward to be friendly and fun around them? What do you do then? Or if you don't want to roleplay with someone because of their writing style/character type?
 
I will admit that I have clashed with GMs in the past. While who was right was up to debate, when I got fed up with how someone ran I game, I usually left in quick order. As a GM, I imagine I would go ahead and boot a player for forcing through things without permission, even though I must admit that I would be quite miffed as a player if I heard the GM had plans to set up their own character for an important position (but I wouldn't godmode to get my way, for sure).

From a pragmatic standpoint, I would say that getting rid of a player that is alienating most of the rest of the player base is a valid move. There was this one person I knew that technically did nothing wrong in a few RPs, but they were such an obnoxious jackass that getting rid of them was the best thing the GMs of those RPs ever did.
 
As others have pointed out, when you're GM, your word is law, and if said law is broken, your loyal subjects look to you to administer the beheadings.

A VERY important thing to realize is nobody, and I mean nobody, is "too important" to be kicked out of a game. I don't care if their character is literally Atlas holding up the world, if you have a problem player it's up to you to remove them from the game after giving them fair warning to cut the shit. The story must go on, and absolutely nothing can't be resolved by altering the plot. Can't figure out how to replace Atlas? Then summon the Gods to be severely pissed off at Atlas and turn him into stone so he's locked in place for eternity. No more falling world; no more terrible player!

If you keep stringing along somebody who's making life miserable for everybody, they're only going to bring the game down - as you discovered. You might lose other players to them, and honestly, a big part about GMing is knowing when to enforce your rules, even if it might put you at odds with your friends. I've had to remove two friends from one of my games recently due to inactivity. I don't like doing it, but I can't hold different standards to different people. People have to respect the rules and standards when they sign up to a game. If they fail to hold up their end of the bargain, then it's up to the GM to let them know that they run the risk of getting removed from the game if the situation isn't resolved. If it continues, then it's time to cut the dead weight loose. You have to keep a game moving, no matter what. If somebody's not posting and is holding everyone up, then you skip over them and be prepared to puppet their character. Ultimately, what you do as a GM is always looked at and noticed. If somebody notices you're slow or ineffective at stopping bad behaviour, then either they will see what they can get away with or start looking elsewhere because they aren't enjoying the game as much anymore. If you're on top of things and keep players engaged and take care of trouble in a commanding way, then you're more likely to have dedicated players. A lot of RPs fail because the GM isn't prepared to do what's necessary to keep a game afloat. Remember, it's not a popularity contest and you can't make everyone happy. People signed up for YOUR game and they agree to your terms when they sign up. If they don't like it, too bad. Getting rid of somebody is as simple as writing,

Douchemonger420xXx is no longer a part of this roleplay because of ____. His characters will be removed from the game and he is no longer welcome in this thread.

Past that, you don't need to do anything else except for ignoring said player if they reply again and if they won't leave, inform the mods. Easy peezy!

I've had some interesting and awful player experiences, but they ultimately ended up with me just ultimately just kicking them out after realizing there wasn't going to be a diplomatic resolution. Don't beat around the bush longer than you have to.
 
Thank you for the help, guys. Really wish I had stepped up and done something, now.
 
Like other's have said, I would have removed the problem player but at least after giving them a warning/chance to clean up their act.
I had to deal with similliar things in D&D before a few years ago, problem got way worse than it needed to be because we were trying to be patient about it.

Granted, said player is now being retested in a current D&D group.
Seeing if a few years grace was enough time to resolve the issues and move forward.

But when someone is purposely sabotaging their game for their own ego?
You need to cut em loose, no one has fun with it, enjoyment will be drained and it's reinforcing their childish behaviour by allowing it to continue.
Underlined: I really don't see how one friend getting another into Homestuck makes them less of a friend to you. I mean I realize you don't like it, but, not all Homestuck fans are as obnoxious as she was. Hell, most aren't. And the same goes for pretty much every fandom, really.
I don't think what's being suggested is that Homestuck was the cause, but rather the troublesome players PM's was the cause.
This is something I've seen and dealt with before, you can get along with someone just fine. But then a third party decides they dislike you and starts to bad mouth you.
And often this actually starts to make said people think less of you.

May it be because they also like/get along with the third party, or simply do the whole "If you hear something enough you start to believe it" idea.
Human's being social creatures aren't exactly the best at staying back and being neutral when two people conflict, sides often get chosen, and often times the side chosen is the side going out of their way to recruit people.
 
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If I were in that situation... My common sense would tell me to immediately give that person an ultimatum the moment she gave off those warning signs. Then another part of me would feel guilty at forcing the person in a corner. Then yet another part would vindictively laugh and just be glad to get rid of a troublesome person from my roleplay. I mean, it takes a lot for me to get mad at a person I don't even know from across the screen. You're just a name on the screen to me at worst, and a good and close but faceless friend at best unless I trust you enough - I don't want to waste negative feelings on a trouble player. I have enough emotional problems already in RL and I don't want drama when it comes to my online life. Just no.

But if they lash out at me and try to stroke their own ego? Hellz nah. I'm not tolerating any of that, bitch. Either you learn that a GM's word is law and you need to learn to conform or at least reason better with me or you leave. You should have known to respect my rules the moment you joined my roleplay.

At least I hope that's how I would act. I've noticed I'm a bit of a pushover when it comes to arguments, since I don't want to cause too many problems for others. But still. Guilt guilt guilt mixed with glee. It's a strange feeling, but I'm a vindictive bitch when I have to be, then still feel horrible about it afterwards.
 
In short, I would have given warnings, but as soon as the trouble making started to cause others to drop the roleplay because she was so abrasive that would have been the very last straw for me and she'd get the boot. If you're such a shit that you're driving others away, it's time for you to go. Might've even punted her before that if she threw a lot of tantrums and caused drama in the OOC. I don't care how exciting and lively your characters are, if you're making others not want to participate in the OOC because you're awful then you need to tone it down or get out.

Also...
"oh I'm going to call them AUs now" (AUs are a thing from Homestuck btw)
This isn't at all a Homestuck exclusive thing. 'Alternate universe' has been a synonymous term for 'parallel universe' since long before Homestuck started.
 
Thanks for the opinions!

This isn't at all a Homestuck exclusive thing. 'Alternate universe' has been a synonymous term for 'parallel universe' since long before Homestuck started.
Either way, she forced a change that I didn't want. Everyone was using Arcs fine until she went along and came.
 
-reports Crazy Member that WON'T STOP-
If staff reports someone, who's there to read it?

Personally I dislike Homestuck. Lots of people like it, by all means, but no, I won't participate and read it. It wasn't fun, the art style was vomit inducing, and the characters felt so forced. Just no.

But if someone tries to do that kind of crap in an RP, which they like to do. That's the nature of pop culture, you want it inserted into whatever else you're a part of. Take My Little Pony for example. The horse-fuckers fans won't quit inserting ponies into every single genre they can imagine.

Rolling away from the topic here. If someone tries to derail it like that. You reprimand them and move on. If they don't let it go or keep insisting they can do as they please despite your warnings; you remove them.

Yes, yes. We all want to tell them how they're wrong and make them see the error of their ways. But people are stubborn.
 
If staff reports someone, who's there to read it?
I can read it too.
I can't do anything about it, but I can read it.
And then proceed to grab the popcorn. :3