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I would imagine that you can turn away any player for "disruptive" play. I would stay away from labeling anyone with a mental illness, true or not. I also don't know that you can "ban" anyone. All players must not be disruptive, end of story. I assume you already tried your level best to work it out with the individual.
Director of Brand Strategy
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I think that banning someone for something like that would be against the spirit of the game. You wouldn't (I hope) ban someone for a physical handicap, race, gender, or sexual orientation. Mental illness should be no different. If, however, you wish to prevent them from playing in your group because their illness results in inappropriate behavior which disrupts play for others, you're in a sticky situation. If it were Tourette's Syndrome, would that be grounds for banning? What if one interpreted symptoms of Down's Syndrome as "disruptive"?
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I think that banning someone for something like that would be against the spirit of the game. You wouldn't (I hope) ban someone for a physical handicap, race, gender, or sexual orientation. Mental illness should be no different. If, however, you wish to prevent them from playing in your group because their illness results in inappropriate behavior which disrupts play for others, you're in a sticky situation. If it were Tourette's Syndrome, would that be grounds for banning? What if one interpreted symptoms of Down's Syndrome as "disruptive"?
Understood. Unfortunately, this player's behavior is disruptive). We're not not having fun, including the GM. Instead, we've having to focus our energies on constantly 1) getting the player's attention focused back to the game (he'd rather play Magic: the Gathering); 2) stop his insistent behavior for PvP; 3) repeat the simplest rules to him; 4) "calm" him because he becomes belligerent when people try to speed him up, including the GM.
We've had to cancel numerous games because we could even come close to minimum size. And I've just recently learned that, because we game in a public place, folks who were interested in joining our games decided against it when they saw his behavior.
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I would imagine that you can turn away any player for "disruptive" play. I would stay away from labeling anyone with a mental illness, true or not. I also don't know that you can "ban" anyone. All players must not be disruptive, end of story. I assume you already tried your level best to work it out with the individual.
Yes, we did. The player has not changed his behavior. Player attrition is rapidly mounting; we play in a public place and we know new players have been turned away when they've observed this person's behavior.
Just remember, since you play in a public venue, if this player has a problem that makes him/her recognized by the law as being handicapped, then you or the place you play could be accused of discrimination if you just kick the player out. You should discuss the situation with the people who run the place to see how they want to handle it, as the penalties you could eventually face range from just needing to find a new place to play up to you and/or the owners of the place getting sued for discrimination.
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Just remember, since you play in a public venue, if this player has a problem that makes him/her recognized by the law as being handicapped, then you or the place you play could be accused of discrimination if you just kick the player out. You should discuss the situation with the people who run the place to see how they want to handle it, as the penalties you could eventually face range from just needing to find a new place to play up to you and/or the owners of the place getting sued for discrimination.
Understood. That's why we've been tolerating it as long as we can. But we've reached the point, as you can see from my answers above, that we're canceling games due to lack of players, both established and new. (And no, he doesn't get the hint or from private discussion that his behavior is a cause.)
GM's discretion. If the GM feels the player is a disruptive hindrance and is keeping others from joining, then cut him loose. I'm not going to make that decision for the GM, though.
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EDIT: And it just hit me that you mentioned he repeatedly attempts to PvP. That's a no-no per the PFS rules, so I would ask about having him banned for his behavior if he keeps doing it. Sure, he could register another PFS number and disrupt other tables, but you know he's got a ban on him and you can't let him play. And if he tried to use his own number and character, he'd be caught out the second the GM tried to report him.
Dang. Good point.
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GM's discretion. If the GM feels the player is a disruptive hindrance and is keeping others from joining, then cut him loose. I'm not going to make that decision for the GM, though.
Understood. And thanks. We suspected it was, ultimately, our call but we're all n00bs to organized game play. We want the players, especially newbies, to get as much enjoyment as we get. This issue, though, was out from left field for us.
While there might be some OP programs out there that hand down bans for things like this, I find banning to be largely unenforceable and would rather rely on my GMs to use good judgment when asking players to leave. That said, I do appreciate you posting about it here, if only to keep me in the loop.
Venture-Lieutenant, Arizona—Tucson
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Based on the descriptions you provided, you've already gone beyond reasonable accommodation of a handicap. You should discuss this issue with the manager or supervisor responsible for your gaming location, ensuring that you both agree about how to deal with the disruptive player.
If I were in your place, I would speak with the player, politely explaining that his disruptive behavior has made it impossible to continue gaming with him. If he is a minor, I would contact his parents. I'd also indicate that if he demonstrates better behavior in the future, he could be allowed to rejoin the group.
Based on the descriptions you provided, you've already gone beyond reasonable accommodation of a handicap. You should discuss this issue with the manager or supervisor responsible for your gaming location, ensuring that you both agree about how to deal with the disruptive player.
If I were in your place, I would speak with the player, politely explaining that his disruptive behavior has made it impossible to continue gaming with him. If he is a minor, I would contact his parents. I'd also indicate that if he demonstrates better behavior in the future, he could be allowed to rejoin the group.
What he said. :-)
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Understood. Unfortunately, this player's behavior is disruptive). We're not not having fun, including the GM. Instead, we've having to focus our energies on constantly 1) getting the player's attention focused back to the game (he'd rather play Magic: the Gathering); 2) stop his insistent behavior for PvP; 3) repeat the simplest rules to him; 4) "calm" him because he becomes belligerent when people try to speed him up, including the GM.
We've had to cancel numerous games because we could even come close to minimum size. And I've just recently learned that, because we game in a public place, folks who were interested in joining our games decided against it when they saw his behavior.
Do you mind if we take him ?
