by Greyfax

In earlier columns, I mentioned that I had situations in which I have had to ban folks. This has happened four times, two of which I won't speak of. The first I've already discussed. The second wasn't actually a full banning, and here is the story:

There was a player who would come to the meetup and want to play the heavy games. Someone — often me because I enjoy heavy games — would teach, and while they would listen to the teach, when it was their first turn, they'd ask, "What should I do?"

The other players would make suggestions for what that player should do, and this behavior would continue throughout the game, making games sometimes twice as long as they should have lasted. Players love to be helpful!

As many of you know, heavy games are long in the first place, so this didn't help. Finally, I told the player they could not play heavy games anymore; however, they were certainly welcome to play other games that appeared to be a better fit. The player left the meetup in a huff. They had an advanced degree and apparently felt they "should" be able to play heavy games...except they simply weren't grasping them.

Six months later, they contacted me again and said they wanted to come back. They accepted where they were on the boardgame weight scale and had enjoyed being at the meetup previously. I, of course, let them return!

A few years after that, I saw them at a con, and they pointed to a middleweight game they were playing and said how much they enjoyed it. Then a few years after that, they were — and possibly still are — running their own meetup!

In the end, this was a great experience, and I believe that when you stick to your guns regarding expected behavior when you're hosting, everyone can be a lot happier and more comfortable.

Best,

Ms. Meeple (Jennifer Schlickbernd)

P.S. If there's a situation in your board game group or at a meetup that you would like advice on, please send me a Geekmail with "Ms. Meeple" in the title.