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Is this really a good line of questioning? it seems like every question is answered with some variant of

talk to your players, be polite

remove problem if that doesn't work

and generally seems to be a "be my groups therapist" tag, and since we aren't professional therapists, maybe we shouldn't cover this.

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I understand your frustration. Even though these questions are in theory different, the answers are always the same.

  1. "Boot them!"
  2. "Talk to them! Then boot them!"
  3. "Incoherent new guy chimes in here!"

Vote to close as duplicate pretty aggressively, and downvote and comment on answers that don't address anything unique about that question and just give the general advice.

I am hoping the new "butt" question, as it's pretty generic, can be our close as dupe target in the future - even though we had others they tried to be more specific (he's a rules lawyer, he's sexist, he something else specific).

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  • \$\begingroup\$ I have enhanced the problem-players tag wiki with this guidance. \$\endgroup\$
    – mxyzplk
    Mar 26, 2015 at 1:25
  • \$\begingroup\$ would it be worth putting it in the excerpt? \$\endgroup\$
    – xenoterracide
    Mar 26, 2015 at 1:56
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    \$\begingroup\$ Excerpts should be really brief. \$\endgroup\$
    – mxyzplk
    Mar 26, 2015 at 3:20
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    \$\begingroup\$ Sometimes there are other answers. We seem to be a bit trigger happy here, but make <x> change to the way you as a group play/GM is, when appropriate, an excellent answer and definitely situation specific. It's just that most of the problem-player questions are written in such a way that this is a frame challenge, and thus subject to a higher bar for counting as the correct answer. \$\endgroup\$
    – Please stop being evil
    Apr 9, 2015 at 17:09
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Vote to close as duplicates for duplicate questions. If it's a bad question, downvote it.

If the questions are the same, then close as duplicate. Otherwise, we will accumulate them until we do have duplicates. We are experts at talking to groups, so it's on topic.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ they aren't exactly duplicates they just have the same basic answer. What else can you say to someone who you don't know, who's talking about someone you don't know. \$\endgroup\$
    – xenoterracide
    Mar 25, 2015 at 3:57
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    \$\begingroup\$ @xenoterracide "The same basic answer" is glossing over the crucial bit, the bit that makes them not duplicates and makes them useful: the not-basic bits specific to individual situations which turn each answer into actionable solutions rather than generic advice. That's where we come into our own, as citizens who can draw on years of experience having a myriad versions of these kinds of conversations with various folks. You're saying our answers can't be useful, but feedback shows they are. \$\endgroup\$
    – BESW
    Mar 25, 2015 at 4:12
  • \$\begingroup\$ Brian: if this comment is out of line, please advise. I am not certain if the distinction between "talking to people" and "talking at people" is always made in the group dynamics answers. Note 1: as a structural point, only one side of the story is presented in most questions of that sort. I have gone back to page 250 so far, of 800. Most "dealing with people" questions have very good answers, but some responses hit me as more "talking at" than "talking to" in tone. Note 2: the text medium doesn't always reflect how any of us would converse in the flesh. \$\endgroup\$
    – KorvinStarmast
    May 29, 2015 at 20:44

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