SimpleMind: But maybe I misunderstood you. Now I'm wondering whether you meant truly inactive players such as Ryna from Ohio who has been MIA since last year.

Such players will inevitably get pushed down to the bottom step but, unlike leaf mold on the forest floor they are non-biodegradable, so that step would eventually get cluttered. Such players do provide a free boost up to Step 2 when they timeout but I only rarely enjoy a win of that nature. So I second your recommendation that they be removed at some point.

On the other hand, lol, the above applies to Backgammon, say, but a sparsely populated Stairs like your Line4 one would look even emptier than before and a half empty room has less appeal as a party venue!