SimpleMind: One of the big differences between Fencer's Stairs and the traditional ladders is that the player above does the inviting. Or not! Speaking as a player who's enjoyed being at the top of a couple of Stairs, it's nice to be able to relax and enjoy the view without having to defend my position until someone has made a successful effort to reach me. Of course I'm not always relaxing for there are heads to be pushed down and fingers to be trodden on as people dare to climb up!

But that pause for relaxation can occur half way up a Stairs if there is a gap of empty steps above, and it's equally nice to relax there too.

Thus to remove non-active players would potentially mean removing the top player and those having a rest in the upper ranks.

The problem you face in your Line4 Stairs isn't having inactive players so much as it's having too few players. There are 12 players and no games going at all. Removing the inactive ones .. that would empty the whole Stairs! ;o)

If I might suggest doing a marketing campaign targetting a selection of active players in the Line4 ranks. Check people's game sheets and see who's got a reasonable interest level (a handful or more games, perhaps) and then write a short note to remind them about the existance of the Stairs and invite them to the challenge.

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!