[Squirrelloid]

So, more generally, each person has some skill level s, and the set of players in a game generate some average skill level S. If player 1 has skill s1 << S, should he be removed from the game? How much less than S does s1 have to be before its okay to remove the player?

I would perhaps propose that if s1 >> S its a similar situation.

I see s1 << S as being far less imbalancing than s1 >> S. Sure, there's some localized advantage, but maybe player 1 is playing his first non-n00b game. Yeah, he gets trounced pretty badly, but he *learns* something from getting trounced. In a strategy game that is theoretically a test of skill, requiring everyone's skill to be approximately the same is self-defeating.