Opinion Have you ever quitted something you love because you want to stay away from its fandom?

[Rekai Leon]

I don‘t know if you have ever had to make such decisions before, but that has happened so many times to me. There were games that I played for hundreds of hours, and there were RP fandoms that I invested so much efforts on, but I have eventually quitted all of them. It’s not because I do not love them any more. It’s because there were too many toxic people in those fandoms, some of which were even really threatening. They eventually became risks to my safety and well-being, leaving me with no choice but doing whatever possible to protect myself from them.

If you are going to tell me to “just do what you love alone,” please save your keystrokes. There are games that you can never enjoy on your own, such as MOBAs (in case you haven’t known already, the M stands for Multiplayer). There are single-player games that are so complex or difficult that you have to depend on others for mods, tutorials or in-person help. There are activities that can’t even be done alone, such as RPing. Even if you are interested in something a bot can do better than humans, such as Chess, you can never get the same experience you have when playing with other people.

I have made so many excuses for my ridiculously slow reply rate here, but deep inside my heart, I know they are all bullshit. I did better than that in the past, and I know I can do better than that right now. The reason that I don’t is that I am scared that what happened in the past will happen again. I am afraid that I will regret spending my time and effort here later on. I am afraid that one day, I will leave this place, wishing that I had never joined it in the first place.

 

[Onmyoji]

Just a couple years ago I left an online game fandom because there was drama after drama after drama and I got tired of the peacemaker role. Unfortunately I held certain weight in the community at the time and it was hard to just stay away from all that. Also I invested too much time and effort into the game to just leave that account and start again elsewhere, besides, the community issues would still remain no matter where I'd go, so I chose to quit the whole thing altogether. Wasn't an easy decision, but was for the best in the end.

There was also another online game which I quit not exactly because of the fandom itself, but fandom issues contributed to my decision as well. I also lost interest in gameplay so stars just aligned on that one and I don't feel too bad about it.

I also almost quit drawing because online artist community was absolutely awful and discouraged beginner artists.

There is no guarantee that things that happened before in other communities will not happen again. But I also think that it's not that common.
Even though I do play MOBA, Battle Royale games, other kinds of PvP games, I don't engage with those fandoms on a personal level, like I did in those fandoms that I had to quit. So maybe that's the difference. I think it is still possible to enjoy online activities without being too emotionally engaged with the community itself. Possible but not easy.

 

[candyrain]

The BNHA fandom O_O I haven’t touched that anime since sophomore year of high school (already left and going into college lol) and I still have figures and posters but the fandom is just god awful now. I know a fandom shouldn’t ruin my experience with enjoying something but it definitely ruined it for me in a way, I want to get back into it but i’m too lazy…

 

[Sofinya]

Genshin impact; I can't play anymore cuz part of the fandom is the most annoying human beings on planet earth and way too toxic inside the game.

 

[Kaiju Cat]

I quit the hetalia and refused to touch ouran because of both toxic fandoms and had to deal with a nasty bitch.

 

[Battlemaid]

Oh haven't I?
Most recent was getting the Heck away from the BNHA/MHA fandom. Before that it was having to distance my self from an anime that in itself is wholesome and a feel good cute girls doing cute things series, but its fans more recent reputation has sullied it to the point I'm actually scared to admit being a fan lest I be lumped in with them.

I've also left many other communities in my time on the web due to personal disagreements or in one case, opposing the free pass given to prominent members for abhorrent real world behaviours.

Its most definitely upsetting, especially if its a community within which you've poured time and energy. I like to give back to communities i enjoy being in and its always a tough call to abandon a labour of love due to a few dickish types. But sometimes that's the better option.

Other times it's simply said interest group dying out. There was a time i was a prolific and well regarded mlp fanfic writer. But it declined between shows and certain individuals soured it by bringing outside conflicts and personal vendetta into it. I was chased away due to an irl romantic rival being better connected to the "ponyville rumour mill"

 

[Edric Blight]

Yes, The Owl House. Shippers are insane and totally ruin the fandom for me.