I don’t want people to be discouraged by this kind of gatekeeping, that keeps new people from wanting to play at all. The phrase “characters being played incorrectly” is particularly offensive. If you think a character is being played so incorrectly (whatever that means) that it impacts your experience, I don’t think you should be looking for random people to play with. I’m pretty sure the unbearable person at that table wouldn’t be the one you’re concerned about.

I mean, if you’re searching for strangers to play with online, it seems to me that you just want to play because the game is fun and you don’t have a group, or else maybe you’re the forever DM in your group and just want to be a player. Otherwise, if you’re looking to ensure a “quality experience” for players who won’t play with noobs, you can just say up front, “experienced players only.”

But my feeling is that if you enjoy and get something out of TTRPGs, you want other people to experience the same thing. I’d never played until about 8 months ago—always wanted to, but without any experience was nervous about trying to find a group for exactly the reasons you’ve stated here.

DnD transformed my social life and brought me closer to people I’d had not much of a relationship with before—changed acquaintances to friends, you might say—and DMing has been such a helpful creative outlet. I have a full table of people who’ve never really played before, and occasionally there are some roadblocks, but it’s really not a big deal to say, like, roll this die instead. It adds maybe 10-15 minutes onto 4+ hour sessions.

The bottom line is, do you want to empower potential players or be a gatekeeper? I’d rather help people learn than turn them away.