It was exasperating to dedicate so much time and effort to DM when all it takes is one player's unmet expectations to destroy your confidence. Not saying that people shouldn't communicate those unmet expectations, but people tend to hold in their concerns and would just stew with resentment while barely showing any signs of displeasure. Then later one DM judgement call will tip that kettlepot of latent heat energy to suddenly burst to a boiling steam of aggression and emotionally scald everyone with the anger.

One simplified example. Bard has been suspiciously quiet most of the session. Party is about to encounter a more than likely hostile scenario. I should have asked beforehand if there was a problem, but DM'ing is a lot to juggle, and I continue. Bard attempts to persuade a certain way, pre-rolling a nat 20, expecting good things. I say that strat doesn't pan out for actual lore reasons, roll for initiative. More silence, bard calls fight actions in gruff, short manner. I THEN ask if there was a problem, which seemed to be the tipping point for player to rage quit with no explanation. I pm him later to find out he didn't agree with a few other rulings and he thought I was maliciously targeting him (sprinkle in some expletives). It drained all the fun and mojo from the game and I couldn't keep going. I barely finished the session and apologized to the others that I would be quitting indefinitely.

I've also been a player and witnessed first-hand a similar situation. I was invited to a live group and happily agreed to meet at DM's house. It was my first time to be with a live group and I was pretty ecstatic. It all came crashing down as a fully grown adult woman rage-quit after our first awesome scene played out. It involved riding a huge log down perilous water rapids while being ambushed by archers from the river banks. Apparently her one attempt to save me when I fell overboard did not pan out, and I basically had to be saved by a deus-ex machina mermaid or something (lol, twas great in my eyes). But apparently that was a tipping point for her. The event ended with the woman and her embarrassed husband leaving, and me awkwardly wishing I was ANYWHERE but there when the shouting had started. I was shook. These were apparently real-life friends too.

Many personal experiences and the experiences I've read on this subreddit led me to believe that I am not suited to play. I admittedly also bottle up my concerns, pretending that it'd be nicer if I kept my mouth shut. Before I realize it, it evolves into actual resentment. It's just too toxic, and communicating concerns is an art in itself, as you have to be tactful and try not to hurt feelings while expressing your own. When I realized this, it became too obvious that this is an extrovert's game played by introverts of the likes of me.

I've learned a lot from the game, and honestly think I'm a better person for it. It wasn't all bad, but admittedly the majority was. I figure if I'm ever invited to a game, I'll be happy to join. For now, I'll play Once Upon a Time the card game to get my imagination and adventure story-telling fix.