For me it was just a matter of finding the right people. In college I was in an anime club and half of it was splitting off to form a DnD club that would be meeting at the same date and time. The way they described the game to me sounded like fun, but I knew I'd have a bad time because of a couple of the people there. One was a guy that just takes any multiplayer too seriously. You know, the guy that points blame and berates people when the battle goes sour. The other was a girl who didn't get along well with other girls in our group. When some girls find themselves as the girl in the group for too long they feel super un-special when other girls join in and try to compensate. Watching anime with them was great. But cooperative play? I think I'll pass.

Then my boyfriend hosted a laid back session of DnD with some people that put effort into it but still remembered that it was supposed to be fun and I had a great time.