Yeah, that is very true. One of my early experiences in English language Sentinel fandom was a list discussion about the general direction fanfic in that fandom had taken. Mind, not even the more contentious specific fanfic criticism (over which that fandom eventually splintered after some drawn out wars), just general comments like "I don't like it if fanfic does XY". I got actually flamed (offlist as the list itself allowed fanfic discussion but not flames) for expressing an opinion with a response that told me I should either write different fanfic myself or shut up (I think the phrase was "put up or shut up") because such "negativity" would only discourage the writers who were actually contributing to fandom. I definitely didn't feel welcome as a reader there...