I think you both hit the nail pretty good there, and I sympathize with you and for most decent guys who get a bad shake.
The problem is in the old story of when a younger brother has to attend the HS that his older brother went to. If the older dude was a horse's ass, then the younger one has to spend four years unsucessfully trying to prove he himself isn't.
The jerks in TK and bdsm that came along before you and hurt people have totally left a scar on all meetings to come. Most of them just wanted sex. Tickling was a means to get it. Others thought themselves 'experts' when far from. They even physically hurt some people.
The internet made it easier to contact people- and yet not be yourself. It didn't make it safer to meet people, nor easier to meet those at your level of play, nor easier to maintain relationships after meeting. It made things shallower.
Meeting someone at your level of play is also a problem. No one wants to play with someone who is boring or inexperienced or fumbling in bondage let's say. Most call themselves experts here but in person they're simply not. If you meet someone who bores you to tears, it's very uncomfortable to say "Hey I just don't want to do this with you" and leave. There's no good way to judge compatability.
The other thing is in people's stats. Of course everyone wants a good looking partner or partners. But you won't always get that. Putting that aside, it's nice to at least have them in your age range. Most guys in their 40's and 50's don't understand that girls in their 20's want guys in their 20's. It's a simple thing that seems to be overlooked. They want to be able to have more than just tickling as their common source, they want to be able to relate to the guy, his music, and everything. (That's not saying there aren't some exceptional looking guys in their 40's who could easily woo a girl in her 20's. I know that for fact.)
But over all it's the guys that hound you that are totally incompatibale with you and your playstyle that gets annoying and yet again makes it bad on guys like you who may be good a decent and a lot of fun to meet.
It's all about wanting to take a chance versus how many times you've been burned in the past 🙁
Kay