What's the hardest part about getting players to stay in campaigns?

For GMs who regularly run games with people they didn’t already know. Bonus points if you’ve ever been paid for it.

Hey everyone —I found this community after reading Proactive Roleplaying (which I love), and it got me thinking more deeply about why some tables hold together for months (or years) while others slowly fall apart.

I’m especially curious about games with strangers or semi-strangers, where chemistry isn’t a given and commitment is harder to predict.

Rather than asking for advice, I’m trying to understand patterns.

So I’ll start with one question:

When a campaign falls apart, what’s usually the first crack you notice?

A few optional prompts if it helps you think it through (no need to answer all of them):

Is it something mechanical (scheduling, rules, pacing), or something social?
Does it usually show up early, or after a few sessions?
Did you see it coming, or did it blindside you?

If you’re comfortable sharing, I’d also love context like:

Whether you run paid or unpaid games
Whether your players usually come from friends, marketplaces, Discord, etc.

I’m mainly interested in how real tables behave — not how we wish they did.

Thanks in advance. I’ll be reading and asking follow-ups if that’s okay.

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