I'm really glad you asked the question, Midnight Hour as it is one I have often wondered about. WR and I have had numerous discussions about some of the same exact things you brought up and I've made similar statements..."it just seems like so much work for some people." In fact, the other night in moderated chat, we touched on some of this in terms of rules and my stance that I didn't understand the need for all these stringent rules and boundaries wasn't well received by some since I am a single person. But really, what I think I was getting at was exactly what you are talking about. Vegas Lee kind of summed up some of my thoughts with these comments:
My swinging experiences are far different from his and certainly, I'm far less involved in the lifestyle than he and Laura, but I suppose that I've been quite fortunate since the experiences I have had have been nothing short of fantastic. I've been able to have close, happy, and essentially stress free relationships with the people. In all cases (limited as they are), there was never any discussion of specific rules or boundaries or stuff of that nature. Certainly, we discussed likes and dislikes just as you would with anyone, but I never felt that there was some sort of script any of us had to follow. While getting to know people, you learn through general conversation what they expect and want and they learn the same about you. At least that has been my experience. Somehow, someway...it just developed into a rather free and easy and flowing thing.
I can ditto many of your thoughts in terms of reading about so many unfortunate experiences others have had. And in real life for me, there have been occasions of crappy sex, too fast sex, non-performance sex...but I look on those occasions as being nothing more than real life and not anything to worry about. Those sorts of things happen to the best of us. However, I've also thought after reading some of the posts here - or wondered - if maybe people weren't putting too much pressure on themselves and/or their partners. Pressure to perform can be a real killer.
Anyway...thanks for asking the questions. And thanks to Vegas Lee for his responses. At least now I know I'm not alone with some of my thoughts.