Shiv:
...games with Elitist requirements.
That's not at all fair. Asking for [whatever] as an RTJ doesn't mean anyone is or isn't Elitist. It just means that they want players willing and able to do [whatever]. And anyone not able or willing should look elsewhere. No snap moral judgments required.
I tend to run very specific games with very specific stories and very specific tones. I try my best to be very clear about what, exactly, I'm trying to do and how I plan to go about it. I've found that, most of the time, being very upfront about my plans and vision tends to attract players into whatever it is I'm doing.
I would never go FCFS. I need some sense of what kind of player they are before I can know if I want to tell that story with them. And even a short RTJ can tell you a lot. I've only ever ignored my instincts twice in all my Rpol days, and I've only ever had two players problematic enough to ask them to leave a game.
And yes, lots of my games fall apart for various reasons. Most games on Rpol fall apart for various reasons.
But whichever way you do it, player selection is essentially a crap-shoot.