In my experience cliques happen usually when there is a group of face claims that only rp with other faces that theirs have pics with and/or are dating in rl. I’ve seen it avoided by using not the regular fcs or by monitoring everyone and keep reminding them that they need to be paraing with everyone.

I think what makes a site “clique-ish” is when there are a group of people, generally with the admin team involved, are basically in a clique. They might plot with other people, but their favorite ships/plots tend to be within said clique, and they tend to post first for these plots, even if they owe other threads. Most sites tend to be a little clique-ish, however, so avoiding them is hard. My advice is to just find a good rping partner and try to have fun no matter what site you go on.

I think the cliquishness of the site boils down to the admins. Sites tend to take on the personality of the people that are in charge. If admins aren’t actively going about and plotting up characters and getting people involved, then they are encouraging cliquish behavior by their inaction. A lot of roleplayers are turned off when staff members expect everyone to go to them for plots, or if they do post in your shipper, they don’t bother to check for replies.