It's always hard to tell. I didn't expect my latest fic to take off or anything because the setting is quite "specialised" and so I think that some readers might shy away from it because they're unfamiliar with it. But yeah, comparing the hits-kudos-comments ratio, there definitely is a bit of a drop. I saw some other people that I follow comment on having a similar experience, and those were all WiPs too at the time. I guess it's a combination of several factors and I definitely can't compare it to my fic before that, because that included a lot of popular things in CQL fandom. XD
I'll see how the next one fares. XD

But yes, if you add older fandoms or NSFW, than it's different again, too.

I've always loved the interactions in fandom (well, if it didn't drift into wank XD) and talking about fic etc., so starting up DW again has been quite enjoyable! I think many of the younger fans just don't know about "comment culture", how it used to be in LJ threads etc. We'll have to lead by example, I guess! XD