I say Ratsnakes all the way....But Im biased. :lol:
My first snake was a Taiwan Beauty Snake, and in all honesty, she was the easiest snake that I have ever kept. Fanastic feeder, not overly aggressive, but I dont like my snakes Tame anyways.....So thats probably why I keep going for notoriously aggressive snakes.....:?
But a royal is an ok starter snake. Its just if you pick a bad one it can be the worst thing you can ever do. It could get to the stage where it needs force feeding and thats not nice....

But on the other hand you could get the best feeder in the world. All the royals I have ever had have been fine. I have only ever had one non feeder and that was because he was an adult and brumating, then it was breeding season and he wasnt interested in food. He went for about 9 months without loosing hardly any weight.
Id say a colubrid would be your best bet, corn, king, or rat it doesnt matter, you can get good and bad in all species. Just go for something that is realistic and you like. Simple as!