I‘m not sure I grasp what’s happening.I'm running a non-D&D online game with a couple of seats open for drop-in players (Roll20), and I'm finding that some players can't quite wrap their heads around a non-D&D rule set. It's more of an issue when play wanders away from role-play and into rules-dense territory, like combat.
If you've GMed other bloodlines of games, like Fate or Dungeon World (or Amber?), how did you help players break out of the D&D mindset?
If you've learned a non-d20-style game as a PC while coming from a D&D background, did you have trouble avoiding old habits? What did you do to overcome them?
I started with AD&D in ‘77, found Traveller and The Fantasy Trip a couple years later, then Champions when it came out. Those games were the only RPGs I played in any real amount until the 1990s, when my collection and gaming exp exploded to over 100 systems. D&D still comprised the majority of play.
...but the only real change in my play style over time was moving away from cookie cutter stereotype PCs I played like war game units and into genuinely playing character roles.
So I’m confused by what you mean by your complaint about the D&D mindset. What are they doing that’s “D&D” as opposed to whatever you’re playing?