"I think a lot of the “variety” that D&D allows is more perceived than actual. Like playing in Ebberon versus Dark Sun. Sure, the settings are different, but the game will largely flow the same way."
D&D, and any of the original roleplaying games were designed with the expectation players could create their own living world. From the original Traveller rulebook:
"The greatest burden…falls on the referee, who must create entire worlds and societies through which the players will roam. One very interesting source of assistance for this task is the existing science-fiction literature. Virtually anything mentioned in a story or article can be transferred to the Traveller environment…absolutely anything can occur, with imagination being the only limit. The players themselves have a burden almost equal to that of the referee: they must move, act, travel in search of their own goals…Above all, the players and the referees must work together. Care must be taken that the referee does not simply lay the fortunes in the path of the players, but the situation is not primarily and adversary relationship. The referee simply administers the rules in situations where the players themselves have an incomplete understanding of the universe. The results should reflect a consistent reality.”
There is much to unpack from Marc Miller’s statement. First, it represents the original creators of roleplaying games belief that the rules designed were to be used to come up with anything referees and players want to do. It was only after they realized many of their customers did not want to do this work, they started to release settings and adventures. The first customers who “got it” obviously went on their merry way and pursued their dreams and imaginings.
The next important point is the belief users would be invested in the source material, their favorite science fiction for science fiction, their favorite fantasy for playing fantasy. I observe that it was not long before players and referees were playing, wanting to play, expected to play D&D, not so much fantasy. Or Traveller opposed to science fiction or say Champions as opposed to supers. It was a move away from playing fantasy and deciding what that would look like to playing a specific game. Playing Champions become playing Champions, not so much as playing supers. Traveller became playing in the Traveller Universe and the Spinward Marches and not playing the participants ideal science fiction world. This is because it is easier to use something which already exists compared to doing a hard think (by everyone) on what makes a great (insert genre here) and what elements should be included. And then taking the next step and not make it boring. For some reason, out of the gate, most players ceded authority to the rulebook, as if a set of mechanics knew what a great fantasy/sci-fi game looked like and discarded the creator’s emphasis on this responsibility being that of both PC and referee.
Miller continues, emphasizing the relationship between player and referee, naturally. There was not an original rpg which did not, up front believe players of the game read fantasy adventure books and would take the game rules to recreate their favorite ideas. That “The players themselves have a burden almost equal to that of the referee: they must move, act, travel in search of their own goals…” “Above all, the players and the referees must work together.” The notion of “being a fan of the players” was baked into the original concepts of roleplaying games. The fact that participants played poorly (railroads, killer DM’s, etc.) reflects player ability more than a failure of a game’s design.
When these games came out in the early 70’s those who were first in the hobby at ages of 30, 40, 50+ probably played a sophisticated game with much nuance and creativity. That would be expected of an adult. If you were 11 like myself, you played a child’s game lacking the depth a well read grown up with a passion for a genre would. Then the older, experienced gamers died and their experiences would have died with them. RPGs are an oral tradition after all. If you were like me and really into the art form you would try and figure out why the promise made by the creators wasn’t really happening at the table with your teenage friends. Being a kid had a lot to do with that, but try and tell a teenager they are wrong about something...
Indie games are a fascinating look at once young gamers coming back to the source material of adventure fantasy and as adults getting something that was already there. An epiphany, more than anything. There is an undercurrent of “yeah, I didn’t get it at age 15” in indie games I see subsumed within the intent of their rules. This has a knock-off effect of indie games with a tight focus on a specific experience which is closely aligned as possible with the original source material which spawned the excitement. The specific experience original creators had in mind when they released their products for the first time.