A gateway certainly.
My path went:
Fighting Fantasy solo books
Dungeoneer/Titan/Port Blacksand
LARP
Vampire LRP
Everway
Paranoia
And when I played 3rd Ed I didn't like that I was treated as a moron for not planning out my character from 1-20 (in a game which never got to level 5).
I GMd it for a bit then quit when a player had a hissy fit that made me question my GMing skills.
Went back in to GMing after someone I met years later told me that actually it was just someone being That Guy.
I played in a couple of 4e games. They didn't last and were quite off putting technically.
One session of Pathfinder. 3 weeks of putting a Dwarven Forger (I.e. they were an expert at forging papers). Joined in the middle of a jungle dungeon with a very weird dynamic. Not for me.
A meaty Dark Heresy campaign loads of little games including D20 traveller, Exalted 2e (complex but fun).
Feng Shui 1e, converting FS1e to Savage Worlds,
Savage Worlds, The Laundry (BRP),
Ran some 5e. Got into Adventurer’s League (Rich Lescouflair's City on the Edge had dinosaur races, dinosaur cage fights... what's not to love?) Ran lots of little one pagers (I can do Honey Heist from memory, not that difficult!)
And somehow ended up with A5e.
So, in retrospect, for most of my RP career, D&D has been intriguing as an idea but off-putting as an experience. Current 5e is OK, but basic, and running it is a hair shirt experience compared with actually having support to do so.