We? In the 1980s I was part of a large group of friends in high school that were interested in TTRPGs. We had multiple campaigns in multiple systems. Some were highly restrictive to hew to the DMs vision of the world. Other were anything goes, string together a "campaign" from a various modules.
Since I've gotten back into gaming with 5e, I've run campaigns in highly curated homebrew settings with strict race and class limts, published WotC adventures with some limitations but mostly any official published options, and a gonzo campaign in a third-party publisher megadungeon with homebrewed character races (one character was a Worg, who ran into a curse giving her goat feet, and then contracted were-tiger lycanthropy).
Whenever I read these arguments I always find myself wondering incredulously whether such a large percentage of TTRPG gamers, of any generation, really limit themselves to just one style of campaign, year after year.