I meant that tabletop RPGs have "always" been more diverse than D&D, GURPS, and other games like that. A kind of realism became popular in the 80s. Combat was

I meant that tabletop RPGs have "always" been more diverse than D&D, GURPS, and other games like that. A kind of realism became popular in the 80s. Combat was supposed to be deadly, and even experienced characters could die due to bad luck in any routine fight. You were always expected to consider whether there were better approaches to the situation than fighting. Another variant of this trend was cosmic horror, where you might be able to fight the minions, but the actual villains were far beyond your characters. If you encountered them, your only choice was to flee, and the expected outcome of a campaign was a descent into madness. In the 90s, (A)D&D started falling into obscurity due to poor business decisions. Many games of that time emphasized storytelling and role-playing over combat and other game mechanical considerations. Key D&D mechanics such as hit points, character levels, and extreme character progression were often considered obsolete. (But video games eventually brought them back to tabletop gaming.) The 2000s saw the return of game mechanics, both in the form of D&D and the rise of experimental rule systems. Once common idea was that game mechanics should be used for resolving outcomes rather than actions. For example, you first discussed your plans for the battle, then resolved it with a few die rolls (or maybe with no dice at all), and then you narrated the events. Many designers explored games with an extremely narrow focus. For example, the rules would assume that you were playing minions of a villain who treated you badly. The situation got progressively worse, and you were eventually expected to try to overthrow the villain. I'm less familiar with games from the 2010s, because life has taken me around the world and there have been fewer opportunities for gaming. But I'm still involved in organizing a largeish volunteer-run gaming convention. Based on what I see there, D&D-style games have not become that dominant.