You've just identified the fundamental split in D&D culture. D&D was groundbreaking because it was game-breaking - it took the fundamental concept of "game," b

You've just identified the fundamental split in D&D culture. D&D was groundbreaking because it was game-breaking - it took the fundamental concept of "game," being a closed loop of processes, and split it open a bit by allowing players to just make up certain things, just enough (or so thought the designers) to allow for some tactical richness that a closed loop can't support. Turns out, though, that lots of players actually wanted to rush out of the closed loop of the rules and spend most of their time out in make-believe-land, only touching on the rules occasionally if at all. Gygax was always kind of horrified by this - to his dying days he referred to speaking in character, ever, as "that community-theater crap." Arneson's attitude was somewhat different. Very sad to have to type "was."