This is a really good point: the importance of D&D in the history of Fantasy can't be understated -- and the way Gygax drew upon mannered, systematic writers of Fantasy like Jack Vance (I *love* Vance, but his style and worldbuilding are beautifully contrived, nalanced, wittily mannered (I repeat myself) .... which is the opposite of what I'm grasping for with this post.