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Having repeatable gameplay loops at the core of a game creates what I call a 'basic activity'. The basic activity is what the game is fundamentally about, and what it mechanically supports.
So Dungeons & Dragons is about going to dungeons (or other sites of adventure), resolving encounters and returning with experience and treasures. You're expected to do that over and over again when you play D&D. Shadowrun has a basic activity of, well, running the shadows - get a job from Mr Johnson, prep for it, obtain the objective, escape with your lives and get paid.
The basic activity is just that: Basic. When I look back on my campaign I don't think about fighting monsters in dungeons; I think about the epic romance, how much we loved the characters, of gods duelling in the skies over Rastingdrung, the grotesque fate of Liishinoru, intrigues at the Chatelaine's ball, the white sands of the Shattered Isles, the moments of humour and horror and wonder.
But the basic activity of dungeoneering was the foundation on which all of that was built. The fertile soil in which those stories could grow. Or, less dramatically: It's something fun to do while you wait for the really cool stuff to show up.
In other games you're told to get on with the story right away. This is a lot of work for the DM and can be intimidating or alienating to players, particularly new players. By just running around a dungeon together for a few sessions my players were able to get a feel for their characters and what they wanted out of the game. It let them establish a shared tone for the game through their early interactions.
You can do all of this up-front, deliberately, with one or more 'session zeroes', but it's a big commitment - both the commitment to do all that work up front, and the subsequent commitment of every player to show up consistently required for it to pay off.
If you develop in play, you have time to see who is going to stick around and who is going to drop out. You also get the benefit of feeling out the world, the characters, and the dynamic between the players before making big story and background decisions.
Another advantage of having a basic activity with clear procedures is as a fall-back. When there's a lull in the story or the DM is feeling out of sorts, you can just find a site of adventure and explore it, or do some runs for credits, or have your superheroes patrol the city.
So for D&D I hold with the classic bit of OSR advice: Don't start the game in a tavern; instead, start the first session at the entrance to the dungeon, and for backstory just ask everyone why they're here.