Ola Björling:

I don't care much. Creating good weapon balance can't be that hard. They did it very well in Quake 3 so I trust they'll pull that off without my help :-)

I can only hope that id will not tamper with the time-tested weapon balance of the original DOOM games. This will, undoubtably, have an impact on next-generation gamers, such as Unreal Tournament and Quake3: Arena devotees, as they would be unaccustomed to the high-power arsenal of the DOOM series.

However, id Software will likely modify the powers of the DOOM armory extensively, and will likely work towards a balance between current first-person shooters, such as Quake3: Arena, and the DOOM classics. In doing so, they had best carefully consider the effect on the both the single-player the deathmatch aspects of the game.

What old school doomers often say when they explain to people why the still play the +5 year old game DOOM, is something about the weapon-balance and the lack of it in newer games. This of course a very vital point in the game... Stay as close as possible to the original balance and everyoneshould be happy. But maybe you ust prefer playing with the weapon-balance you are used to... That will become a problem if that is the case. I am strongly convinced that DOOM's weapon-balance is the most fair.

Or put it this way; they could go ahead and do changes as long as all weapons provided has advantages. The super shotgun is very powerful upfront but isn't good when the distance is far. The rocket launcher in DOOM has a dangerous blast area which gives it a huge disadvantage in close quarters. The plasma rifle fires at a great speed but the radius of the shots is too big to make it the weapon of choice. Now, last the BFG9000. If you can handle it correctly it is extremely deadly in all surroundings and distances but the difficulty to use it properly and the delay between it's shots often makes player choose a less powerful gun.

If they thinking about all that it should work out fine.

So what effect will it have on the respective gameplayers? Well, it would be like cutting off the right hand on a doomer, if you do huge changes to the balance. A Quake player would be switching games, from Quake to DOOM, and should only expect differences, right? My opinion is that Quakers should learn how to use different weapons instead of just one...

I would try very hard to retain the rock solid feel and keep the shared ammo design as a corner stone. I think the originals that move over should keep their old rank in the hierarchy. Personally I'd like to see a backpack with a (large) inventory, but who knows if that's the route they're taking.

Leave it the way it is (if they recycle the weapons from DOOM to the new DOOM). I would assume people would like balanced weapons. Quake was a good example of unbalanced weapons. Everyone loved DM play as long as they had a rocket launcher. But without one, most people said "this game sucks!". The good ol' days...

I don't know if anyone...including id Software can ever achieve the type of weapons balance that the original Doom offered.

Keep the balance the same as the original -- the difference between DOOM and Quake3 weapon balancing is pretty minimal. Keep the powerful DOOM2 double-barrel shotgun.... the original BFG, etc. I think the Lightning Gun would be fine, as well as the Hyperblaster. I'm not sure if i would include the Railgun, though.

Eh? Hopefully id will retain the weapon balance. Who would want them to screw it up?

Ola Björling:

It will probably have very little effect. In time it will die anyway (sad but true), but as when Quake came, we won't be very affected.

The current DOOM community, dedicated to the DOOM games of yesteryear, is crumbling. The announcement of a new DOOM, to follow in the footsteps of the classics, has had a powerful impact already...

The community has received a new infusion of fresh blood in the form of Quake players seeking a sense of nostalgia in anticipation of the new DOOM. Additionally, the current community has become even more splintered, arguing over the possibilities of this new game...

Personally, I do not see much changing with the DOOM community. It will simply adapt to the coming DOOM3, and there will always be a dedicated sect of orthodox die-hards to love the original DOOM games.

One half wants to see a true conversion of DOOM to a newer engine and the other half wants to see some changes done. I am being very prejudice here but it will probably be like that. The people who don't get all their wishes fulfilled will be disappointed, unfortunately. This is a hard question to answer...

Just like when we were waiting for Doom2 people will be guessing at the end result until it's done. Some will bitch because it wasn't the way they expected. People that don't upgrade every year will be jealous but remain largely unaffected and keep tooting the old engine's horn. Those that do have the hardware will taunt their less fortunate comrades with glorious screen-shots and frantic tales of battle. Old-school fans will make the "you don't understand the original" argument reach new heights. Some classic maps will get converted to the new engine and undoubtedly there will be attempts to recreate the new maps in the old engine too. Someone will make a new Map 30 and put Sandy Petersen's head on a stick. Mordeth will finish his TC.

It could enhance it, or destroy it. I doubt it will bring a flood of people to check out what we do with DOOM and the enhanced source ports. Maybe people that started with DOOM will load it back up to play some, but so many people are hooked on the newest engine with all the bells and whistles, they would grow annoyed at the "low quality" graphics. Although playing GothicDM in GL Legacy in 800x600 is damn sexy. Looks a lot better than Quake 2 in GL in many ways (and a lot less orange).

I thought this was the first question...anyway, I don't think you'll be able to merge the old community of doomers with the new. That would be like you and your dad listening to the Beastie Boys together. Think about it. Sad to say, but the old community of doomers is pretty much out of commission already, so whether or not there's a new Doom3 game the inevitable is inescapable for the original doom community. I do think that Gaston will some day still release Mordeth Episode 2 and 3. (inside joke)

Well, the community is still pretty big, especially after the source code release. But it will become just as huge as it was when DOOM2 was released, i'm sure. There's more people playing games today so it's possible to equal those numbers again.

Hard to say at this early juncture. Everything depends on how fabulous of a game it turns out to be, but I don't think that everyone is going to embrace it with open arms. There will undoubtedly be people who are supremely disappointed with it and they, along with those who don't have a fast enough computer, will stick with the old games. Personally I imagine that I will play both.