id software site now redirects to doom.com

[doomgargoyle]

I know the site hadnt really been anything but old crap for years now, but now it seems it's completely gone. It just redirects to the doom reveal site. That website was legendary, it's truly the end of an era.

[fraggle]

Wow, you're right. Guess this really is the end. I guess Id is just some well-known trademarks now.

Seems like the FTP site still exists for now at least, so I guess that's something.

[Blastfrog]

Eh, it's been 'the end' for a while now. It's just that the negative consequences have become more visible with recent developments.

I still maintain that id should've just closed down and let their works become public domain. That Zenimax is now able to lord over these cultural icons when the company itself has been well and truly dead for years is a travesty.

[reality 2.0]

fraggle said:

Wow, you're right. Guess this really is the end. I guess Id is just some well-known trademarks now.

Seems like the FTP site still exists for now at least, so I guess that's something.

we should enjoy that while it lasts. Since we can assume that the id software site for now doesn't exist, who knows how long it is until the geniuses at zenimax or whoever is responsible for this decides to take that down as well.

[GreyGhost]

I was trying to nab a few screenshots from there just over a week ago, hope they haven't all hit the bit bucket.

[doomgargoyle]

Sodaholic said:

Eh, it's been 'the end' for a while now. It's just that the negative consequences have become more visible with recent developments.

I still maintain that id should've just closed down and let their works become public domain. That Zenimax is now able to lord over these cultural icons when the company itself has been well and truly dead for years is a travesty.

They didnt do that because of pride. And because they wouldnt have gotten a big payout from selling the company's assets to Zenimax or any other big company. Wasnt Activision at one point going to buy id software?

reality 2.0 said:

we should enjoy that while it lasts. Since we can assume that the id software site for now doesn't exist, who knows how long it is until the geniuses at zenimax or whoever is responsible for this decides to take that down as well.

We should make a backup of the ftp site.

[GreyGhost]

doomgargoyle said:

We should make a backup of the ftp site.

I should think there'd be little that isn't already mirrored on /idgames, but whatever isn't should be grabbed just in case.

[Blastfrog]

doomgargoyle said:

They didnt do that because of pride.

I know, I know, it was to keep their business running. However, it should've been clear right then and there that they just didn't have it in them anymore. They could've at least quit when they knew they were screwed than to keep dragging along for another six years. They had everything to lose and nothing to gain, it would have been nice to have lost their assets to the public and not be vacuumed up into yet another litigious media mogul.

And I know the obvious response is that they couldn't see into the future and were hoping for the best, but it seems that every drastic decision ever taken by id has been another step toward their downfall. Imagine where the company would be now if the core founders stuck together?

[doomgargoyle]

Sodaholic said:

I know, I know, it was to keep their business running. However, it should've been clear right then and there that they just didn't have it in them anymore. They could've at least quit when they knew they were screwed than to keep dragging along for another six years. They had everything to lose and nothing to gain, it would have been nice to have lost their assets to the public and not be vacuumed up into yet another litigious media mogul.

And I know the obvious response is that they couldn't see into the future and were hoping for the best, but it seems that every drastic decision ever taken by id has been another step toward their downfall. Imagine where the company would be now if the core founders stuck together?

You mean the original team with Tom Hall and John Romero? I dunno, they all wanted id to go in different directions, and id didnt go into those and thus they left. Tom Hall didnt want id to do violent games, and Romero wanted id to make other games thant FPS'es. Carmack wanted better 3d tech to make the next violent FPS. Carmack got his way.

Well, if they had released all their assets and brands to the public domain too, there wouldnt be any doom 4, since there wouldnt be a company like zenimax that owns the rights spending millions to fund the making of a doom sequel. At most we would have gotten a set of megawads for doom II made by the community as doom 4. And come to think of it, that would be kind of nice. Doom 4 the Community Edition(tm).

[Touchdown]

Another dumpster for 'id is dead' comments, nice. It's good because nobody ever said that before.

It's even more funny considering nobody even thought that it redirects to doom.com because, for instance, that's the game they're working on and they're revealing it soon so they want everything to point to that? I know, crazy idea, utterly impossible.

[doomgargoyle]

Touchdown said:

Another dumpster for 'id is dead' comments, nice. It's good because nobody ever said that before.

It's even more funny considering nobody even thought that it redirects to doom.com because, for instance, that's the game they're working on and they're revealing it soon so they want everything to point to that? I know, crazy idea, utterly impossible.

They could have added the doom reveal in their site, coudlnt they?

[Touchdown]

I've seen that many times both in games and music industries. I wouldn't even think of bringing it up.

[Technician]

doomgargoyle said:

Well, if they had released all their assets and brands to the public domain too, there wouldnt be any doom 4, since there wouldnt be a company like zenimax that owns the rights spending millions to fund the making of a doom sequel.

They could have made their previously released titles public domain without sacrificing IPs.

[doomgargoyle]

Technician said:

They could have made their previously released titles public domain without sacrificing IPs.

Yeah but who wouldn own the IPs?

[GreyGhost]

Touchdown said:

I've seen that many times both in games and music industries. I wouldn't even think of bringing it up.

So, what do I click on to access the id Software site?

[DooM_RO]

It may very well be just a placeholder (like the placeholder Doom site). I mean their site really sucked, it looked like something from 1999 and not in a good way.

[Cupboard]

DOOM may be id's last project before the worthy members merge into another company for all future projects.

[DooM_RO]

If it sucks Bethesda will probably close the studio, migrate all the good devs to MachineGames who will then take over the development of the IPs. Not so bad if you think of it.

[Superluigieth1]

So does this mean DooM is now freeware?

[Cupboard]

No. Probably never will Doom acquire this status. Its license is way too valuable and symbolic to the franchise.

[DooM_RO]

Superluigieth1 said:

So does this mean DooM is now freeware?

...Can you hear yourself man??

[Blastfrog]

DooM_RO said:

If it sucks Bethesda will probably close the studio, migrate all the good devs to MachineGames who will then take over the development of the IPs. Not so bad if you think of it.

AFAIK, Bethesda doesn't hold any authority over id, that would be Zenimax. I don't see that as a good thing no matter what happens to id.

[DooM_RO]

Why? The fact that Bethesda is pissed off at id is understandable, I would be pissed too. Did you know that after RAGE Id wanted to work on its sequel, while their flagship game was in deep shit? Yeah, lets make a sequel to a merely above average game instead of fixing Doom. What a great idea! Bethesda did the right thing and canned the RAGE 2 project. Because of this partnership Wolfenstein was also given to a far more competent developer than the previous one, who damaged the name of the franchise.

So yeah, I am glad Zenimax bought Id. They are not perfect but Id is like an overgrown teenager who needs some fucking discipline.

[Superluigieth1]

DooM_RO said:

...Can you hear yourself man??

Yes...

[Blastfrog]

DooM_RO said:

Did you know that after RAGE Id wanted to work on its sequel, while their flagship game was in deep shit? Yeah, lets make a sequel to a merely above average game instead of fixing Doom. What a great idea! Bethesda did the right thing and canned the RAGE 2 project.

To me, Rage was kind of "almost there, but not quite." I kinda think that a sequel to fix some of the problems of the first game and expand on the world a bit more would've been nice. Just to do something new rather than the same old IPs over and over. Besides, Doom 4 is never going to live up to anyone's (radically different from person to person) expectations.

DooM_RO said:

So yeah, I am glad Zenimax bought Id. They are not perfect but Id is like an overgrown teenager who needs some fucking discipline.

I would've preferred that they just die and their works become public domain or orphaned. I hate the idea of media moguls buying everything up and having complete control over many beloved IPs.

[DooM_RO]

But I want my Doom 4 dammit!

[Touchdown]

Sodaholic said:

Doom 4 is never going to live up to anyone's (radically different from person to person) expectations.

I made a thread about it. It might not convince a lot of people (or anyone for that matter) but I'd love for people to get a slightly different perspective on approaching this game.

Sodaholic said:

I would've preferred that they just die and their works become public domain or orphaned. I hate the idea of media moguls buying everything up and having complete control over many beloved IPs.

I've been a fan of id ever since Wolf3D and Commander Keen and I honestly don't understand that point of view. Things change, whatever. Even if everything goes to shit completely, so what? It's not gonna ruin id games that I love. Even if some company takes over and makes horrible sequels to id franchises, so what? I will simply not play them, problem solved.

Hell, there was a long period when I didn't care for id at all (I didn't like Quake II, ignored Quake III, so roughly 7 years of not caring for the company) and... nothing, really. If id goes down, so be it. I'm certainly not gonna be depressed because "someone might ruin my beloved franchises".

A stream of absolutely horrible X-COM games didn't ruin the original trilogy for me. Neither did it stop me from enjoying Firaxis' XCOM.

[DooM_RO]

@Touchdown

Holy shit, a reasonable person on the internet? Are you real?

[Shaviro]

Don't really care if idsoftware.com is temporarily or permanently gone. It's always been a pretty useless site. Now that they're under the Zenimax umbrella there are other, much more competent, people to handle websites, pr etc. The job function was the only somewhat active portion of the site and that is now (for years) being handled by bethesda. Just redirecting to bethesda/whatever they're working on (Doom) Sounds like a great move to me.

My view on id today is better than it was a year ago. Sure, they've bled oldies, but I do believe (some of) the same people have been the root of the problem. If they hire the right people it will be a win for them. From what I can gather, they're building a new team almost from the ground up. It's not the same id software that it used to be, but people seem to view id through rose tinted glasses anyway. You can't just reassemble the old gang and expect something amazing to grow from that. They're all different people today and it's not like they all have proven themselves since the Doom days. Far from it.

People see Carmack's departure as a huge blow. I see it as a huge opportunity. After Doom3 and RAGE, id could really use a more contemporary approach towards engines. Couple that with the amazing artists they have and you'll get something very special. Give them a chance.

[Patrol1985]

In addition to what's been said, Tim Willits is still part of id Software and I really consider him to be a very good game designer... despite all the stupid shit he says about other stuff (DRM being good for consumers etc.)

DOOM 4 will NOT live up to expectations put in it, no chance. However, I think it still will be a damn good game.