With Doom 4 announced, I want to ask ID/Bethesda/Zenimax to be lenient with their DRM.



I request no forced steam activation.


Given that you have responded negatively in the past, I don't hold much hope but it's better to ask early on rather than sweeping the issue away until it is to late.
I have enjoyed ID and Bethesda products greatly but have avoided them in recent years due to the DRM. I just won't buy the product and remain unconcerned by the remaining quality if you force bad DRM with it.


I have no problem with steam being available for those who wish it or to use it for extras like GFWL in Fallout 3, where it wasn't essential.

This isn't a discussion on the merits or weaknesses of steam - I simply do not want to have to use it.

I've no problems with DRM initially, so long as it's removed in a subsequent patch. Historically this is something that id have always done, even going back to the Quake 2 days when the need to have the CD always in the drive was patched out after a while.

Err ...Whats DRM & GFWL? Thanks.

Yeah...what are these things you speak of?

Er... are you being serious? I suppose I could be a bit clearer.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Games_for_Windows_Live, is an online service and software which can be used to manage games, buy games, buy expansions and use to communicate with others as a social community. It's usually tied in with games. I used it as in example with Fallout 3. You could use it to buy the expansions or store your saves online. The key point was that you could use it - you didn't have to use it. If you wanted the expansions for Fallout 3, you were always free to buy the disk with the expansions later. At no time did you have to use Games for Windows Live.

This changed with Fallout New Vegas, Skyrim and Rage.

Bethesda published these games with Steam. You had to use steam to play these games. There was no choice anymore.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Rights_Management - How games publishers manage their games. They have a few reasons for doing this - piracy and restriction of second hand sales.
Sometimes this can mean very serious restrictions in your games. Some games demand that you are connected the internet constantly. Others want a disc check or use serial numbers, or use steam to control the game. Some games have no protection against distribution and copying at all.
Most of these don't really stop piracy at all and are more of a nuisance. The benefit that Bethesda probably has its eye on is cutting down second hand sales. It's more difficult to sell a steam account than a boxed disc. I don't want to sell the games that I buy, but I do want to them to be with as few restrictions as possible.


It would be fantastic if the DRM was patched out after a while, however ID are answerable to Bethesda/Zenimax now and I don't see them offering much leniency here. I'm mentioning it good and early - with Skyrim and Fallout New Vegas, they kept very quiet about it until it was too late to do anything about it. I doubt my words will reach far but I might as well try anyway. I haven't bought any of these games solely because of the DRM and I used to be an avid follower of Bethesda's games, preaching how great they were. I'm happy enough giving my money to others who are astonishingly magnanimous.