So why did Carmack and id Software, known for their love of furious competitive deathmatch, switch gears to what Carmack described as simply "a really really good linear single-player experience?"

The answer lies partially in the direction the market is moving. Team-based games are dominating the online action scene, for a number of reasons. The variety of gameplay is part of it, as well as the variety of play styles a team game can support. Carmack also figures that, in team games, half the players always win (as opposed to one player in deathmatch.) But this, personally, never interested Carmack. "I never really appreciated team activities ... in real life or in computer games," he said, to the amusement of the audience. Instead, id Software moved in another direction.

Later during the talk, the subject returned to multiplayer when an attendee asked about Carmack's thoughts on "The Metaverse," or a shared virtual environment as depicted in the classic novel Snowcrash. Before id Software decided to make DOOM 3, Carmack had toyed around with and pitched the idea of creating what he called a general purpose online environment. However (in part due to profitability considerations) the company opted not to pursue it.