Right before John Romero left id Software, he made the suggestion that id split into two companies: Engine and Design. He felt that John Carmack's continuous changes to the engine slowed down the progress of the design team. Now, in the present, its become apparent that the opposite is now true. Should the company split into two companies? Yes, yes, and yes again, for the good of DOOM, id Software, and the gamers alike.

update Jack - I just have to chime in here. You can't write a game engine without a goal in mind. Designers come up with that goal. You can't just come up with an engine out of the ether and throw a design around it, which is why games still take a lot of engineering effort even with licensed engines. That's the point of a game team, to work together with a common goal. Ok, sorry, back to work :-)