I feel like the way Romero and Carmack wanted to make the player "connect" with the game was different than what Tom had in mind (from reading the book).
Tom wanted elaborate lore and story-telling, while the rest wanted to make the game experience what the player connected to. The instant reaction to your input, seeing your bad-ass character (and by extension yourself) inflict awesome damage on the world.
This to me is more of a conflict of _what_ the player should connect to, as opposed to not wanting the player to connect at all.
Tom wanted elaborate lore and story-telling, while the rest wanted to make the game experience what the player connected to. The instant reaction to your input, seeing your bad-ass character (and by extension yourself) inflict awesome damage on the world.
This to me is more of a conflict of _what_ the player should connect to, as opposed to not wanting the player to connect at all.