R8V9F5A2: Having full rights is probably a good idea since Gearbox only seems to do really well with licenses they actually own, or at least when they don't have to collaborate with other people.
If Gearbox would have had the sole license for
ACM and
DNF I think they would have come up with more commercially successful games, because regardless of your opinions on Borderlands these games certainly seem to be very popular and sell really well compared to other shooters. Personally the Gearbox games I've enjoyed the most were the
Brothers in Arms games and
ACM, not the Borderlands games.
I did not know Gearbox were so hostile towards the DRM-free concept. The revelations on this thread really surprised me.
To be fair, I think Duke Nukem Forever was fairly successful. People were quick to jump on it but a lot of people I know bought and enjoyed it.