Undead

Haha it seems I've started a bit of a tangent here. Bottom line, I'm just bitching that I wish Zombies had more actual EE. Side-Quests/Hidden objectives aside. WaW got me into the whole Zombies storyline for that reason alone.

Perhaps it's just me, but most of the point I was trying to make is that it strikes a nerve for some reason anytime the "Big Easter Eggs" are called "Easter Eggs" anymore. Pulling apart from Zombies specifically, if you were to line up these "Easter Eggs" with your typical definition of an Easter Egg in any other game, it doesn't match the description at all. When an "Easter Egg" suddenly has steps, it's not an Easter Egg anymore. Everything people have called an "Easter Egg" since Ascension, became more and more " hidden objectives" more so than anything else. And here's what I mean when I related it between WaW and Blops II for example: - Finding "Tunguska" written inside a shack outside of the map which is only found while spectating or using the "no clip" feature, is an EE. - Coordinates pointing to (or at least near) Area 51 heard within the radios in SNN or Verruckt, is an EE. - Various hidden Radios with indirect cryptic messages and no prompt to activate them, is an EE. - Being told you need to connect A to Z somehow by figuring out steps B through Y is NOT an EE. Hell, you were given a checklist in MOTD even. Going back to the Zombies and it's story, and the other half of what I meant was combine such EE examples with real history and myths and you had a bone-chilling series of puzzle pieces to connect and put together of just how the Zombies came to be and what actually happened. That way of apporaching everything seemed to be pushed aside after about half way through the first Blops season. After seeing how the community reacted to the Ascension EE formula, 3 Arc took that formula and ran with it. Now, was this necessarily a bad thing? Not really no, but that's where the feeling of the whole eerie and cryptic mystery-solving story progression just shifted entirely to fill-in-the-blank instead.

I've preached left and right around the forums about how the WaW days of Easter Eggs and how the story was a lot more cryptic, dark and mysterious. And about halfway through the first Blops season, "Easter Eggs" weren't really easter eggs anymore. They were objectives. The CoDz community wrote the storyline, not Treyarch. Hell, Treyarch practically admitted that a few times as their influence for several places and characters. And that's what I miss too, all the scraps the community would piece together through nods towards real History and Mythology or Tales and come up their their OWN stories and theories. Not be fed the story just to push things along. I've been around since the late WaW days. I watched this change from deep and extensive theory threads and discussions to "Easter egg Quest" threads first hand. So I agree with you wholeheartedly on that. However, I wouldn't necessarily point fingers at the community itself due to this sudden change as we really had no control over the direction Zombies started to take in regards to the story and it's involvement in "Easter Eggs". Both the Zombies and the community shifted pretty evenly IMO, and that tends to happen between seasons with other CoD releases and more and more speculation being added on top of what we know and came up with already for Zombies. There's no changing or fixing that. But believe me when I say there's always room for a fresh start. It may be a unpopular opinion, but I'm actually right there with you on a fresh start of it all. This is half the reason I'm eager to see what even AW brings with it's take on Zombies.

I like seeing these ideas for more DOA popping up. It was refreshing to take a breather from the typical routine of Zombies and still be able to slay countless Zombies in a classic manner. A classic within a classic! I'd really love to see some "special" rounds or stages where the view and atmosphere are different from the same old "Birds Eye view, different map" pattern. Just to keep things fresh and the player on their toes. Such as the infamous 2D side-scroller we see in most arcade games as mentioned and zombies comes from both sides.

That new banner looks sexy as hell. My body is ready.

I couldn't name a more deserving person, it's been a promotion in the making for quite awhile now. Congrats Craig!

Just going to see Malkulah would be worth it.

Dear Sledgehammer... Please stop giving Hardcore players the short end of the stick and actually give us some variety in game modes for once. Oh, and most importantly Let us be our customized characters already! Seriously, what the actual fuck... I mostly was excited for all the extra customization features AW had to offer. Instead, I'm left window licking what I look like when really, I'm just like everyone else in game. It's like building a sexy Hot Rod from scratch, putting all that blood, sweat and tears into building this awesome one-of-a-kind personalized muscle car, then leaving it parked in the garage forever because now I'm too scared someone might scratch it. What's the point then? I don't give a damn if I only see my hands and gun when I actually play the game. I wanna know I look sexy as hell when I put a bullet between my victims eyes. Instead, here I am wearing my Hanes undershirt with custom painted "Anarchy" gear and with my flashy purple skate pads and green Skechers. #swag4lyfe brah...

*Rubs hands together menacingly*

I'm with you except for the automatic switch. I think it should be requested like an award. We would end up with several thousand "Veterans" with ten posts. That way we end up with only the truly dedicated folks. Fair enough. Medals are awarded via request order. But they should at least have some kind of goal to reach before it's granted to them. (Hence 4 year mark) Besides, it seems reasonable enough, Veteran status could basically be the final stage of the Veteran chain: = 1 Year at CoDz = 2 Years at CoDz = 3 Years at CoDz Veteran Usergroup = 4 years at CoDz

If you put up the idea for Veterans to be inducted into the user group just by "it feels right" then you have the same problem we originally had with the Legends/HoF group where there's a grey area in what actually makes them apart of that usergroup. To keep things simple, I think it would be easy to make it so Hall of Fame takes place once a year, and those inducted into this group is because it was a unanimous Staff decision. Then for Veterans, have it automatically kick in on its own once a member has reached their 4th year mark. Otherwise, it's granted if they decide to retire from staff. Whichever comes first.

Assuming your get a hold of any, that is. So far the only even remotely active Legends/HoF members I've seen around would be Alpha and Phantom. And even then, they haven't really been around much to give much of a detailed opinion. But, I like the idea. It's just with the current list, I think a nod is about as much of a third-party opinion as you'll get from current Legends.

Eh, I think brains is too varied of a statistic to go by. But so is post count. I think having some kind of "which ever comes first" would work if your going to count Brains or Post count as another mark for determining those who fall in the Veteran status. So perhaps something like this for example: Veterans - 4 Years at CoDz + 50 Brains OR 2,000 posts + UOTM winner. Or alternatively, Staff members who have retired from staff.

I can see the point to both sides of this and I'm right in the middle. So I say, why not both? @GRILL - I completely agree the the idea of having a few "living legends" as bonus role models for the forums. Plus, it would be nice for those inducted into HoF to actually have the pleasure of enjoying it a bit aside from any other reason. And @PINNAZ - You make an excellent point of some members whom have certainly made a mark but are no longer with us. Just because they are no longer active, doesn't mean their contributions should go unnoticed. There's a pretty firm handful of folks I rarely see around here anymore that are plenty deserving to be inducted to the HoF due to their groundbreaking threads during their prime. So, here's my proposal: If the staff decides to go through with some kind of "Hall of Fame Ceremony" idea, I think they should choose a pretty fair balance between the "Role Models" today, and the legends among us. Plus, (assuming they will anyways) staff should post the reason why their choices were inducted during said ceremony.

You should definitely do exclusive themes/skins of sorts for UOTM, HoF (and hopefully someday DOTM) winners.