MysteryMachineX

Aw thank you! Yeah, it made me upset that they did what they did. But, if it is any consolation, I am currently planning to do another one in a year or so with Black Ops III. I don't want to make guarantees, but really, it'd be awful for me to NOT do it… I learned a lot of things making the old one, so I believe that a newer one would be much better in terms of quality (you know, with actual moving pictures and stuff). I appreciate the mention shirtless service! Good luck in your ventures!

These threads are nice, Pinnaz, for someone like me who likes to just see the info without the theatrics. However, I have a question. Where does the game or promotional material say what Nero's last name is? I get the whole inspiration thing, but I just haven't seen any source that says the character's last name is that. Oh, also, know where I might find some info on when the level takes place? It'd just be nice to know.

I'm not entirely convinced about that. From the various quotes and radios I've heard, I think the terminology is going in a different direction. Their goal seems to be to save the Universe. If the multiverse theory is correct, then that means we're really willing to sacrifice as many universes as it takes just to save one. That to me sounds like a completely and utterly pointless goal. (Why not just hop to one that isn't so bad?) Maxis uses the term realms, as well as the singular universe. So… it seems to me that they are using the term universe to describe everything in existence (the term's intended use), where the terms realms and timelines can refer to the different planes of existence within the Universe. This to me would sound like a much more noble goal, i.e. they are trying to save the Universe (i.e. all of creation) even at the expense of some realms (i.e. Nikolai killing three Richtofens, or not caring to sacrifice some timelines and try again). In fact, perhaps the great evil threatening the Universe can only be stopped if one particular sequence of events unfold, so they are in fact trying to create and unfold the one Universe-saving timeline that is needed.

I'll just comment on this since it was asked of me. Yes, Call of Duty Zombies has traditionally been mostly science fiction with history (a.k.a. retrofuturism) with some supernatural aspects to it. However, over time, the number of supernatural instances have been increasing compared to the science fiction ones. It is a bit disheartening to me, but I believe the game has pretty much approached a split of science fiction and fantasy. The two levels that come with the game underline this very easily. Shadows of Evil has a lot of supernatural content. The Giant has a lot of science fiction content. The story has both, always has. The proportion is starting to become lopsided, especially considering that a lot of the science fiction was pseudoscience to begin with. Oh, and just to make it clear, Cthulhu is just one Lovecraftian monster. Honestly pop culture has made Cthulhu a bigger deal than Lovecraft ever did. There are so many other monsters out there.

I was really wondering if it was just me getting the Lovecraftian vibe. I wholeheartedly agree that the level is inspired by H. P. Lovecraft's works, of which Cthulhu is most popular representation (although many others exist). This isn't just in aesthetics, either. It is in the entire theme. Look at the supposed new Wonder Weapon thing (the black hole gun) that has, from what I have seen, a bunch of potential names that it randomly selects. This is relating to the Lovecraftian language (it even has similar syllables) that many Lovecraftian creatures spoke. In fact, the language isn't complete, because it is said to be beyond the realm of human understanding, and, get this, has no official correct pronunciation by human beings. Therefore, the multiple transliterations of its name. (Because it isn't meant to be written in English.) Boom! MMX out. (No not you Boom, the onomatopoeia boom.) Eh, never mind. I'll just walk out normally.

Aw thanks H Warrior! Canon is a bit of a nebulous term. It originated in Christianity when the number of religious texts began to pile up so high. Eventually, they needed a way to sort through them to figure out which ones should "count" or rather, be believed as divine. The term then began to migrate to academics in general and other texts. Nowadays, the term is often sighted amongst fictional series, for often a series will have spin-offs or parallel side-series that won't be considered "canon". The problem however is that unlike with the Church, there is no singular body to determine what is canon, so it is often in debate. Personally, my philosophy is to say every part of a series is canon, unless directly proven inconsistencies are present.

Oh definitely. Any Wiki, including Wikipedia itself, is only good for pointing people in the right direction. They shouldn't never be taken as the absolute truth (or in this case, even remotely), but they are quite lacking because they are edited by a user base. Using a wiki as evidence is akin to using the word on the street as proof. As for the name of "Him", I just try to make it a policy of calling the characters what they are actually called in-game, not the names someone on the internet coined. To me it is just a sign of respecting the characters, and the authors (in this case Treyarch). Grill, does this count as the back that I have served you? Perhaps whilst inserting a metaphor for zombies here? Like a dismembered back? No… that's gross.

Sorry, I didn't see that. Then I guess that explains that. Thank you.

I haven't been around for a while, but I always felt the answer was both things, mainly because the realms are practically defined, whereas the timelines involved inherently make such a thing have parallel timelines, i.e. universes. (Referencing here the 8 or so different "universes" (a.k.a. timelines) where Brock and Gary died horribly.) That depends on which dose of time travel theory you believe, but I think Zombies uses a vague enough version of one to justify such a viewpoint.

Just wanted to insert my two cents, if that is okay. The story of Zombies is multidimensional altogether. So whether or not a new level is in another dimension has no relation to whether it is part of the story, and these are in fact two separate questions. Because, it could be a separate universe, but still part of the story, or a different story, but still part of the universe.

Gotta love that artificial scarcity. Seems Activision's taking a nod from the diamond industry.

I would take the option of the downwards linear progression of the past few games. I wouldn't be surprised if they released the map separately on the first day of release. 9 months > 2 weeks > 1 day. Seems to me to be the way things are going now. I'm not going to be bamboozled into buying any special edition of the game. Call of Duty is all about bundling the things you don't want (i.e. Multiplayer maps) with things you actually want (Zombies maps). Honestly they'd be lucky for me to even buy the base game, much less any special edition.

Honestly, as of now, no, not really would I watch. Sorry. : / BUT, around the time the new game comes out? That would be very cool. See, I'm not getting the game right away this time. I want to preview it first, and watching you guys stream to me would be much preferable to watching most Youtube players, because, well, I actually know you guys, or at least know of you. But if you do that, make sure it is easily noticeable, so people checking the site can see right away that there's gameplay going on. Now obviously you might want to do other things, I understand. But, sorry, not my cup of tea.