Rickety Cricket

^ This is excellent. Makes training more difficult yet doesn't eradicate it completely. I especially like the part about the special zombies being more frequently integrated into the normal hordes. The whole having things unlock in higher rounds is a stellar idea. It would give you more motivation to survive and give you something to look forward to and work for in later rounds thus keeping the game fresh. I'm loving everything you're saying here man!

I wrote something in the Asylum about the British Industrialization and how we may end up in a mine or mineshaft in the future. I predicted that the mine would actually be in Britain because that's where the last Watt's Steam Engine that I talked about in my post was located. So I was right about the whole mine thing but was off on the actual location. Still, I'm pretty proud that I did that much. Here's the thread for those who are interested: http://www.callofdutyzombies.com/forum/index.php/topic/153206-could-britain-be-our-next-stop/

Like it or not training is huge in zombies. Whereas I may not like it, I still acknowledge that fact. I like the idea of having two separate difficulties or settings. Well three actually, assuming that Easy mode would still be there. You could have Easy, Classic (which would just be exactly what it is now) and Hard. In hard mode you'll see the smarter AI. It would also be cool to see something like you mentioned where the health caps off. Say the health caps off at 20, then after that you'll start to see the more advanced AI changes. Either way I want to see something different and face a new challenge. I'm glad you guys were able to give your input!

So while zombies is out of season, I decided to give Ghosts a try. I wasn't too impressed with the campaign and multiplayer didn't interest me. Extinction however, is a different story. I played it a few times and wasn't very good but as I kept going and going I started to absolutely love it. It has that zombies survival feel with a mix of interesting challenges and objectives that keeps the game from getting boring and repetitive. Playing all of this Extinction made me think an awful lot about zombies and how what Extinction is doing right could easily work in zombies. So I'd like to break down a few things I think zombies could learn from Extinction. AI: The first thing I tried to figure out with Extinction is how can I manipulate the AI to survive. I quickly learned that you almost can't. I was actually incredibly pleased to discover this. I was always one of the few that was 100% against running trains in zombies. I always found it to be a ***** and easy way to win. Not to mention that it was boring as hell and it made bad and rude players think they were walking gods because they could achieve high rounds in solo. If you try running away the scouts will catch you. You try camping, the scorpions and seekers obliterate you. The only way to survive is with good team work and smart tactics. They could look at how the aliens act and have the zombies do some of the same things. Have the zombies lunge at you from a distance and slow you down, zombies that can actually run faster than you and zombies that can tell where you're going to move and can cut you off or keep you from going anywhere. If zombies were to implement an AI that was as smart as the Extinction AI not only would the game be a nice new challenge for new and old players, it would mean that players would be more inclined to work together and play smarter because alone, they wouldn't stand a chance. I feel like that's what zombies should be about, working together with your team to survive and discover the mysteries behind the game. Special enemies: I've always like games that include special enemies. Games like Left 4 Dead, Gears of War and many others did a great job implementing special enemies. I feel Extinction also did a great job of this, not so much in zombies. In Extinction there are a great variety of special enemies that can redirect your focus and change how you're playing in seconds. It keeps you on your toes and keeps the whole experience interesting. The specials in zombies didn't really do that, they just sort of annoyed players and could be handled pretty easily. Take the Panzer from Origins for example. It's not a constant threat, you know when it's coming and if anyone on the team has at least a Ray Gun of PaP weapon it can be dealt with in a matter of seconds and won't be seen again for a few more rounds. Once the Panzer is gone you just go right back to what you were doing before. They tried to amp it up by sending more than one in later rounds but that just turns a 30 second chore into a 60 second one. Same with Brutus in MotD, he spawns, you kill him and that's it. The threat is gone in seconds and everything goes back to the way it was before. The threat is always there in Extinction. The scorpions don't just disappear after death, more and more come and they never stop. I'd like to see some more challenging specials in zombies, one's that offer a constant threat that if not handled alongside the regular hordes, could very easily be your demise. Ranking System: Some people think that the ranking system is zombies isn't very good. I am one of those people. I hate the zombies ranking system. I like the idea of having a ranking system in zombies so you have an idea of how experienced a player is and how much time they've spent on the game. But having a ranking system based on stats is a horrible idea in zombies in particular because it can be easily manipulated and isn't always a good representation of a players knowledge. I've ran into a lot of high ranked zombies players who are clueless and refuse to do anything other than train in order to keep that rank. The Extinction ranking system i think is the best way to handle a ranking system in a game mode like Extinction and zombies. You gain experience as you play and get rewarded for doing well and playing as a team. I hated how everything was all secret with the ranking system, the whole mystery thing is really cool in the story but let's keep that there. There was absolutely no need to keep how the ranking system worked a secret. In the end all it did was frustrate players and by the time I figured it out it was way too late to dig myself out of the hole. I really preferred the stat tracking in Extinction too, it was detailed and layed out much better than zombies stats were. My idea for a zombies ranking system and stat tracking: As you play you gain experience and the better you do the more experience you gain and once the match ends you get that experience. However training and kill farming could be used to gain rank which is why other factors and requirements could stop that. For example, say you're a level 10, in order to reach 11 you need to complete a challenge. Such as complete a a game without using perks and complete a minimum of 15 rounds or something like that. I'd like to see prestiges too, but requirements for prestiging would require much more, like completing an Easter Egg or something of that nature. That way the players who do invest a lot of time, try and use teamwork will hold that high rank that they deserve and you can have a broad range of ranks as opposed to just five. With a more broad number based ranking system it's much easier to identify the type of player in your game. As I mentioned before I would like to see a more detailed stat tracking system, I think being able to see stats you have with a particular gun would be nice too. Those are my big three things that I think Extinction did great and would work in zombies without completely revamping the whole game. Keep in mind that these are just my opinions, if you agree or disagree please reply, I want to know what everyone else thinks. Thanks!

The new game modes sounded fun and were for awhile but they got boring way too quick. They were poorly executed. I honestly believe that there is potential in alternate and competitive game modes in zombies, it just has to be done right. I'd be lying if I were to I didn't lose sleep staying up thinking of cool ideas for alternate game modes.

I completely agree. Die Rise's layout and how it played was great but was incredibly uncreative in terms of how it looked. Mob and Origins looked scary and really detailed and Die Rise, as well as TranZit and Buried, looked really boring.

Hello, name's Rickety Cricket. I've been on the site for almost two years, I'm glad to see that it's back! I just thought I'd post an intro for anyone new and for those who might remember me. I used browse these forums everyday and post occasionally and now that I'm in college and have a ridiculous amount of free time, I'll be here a lot more and I'll definitely be playing zombies way more too. So add me if you're down to play! I'm also working on some zombies fan fiction that I'm really excited to share with everyone here on the site. See you around, Rickety Cricket

This honestly makes a lot of sense.

I wouldn't mind that at all... We could see the N4 in the next game, and the O4 could be back because they're in an area the N4 can't access... Trust me people complained so much about the N4 that chances are high that we'll never see them again, which is a shame because I really liked them and they had huge potential to be really interesting characters. People didn't give them a chance, when the O4 and EEs were first implemented I knew tons of people who hated it and complained all the time, now look, they turned out to be awesome.

The return of the original four without a legitimate reason or proper closure on the new four.

In Ascension you recovered the Kashmir mechanism with was used to charge the V device on Moon, so it's EE was important to the story and the Moon EE. However I do agree in that the MotD crew's story is finished It would be cool to find out what happened to Weasel after what happened in MotD but chances are that we'll never see them again.

Flamethrower without a doubt. So many good times...