Cheesegrater28

Finally got around to playing a few games on Der Eisendrache with a friend and must say I'm very pleased with how they give you the option to keep it simple. Easy steps to set up PaP and just a switch to power everything up. And its really nice to have a bunch of EEs, and even more nice that they are completely optional to enjoying the map. No multi step processes or changing forms needed just to get set up. Maps like SOE and almost all BO2 maps made all my casual gamer friends lose interest in zombies. The long steps and EE stuff felt like a chore for them. I can see a few of them giving Der Eisendrache another shot. You can play the game just like the old ones if you want. Fight your way to the switch, build up your points and arsenal by just killing zombies, and try to survive. The wall weapons and perks alone are more than enough to hit round 30. Hope this trend continues with each DLC. The option to just play old school style zombies if you want, and a lot of features that let you explore and go deeper if you choose. The new things like Buildables, bows, and gobblegum are all really nice additions when they're not forced down you throat every game, like BO2 and SOE had a habit of doing.

The only thing I'm aware of is the hidden radio message where Maxis basically says the SoE 4 are doomed. And some of the hidden coded messages might be about him. But I don't think he's ever present on the map outside of that radio.

Could just be them trying to recycle old lines into the map so high round players don't get annoyed by the same quotes over and over. Using the old lines is easier then writing new ones as filler. But I'd say it is supposed to mean something. Especially if the repeated quotes are indeed re-recorded, which some have said is the case. Exactly what this means for the story, I'm not sure. This is because I'm not really sure of anything in the story anymore. We now know there is some kind of multiverse story arc going on but not sure exactly what kind of story. Is it an infinite universe story line or are there a certain number of versions? Have these different universes been a part of the story all along or did they spawn from an event in the past story? Like Maxis winning at Buried and trying to go back in time maybe caused all these paradoxes and different universes to spawn from that moment. Or maybe they spawned from a moment we haven't seen yet, like something happening before 1918 and the old WaW story is just a different universe from the new Origins characters and the two might meet up eventually. One example, this could all be a multiverse story much like the movie The One with Jet Li. In that type of story, there were 125 different versions of the same people in 125 different dimensions. One Jet Li was trying to kill the other 124 versions of himself. Each time Jet Li killed another Jet Li, he and all the other Jet Lis in different universes all got stronger since the power of the dead one was passed to each of the ones remaining. So perhaps in our zombie story, as the characters die or come to new dimensions, they might be gaining the energy and knowledge of different versions of themselves. Another possibility, if the story line is about different universes spawning from a single moment, then its possible that all other timelines but one will be destroyed to balance everything out. This could be kind of like Rick and Morty's Season 2 premier, A Rickle in Time. All the different versions eventually funnel into the same version where the individual characters have the memories of all other versions. We know from Richtofen's note that some Earths have already been destroyed so perhaps the change in quotes is a reflection of those versions being absorbed. This could be another interpretation of what might be happening. Its hard to say exactly what's going on, but I do think that these quotes are purposely hinting at something like these examples. So I do think they are important and not just filler.

Maybe. And perhaps there is a way to get attacked while on the lift which would make it interesting. It would just suck to start every game by having to take what looks like at least a 20 second ride. That would get old quick, much like the bus on Tranzit. I could see it being a part of the EE, but it doesn't look like something they'd want you to use frequently.

That's what I figured too since Maxis says the beacon will allow him to find them, extract them, and destroy the site. I was thinking that maybe something goes wrong or this turns into a multiple beacon process on one Earth like BO2. The Richtofen note has the one big Earth which seems more important than the others, so perhaps this is that one. But its most likely not since each coordinate is next to a what looks like a different version of the universe. I still think the Giant on The Giant was meant to show its a different Earth from Der Riese and Origins. Like MrRoflWaffles says, it doesn't make sense for them to have robots in WW1 and then everything goes stagnant for 20+ years until WW2 where the Germans start reconstructing or fiixing the same robots. And we have different versions of Richtofen and Maxis in the beginning cut scene. They can't be from the Origins world since Maxis was a drone and Richtofen is now traveling around and killing himself. Origins seems like a world where giants were created by WW1, The Giant seems like a world where they are just being created in WW2, and Der Riese is a world where Maxis never got to the point of creating them yet.

Nice find by him. Instead of teleporting here, perhaps the Origins crew fixed the Giant at Der Riese and used it to get to here. It seems unlikely we will use that gondala during the map since its a slow and long ride. Like others have said, it makes sense that the gondala is part of an opening scene that brings them to the castle and the Giant could have gotten them to the site.

We think. Really we have no evidence of much. The Origins Maxis could be the Tranzit-Buried Maxis who's plan was to blow up the Earth. And I agree its probably not a kids game, but BO2 does throw that in our face. In a story that's all over the place and anything is possible, I just want some idea given to us as to whats going on. Some answers would be nice to get us back on track. Trying to theorize when everything is so vague kind of sucks since its so hard to say what fits where and what's connected. Truth is that any theory is right at the moment. That's the downside of multiverse story lines.

Is there any chance we will get the answers being hinted at in the trailer? I wish but get the feeling we won't get much. In a story that has time traveling, alternate dimensions, paradoxes, multiverses, aliens, ancient gods, and the possibility its all a kids game, I'd love nothing more than a couple of answers to put us back on any kind of path.

Its hard to say for sure since the two words sound so similar. I'd say Mr. Rapt just because it definitely sounds like a p in a few of the calls. In this video, the first one sounds like Rapt and the last one around 3:05 really sounds like a p before the t. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZWVqZRA-m8

We could get areas of thick blizzard conditions and ice denizens between the silos and castle.

Truth is we aren't really sure how Buried and the other maps before it play into the new story line. There are now multiple versions of Richtofen, so there are most likely multiple versions of Maxis now. WaW Maxis had a German daughter while the Maxis at the end of Origins has an American one. Just based off of Origins, Sam tells us how her dad tried to reach Agartha and came really close but never finished the steps or EE. Once we do, its assumed, or at least told beforehand, that we are going to Agartha, but instead we get the final cutscene with the kids and toys. Thats kind of all we really have to go on from that map. The kids and the house might indeed be Agartha or perhaps just something else. We are assuming that house is the same one referenced to in the hidden page and the children are the ones Maxis is worried about in the Giant messages. Based off of quotes, radios, and the EE in The Giant, it seems that the Origins 4 have been traveling around different universes and perhaps different times. I can't remember the exact quote, but there is one about Richtofen going off on his own for two years. So in their time, they've been traveling for at least two years between Origins and the Giant. Maybe more since they could have traveled for 8 years together before he split off. We also assume Richtofen went to Shadows of Evil to grab the orb before he arrives at the Giant since he says he has a very powerful artifact. So something is teleporting him around while the other three are being teleported around. There is so little to go on at the moment and its so hard to tell how any preOrigins map ties in, so I think we are all a little confused. Any youtube video will just be a theory. Hopefully we can get more info to put some of the pieces together in future maps. Origins and BO3 has turned the whole story we thought we knew on its head.

My main reason I hate this direction for the story is because so many details from past maps no longer matter. Like the Berlin Wall and Tower outside the map on Kino that some members used to pinpoint the map's date between 1961 and 1969. That's a great find. But now, its like that stuff doesn't matter because Kino could take place in a universe where that stuff was all built in the 40s. So its frustrating that these maps give so little info to go on, but now we are given the problem of not knowing which universe/timeline these maps take place. So the little bits of info become useless without a bigger piece of info telling us what counts and what doesn't. One could say that Shin No and Der Riese occurred in a different timelines that were very similar but still had differences, and that's why some of the details seem to have trouble adding up. And if that is indeed the case, then it makes the story we crafted through the years almost useless. So now, the actual maps themselves seem less important to discuss and all we have to go on are the actual characters we are thinking to be the important ones. Does Moon Sam even matter or will the Giant Sam become important. Or are we ignoring all German versions of her in favor of the young American versions of Sam and Eddie who are the important "children". None of this may be the case. We still might have a simpler story going on with limited versions of the characters and all previous BO2 maps probably have been in the same timeline. But like the BO2 ending which suggests its all a kids game, this multiverse scenario makes it hard to care about the details of the story like we did with the old games, knowing Treyarch is playing with the idea those details don't matter to the overall story. They pretty much took the puzzle pieces we've been working on and told us they all might go to different puzzles. I'm hoping we're still get clarity on some of this and it would be cool if we started to see which puzzles these pieces went to, like if we could find out that this new Giant timeline is the same as CotD through some hidden detail. It just sucks to discuss these things now since everything has become disconnected.

Its possible for The Giant and Origins to be in the same timeline but unlikely (In my own super genius opinion which means nothing). It would require a lot of extra things a few members on here theorized about before BO3's release. Like how Maxis seems to still be alive and have a daughter before The Giant, even though we last saw him as a brain inside a drone in Origins. This could be explained by we never see his body so he might be a in a robot still, or maybe a body transplant. Who knows since the possibility is always there, but it makes for a harder case to sell. Same with Origins Richtofen and Giant Richtofen. They seem like two completely different people, not to mention even if young Richtofen time traveled forward, wouldn't older Richtofen have memories of this if they are in the same timeline. Again, this could all be explained away by how people perceive time travel, but like Maxis' body being dead in Origins, it makes it the harder option over The Giant is just in a different timeline. Especially since we are now told that's a part of the story now. My own opinion on it, is to show how these alternate universes are infinitely different yet can still be very much the same. Der Riese had the Giant project, while Origins had actual Giant robots in WW1, and yet The Giant seems to have the robots in WWII. If they had the robots in WW1 and lost, why waste time rebuilding the same robots, especially when the world would have 20+ years to make improvements. Group 935 would be beyond that kind of research and technology by 1945 if that's what they were doing in 1918.

What sucks about the direction of the new story line is discussing these details seems so irrelevant now, which is a shame because it used to be one of the fun aspects of digging into these maps. Everything mattered. Since now we know that there are multiple dimensions and multiple versions of the universe, this map could simply just be in a different realm/dimension/universe. Meaning, the original Der Riese was in one universe, Origins was in another, and now The Giant is in a third. The events of Origins most likely wouldn't have happened before Der Riese, and clearly the Richtofen in The Giant is different from the Origins one. So details on each map probably don't really connect to each other directly. At least that's the scenario these two new maps are painting for us. I think that's why we haven't seen to much discussion about the details in the maps. Other than the radios, its hard to say what will and won't tie into other maps or the main story.

Its just fun to hop on and really only worry about killing zombies. Saving up points to open doors, flip the switch, grab perks, spin the box, and just kill zombies. No need to really set anything up and just climb to 30+ as quick as possible. The formula was great then and still is now. And what also makes Der Riese and The Giant great is that there still is so much story hidden in it. You can simply kill zombies or take a breather to save a crawler and explore if you want. This is how most maps should play. Simple game play with a deep story and secrets hidden to find. I really wish SOE would have hidden all the extra stuff. One reason is you never really get to enjoy the really well done 40's Chicago setting of the map because you're immediately hit with the otherworldly stuff. It would be nice to just sit back and kill zombies on that map with some old school weapons mixed in. Its still a really good map, but it would have been even better if we had a power switch and regular PaP on the map. Have everything else, including beast mode and the non zombie enemies, hidden until we activate it by doing a simple EE step or automatically start when we reach round 30. That way its an option for the casual player. The first couple of days could have been everyone playing an old school style zombies map. Then someone would have found a way to activate the EE which would be hidden instead of given to us at the start. This would turn on all the Beast torches, the WW, the swords, the hidden perks underground, the new enemies, and let us open the rituals. Then we could get the secret new PaP with the extra upgrades. This would have spaced out the EE a little better and given us a feeling like we got two maps in one.

Would be funny if you had to bowl through 10 Keepers to keep it at the bench. You'd probably have to collect the 4 ritual items and not kill any of those keepers, and then start a ritual. That'd be impossible in solo.

Thats a good find and pretty funny. Wonder if this is needed to upgrade the WW.

Completely agree with most of you. The big problem with these new style maps is that not only is the EE forced upon you with dialogue and steps told to you, but opening PaP involves steps in the egg. You should be able to start these games and never even know the EE is there. For me, this includes turning into a beast or ghost to turn everything on or open something. That should all be part of the EE and not interfere with just playing the map. One should be able to get perks and open up the main sections of the map and PaP without getting involved in the side stuff every game. Then let beast mode open up shortcuts like the steps and hidden perks, and have the EE have a hidden activation for us to either find or ignore. Things we can ignore if we want to just sit and kill zombies.

In the last reporter call specifically, is does sound more like Mr Rapt rather than Mr Rat. And in that call, the reporter mentions looking into people for Mr Rapt and finding all their contacts, which sounds like info you would need to set these people up like they were. And since Shadowman's voice is in the other calls setting them up, it does seem like Mr Rapt is the Shadowman. Like getting their producer's number to try and set up a shady meeting. There's nothing definite, but that does seem to be what's going on in the messages.

As of right now and the story being hinted at in Shadows of Evil and the Giant, it seems like the timelines don't really matter anymore. Both maps mention multiple dimensions and timelines. So it sounds like the story is now going in the direction of a multiverse where there are multiple versions of the universe, which means multiple versions of Earth and our characters. If this is the case, then really any theory of when the maps took place can be correct. Really disappointed if this is indeed the direction the story is going, but would be lying if I said I still wasn't enjoying the story in the two new maps.

It sounds like there are 7 radios in total on the map. I've heard all 7 versions when its not Richtofen and I think only one version where Maxis was talking to you as Richtofen. That radio sounds like its supposed to be played before the Fly Trap to explain the beacon Maxis mentions at the end of the EE. Each O4 character except Richtofen has a message. It sounds like its all setting up a multiverse story line, like the movie The One with Jet Li. There are multiple version of each character from different times and dimensions and the radio recordings indicate they are aware of it. Nikolai mentions killing 3 Richtofens already. Kind of bummed if this is the case, but I can't help but still be excited about the story again. And it also seems like the final scene in Origins plays a role since Maxis mentions bringing Sam home and how she's different. The weird American accent I guess. But he seems to realize it isn't his Sam, or maybe not Sam at all, but that he needs to protect her anyway, and maybe little Eddie. The "child" and "children" quotes might be about that.

That's awesome. I did find it weird that some were recorded messages and others seemed to be dialogue directed at us.

Thanks. You covered the ones I heard except the Shadows of Evil Maxis one.

I'm not getting the game till next week since its my birthday and I have to make sure no one buys it for me, which I'm getting the hint they did. So knowing all the info is gonna be found by the time I gt my hands on it, I'm very open to searching for info and spoilers. And have been really looking forward to the Giant radios to start gaining some information that might start making sense ofthe weirdness that has taken over the story. So I've been searching for their release since yesterday and have heard a few. All I can say is it feels like the old days of zombies. Treyarch seem to have a good story they are gonna hide and we have to find the little tidbits of it. I can't wait for someone to upload the rest of the radios cause they're the main thing keeping me from going crazy not having the game.