InfestLithium

Hey mate! Sorry I didn't see this sooner. ZWC3 online qualifier is over but that's the best scene for online Zombies tournaments. They used to host bi-weekly tournaments leading into the main tournament, and would probably do it again if there's enough support/demand for it.

Hey @aohls14- welcome to the community! You're gonna have a blast with the ZC DLC - hope you have a great experience it like we've all had!

That Takeo one makes me shudder. I love it. Keep at it, friendo! Great work here.

Time for the big guns to return. Also @Slade MI AMIGO YOU'VE RETURNED

Alright folks, it's time to get all the latest Zombies intel coming from Twitter and COD's site. A LOT has happened today (and will continue for the next several weeks) so expect to get a better idea of what's in store for us Zombies fans.

Dataminers have dug into Warzone and Modern Warfare to find some interesting info about the modes included in future updates with recent announcements of the upcoming Black Ops: Cold War. https://charlieintel.com/upcoming-modern-warfare-warzone-modes-revealed-via-game-files/62067/ One particular tidbit that catches the eye: I'm sure this is meant to tide Zombies enthusiasts over until Cold War's supposed Zombies mode, but can we say that Zombies will make a reappearance from Treyarch?

Welcome to CODZ, friendo! If you're looking to get some help with Easter Eggs, use our awesome Looking For Group system!

We tested a bright white font color vs. the light-tone gray we use now, and found that the white text color is pretty hard on the eyes. We will continue testing out more styles to see what works. I know in mobile it can get lose pretty quick. I've fixed the FORUMS link issue. Pretty easy fix but was something that the theme kinda goofed up. Thanks for bringing these to our attention!

I believe that the Kronorium doesn't explain thoroughly what will happen. It likely said they needed to sacrifice themselves - something that Richtofen and Nikolai both interpreted differently. There's something special about being sacrificed at the hands of your own friends (or those that held a special connection to you). In MOTD, it was Al killing those who killed him. For BOTD, it was Richtofen being left behind to die with Primis Richtofen taking his place. For TDT, it was Nikolai killing Ultimis and Primis - the largest components in the cycle. Only then does the condition of breaking the cycle become satisfied. Death by any other means does not count. It needs to be special. This explains why Richtofen had to die in the Dark Mechanism. Because even in his Primis life, he kept trying to escape death. And the Kronorium changed to reflect what it really meant by "sacrifice". He refused to believe that he had to die and essentially prolonged the BOTD cycle by trying to find another way out. As far as suicide goes, it could theoretically work; however, my money is on the idea that someone special needs to kill them - or at least be the reason they die. Hell, even Nikolai needed Sam to kill him. Because he knew it needed to be by someone special. (Interesting side note: by the end of TDT, only Primis Richtofen ever made it out of the great cycle. He was the only one we see to come to Alcatraz, go into cryogenic sleep, and then join the Cycle Primis Crew. We can assume that the original Primis Nikolai, Takeo, and Dempsey are dead. But we have no idea how they died.)

Thanks for the comments, friendos! Glad to see that nobody is gravely disappointed at the ending and sees it for the value it has. :) I've made a big edit regarding The Cycle - something we're all wet about in Zombies. ;)

If you haven't watched / refuse to know the end of the Aether story, don't read any further. Now I think we can all agree that the ending was not 100% what we were hoping for. We were teased about winning the Great War, defeating Dr. Monty, all that jazz. Hell, even Alpha Omega's ending told us we were in for a big fight. But we got blue balled hella hard and left with what I'd call the most depressing moment in Zombies history. Despite all the loose ends still remaining...I actually felt at ease with what we've been given as a conclusion. What people aren't understanding is why things unfolded the way they did. And to understand that, you have to look back at the end of Black Ops 3 - the Original Plan. The Original Plan Monty was able to remove the Apothicons, Shadowman, and undead into the Dark Aether. While he couldn't repair the multiverse, he managed to lock them up so there weren't any holes. A duct tape solution, if you will. He assumed that by closing off each reality, anything that existed currently outside of said realities would return to their origin point and no longer exist in his perfect universe. The children (aka the souls of the pure O4) would ensure that he could keep tabs on them at any given moment in any universe to prevent another disaster. Except the crew survived thanks to the blood. Monty was going to wipe them out (which would be the easiest solution) but instead sent them to the Great War. They would win, then die, and then be reborn later in the future during the 1900s. This created the cycle we know as of now. Monty purposefully kept them in the loop and knew as long as they stayed there, no more harm could further be done. It wasn't the ultimate fix, but he wasn't willing to potentially sacrifice himself to fully restore the multiverse. Again, duct tape solution. But Monty knew what the only true solution was. He just didn't want to go through with it. The True Plan Monty AND Richtofen knew the true solution. But Richtofen also did not want to sacrifice himself nor his crew, so he tried finding ways to cheat death. After realizing it would only continue the cycle, he changed course and intercepted himself in at Alcatraz when he would've normally gotten the blood. Instead of allowing himself to continue, he killed his cycle self and instead allowed Nikolai, the only one who Monty would be unable to see/track, to do what Richtofen was (and knew he was) incapable of doing: the sacrifice. Since Nikolai opened up to what the Kronorium told him, he knew that none of them were to survive. The only way to restore the multiverse was to remove everything, including themselves. So he convinced everyone - Primis and Ultimis - to follow him because he knew the way to salvation. And he wasn't lying; he just didn't tell them what the end game would be. This is why he wanted his friends' last moments to be with one another, drinking in what they thought was a pre-celebration to victory, thinking of what they wanted most in life. Nikolai wanted their sacrifice to end on the best note possible because none of them would make it out alive. Although I personally think poison isn't quite a happy ending (as seen in the final moments)...Nikolai did what he thought would be the quickest way to make this happen. There was no way to convince both crews to kill themselves on their own terms. As long as they existed, it didn't matter if they banished everything evil to the Dark Aether; they had to be removed as well. It was unfortunate that even Victis had to suffer, as they were the victim in the grand scheme for what is considered "the greater good". But it was necessary. EDIT: There are some key points that I missed when writing this post that I wanna add on. The Cycle A user on r/CODzombies brought up a very valid point regarding the cycle being broken and what it finally means. We know that the cycle is what keeps Primis reliving their adventures, from death after the Great War to reincarnation when they all first meet. Many of us thought that drinking the blood (Richtofen's plan) was the key to breaking said cycle, but after BO3, it wasn't. We were right to compare it to the MOTD cycle. In fact, BOTD also replicated this cycle in BO4 with Primis to show us AGAIN how to break the cycle. In MOTD, the cycle continues if the crew kills Al - something that already occurred in the real world. But when Al kills his crew, the cycle is broken and they're released from their own purgatory. In BOTD, the cycle continues as long as Primis remains. Even when they die, they're brought back by the Warden to relive their personal hell. When Richtofen dies, their cycle in purgatory is broken; HOWEVER, it required some past events leading to it (Primis Richtofen teleporting to BOTD from the Great War, Pablo giving him the Staff of Fire crystal) to start that breaking point. Catch my drift? BOTD Richtofen was perpetuating that cycle and needed to be sacrificed to escape it. That's how the cycle broke. Now in terms of the big cycle, it's no different. Nikolai ended the cycle by sacrificing himself and the crews. The key to breaking these cycles was to eliminate the things that would continue the cycle. The mobsters killing Al caused the cycle, and had they to die. Richtofen kept cheating death to avoid direct sacrifice which caused the cycle, and he had to die. Ultimis and Primis were responsible for fracturing the multiverse causing the great cycle, and they all had to die. -------------------------------------- Hopefully I didn't lose ya. To me, this was ultimate kick in the heart. Because we knew our crews had to die, but we just weren't prepared for it to be like this. And personally, I'm slowly accepting that this ending is what we needed. A straight one-shot kill to our beloved story, with the sad realization that the characters we grew alongside over 10 years needed to win the war within themselves...just as Nikolai said. They caused this madness, the fracturing of the multiverse, and they needed to satisfy the natural order and remove themselves from the equation. I'd like to think that they still exist in the fixed universes, where the multiverse may no longer exist since Element 115 is no longer existent in any time from here on out. To imagine our characters going through their normal lives, having never met, never to deal with the atrocities and horrors they faced in a reality that no longer exists. It's a sobering thought that they can finally have their [hopefully] happy moments they wished before their sacrifice. That, to me, is a good ending. Not perfect by any means, but a solid way to close the book for good.

@RadZakpak I'm super excited to see how this pans out! I love that you're dissecting it into installments of [basically] the games in how we perceive them. Should be totally easy to understand and follow, especially with your writing prose. ?

This is amazing @Pasta! Great guide, and super damn helpful to actually have images compared to most text wall styles of guides (like my own ? ). I've pinned this guide to the top of the forum for everyone to see. Brains for ya!

For those who don't know, the Zombies World Championship ("ZWC") is a collaborative effort by popular Zombies YouTuber mcsportzhawk and 1P Entertainment to create the first ever real-time Zombies tournament. The physical event will take place in Los Angeles, CA. in Thunder Studios on August 19th. 12 YouTubers - including MrRoflWaffles, TheSmithPlays, Glitching Queen, MrDalekJD, RadAustin27, and more - will be competing against one another with 4 lucky but overall winners from the online tournament that went down from the end of June to July 26th. In the online competition section, 4 challenges were crafted to test the mettle of slayers - 2 Easter Egg speedruns on Gorod Krovi and Revelations, and 2 high round runs on Verruct w/ no Juggernog and Origins starting room. Each top player per challenge is being flown out to Thunder Studios for free to compete with the YouTubers for a dip in the prize pool of $20,000! As of July 5th, Call of Duty Zombies proudly teamed up with mcsportzhawk to help promote the ZWC! Not only are we advertising it, but we also have special amenities for our fans and community. We are setting up booth at the ZWC on August 19th for giveaways and special Zombies items, but most importantly, we have a very special registration link for those who still wish to enter the tournament and submit their video before July 26th to compete. It's only $15 to compete instead of the normal $20, and who wouldn't want to play with the YouTubers?! Even if you aren't competing, we invite you to come down to Los Angeles in August to meet us up at our CoDZ booth! We got lots of special goodies being given around, and would love to see some Zombies fans out there from the CoDz community as well! Who will we be seeing there?

Chapter 2 really has that enticing imagery going on...and I'm a sucker for medieval imagery. Also, noticed an error in Chapter 2: Just being a little grammar Nazi zombie, that's all.