InfestLithium

It's not Sophia nor Richtofen; Richtofen did not become a part of the Aether until Moon, and I'm very certain that Mob of the Dead occurs way before Moon no matter what. And Sophia...well, she's just not an integrated part of our storyline enough to impact the current events.

It looks a little too expansive and non-sparkly to be a persistent upgrade. I'm not saying it can't be, but it just doesn't resemble what we're used to seeing. Also, what kind of upgrade do you think it may be if we are killing the zombie boss?

Welcome to the family, friendo! What kind music do you enjoy listening to? What animation do you watch? I'd like to know more about your favorite things. Thanks for joining this lovely community! I hope you enjoy your stay, and that you keep slayin' zombies! :)

What better way to gain someones trust? Don't forget, we are dealing with a genius who has had pre-recorded messages set in place years in advanced. We obviously know he has the capability to pull something like this off. There are no pre-recorded messages, however. Everything is live, except for the radios.

Welcome to the family, friendo! I'm glad that you've gone from lurker to official member. It really is an honor to have you join the community. With the new release of Mob of the Dead, I promise that you'll get the taste of Side Missions (aka Easter Eggs) at an all new high. Enjoy your stay, and keep slayin' zombies! :)

Ah, some support for Maxis being the evil being - I like! It was a terrific read, despite how long it is. Organized in a well-done manner, yet you support every claim you make. I wish I could bring back brains somehow so I could give you a nice, juicy junk. Using the map loading screens as a backbone for explaining who exactly Maxis is outside our normal realm of presumption is great. I never thought that he could be the figure in Nacht der Untoten, or even Ascension. The color connection seems very related the way you approach it. I think Maxis does indeed lie within that perspective of maintaining an orange "aura" with him, whereas Samantha could very well be red. Hence, why the orange carries over to situate certain events and actions as due from Maxis. A fuse of Maxis/Samantha? Hm, very plausible. I still believe that his soul was sucked into the MPD, but somehow transmitted into the data mainframe of Griffin Station. From there, he has reception of radio ways to transmit into other electrical devices on Earth. But to assume that he actually has some kind of power within him not as a residential being, but almost in a controlling manner...well thought out! But once Richtofen switched bodies with Sam, does that mean it's not Maxis/Richtofen within the same body together? I wouldn't necessarily agree with him being able to control them. Sure, he experimented on them and attempted to maintain some kind of rule over them. But if you take Subject 2-6 into consideration, he couldn't handle that experiment which proved to us that he did not have any power in controlling his test subjects. He did not create zombies for the first time; rather, he learned how they could be formed using 115, and deliberately tested on them to see if a superhuman army was even possible. He failed in doing so. It becomes evident that there is a struggle for power, just as you said. All we know is that he has a hidden agenda with only the purpose of using our new crew to submit more power in his favor. That is the goal for both entities, really. As said before, Maxis is pure evil in his action of decimating the entire Earth to prevent Richtofen from unleashing havoc with his new powers. It did set Richtofen back, but was it really necessary to destroy the world? Not really. I am not saying that you are wrong. In fact, you make more logical points about Maxis' intentions and his hand in the control of zombies than I have ever come across. All these connections make a ton of sense, and I could not describe how well you explained it. Kudos to you, friendo. :)

Some interesting things that I'd like to point out here: Seems that we now know how a player looks like outside of Afterlife. A glowing, white orb that moves swiftly through the map seems awfully similar to Him in Tranzit, minus a few particular details. At least we'll be able to physically know where all players are. This makes me want to confirm that the boss in indeed a Juggernaut guard, because of the baton he is holding in his right hand (left looking at the image). Would he beat you with the baton as well as ram into you? A better look at the boss. Notice the suit behind all those bulky chains and light. I think it's very interesting how there is the head device used for the electric chairs on him. Perhaps that is the way he was zombified? Our min-transport system from the prison to the harbor. This is where we see the gate close in the first trailer (The Replacers). Simple enough, and it looks very efficient considering that you'll be protected for a good few seconds. Tomahawk, tomahawk, tomahawk! It looks more like a power drop than anything else, but in a newly enhanced design. In fact, I'd go on to say that it's not a buildable by the looks of it. The weapon seems ancient in design and not constructed much as a buildable. Either way, it can ricochet off walls, through zombies, and perform chains. I thought the characters would be inside the plane somehow, but it seems I'm wrong. They all stand on the wings of the plane as it launches off the ramp. Well, now we know how it looks! This is the big image we should be heavily analyzing. For one, notice that we can see in first person view. That would make me believe that this is part cutscene, and part gameplay. The reason I point that out is because it may indeed lead us to a different area where we will crashland in and resume playing. Had it be an actual ending, then we'd go into full cutscene and not a half-half. Also, note how far the Mystery Box seems. Now, I could just be poorly distancing how far we actually are from the light, but that's just me.

I'm confused by what you mean of shadow/mystery man. Do you mean the portrait found in Kino der Toten? Also, the shadow that we see in the loading screen is Hudson from Campaign. He's not brainwashing Mason, but trying to make him remember the events that led up to the "present" so they could track down Dragnov.

So does that mean that the Thunder Gun is not a Wonder Weapon because it shoots air? Or it 115 in a state where it can technically be considered a gas, so the air is actually in its gas form yet heated? Because then the Blundergat could follow suit. Of course, we only see it shoot regular scattered bullets in its normal form, so in your terms, not a Wonder Weapon.

Positive. One of the steps in Moon requires you to insert the Golden Rod, which in turn must have the Focusing Stone inside of it. There is also another step beforehand where you use the combination while Richtofen access the mainframe - the time when we hear Maxis for the first time since the radios - and once the charge is complete, you obtain the combo and the player (who is Richtofen) receives all the perks.

I don't think he meant wonderful in a literal term, but more of a description that puts these kind of weapons up and beyond the standard norm of regular weapons. The term "Wonder" followed by a noun would generally presume that something is indeed supernatural to some extent.

This. Basically, I see Wonder Weapons as an arsenal that cannot be explained as to how it originated realistically, yet created as a supernatural phenomenon. Element 115 is only one of a few examples that would make a Wonder Weapon what it is.

Welcome to the family, friendo! So many favorites, oh my! I'm glad that you enjoy Richtofen and Moon; it seems that we have quite the similar taste so far. Enjoy your stay, and keep slayin' zombies!

Correct. Honestly, I can't fathom any character from this map being transparent in one of the maps thus far. It's just like Call of the Dead; we're given a special guest crew, only to never have them reappear once again. I firmly believe that there is no connection between Green Run and Mob of the Dead (though I'd love for there to be one) just because there is zero evidence pointing to it. Him may have similar properties to the new Afterlife mode, but I'm afraid I can't exactly see how they'd be related other than being a in a blue, spiritual form and shooting electricity.

That's what seems to be the case. The only bare exception that I see in this is how we look in Afterlife compared to others. Should we be invisible, I don't think it could be related to Him. I understand that is seems reasonable considering that we retain the same electrical properties, but Him is an experiment of some sort that was engineered whereas we are in a spiritual dimension that lies within our reality. And if Him was someone in the Afterlife, of whom would it be referring to?

He would have to be some kind of semi-intelligent being even though he retains himself as a zombie. George Romero was still zombified, but to an extent in which he could still communicate as if he did have some willpower left to be aware of his surroundings. It seems the same for this new boss. It looks like it is a guard that was sent to the electrical chair, hence the equipment still attached to him. Because he can respond to our new crew attacking him, there holds much willpower in him. Perhaps he is even a newly turned...?

I'll just take what I said previously in our personal conversation. I'm glad you found this, friendo! Not being able to find a symbol even remotely similar to the eye was nerveracking; but you managed to find it. Something in this garnered my attention: I'm quite certain that you know where I'm going with this - Afterlife. This is the new mode that is being implemented into Mob of the Dead. You have probably already linked that connection together, but it becomes more fascinating because it may lend us a hand as to what more we can do in that mode. So far, we can enter invisible portals, trigger objects with our newfound powers, and electrify zombies. What we have not figured out is why the eye can appear over certain characters. And think about how these symbols are so close to one another: They are both associated with the Afterlife. But you know what the only difference is? The electric bolts off to the sides. And what can we do in Afterlife mode? Use our electric powers to our advantage.

We'd probably lose it and have it locked. Makes it even more of an incentive to wipeout the boss zombie quickly.

Perhaps someone in the opening cutscene?

An event could have happened in 1932 that we do not know about. As much as I hate to say it, just because we are directly given a date as simple as that does not officiate our time for this map. This an interesting postcard that I found which was taken/created in 1932. We can see the past Alcatraz, but it doesn't mean that it was open by that time like it's known be in 1934...strange.

I'm not terribly sure whether or not anyone has paid attention to Jimmy Z's Twitter lately, but it seems that he has posted a rather interesting link in his description once again. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slab_(geology)#section_1 Here is a quick copy & paste for those who don't want to click the link: Slab (geometry) Seems rather fishy if you ask me. I went on to conduct a bit of investigating of an slabs within the Alcatraz island, and came up with an image of a morgue there. Originally, this site was the entrance to an 1870s tunnel used by soldiers to cross to the opposite side of the island. In 1910, the Army built a morgue inside, which contained three vaults and an examination table. Deceased army personnel from Alcatraz were buried in the military cemetary on Angel Island. When the burial ground was closed in the early 1900s, funerals were conducted at the National Cemetary in the Presidio of San Francisco. This small structure had a stell door, a grated skylight, and now - a dank and mossy examination table. This morgue had only one documented use - overnight storage of the body of a prisoner who died after the last boat run. No autopsies were performed there. All deceased inmates were brought back to the mainland and released to the San Francisco County Coroner. This area seems like a hightlight for Alcatraz, and may even be noticeable inside the map itself. Could the zombies be coming from the depths of the mortuary, where the dead dwell? Another interesting thing to observe is one aspect that a few people have mentioned, Alcatraz (the show). If you watched this series, then you may know about "the jump". For those who do not know about the jump, here is a very simple message behind it directly from the show itself: Doc had previously mentioned that was of his theories about 3/21/63 was a “quantum thing.” Hauser’s lead nerd herder Warren suggested that time dilation, quantum tunneling or cryogenics were also possibilities. I have explored a few of these theories in previous posts, but will now drill down further. CRYOGENICS I believe it is possible that the 302 who vanished in 1963 were cryogenically frozen in time. They were subjected to myriad chemicals during the process, which made a particular subset of inmates appealing to the Warden: the Korean War veterans. It is my theory that those prisoners were previously exposed to elements that prepared their systems for the cryogenic process. Comic book expert Doc knows that Captain America spent decades frozen in a block of ice, in a state of suspended animation. He was injected with a super soldier serum that replenished itself, a virus-like organism that altered his genetic and biochemical makeup. The 302, cryogenically stuck in time from 1963-2012, were likely injected with a serum designed to reanimate them on very specific dates in the future. And in addition to Dr. K, the Warden must have had an entire team dedicated to unfreezing both himself and his subjects. When guard Guy Hastings remembered his last night on Alcatraz, he described a “fog that took all the stars away.” Vapors released from cryogenic liquids tend to condense the moisture in air, creating a visible FOG. EARTHQUAKES, QUANTUM TUNNELS (WORMHOLES) & TIME DILATION Time dilation is a difference of elapsed time between two events; in this case, between 1963 Alcatraz and 2012 San Francisco. Applying the theory of time dilation, one can travel thousands of light-years and their lifespan will increase. The quantum mechanics of the Casimir Effect can be used to produce a region of space-time, and that negative effect could then be used to stabilize a wormhole to allow faster-than-light travel. On 3/21/63, if Dr. K and the Warden were somehow able to use the Casimir Effect beneath Alcatraz – it may have resulted in a geothermal event, causing tectonic plate slippage. In other words, they created a wormhole that caused an earthquake…their great escape route. My theory is that they built a tunnel deep beneath Alcatraz after the quake and wormhole opened up that space, creating a massive location to store and transport 302 people…unbeknownst to anyone up above. [side note: I believe this tunnel was located much lower than the one under the lighthouse that was constructed during the Civil War.] The tunnel beneath Alcatraz may actually connect 1963 with 2012. On one end of the wormhole, an exit point from 1963. On the other end of the wormhole, a re-entry point to 2012. I am starting to believe that the 302 in 1963 were frozen in time right beneath the very location where they vanished; that the Warden’s hidden cryogenic lair, equipped with reanimation technology, has been dispersing inmates and guards one by one from below the Rock. Along that line of thinking, it is entirely possible that the Warden himself still resides/hides down there. At some point after the 302 vanished in 1963, he had someone seal off the dungeon door where the colloidal silver tracking map was located. But he needs to access it once again; thus, the programmed inmates seeking his 3 keys. If we stop to think about how 302 people vanished without a trace, it sounds logical that they all traveled down the same rabbit hole after being knocked out by chemicals dispersed throughout the island. The same effect could be a participant in Mob of the Dead's storyline. Well, maybe not too much emphasis on the cryogenics, but of a disturbance below Alcatraz; a shift in time as a distortion through space itself. The map may be linked to our current storyline, or it may be in the set of a different dimension/timeline somehow relating back to our major timeline.

I distinctively remember the Shangri-la Easter Egg that I did with a few of my friendos right before Moon came out. We were just on the part of obtaining the Focusing Stone when the round started on 20. Only a few seconds went by and two of our teammates went down. I tried to train and revive them when I fell into those water geysers with a horde waiting to get their turn on it. I recall all three of us screaming at the last guy to grab the stone, only for him to come face to face with a Napalm Zombie upon going up one of the geysers. Yep, never doing that Easter Egg ever again. [i had to redo it a few days later.]

Welcome to the family, friendo! We love having people who lurk around on board; in fact, that's how most of us came to be. I'm sure that I speak on behalf of everyone when I say that we cannot wait to see what you'll contribute. Mob of the Dead is the talk of the town right now and it is rightly so. Over time, I hope you enjoy your stay, and keep slayin' zombies! :)

Weapons should never be used for historical references. That is the law of Zombies. But Shooter has a point, DBZ; Treyarch generally never makes a mistake with landmarks. They know that we critically examine those kind of aspects within Zombies because it helps us determine more than just a timeframe to go by. If you look all throughout Zombies history, you'll see that particular structures and landmarks help us identify the location, date, and whether a particular event in reality occurred yet or not. The difference between the Golden Gate Bridge being completed, in progress, or not built makes a huge impact to us. The paper itself could signify a few things. What we do know now is that we can't go before 1932 whatsoever. Shooter mentioned that it also couldn't be past 1934 due to the prison not being official for criminals outside of military, so we gain another two years. For what we know, it is highly possible that it took just a few more years to even create a plausible scenario with our soon-to-be-favorite mobsters.

I would think that it's only specific for this map. If it shows up on every other map, that's terrific. If not, then oh well. Besides, I'm quite sure that a great majority of us will be playing Mob of the Dead even when there is DLC beyond it. :)