GameChanger

Samuel J. Stuhlinger. Love him or hate him, we all know he's a little crazy. From what we've seen of him, we know right off the bat the guy has both Paranoia and Schizophrenia. He's also always spouting his totally 100 percent true conspiracies to the group. Just from his appearance, we know he's a basket case.

When did he become like this is the big question here. Russman would've quickly stopped mentoring Stu as a child if he had such mental issues, and Stu's kinda bad at keeping his mental troubles under wraps. Logically, he couldn't have had these disorders right when he was born. In some cases, these disorders are "triggered" by significant/traumatic events. As shown in Die Rise, Samuel is revealed to have been a part of The Flesh. We even get a split-second shot of him chomping down on an arm (Nom.)

As we have seen in the O4, 115 creates side effects on a living human. By Stuhlinger ingesting that arm before TranZit begins, he's allowed an unknown level of 115 to enter his system. Similar to Richtofen, the 115 slowly made Stuhlinger insane. The last of the side effects seems to be his ability to hear voices from the Aether. He wasn't always calling out conspiracies. At first, he was just a scared guy in the Apocalypse who sought refuge in a survival group.

Hope you enjoyed my already obvious "Theory". Here's some random stuff that didn't belong in its own thread.

According to this, Stuhlinger is apparently a  CIA Agent. Keep in mind this is coming straight from the horse's mouth. The article comes out close to Buried's release, so maybe this was scrapped character development?

 

Made this a while back. IT'S HAPPENING

 

Compared to Die Rise's intro, the Earth is has insane amounts of fractures. I'm honestly surprised that there's still SOME structural integrity left.

Here's something I've wondered for a while.

 

 

Why was Russman fired from Broken Arrow? He makes quotes about doing or trying something only once so do you think he tried to eat zombie flesh, and was caught by Marleton, somehow getting them both expelled? I do believe the Russman quote is on Die Rise, it's a PaP quote and you should find it in Slades, or maybe Tac's storyline quote thread.

"Drink once from the wrong well and everyone calls you a monster"   is the quote I believe you are referring too.

To answer your question, Russman has a lot of quotes about regretting past things he's done, and Marlton and his big mouth messing things up. Also notice how in Buried intro, Marlton tip toes around the "incident". One can assume Marlton may have something to do with Russman's departure. Degree 3.

•  
• How was Samuel able to hear Aether voices in Die Rise, but not in Buried?

• The voices originate from the Zombies, moaning things like 'kill me, help me'. I think it's because they only died recently. As the Zombies in Tranzit and Buried have been dead for much longer than the ones in Die Rise.
• That or it's because their moaning was simply too annoying.

It's most likely because playtesters disliked the the voices, although they were pretty much just new zombie groans.

 

•  
• How has Russ been living so long and healthy?

• He hasn't. He has more deceases than one can count.

 

Even with all these diseases, the guy is still running around and kicking ass. I know Russ is a bit unreliable due to his current state of health, but he says in Buried that he over the age of 75! (It's been a while since I heard that quote) I hate for '115' to be the answer for all plot holes, but it could make sense that Russ messed with it back in B.A. to stay alive and able for so long.

 

• Marlton - scientist. Maybe he too worked at Broken Arrow and played a role in Russman's departure. ("You've been walking the earth ever since the, uhm, incident" refers to Russman's getting fired. It sounds like Marlton knows an awful lot about it.

Marlton was most likely the cause for Russman's departure, as he has multiple quotes about Marlton "fucking everything up".

Why does everyone think Maxis side quests are canon?

I really don't like how everyone is ignoring Richtofen's side.

The Maxis Ending in Buried reveals that he's opening the gateway to Agartha to rescue Samantha. In the very next map, the sidequest revolves around opening up the Gateway to free Samantha. With the whole alternate universe stuff, this could just be one version of how events play out. Who knows, maybe the first map for BO3 will be about trying to get Richtofen out of Samuel's body. It really would be a shame if that whole Maxis v. Richtofen thing wasn't just a way for the community to "vote" for the canon storyline for Black Ops II.

EDIT:

I feel like trying so hard to define the boundaries of what is okay and what is not is simply wasted effort and can eventually ruin the entire system.

Brains are very subjective after all.

Let our users decide what's brain worthy and what's not. 

 

Of course guidelines are needed to avoid the system spiraling out of control. But trying to objectively and systematically rule out any (future) posts or sections that aren't 'worthy of brains' is  going too far in my opinion.

 

I don't support limiting or excluding brains in any sections.

And I don't agree with - Reasons not to give brains:

A topic or post in the introduction section

 

Take the following situation for instance:

What if someone takes their time to write a pretty long or generally well constructed introduction post?

 

It's well constructed and well thought out. It's also zombie-relevant. So normally it would be worthy of brains. But yet simply because it's in a specific sub-forum I'm not allowed to give him or her (perhaps their very first) brains for going out and taking the time to introduce themselves to our users?

 

Same thing applies for Forum Games. What if someone comes up with a forum game that engages a large part of our community? 

 

Isn't that a bit too strict?

I can see where HW is coming from on this. Brains were designed to encourage people to contribute and have well thought out posts, not rip off a funny joke and post it to Chicken Sandwich.  Then again, I do agree with you. With the extra long off season, we can only talk about BO2 so much before it get repetitive. I personally believe a goal of the off season is to make sure we our community is active and thriving. If a post is well thought out and impressive, it should be commended regardless of section. 

Ideally, Brains should be rewarded for the post itself, and not the poster.

Well, we should begin by finding out what loose ends need to be solved. Off the top of my head (and I'll edit this post with more) some unanswered questions are

1.  What was Marlton doing in the Fallout Shelter?
2.  How long was the time between TranZit and Moon?
3.  How is the Rift going to be "mended"?
4. Why are the perks flashing in MotD?
5. What's the status on the O3 from Moon?
6. How was Samuel able to hear Aether voices in Die Rise, but not in Buried?
7. What are the background stories of the N4?
8. Which side of the Black Ops 2 Side Quests are canon? (Most likely Maxis)
9. What specifically was Broken Arrow?
10. How has Russ been living so long and healthy?
11. What is Russman's real name?
12.  What was the Purple Light from Die Rise about?
13.  What book does Samuel have during the events of all 3 N4 Maps?

Here's the thing, I wonder if we petitioned Treyarch/Activision, they could give us a special DLC for BOII?: Far fetched I know, but say they released another 2 maps this year to tide us over until the next release. I would happily pay for the 2 DLC maps, doesn't need to have bells and whistles, just something different (maybe say 2 of the previous maps brought up to date)

Petitions aren't really effective, considering the party in question is a multi-billion dollar company who's not obliged to follow the requests, especially when one of their recent games made half a BILLION in three days.

I'd choose  2-sided EEs, with Challenges coming a close second. I was really pumped at the idea that the community influenced the story. It really made me feel that we had a choice on how the storyline progresses. However, my hopes and dreams were shattered when Team Maxis and Team Richtofen amounted to nothing. Hopefully in the next game our choices will matter and whichever side had the most "votes" (The one you do first in the map is your one and only vote) will influence the canon for the next map, and on a grander scale, the story. However, Team Zombies needs to make sure the EE steps are fair to both sides and ambiguous enough to not have people flock to one side for the "Good Ending" but at the same time answer questions and tie up loose ends. 

This is a very well-thought out theory. Thank you so much for sharing and happy 935th post! Personally, Origins is so open-ended you can legitimately say that Maxis is secretly a dog with a plan to destroy the Earth and colonize Mars. I personally believe that there's some dimension-hopping and time traveling shenanigans going on, but not this elaborate. Anything's possible though, and I suppose we'll see November.

Regretfully, I must inform you, neither the Earth, nor its felines will survive.

Thanks so much for doing this mega thread. It's an absolute shame that they cut so many story quotes from the BO2 maps. It really could've supported the already weak storyline, even just a little. God, why would you ever cut quotes about Samuel struggling with the voices?!

Inspired by Rissole's great post about how Turned can be improved, I decided to make post about how Grief could be improved as well. Keep in mind, this is a very rough sketch of ideas I'm copy and pasting from another post. I'll make sure to stop procrastinating and edit it with original ideas later in the day.

Grief returns with an emphasis on "Grief". The mode features "Power-Downs" which are meant to hurt the other team. Power-Downs include but are not limited to:

Min Ammo: 1/4 of the other team's total ammo is lost

Half Points: Reduces all points gained by half

Delayed-Death: All Zombies killed by other team will have a delayed reaction to death, similar to getting their heads shot off

Water Sale: Doubles the box's price for a whopping 5 minutes (this one is rare)

Ocean Sale: Doubles the PAP's price for a good 3 minutes.

Random Water Bottle: When you have 4 perks, it randomly dilutes a perk and makes you lose it (with the exception of Jugg and Mule Kick to be fair, this is is VERY VERY rare)

Bonus Debts: Lose between 500-1500 points on pickup.

Power-Downs in regular gameplay are very rare, but have an unlimited spawn rate per round. Usually, to receive one, you need to do a specific challenge a la Origins and then activate at a time of your choosing in a chest.

Allow me to preface this by saying this post has nothing to do with the gender/sex side of things. It's a little bit silly to use that card considering that the male characters aren't exactly superultramegaawesome with their Schizophrenia, Dementia, and Germaphobia.

Abigail. "Misty". Briarton. That's her name. When we first met the N4, Misty was the most... physically revealing of the group. Of course, this spawned many many jokes and sexual objectification of her. It doesn't help that Misty's background is one of the least interesting we've seen in the storyline. She's a farmgirl. That likes shotguns.

I think that a crucial part of people disliking her is that Misty is bland compared to the rest of the crew. It's a real shame they never really utilized PAP quotes or otherwise to grow her character. We got bits and pieces such as her father was killed in a Zombie attack and that she can't even recall her mother's face, but not much else. I really do hope for the next game they can somehow "fix" the Misty character, because I really do believe that she has potential.  What was life on the farm like? What was she like before the Outbreak? Why exactly is she so revealing? What was her relationship with her parents? How does she feel at Marlton at the moment? There's easily so many sub plots they can utilize to make her character more appealing. What I personally think will really help is making her the "leader" of the group. By far, Misty is the most sane of the group. She's more than capable of handling the group and banding them together, as shown in the Buried sequence. This can even lead to yet another sub plot, which is the stress of handling such an odd and dysfunctional group. Misty can easily be as good as the others, if the writers try to focus on what will make her interesting.

Since I'm bound to make a mistake or two in this post, feel free to correct me or even add your own opinion about this in the comments section.

The N4 were not terrible. I really liked them, and kinda hated Misty because of the objectification by many immature younger (and older!) players.

Now, everyone thinks that the N4 died in Buried because Richtofen shows us!

 

How? Well, remember the Round Infinity step where the N4 were found dead holding the switch? So many people have tried to tell me that the reason we'll never see the N4 again is because ya know, they died at Buried, Treyarch shows they die in Round Infinity! But what this theory lacks is a bit of LOGIC. They died at "Resolution 1295" when they HAD the switch. This means that they had NOT completed the Easter Egg at this point. Completing the Easter Egg rules out that future as a possibility. The N4 didn't die in Buried.

Yeah, Misty really needs some more focus by the writers in the next game. Her character is pretty bland compared to the colorful personalities to the rest of the N4.

Of course your average person believes the N4 died in Buried. The average CoD player was never really known for exhibiting skills of critical thinking.

The way I see it, the Next Game needs to push forward, but make sure to look back. I don't know about you, but I don't want to play the same version of Zombies over and over. I want FRESH content!It's frightening to take risks, but so much great things can result from it. The main problem with BO2 Zombies was that it felt "gimmicky". TranZit clearly didn't belong on current gen consoles, Die Rise had plain horrible and confusing map design, and Buried cranked the easiness up to an 11. The story is also completely messed up, with no way to make heads or tails of anything at this point. What BO3 needs to do is simply take advatange of next-gen's power, take risks in design mechanics but don't make them a hassle to deal with, and FOCUS ON THE STORY. We're (well most of us) are interested in the TranZit 4. There's so many unresolved questions and subplots. How is Russman still alive? What is "the incident"? What's the status on the Marlton and Misty relationship? Who's The Flesh? What exactly is Broken Arrow? How did each of the characters meet (besides at the Bus Depot)? Why do I have to ask all these questions? BO3 needs to make sure the Zombies story is wrapped up without too many loose ends, and we're golden.

Browsing around, I noticed there wasn't really a definite answer as towards why Arlington keeps hearing Nikolai's name, as evidenced in this video. 

Now that we're at the end of our journey, we finally have more clues to speculate with. What could this mean?  Since the story's all wibbly wobbly with the whole time/alternate universe thing, it's STILL anyone's guess. But my guess is that MOTD is somehow connected to Origins (most notably because of the perk machines). Because of Samatha's odd presence in Origins (I had a much more detailed post here, I'll try to look for it), she's the reason all this weird time distortion stuff is happening. 115 has the ability to dispel stuff from their proper time and place, and her somehow ending up in alternate reality France obviously messed things up. Weasel can hear Nikolai's name because it's a side effect similar to the flashing perk machines. The weapons, the perks, and so much more just don't belong in 1920's Alcatraz. Nikolai's name is simply a trace of another place, in another timeline.

I hope I'm not too confusing with this one. If you have any questions or theories of your own, please, feel free to comment below.

EDIT: Okay, just found that post!

My second and prominently shorter theory is that in order for Maxis to reach his daughter, he has to go through timelines to reach Agartha. The problem with this theory is that we have no idea why she is in Agartha when back in Black Ops 1 she was fighting the Zombies with O3. What happens to her in this timeline that requires Maxis to go to alternate-reality WW1 to save her? Did Richtofen need a place for Samantha to stay out of the way while he got his well-deserved turn and just cast her being through multiple timelines? I had a post detailing how 115 had the potential to displace objects from time and space, causing weird things to happen like flashing perks and what not, and how Sam traveling through timelines makes her the "spark" so to speak. It would make so much more sense if I could link it.

"CAN YOU HEAR ME? PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE ONLY 100 MORE STEPS TO GO!"

Hi Horseman, I believe you're looking for  http://www.callofdutyzombies.com/forum/index.php/forum/7-teammate-finder/ 

Hi Gamechanger,

 

I'm assuming you posted using a mobile device? If you did I/we are aware of the problem and looking into it. If you posted from a web browser I'm not sure what you mean? I can't see anything wrong with the post itself?

I'm on a web browser. I had to manually edit it out of this post, but it's much more evident here http://www.callofdutyzombies.com/forum/index.php/topic/158370-proof-that-team-zombies-didnt-work-on-mob-and-origins/#entry1476413

Spoilers, obviously.

I loved the branching storylines, but it could've been handled so much better. We don't really know the consequences of our actions. Kill Farid or Harper? DUH! Farid! Oh wait, I got the bad ending even though they gave me zero hint about it. I wonder how BO3 wiill handle it, considering the move from last gen to current gen. Will it have save files determine the status of the story? Or just make certain/most popular options canon?

David was a very boring protagonist that really held the story back. With Alex, you were actually invested in the story. What are those gosh darned numbers? Who are these interrogators? Why am I strapped in a torture chair?! With Davey boy, al lwe get is "my dad died, we gotta stop Menendez i guess". 

Great discussion starting topic. What a great way for CoDz to start 2014 right with some great posts.
 

-Did "Origins" end zombies for Black ops 2 well or not?

Definitely not in terms of Story. One of the biggest shortcomings in this game was that the story didn't really have a direction. The N4's story never felt "complete" so to speak. It felt more about the Steps than the Reasons behind the EE, personally. We also get zero update on the O4 from Moon, creating one of many loose ends. In terms of Gameplay however, Origins is fantastic. It combines the classic Black Ops 1 feel while giving it a Modern twist with new mechanics that aren't frustrating to deal with it. I really hope the "challenge" system makes a return in a future map.

-Will you be looking forward to more storyline or gameplay

Mainly story. Our story was so lackluster in BO2, there's no way Treyarch will be a two-time loser with 3.

-Has Treyarch made good on keeping to the fans and still giving a good experience?

In general, yes.  Even though they were too ambitious at the moment (TranZit MK. II on XBone/PS4/PC without anything holding it back like console limitations will be incredible) they do stay true to the classic formula and generally give a good experience on all maps at least.

-What was the worst DLC?

As I don't play MP that much, I'd have to say that Vengeance had to be the worst in terms of Zombies. Buried seriously suffers from the EZ PZ issue with such mechanics like the Paralyzer, Time Bomb, Bank, Witches, and more. In the end, we get two lackluster endings of either Eddy getting "total control" (We don't have an idea of what power the MPD has, so we can't understand what total control really is) or Maxis usurping Richtofen in his quest to open Agartha.

-What was the best DLC?

I'd have to say Apocalypse. Origins combines what makes Mob so wonderful without making "gimmicks" an annoyance. It was a nice change of pace to Hell Hoppers and unnecessary  complex map design for the reason of VERTICALITY!

-How did the VAs and Music do?
Though people seem to dislike my homeboy Clark, I think he did fine. I really hope we get to see more of him the next game. Malukah did great too (congrats to her for finally hitting the big time!) but I'm worried that BO3 will exclusively feature her. A7X is cool with me, too. On the subject of Elena, we probably won't be seeing her for a LONG time as she has a job at Irrational Games (Bioshock Infinite developers) and Kevin will most likely respect that by waiting until the last map to have her sing (which will be a LOOOOOOOONG time from now. Trust me, Acti will milk this cash cow for as long as possible). The N4 was great, but I really wished they fleshed out their respective stories. Buried teases us with their potential, but not much comes out from it. Misty is a good character, but she needs more of a story. For now, she's just the boring Farm Girl. What was her past life like? How does she really feel about Marlton?  It's good to see ALL the O4 cast, but really? Normal personalities? We needed some Honorable American Vodka poisoned Spleens in Origins! Funnily enough, it seems that people are digging Origins Takeo (For me personally I really like how his accent isn't so forced) and hating Origins Nikolai (Take away the Vodka, and you take away the man).
 
 

Richtofen all the way. I knew from the start that Maxis was planning something evil, and I simply chose the lesser of two evils. One of the few things that Origins makes me angry about is that it implies that the Maxis side was canon according to one of the more logical theories. Why include a story that's seemingly was community focused, and then drop it without any sort of results?

All in all, I'm looking into 2014 with high hopes for Story (More CONSPIRACY! quotes) and using the new console's power to create innovative, but not frustrating gameplay.

Off Topic, but why are sections of my post being covered in white? It's very annoying to try and fix every single part of it.

It is interesting I suppose that MotD and Origins were not mentioned, however as MMX said, it doesn't necessarily mean Campaign v Zombies team. More likely each map had slightly different groups due to contracting and rotations within the company.

I'd be interested in any other bits of evidence to suggest different teams however. Thank you for actually bringing something to the table on this claim that has been floating around for ages.

Reddit is a scary place. On a different note.

Yeah, there's more than likely certain groups working on certain maps due to contracting and rotation, but it's pretty interesting that his post implies that Team Zombies had a lesser role in Origins/Mob.

On a side note Reddit really isn't that scary of a place, but it can be pretty annoying. The beauty of it is that you can customize what kind of content your account and even easily crate your own "subreddit" (think of a mini community for a x topic) but the voting system completely favors little-effort posts, and disadvantages controversial opinions.

Treyarch are probably saying nothing because it's no ones business who made what maps, Treyarch made the game, Treyarch made the maps end of imo.

Good point, but I'm always curious about how the Team(s) made the maps, the Easter Eggs, the story quotes (because who doesn't like to hear about Vodka and Conspiracies?!) It's a shame we didn't get a CoDXP last year.

While browsing reddit the other day I noticed something very interesting. There was a giveaway for a Developer signed copy of Black Ops II (wish I could've told you all, but the site was down for the mega redesign). Reading it, I noticed the OP said this: This is signed by the core Black Ops 2 Zombies team, I went around and got it exclusively signed by those of us who worked on TranZit at the time (as well as Die Rise and Buried thereafter).

I find it odd how he doesn't mention that the Zombies team didn't work on Mob or Origins. This would imply that another team mainly worked on the maps. Maybe this is finally sufficient proof that the Campaign team created both maps, as I had my doubts before. What do you guys think about this?

Proof: http://www.reddit.com/r/RandomActsOfGaming/comments/1ukl5u/giveaway_developer_signed_codbo2/

EDIT: Why is a part of my post white highlighted? That's pretty weird.

It isn't like treyarch to make something attainable by killing yourself and respawning. 

I hate to be a smartass, but Moon's One Giant Leap achievement forced you to kill yourself and respawn to get it. Anyways, I think the Elemental Knife is just a seemingly-intentional glitch.

It looks kinda fun, but I'm not personally hyped as some of you guys are. It seems to be simply a reskinned Zombies mode. I'd like to play it, but it doesn't seem worth the effort to deal with translating Chinese, playing around with Proxies, and listening to only Chinese while I play Nacht with a different setting.

Found it. Here's two "Theories" (anything's fair game at this point) of mine that attempts to get an explanation of Origin's ending/Side Quest

I trust this is just a grand metaphor for how Samantha's mind is handling omnipotence. Her lexicon is well beyond her years as shown in Moon, but she's just a little girl. Her mind is just interpreting it as just a big game, since it's what she's familiar with.

However, Season 3 has been a disappointment in my opinion. I'll save my full explanation for another time, but storyline wise it was bad. I can understand that they wanted to start with something new in the form of the TranZit crew, but looking over the quotes for the maps makes me sad. There's SO MUCH questions laid out, but very few are answered. What was The Flesh? Why did Stu eat flesh? How can he hear Richtofen in Buried, but not the other voices? What kind of organization was Broken Arrow? How did Russ get fired, and (maybe) how was Marlton involved with it? How and why was Marlton in the Nuketown shelter? What happened to the 04 in Moon? The story at this point is a complete mess, and I doubt it'll magically be fixed in Black Ops 3's core map.

Guys, open your peepers! Don't take it as face value, look at the underlying themes of it. Isn't something... different? Maxis is the one who goes insane instead of our Ricky! The characters are... calm. Specifically speaking, Takeo is more fierce than honorable. There's so many things in Origins that contradicts the other maps, it's like someone just made it up. It somewhat follows the REAL story, but it's like a fanfiction of sorts. The question is though, who and why would they write this? The adults that know about this stuff and the dangers Element 115 presents wouldn't write out a story for fun. As described in the Ending, it's actually the work of kid(s). A child, and her imagination. What if this is all Samantha's young mind interpreting ultimate power? It's like a game where she makes the rules, but Eddie wants to play too. He's going (or maybe he already has his turn?) to get his turn soon, whether she likes it or not. Even though SaMaxis's vernacular is well beyond her years, her mind still needs to find a way to her to handle omnipotence. This is the way. While real events play out, Sam plays a make believe game where she can play out her fantasies of the O4 saving her instead of overthrowing her.

Though Homicide Automation 10 has a much better understanding of Alternato Timelines than me, I still had my own thoughts about it.

My second and prominently shorter theory is that in order for Maxis to reach his daughter, he has to go through timelines to reach Agartha. The problem with this theory is that we have no idea why she is in Agartha when back in Black Ops 1 she was fighting the Zombies with O3. What happens to her in this timeline that requires Maxis to go to alternate-reality WW1 to save her? Did Richtofen need a place for Samantha to stay out of the way while he got his well-deserved turn and just cast her being through multiple timelines? I had a post detailing how 115 had the potential to displace objects from time and space, causing weird things to happen like flashing perks and what not, and how Sam traveling through timelines makes her the "spark" so to speak. It would make so much more sense if I could link it.

Since the story at the moment is all wibbelly-wobbelly Samantha is the anomaly, everything's open to interpretation. At this point, any so-called "theories" are us looking too deep into a tangled web, trying to find a super secret hidden message.

Personally, I think the team can work with "Alternate Timelines" next game as a reason for Origins and make people think Origins was amazingly elaborate and 10/10 writing. I'll dig up my last post about my views on the story in a sec.