GameChanger

Black Ops 2 had the best story, writing, maps and overall best value.

- Heather

Don't take this the wrong way (Different blokes Different strokes etc.) but did you switch up the games? This is probably the first and only time I'm seeing someone saying BO2 is better in these aspects, and I totally respect that. To me though, BO2 was wasted potential in most regards. One day I'll go into detail, but I'm not gonna try to write a novel to look like an internet tough guy.

Maps- TranZit and Die Rise felt gimmicky. Buried was the pure definition of EZMode. MOTD and Origins were slower-paced maps that were much more fun to play. Nuketown was a neat little for-fun map, except when you're in the late 10's waiting for Jugg to spawn. Survival maps were lame in comparison to the stock maps in BO1. QUALITY, not Quantity.

Story/Writing- I would've agreed if the story actually lead anywhere beyond the Main Quest. Many, many, questions were thrown at us in regards to the N4 that weren't even touched. It seems to me Team Zombies were a little too focused on map design this go around (judging from the BTS videos).

Don't forget the panic-ed tvs that sound quite fresh....

Well, as shown in COTD, transmissions don't necessarily have to be left recently.

Also, I just thought of something. Could all the lava in Tranzit be caused by Rifting as well (on a smaller scale)?

Welcome to the forum friend! It's great to see a rook be so active and helping to the community so early on. Sorry about the... emotional discussion above, we sometimes get passionate about our theories. Remember everyone, we should respect all serious theories. We're obviously gonna have different views on things if Treyarch doesn't exactly spell out the story.

To answer your questions, I don't think it was poorly written, but TZ dug themselves a grave. Fortunately, they can just climb out the shallow grave in the means of adjusting story without much backlash at the moment. Personally, I think they focused too much on the "main" side quest as opposed to fleshing out the characters and map atmosphere. Whenever I stop being lazy, I'm gonna write my story suggestion for the first map of BO3 and link it in this post. Here are my "theories" towards your questions. Keep in mind, I'm not a super-expert like MurderMachineX and other people, but I think I have an okay grasp on the story.

Where did the towers that Rictofen wanted acitvated come from?

They were just regular radio towers that were a essentially a way to gain "energy" for MaxisRichtofen's plan. I didn't pay a lot of attention to the exact EE steps, but I think they involved channeling Aetheral energy for their own purposes.

Why does Weasel reference Nikolai in MoTD?

This one's probably the hardest for me to answer. Drawing inspiration from MurderMachineX's Partially Cyclical Omnipotent Samantha Theory, Samantha traversing alternate realities combined with 115's ability to displace things/people from their proper timeline would predictably lead to some odd happenings.

What happened to the OG4 on Moon?

We don't know for sure. Assuming that TranZit takes place decades after the missiles, it's possible that the O4 (guess starring Samantha Maxis as Edward Richtofen!) did what they always do, and time traveled to another place and time.

How did Samantha get to Agartha from Rictofen's body?

Again, we have no clue. Maybe Richtofen needed some place quiet so Samantha wouldn't mess up his well-deserved turn.

How are the OG4 and Maxis old in WW1, when they looked young in WW2?

Again, alternate timelines. To me, the O4 look really young in WW1, making it contradictory they look so old in WW2.

How is Samantha in WW1? Who is she exactly?

Sam is just a little girl who got involved in this madness. She was sent to be trapped in Agartha during alternate-reality WW1 for some odd reason.

How did Maxis die in WW1, but a radio says he died on Moon?

Alternato Timelineos. Jeez, if I say this more often, "Alternate Timelines" will become Black Ops 2's verson of "Vril/Aliens"!

Where did Weasel go after he broke the cycle?

He's most likely still dead, considering the events of MOTD wasn't exactly in "reality".

Where did the OG4 go after they freed Samantha?

No clue. I'm grasping at straws here, but Sam probably gave them an unimaginable reward for their brave efforts, and the cycle began again (Maxis starting G935 after Sam made her wish)

Why is 115 blue in Origins?

115 can take many forms. The orange/red meteors we're used to is just one of its many forms.

Is The Rift a portal to the dimensions?

No, as stated in my badly written topic viewtopic.php?f=100&t=36755 I think the Rift was simply an actual geological Rift.

What happened to the CoTD crew?

Most likely they survived and either had no one believe their experience or just kept it to themselves, knowing that there's no way anyone would believe them/they thought the whole thing was fake somehow.

How did the OG4 get from Kino to Ascension?

They come in on a Lunar Lander (sorry). Once again, we have no idea of fully knowing. Perhaps they overloading the teleporter in Kino and took a Lunar Lander that was nearby the facility or something?

Is the whole storyline a time loop?

Possibly. Even though I don't want it to be, the way things are looking, it may just be. We played around with the idea of a small-scale cycle in Mob of The Dead, so it's gonna be interesting to see a large scale one.

Bonus Points to whoever can tell me how to spoiler correctly (I cannot do it save my life.)

EDIT: ZombieGK wins (checked their storyline quotes thread to see proper formatting)! Yay for piggybacking off someone else's hard work!

Since I'll sound like a broken record, I'll try to keep this post related to the unpopular maps.

Shangri-La: This was our first "actual" challenge. You had to change up your strategies for this map since it always kept you on your toes. This made things much more fun and hectic and LomMover96 goes down.

TranZit: This introduced us to a new playable set of characters, creating some variety. Love 'em or hate 'em, the TranZit crew were a nice break from the O4 for a while.

Die Rise: This map kinda saved the Buildables IMO. While in TranZit most stuck with a Turbine because building and setting up anything else was tedious, Die Rise made buildables easy to find, make, and use.

Buried: What I want to believe is our actual "ending" to Black Ops 2. We've waited patiently on what the Towers were for and what was Maxis and Richtofen's plan, and we got it there. Hopefully, our first vote for the Button is actually going to affect the next game's story.

I'm not him, but if the whole "I've been searching for decades" thing was true, obviously the survivors would have to go into hiding/fortify the decimated Earth. I think Stu's amazement at looking at a tree is a subtle hint that this has been going on for a while. Ever notice how the N4 don't act too shocked towards the dead walking when spawning at the Bus Depot?

Then again, I may be over analyzing it and Stuhlinger's just really insane in the brain.

Probably from this (cut) Maxis quote:

Credit: viewtopic.php?f=100&t=18279

Since we're playing the waiting game, we might as well suggest some good ideas for Treyarch. If you had control over how Season 4 began both map-wise and story-line wise, how would it be? What map would you have? How are you gonna advance the story in the new map? Assuming the next chapter will be on just Xbone and PS4, we can be more adventurous with gameplay elements. I'll be editing in my suggestion when I stop procrastinating (which is never ).

(My apologies if this kind of thread has been seen a lot.

Personally, I like 'em all. All of them have traits that make them a fun and three-dimensional character to play as, such as Misty, the ironically teenage defiant turned group leader.

On the "Enemy" side, I liked how all of them added a new challenge and prevented a 100 percent cakewalk. I'm probably the only person in the world, I like the Panzer Soldat the way that he is right now. He speeds the game up and encourages people to stick together instead of being a one man army. The only thing I dislike is how multiple can spawn. Just one is more than enough to me.

If I had to choose one for the playable character side, I'd pick Finn. He acts more like a tough guy in MOTD even though we have one that plays the role perfectly. Whenever I see I'm playing as him, I internally groan because I'm playing as Billy Handsome with a sore throat (NO OFFENSE TO THE ACTOR, of course. Your voice is fine).

For the Enemy/Boss side, I'd choose the Denizens. They were like dirt on top of a cake with spikes in it. The fog already confused you, so I don't see why we had to fight such an OP boss. If he latches onto you and you don't have Galva yet, you're a bad spot. They slow you down and make you lose your very thin sense of direction. I know they were supposed to prevent people making ezmode trains, but why not make it REALLY hard to see Zombies in the fog? Like, you can only see the blue in their eyes once you're within 3 feet of them.

Sorry for a noobie butting in, but I believe part of the reason is that there's wasn't really much strategy in Black Ops II. With the Bank, you could've done whatever you wanted and get everything you want by Round 3. Especially in Buried, the main strategy was to just camp somewhere with Paralyzer, Easy Headshot Guns, and Traps. I don't think the old ways or CoDz is dying, it's just that people can talk about a certain game so long without taking a break from it. Look at this post November 2014. People will be scrambling to write guides for TranZit II For Xbox One and PS4: No More Ugly Fog and Denizens Edition.

Small problem: the Zombies team makes every map. There is no indication from anyone whether one team made more of the map than the other.

Great point of course. Obviously, Campaign aren't going to twiddle their thumbs on the off-season before the next game production begins. While I do agree that Zombies dev team has a large influence on EACH map, I won't deny the idea members of the C team came up with some large-scale gameplay ideas, some of them maybe being elements the fans are really liking (Actual "objectives", game ending EE etc.)

I saw a fantastic theory on reddit.com that is NOT ME, but /u/thewandering way. Here is the link for it. The transcript goes like this:

I'm not sure if anyone else put forward this theory yet, but what if Origins is non-canon and the ending cinematic isn't Richtofen and Samantha, but proxies for the Campaign team and the Zombies team. Please correct me anywhere my logic is wrong.

First I want to bring your attention to the lines from the end cinematic.

Eddie: You're getting everything wrong. I told you before, their eyes should be blue!

Samantha: It's my turn, Eddie. I can do whatever I want.

I realized that of the maps for BO2, Tranzit, Nuketown, Die Rise, Mov of the Dead, Buried and Origins, can be seen as those maps with zombies with blue eyes and those without.

Maps w/Blue eyes are Tranzit, Nuketown, Die Rise and Buried, all maps which were created by the Zombies development team. MotD and Origins were done by the Campaign team. Interestingly enough, you can also see game play elements which separate the maps created by the two teams. Both maps created by the Campaign team have bosses, a large assortment of new and varied Wunderweapons, custom mystery boxes, and jump scares.

If you take this into consideration, than the conversation between Eddie and Sam makes a lot more sense and one could see why the scene exists. It’s not canon, but a means of looking back over the maps in BO2 and each teams feelings.

Eddie: But... You don't even know how to play properly! Girls don't know enough about zombies. Is basically the Zombies team stating how Origins story (by the Campaign team) makes no sense in the overarching story of the Zombies mythos. Note: MotD also makes no sense in the overarching story either as it is very much a stand alone story.

Eddie: I didn't even get my turn... The Zombie team was probably supposed to have full run of the BO2 zombies map, but somewhere in pre-production it was probably decided to split some of the work between the zombies team and campaign team. This could be the Zombies team lamenting how they weren't given a full “turn” at running zombies development.

Samantha: Tomorrow, Eddie. You get to make the rules. I promise. Basically the campaign team saying next time it’s all yours.

As for Maxis’ lines during the end, I have a feeling this is a huge teaser. If my theory of Eddie and Sam being proxies for the teams is correct, than Maxis would represent a power over them, most likely Activision. If this is taken into consideration, then things get exciting. Eddie states he wishes the “heroes in our stories were real” and Sam responds “…we will make everything okay…My dad has a plan.” This could be interpreted in that the next BO will be on next gen and Activision has plans for BO.

Awhile ago Activision showed off a new game engine. Despite being the first next-gen CoD game, Ghosts does not seem to be running on said engine mainly because it has to be cross generational (both 360 and One/PS3 and PS4). My guess is that the next BO or possibly a stand alone Zombies game will be running on the new game engine and be the first true next-gen CoD.

TL:DR-Origin's ending isn't Richtofen and Samantha but a very elaborate metaphor for the Zombies team and Campaign team.

ONCE AGAIN, NOT ME, check the top for proper source.

Very direct, straight-to-the-point, and well written. Nice work, Gamechanger. Just one question:

What we see in Buried is plate tectonics in full force, but this shouldn't be possible. Plate shifting should be happening in other parts of Africa, not Angola.

Why isn't this possible? And, what does it mean/your conclusion would be...?

It seems clear that Maxis wanted to use the Rift for power, like you said.

A wasted opportunity if you ask me that after Die Rise, this Rift plot is never mentioned again.

-Heather

Bad wording on my part, sorry. What I mean is that based on a really lazy Google search, their shouldn't be diverging plates near Angola (The presumed location of Buried) but rather in other parts of Africa. Even if there were, I'm sure people would know and talk more about a GIANT LAVA PIT next to a mine before the Moon rockets hit. I'm beating a undead horse here, but I'm really sad Treyarch didn't focus on The Rift and other storyline elements this game.

(Before I begin, let me remind you all I'm not a science major and just an enthusiastic Zombie fan. I'm gonna keep things simple, and I'm probably gonna mess up. Please feel free to correct me if I make an error.)

Mentioned first in Die Rise with the lovely Samuel quote: What do you mean, "Mend The Rift?", we've speculated a plenty on what it could be. Although we get to see what The Rift is in Buried, I'd like to explain what it actually is and what could cause such a thing.

In plate tectonics, a divergent plate boundary is caused by two plates moving away from each other. The gap between the two plates is called a Rift. Once magma rises up in the gap, the resulting crust creates new land. What we see in Buried is plate tectonics in full force, but this shouldn't be possible. Plate shifting should be happening in other parts of Africa, not Angola.

So there ya have it. The Rift wasn't some weird transdimensional portal where Russman could kick it with Michael Rooker and Nixon. It seems that the tectonic shift and resulting Rift/Underground Settler Town was caused by the Moon's rockets. Artificially creating/speeding up the Rift(s) seemed to be a prime objective to Maxis. Personally, I believe this is just another example of how he would stop at nothing to save his daughter, even if it meant the instability and subsequent destruction of Earth.

Once again, I'm just an average Joe trying to keep complicated Science simple. If there's any mistakes or faults (he he) with this theory, please let me know.

Hope you don't mind this bump, as I saw you updated it on the 21st!

In the game files, it is referred to as "zm_tm_wth_dog"

Odd.. Do you guys think the jump scare means anything or is it just a one-off thing? Personally, I think it's the first step in the Mega-Staff easter egg :p

Much of black ops 2 and THIS map in particular arn't designed for those who don't like to cooperate... origins is HARD and those who are used to round 50+ with no downs are in for a rude awakening...

Exactly! Going into Origins from Buried, you're going to have A LOT of downs. This is a very difficult map that requires you to take a few downs in order to learn it fully. You're obviously not gonna get a round 45 run in 30 minutes with this map, and even though Randoms may not like this, I do.

As one who follows the zombie storyline should know...

Things aren't always as they seem.

There's a big difference between a character's plans, and what actually ensues.

We can't be sure either of their endings worked the way they would have been aiming for.

Adding on to this, the part where you go to round infinity is where you cross timelines put things right (The switch wasn't in their timeline, so they had to cross their own in order to retrieve it). Here's a quote by Richtofen regarding this: "Now don't get upset Sammyboy. We're going to put things right!"

Destroying the world and EVERYONE on it would be a disastrous ending. Do you honestly think that after what the N4 went through they'd just be like "Welp, okay then. #YOLO"? Having the future maps be prequels/alternating timelines would make a lot of people upset I'm sure.

Even though the Maxis taking control ending is better in terms of starting up the next game, HOPEFULLY, HOPEFULLY, your first endgame press will count towards a tally that will determine the canon for the next game. I'd love to see that our choices matter, and there's a community involvement in terms of "Team Richtofen" and "Team Maxis".

On an unrelated note, I'm gonna upload the background I forgot soon.

Team Richtofen all the way.

I don't think Russman was an actual field operative. Some of his quotes refer to how he misses weapons of the old days, like double barreled shotguns and such. He sounds more like those old dudes who haven't touched a gun in ages, and just now are starting to see guns of the new generation.

I believe that Russ might have been a test subject similar to Dempsey, Takeo and Nikolai. A test subject for a super soldier program.

But I don't see how you can tie Marlton into this. Do we know if he's affiliated with Broken Arrow in any way? He's more or less affiliated with the CIA and CDC, since he was with them at Nuketown.

Russman could've just had a fondness for old weapons. I believe to him, If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

The super soldier part is what kinda contradicts my theory. G935 wanted to create super soldiers using 115, right? So why don't the Americans do it? If my "Theory" is correct, then why was B.A. angry that Russman used some on himself.

The part about Marlton is a long shot at it's best. What we DO know is there was an incident at Broken Arrow, causing Russman to leave Broken Arrow, and that Marlton messed something up somehow with his "blabber mouth" that makes Russ angry. Even though there is a little evidence, I feel as though the gaps can be bridged by connecting the parts about Marlton snitching and Russ leaving B.A.

EDIT: If anyone is interested I could do a quick write-up on what exactly the Rift was, how it came to be, and why it should've been all so obvious from the start if anyone would like me to do that.

(Included Assumption in my title since for some odd reason I still believe there's not enough evidence to back this up. Crossposting from reddit.com, so beware of posting errors)

If there's any spelling/grammar errors please let me know, I just hate misspelling tings.

Yes, Broken Arrow. The organization we all happily ignored until Buried. As first mentioned in this Die Rise radio:

Saber 10: "Recon 5, this is Saber 10. Our sweep failed to find evidence of any survivors on site. Broken Arrow is not viable for new FOB." ... "That's a negative sir, records appear to have been destroyed in a fire prior to the facility being overrun." ... "Sir, we believe staff may have been trying to destroy evidence implicating them in the outbreak." ... "Understood sir, confirmed drop in T-5. Retreating to safe distance."

What is a FOB? A Forward Operating Base is pretty much a military base mainly used to aid tactical operations. They're usually temporarily used due to Main Operation Bases (MOB) being much more secure and permanent. What I get from the radio is the U.S. Military hasn't entirely collapsed, but there are in so much disarray they need a temporary base with survivors in it. When Saber 10 did their check of Broken Arrow, it was overrun. Before it was overrun with the Zombies, they had to burn evidence of their involvement with the outbreak. At the end of the radio, they're dropping something on it. But what? It could be a bomb to take out the Zs, or it could be a care package. My personal guess is that it was a bomb to take care of the zombie problem in that area...

Why are they destroying evidence? To burn records would imply guilt in something. What is an American organization doing experimenting with 115? This stopped when G935 disappeared around the 1940's-1960's right? Wrong. The Americans were watching them all along. They realized what power Element 115 had and so they attempted to find its secrets by piggybacking off the German scientists. This would last for decades, not stopping even after G935 seemed to collapse. This is where Broken Arrow comes in. This is an organization that seems to be primarily wants to figure out 115's potential before the Germans can. However, this sort of stuff was top secret. Even with the German threat gone, they still needed to figure out how the US could use it to their full potential. If what was going down at Broken Arrow leaked out to the public.. it could result in disaster for the U.S. This is why I believe in the event they would become possibly compromised, they would have to destroy all evidence relating to 115, Zombies, and Teleporters.

Russman. Yes, Russman. The elusive man with no clear name. Oh yeah, he's involved with this stuff. "Broken Arrow seems like a long time ago... back then Stu was little more than a babyfaced-brat." He's been there for what seems like decades while he was mentoring Stuhlinger, who interestingly seems to never mention his REAL father in his quotes. Big Russ was a father figure to him, so much that he even says this when Russ is swarmed: "I'm coming to help Daddy [Russman]! ... err, ehh.. daddy-o!" "What was his position there, Zielin- GameChanger?" Due to multiple quotes by Marlton insulting his intelligence, I doubt he was a scientist there. However, Russman displays proficient weapons skills in the maps. This leads me to think he was more of a field operative. Russman (and Stuhlinger) were patriots, as described in this quote:"Atleast it's American .. Just saying." Russman managed to do this for decades it seems. But how? During his wild adventures with the New Crew, he can walk, run, and shoot like the young'uns. If he is over 75 as he states in this quote after drinking Speed Cola: "I feel like I'm 75! It's like I'm young again!", then there is no possibly explanation why he isn't dead or pitifully slow. 115 does have unusual effects on the body, however. See where I'm getting at? At some point in his career, he snagged some 115, used it on himself (ate, drank, infused?), and stayed healthy for years. I don't know whether or not THIS is the reason Marlton snitched on him, but I think it all ties together. Don't call me a storyline writer, but this may just be an easy solution to the Broken Arrow problem. Russ infuses himself with "stolen" 115 to remain in good health, Marlton realizes this, snitches on him, and turns Russ and presumably Stuhlinger into hobos. This is why Marlton and Russ DESPISE each other. With some of their quotes, I'm frankly surprised one of them hasn't tried killing the other and blaming it on the Zombies.

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, keep in mind this is more of a desperate attempt at bridging the gaps in the form of assumptions and little proof. If you agree/disagree with this, please feel free to comment below. I genuinely enjoy being corrected and learning from my mistakes and perhaps even sparking a discussion or two.

Source For Quotes: ZombieGK's magnificent (viewtopic.php?f=100&t=34328)storyline quotes thread over at CoDz. If you really liked my post, don't thank me, thank him!

Ninja Edit: My goodness, I wrote a lot here. Hopefully it was worth it!

No one is "perfect" since everyone will make a mistake in game, but there definitely can be a good batch of randoms. I played a game last night with a great group(who I swore one of them may be a CoDz member. TwistedFate ring a bell to anyone?) who stayed in the game even with 10+ downs, was patient, willing to help, and did everything fast and efficiently that had to unfortunately end because of my Internet connection.

Absolutely incredible post. It totally beats my lame "hurr hurr it was a non-canon game played by Sam and Edward" theory. At some point during or after Moon Sam was transported into an alternate timeline. But how? Was it Maxis giving her mercy by not making her go through the mangled and bombed Earth? Or did Richtofen need a quick way to get her out of the picture so his Grand Scheme can continue? Either way, just by Samantha crossing timelines messed with the everything. The way I see it, there's pretty much infinite timelines for any event (sorta like a certain AAA game that was released not too long ago..). Sam crossing timelines and being the DE messed with all timelines in a certain way, considering 115 has the power to displace objects/people from their time and space.

Although this is more of an assumption than a theory, I think this is how MOTD got started. Somehow Sam messed with the natural flow of things by being transported, and 115 placed perk machines and weapons from other futures into MOTD. This is why the perks flash. They didn't belong in Mob's timeline (with the exception of Electric Cherry) and the ingredients were already relying on 115, causing the machines to overload and distort. They were taken from other maps and thrown around in Mob. What I don't fully understand is HOW and WHY 115 and Zombies/Perks/Guns got there. Sam simply passing through can't cause all of this, can it? I feel that in THOSE timelines there was already 115 in them, but they needed an ignition to kick it off, and Sam is the ignition. She is the Paradox. As shown in MOTD, her damage can be repaired (breaking the cycle) but we don't know how to FULLY stop her from messing with the timelines. Somehow, the cycle has to be broken. For the next game, let's keep in mind that the Mobsters had to retain their memory on their own and realize what's happening before they could break it. They could've possibly continued the cycle hundreds of times before they remembered.

Jeez, all this talk about timelines and stuff is probably gonna make me say "Constants and Variables'' at the end of every post. Feel free to point out flaws in the theory and alert me to any mistakes I made.

Welcome to the forum, friend! If you wish, feel free to post an introduction. We don't bite, that much...

Your theory is pretty good. WWI Sam can be a nice little girl and evil if she wants. I highly doubt Treyarch made a mistake considering how much production value Origins promos had, so I think it was a really subtle hint. As the rounds go on and she gets more powerful from the souls entering the Aether, she can communicate easier in the "Real Word". When in Zombie Blood, she can talk to the O4, but it's kinda like a radio connection where she's choppy and a little distorted. Keep in mind, as shown in Der Riese and Moon Sam's capable of talking to them in the real world evilly and nicely.

pretty cool, except...

^^ this is pretty lame. I mean I get that it showcases an aspect of their character (Marlton=glasses) - but it comes off to me as another desperate attempt to sexualize Misty's character. I don't think it's fair how all the other characters are portrayed as badass', and then it's like "ooooo look at those soft lips. it's misty."

Huh, it never crossed my mind that this could be an attempt to sexualize her character. I always interpreted that card as Misty's defining feature is her mouth, since of course she's a big mouth. She's not a prissy little proper girl, she can be as loud and tough as the guys if she wants to.

On a slightly unrelated note, I kinda wish they would tone down the masculinity a bit. Don't make her into a "DempShe", but don't stick her in a dress and make her moan every 3 quotes either. Try to make her the "leader" of the group for Season 4, but keep her tough. I loved that she had a tad bit more character in Buried when we find out she's pretty much the only one keeping the group together. Sure, Russman's got experience, but he's not stable enough to take charge at the moment.

Can someone please post all the images?

Sorry, I'm a bit late, but here. There's Foil (rare) and regular versions of each card. I couldn't get each version, so I may be using a foil only instead of a regular and vice versa.

ICONS:

BACKGROUNDS:

In hindsight, I should've just gone to the Steam Market to get the images instead of some random guy's backpack, but oh well. I could've sworn there was a Dempsey background, but maybe it was all inside my head...

EDIT: Foiled by spoiler tags yet again. If anyone wants descriptions, let me know. I'm uploading backgrounds soon.

Although this is a cheap mooching post, I'm glad you posted this, as I wouldn't have known Treyarch released cards. It's pretty odd how they are willing to opt-in this PC-exclusive program (to be fair though this is free money since everything's digital) but won't try to revive the PC community with added features and feedback. I can't wait to get my hands on the cards and get a nice background or two (The Emotes for this one are very lackluster, and the badges are the ranks from "Bonez" to "Shotgunz". Everything's cooler with a Z I guess?). Here's a FAQ if you are unfamiliar with Steam Trading Cards.

Edit: Some of the card images are really weird too. For Misty, it's just her lips. For Marlton, it's his eyes. Russ only has his hand open back-side up, Stu has his whole face interestingly, and two of the cards have the combination of the MOTD gang's faces (Al and Billy, Finn and Sal). It seems like they wanted the cards to symbolize something about the characters. I can guess what Misty and Marlton's mean (Misty is a big mouth, Marlton is curious about his situation, especially the weapons, so he uses his eyes to look at the details of things) but I can't figure out what the rest of the cards symbolize. Weird.