Loaf

For those who would like to start or finish collecting all of the Intel in CW, here is the resource that I use when I need to double-check my notes: 🧵

The transphobia in the call of duty zombies community is absolutely abhorrent and needs to be addressed sometime

@cjklobotomy I’m not so sure it’s the only one to have risk-reward gameplay but I do agree that it’s a unique experience. I do enjoy going back and playing it from time to time

@LoafAethernaut BO1 does have something that people forget: risk-reward gameplay. It’s the only one to have it really which leads to it being a unique experience. It’s still not the best at all. It’s buggy, the guns suck, etc. but I don’t appreciate people completely discrediting it.

Loaf’s unfiltered CodZ opinions Part I (most of these are just about the character writing and also Ava Jansen get behind me):

@OfficiallyMeNow Very true, but Klaus’ existence is also kind of sad- just for different reasons. I just think setting up an AI to be just like their human counterpart is cruel because they’ll never be exactly like them. Just kind of similar and also kind of not.

@LoafAethernaut Cortana is a semi less fucked up example and it’s mostly that it’s severely cruel to burden any form of life with memories not their own. Klaus from Mauer is an example of an AI while based off a mind, doesn’t possess the memories that are associated with them.

@OfficiallyMeNow I do apologize to fictional AI characters for comparing them to fictional AI character chat bots. While I am not as familiar with Cortana I think Alpha and Beta (Church and Tex) are great examples of how AI based off of people is inherently cruel and wrong.

@LoafAethernaut Comparing sentient AI to a chatbot is incredibly disrespectful and even insulting. This logic would say Cortana is ChatGPT, that Epsilon from RvB is ChatGPT. Also never argued against that, as Grey is grieving and wanting to help ensure Sam’s legacy is untainted.

@OfficiallyMeNow Because SAM is an AI and I want to respect that. Comparing her to someone with the exact same complexities as human cognitive development is unfair to her. Also my point was that I didn’t think it was ooc for Grey to choose Eddie’s family over SAM.

@LoafAethernaut I misconstrued the first part, I’ll admit. I had to calm down a bit after getting riled up by Twitter. Also, respectful how? Your entire point literally calls her a bastardization, and also quite a bit of your replies so far have disregarded her personhood and sentience.

@OfficiallyMeNow Yes, I can confirm that Richtofen tortured Samantha Maxis and caused untold harm (both physical and psychological) to countless people. But could you please tell me what quotes from SAM am I misconstruing? I do want to be respectful towards SAM.

@LoafAethernaut Nowhere in her voicelines does she say she wants to be Maxis. The line almost everyone believes that SAM wants to be Maxis is from Richtofen who not only tortured Samantha Maxis, but caused untold harm (both physical and psychological) to countless people.

@OfficiallyMeNow You’re right, she does apologize for repeatedly lying over the course of four maps to the crew, and she does say that part of Maxis would live on in her. But I would like to understand, could you please tell me what quotes from SAM am I misconstruing?

@LoafAethernaut She doesn’t! You’re practically quoting a pathological fucking liar (Eddie) and also misconstruing her (SAM) quotes. She apologizes for misleading the crew. The closest to desiring to be Maxis is saying that a part of Maxis would live on, which isn’t the same as being Maxis.

@TonyHaleRapt Genuinely those characters were so cool and that moment went so hard. I get that the gameplay itself was quite literally made in a cave with a box of scraps but the widespread rejection of Vanguard zombies will always break my heart

Another reason why the Old Ones blow the Shadowsmiths out of the water . They don't work with Nazis ! :)

@OfficiallyMeNow Yes, I can confirm all of that is correct. Her source code is mapped based on Maxis’ brain scans meaning her personality is coded to emulate her brain. Yet despite that foundation, she isn’t Maxis. Which is why it’s cruel she wanted to “be” Maxis so bad.

@LoafAethernaut Her function is to help map and give knowledge of the Dark Aether based on the memories of one of the people who’s longest been there and survived. She isn’t Maxis, she’s a being stuffed with memories and tortured by both Eddie and the dysmorphia that those memories cause.

@OfficiallyMeNow I could be wrong but I don’t think Eddie ever programmed her to not rebel against him? I know that seems silly but if her function was to emulate Maxis, and that does seem like what she’d do in that situation. But like you said, she cannot be Maxis.

@LoafAethernaut If she was as sentient as that, she would’ve never rebelled against Eddie. By all metrics, she’s a sentient being. No ifs ands or buts. Pardon my skepticism, but this kindness sounds incredibly dehumanizing.

@OfficiallyMeNow SAM is as sentient as an AI character chatbot of Samantha Maxis, those don’t always act in character either but the purpose is unfortunately the same. Please don’t mistake any of my opinions as cruelty towards SAM, I say them out of kindness to her.

@LoafAethernaut SAM makes multiple actions and responses that Samantha doesn’t. She acts autonomously from Maxis, and has her own emotions and feelings. SAM has been shown to be capable of subjective feelings, sensations and emotions. By definition, she is a sentient being.

@Nichola29745255 And hey, on that front I could not agree with you more! Both methods of characterization would be the most optimal for cod zombies.

Yeaaah that's fair, and get what you're coming from, but idk, I just never liked that kinda storytelling in cod zombies, and it's not what originally attracted me to the mode in the first place. Not to say cold war zombies is bad or anything, just if we go back to the style of storytelling, I would want both b07's current more og way the characters are personalized, AND the more actual conversations characters would have in cw. I feel like there's a world where you can make a cod zombies game with both.

@OfficiallyMeNow I actually agree with you on your first paragraph. I think where we disagree is the belief that SAM is a sentient being. SAM’s thoughts and decisions are a line of code intended to be a copy of someone else’s (Samantha’s) thoughts.

@LoafAethernaut S.A.M. didn’t have a choice in the matter of being based off of Samantha Maxis, she didn’t choose to have her memories. She was constantly tormented by Richtofen. And also, I feel like calling a sentient being (organic or not) a bastardization of Samantha is genuinely gross.

@Nichola29745255 I would prefer my characters to be able to speak more than two sentences at the time and have a conversation that lasts longer than a single exchange every 10 minutes because that’s how humans talk. The gameplay itself hinders the ingame characterization.

I could NOT disagree harder about the character writing bit, to me, b07 is the strongest to date because it gives us at least a solid chunk of the character writing in map, and I think in no world should most of the characterization should come from radios for playable characters. That's just a bias thing and me personally not liking the direction cold war to mwz took for how cod zombies tell it's stories. Now as additional character building for playable characters and the main bulk for NON playable characters, agreed. Otherwise, pretty much agreed with all of this, besides b01. I think it's the best overall balance of in map and radio storytelling, and has an ending that like only one other lived up to it. Might be rose tinted glasses for that though ;p But yeah mostly agreed!

@TonyHaleRapt I would genuinely give my left kidney to bring back this level of charm in zombies. When characters weren’t trying to get their lines out as fast as possible (even in audio logs for some reason?) and they made you feel like you with them using only sound.

@LoafAethernaut YESSS I THINK ABOUT THIS ALL THE TIME . THIS AND HER KNOWING GREY BY HER HEELS 🥹

@10cromosoma Onslaught is an easy way to remove a lot of variables to measure a single factor: utilizing your kit/movement to not die in a specific area where zombies are spawning and coming at you.

@10cromosoma Not necessarily quantifying accessibility but meeting a player where they’re at if you’re gonna measure their skill. For example, casuals or zombies veterans who haven’t played in a few years or anybody who lives a busy life and can’t grind out r100 games.

@TonyHaleRapt I could listen to her talk about literally anything, she was so unserious.

@LoafAethernaut Reading this made me remember her and fuck I just want her back please take me back to cold war please

@10cromosoma All of these examples are exceptional feats that can demonstrate one’s skill in zombies at the higher levels, I just believe Onslaught is the most effective tool as measuring skill across all levels of skill and accessibility.

@LoafAethernaut Round 100 cursed Veytharion and round 100 cursed Dravakar (without scorestreaks) are two of the greatest platforms for skill showcase in zombies history.

@LeeTESFM14 @tonyhalerapts Genuinely if Reckoning didn’t exist I think Blanchard could have had similar potential as Maya

@LoafAethernaut @tonyhalerapts What about Blanchard? But seriously all very solid points AND I agree with every single one of them