Reasons for me to get BO2:

* 13th MEU
* Zombies

/end

Found this on MW3 forums. Original source: By Michael Gapper for CVG UK

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"Multiplayer is the lifeblood of the franchise," says Treyarch's studio head, Mark Lamia. "Call of Duty multiplayer is played 365 days a year, twenty-four seven, all over the world. But we can do better."

"Black Ops did everything we wanted it to do. We had the customisation, the theatre, the emblem editor, great maps, great options - but one of the things that it didn't do is look at the gameplay and say: 'hey, let's significantly innovate upon some of these core systems.' Black Ops II takes the core systems and does something new."

Black Ops II is CoD's biggest multiplayer overhaul since Call of Duty 4. For the first time you'll be able to create a custom class entirely from scratch, play with six teams in one game, livestream games without expensive PC hardware, and even enter games as a commentator with a dedicated e-sports HUD.

But more than that, it's the first CoD where every mode rewards you for playing it properly, and where every weapon and every perk can be rebalanced on a micro level at Treyarch's end. The moment a perk proves too powerful it can be nerfed without removing it because CoD, says multiplayer designer David Vonderhaar, has become a sport and sports have to be fair.

"I've seen our game on the main stage at MLG with a hundred people in the stands rooting for their team," says Vonderhaar. "I've seen it and I think: 'I've got to a find a way to give this to everybody.' Idon't know what will happen but I'm sure as f*ck going to try because I have funwatching those people play, because it's good for e-sports and because it's good for this business. If we do it right I hope somebody comes along, copies what we did and finds ways to make it even better. I want this to catch on the way perks did. This can be the nextbig thing."
SPORTING CHANCE
For the first time in any console game, a single button click will let you stream your games to the internet. "All you need to livestream is a little bit of upstream bandwidth and a USB camera if you want picture-in-picture," says Vonderhaar. "Right now, people who livestream have to have a computer with very expensive hardware and lots of cables, and weget rid of all that."

"You'll be able to watch streamed games anywhere - your phone, your iPad, your computer..." says Lamia. "We're demoing it on our own webpage internally, but there's nothing magical about the feed itself, and nothing to stop you from broadcasting it when and how you want."

The feed runs with a delay - in part a limitation of the time your console needs to compress and send the video, and in part an artificially-enforced delay to prevent cheating. That's especially important for Black Ops II's new Shoutcasting mode - a dedicated commentator's HUD, with full camera controls, the ability to jump to any players' view and a picture-in-picture scoreboard and map for tracking even the fastest games. The Shoutcast HUD is built with tournament play in mind and designed to be readable quickly and easily for audiences at Major League Gaming shows and other professional tournaments, and just like everyone else the Shoutcasting commentator can livestream their ownview and become the host oftheir own Call of Duty show.
But none of that would matter if the old Call of Duty gripes threatened to break the game. Those motion sensors, those overpowered killstreaks, those players who play every objective mode like it were Deathmatch, and those players who spoil your game by being too bad / too good are all problems Treyarch have heard, understood, and fixed.

"There are a lot of polarising conversations in the Black Ops community," says Vonderhaar. "You can find guys on both ends of any argument, and we have to balance community feedback with our own tests. The AUG is the most popular gun for people to complain about right now, but the data doesn't bear that out. They're telling me this and I'm looking at them saying: 'Iappreciate your feedback young man - however the data says otherwise.' And that's game design; it's part of being a game designer, and it's f*cking hard. So we're addressing the big things by making sure we have the tools to tweak the small things by the smallest increments."

A NEW BALANCE
Scorestreaks are Black Ops II's new Killstreaks. In the new Black Ops, every action is worth points and the value of every action is weighted to the game mode. Kill aplayer in Capture The Flag and you'll earn 100 points, but capture the flag and it's worth 150, while killing a flag carrier is worth 200. Planting the bomb on Search and Destroy earns points andcapturing a hill in Domination will earn youpoints.

A few hundred points will earn you a UAV, and over a thousand will let you loose the attack dogs. For the first time since Killstreaks were introduced in CoD4, it's not the best killer who gets the best rewards, but the best player. It's a trick Battlefield: Bad Company popularised a few years ago - overwhelmingly rewarding players who played the objectives rather than the fastest shots - and in Call of Duty it changes everything.
"There are definitely people who play, say, Domination because they know guys are going to gather around objectives and they can kill them," says Vonderhaar. "And if the core reward system in the game is rewarding that then we're saying kills are the most important thing, and that's our fault. We need to make sure the reward system goes with the game modes. If we think aflag capture should be worth two kills or three kills or five kills, we can do that now.

"And it's not like I don't give you score for shooting people; it's still ashooter, but I'm going to give you more score when you place a guard turret and protect a path. I'm going to give you points if you have an assault shield and you're blocking damage on your team with it. I'm going to reward you because you're helping your team. Our new core reward system is always based on the things that make you win the game modes."


It'll be a steep learning curve for Call of Duty's most murderous madmen, but the new league play will keep competition fair. Lifted straight from Starcraft II, Black Ops' League mode will, over time, ensure you never play anyone significantly above or below your skill level. "Treyarch, Blizzard... we're all part of that same Activision family," says Vonderhaar. "They were very generous with their time, helping us learn what they learned. There's a lot of similarities between this and the Starcraft II system."

In Treyarch's current build, each season is just over thirty days long, and placing, winning or ranking up will give you a chance to be promoted to the next league at the end of the month. Black Ops' Premier League will be home to just two percent of all CoD players - the very best players in the world - but no matter the league you reach, you'll get to feel like a winner. Sure, you won't ever be Manchester City walking home with the Premier League trophy, but you can be Fleetwood Town - undisputed champions of the Conference and bloody pleased about it.

"We haven't had skill-based matchmaking in a Treyarch Call of Duty game since CoD3," says Vonderhaar, "and this time we'veactually built a feature around it. You're always rewarded and you always feel like you can achieve something, no matter yourskill level."

CLASS WARFARE
But the biggest upgrade is one you'll discover the moment you hit Start for the first time. In Black Ops II you'll create your class from a pool of perks and weapon upgrades with total freedom. You can play with a rifle, no sidearm and extra claymores; with two rifles and no non-lethal grenades; or as an mad axeman with six perks, no guns, and a single tomahawk.

"Internally we call it the Pick Ten system," explains Vonderhaar. "What this means is you can literally pick ten pieces of content - weapons, attachments, grenades, perks - and take them into the fight. But you can forgo taking a weapon or a perk and spend that point somewhere else, like on a Wildcard." Each Wildcard costs one point, and each will 'break the rules' of CoD's usual Create a Class system. With the right Wildcard you can apply two perks in slot one, use three attachments, or double your lethal grenade slots.
"I could spend thirty minutes alone talking about the weapons system improvements," says Vonderhaar, "but what you need to know is that attachments modify weapons and perks modify your character, and there's no crossover."

Every new level earns one unlock token and every perk, Scorestreak, attachment, and gadget is unlocked one token at atime. Each new rank - Sergeant, Lieutenant - unlocks the next tier of equipment, so there's still an enforced progression through the ranks, but for the first time there's areason to Prestige once you pass level 55. Fifty-five tokens aren't nearly enough to unlock everything in Black Ops II, so you'll need to do two full laps of the levelling system before you have every tool at your disposal. "The game is no longer about level one to fifty-five," says Vonderhaar. "Now it's about one to fifty-five and the levels of Prestige; they have value now. You'll be able to buy any perk by level 55, but if you want a complete set it'll take longer."

And the perks themselves have evolved too. "Perks were pretty important for us to rethink, because they were getting too complex. You had perks, perk pros, perks that influence you, perks that influence your gun, perks that influence team mates. We've simplified that so perks only ever affect your character, and more importantly, Black Ops II's perks aren't absolutes. In Black Ops our only balancing options were to remove the perk or keep it; now we can tune any perk by increments to nerf it or improve it."

That means those wildly exploitable perk setups from Modern Warfare 3 are a thing of the past. "I can nerf perks and I will, mark my words," says Vonderhaar. "A perk should never be something you need just to compete. A perk is 'I got a parking spot,' or 'the soda machine gave me free soda.' Your life shouldn't depend on it. The community helped me understand that, and that's why our new system has no absolutes. We can try to make it the most balanced CoD ever."

TAKE ON ME
Hands on, it plays differently. Sure, Black Ops II feels like Call of Duty - that same buttery-smooth framerate, snappy response and that same measured pace - but for the first time, you'll play the game the way it was always intended to be played. We took part in dozens of games against Treyarch's team, but every time the battle played out exactly as Treyarch intended.

The new balance they're talking about works in practice as well as thoery. Very quickly we found creative uses for Black Ops II's more exotic new gadgets, placing the new microwave Guardian turret in places players were likely to fall, and using the shock grenade as a motion sensor of sorts. Scorestreaks never spoiled the battle and objectives were prioritised above wanton murder. It's Battlefield's teamwork neatly slotted into Call of Duty, and it's clear the game was always meant to be played this way.

"The Battlefield series is really well put together," Vonderhaar says. "There's all sorts of great influence to draw from how they use their visual treatments and encourage teamplay. There's a League of Legends influence in Black Ops II, a Quake 1 influence... Halo had a theatre mode and we created CoD's version of it - of course there's influence from other games."

Is there ever a danger of CoD going the way of Guitar Hero or Tony Hawk? "I can't speak for how those other franchises were handled but I can speak for us and how we're handling Black Ops," says studio head Mark Lamia. "I think that if you want to maintain a franchise, that you're going to have to innovate and keep it fresh, but also remain true to your core. It's absolutely the needle we try and thread in every game.

"I think you have to keep the game accessible but have that depth. I think it will take players awhile to peel back the layers on this one because there's a lot of stuff going on underneath, there's all kinds of different ways to play now. If you want tosurvive you're going to have toplay the objectives and play with your team.
"I think that's a fundamental change to the way people play Call of Duty. Black Ops II isn't just the next CoD game; it really is a major step in how Call of Duty's gameplay is going to be perceived."

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They're definitely making changes on every front. I'm glad they're doing this but I'm just wary that they're focusing a lot on how people can CODcast and livestream. I know it's a great tool, but what about the everyday COD player? Not everyone has the time to edit, upload, fine tune everything. Let alone if they have enough bandwidth to livestream.

Thoughts? Comments?

Well, I just hope they live up to what they announced. If they screw it up the way the did with BO1, I'm going to be suspicious about COD forever -_-

Official Black Ops 2 Zombie Release Trailer



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Seems like it centers around a bus that you use to travel to different locations in a "countryside" location. Saw some makeshift riot shields which adds a new twist. Not sure what the very end of that trailer revealed. Possibly a "mass destruction" type of weapon?

Thoughts? Comments?

Here are further details for the Zombies mode for BO2, Courtesy of MW3forums.


The centerpiece of Treyarch's new zombie offering is a mode called "Tranzit." Like before, this is a co-op story mode meant for 1-4 players. However, it now takes place in an expansive world, one that encourages exploration. "Imagine a world where there isn't just one area, but multiple areas and there's land in between that," studio head Mark Lamia described to us.

To get around the world, you'll probably need a ride. That's where the bus comes in.

You'll be able to use the bus to go around on a post-apocalyptic road trip. And because there are so many destinations to choose from, your approach to the game's adventure will drastically change from previous games. "It is an open area you can approach in many different ways. We've exploded the number of strategies you can use," Lamia promised.

Of course, while the bus can give you shelter on your trip, it is also a confined space--something that will undoubtedly cause issues for players on their journey. Some players may choose to go on their trek through the fog on foot. While there is the potential to get sweet loot by hoofing it, there's also the potential of running into terrible danger, of course.

Not only does Tranzit introduce a large world map, it adds a few new gameplay mechanics. There are four new playable characters, new zombie types to face, and new weapons that include some of the future-tech of Black Ops 2's campaign. There's also some "wonder weapons" that are "magical" in nature. And if that's not enough for you, there's even a crafting system that allows you to create new items from objects you collect in the environment. These can be put together to form weapons, or grant you access to previously unreachable areas of the world.

Tranzit is a thoroughly massive undertaking, and it's just one of the three zombie-themed modes included in Black Ops 2. "Survival" is for the fan that prefers the classic single-map gameplay offered by Treyarch's previous games. Players take on the undead on "custom made" areas, carved out from the larger Tranzit mode.

"Grief" is the final mode, and it turns the co-op zombie experience into a competitive one. Described as "4z4," it puts a team of four humans against another team of four… against an onslaught of zombies. The CIA and CDC are fighting each other, but neither party is allowed to shoot at each other. Instead, you will use the zombies to "grief" the other team.

All three zombie modes can be customized as well. For example, the impatient can set the starting round to bypass the slow buildup in difficulty. You can also enable specific challenges, like headshots-only. You can also disable the game's magic items, if you want a more realistic zombie survival mode. You can also set the difficulty in single-player, if you just want a casual zombie romp.

The zombie modes in Black Ops 2 now use the game's multiplayer engine, giving it many features that were once reserved for Call of Duty's other online modes. For example, there will be a tremendous amount of stat tracking, and leaderboards based on a variety of different conditions. Treyarch also promises there will be "improved matchmaking," allowing similarly-skilled players to go against the zombies.

What once started as a bonus easter egg in World at War has now blossomed into an undertaking that is as large as many standalone games. The zombies mode of Black Ops 2 is going far beyond its predecessors--and it looks as though fans will want to eat it all up.

I'll take BO2 Zombies, they can keep the MP, for $30.

Here are a couple quick 1:30min long videos of Black Ops 2 gameplay. The first is by Tmartn and the other is by Hutch. Both played on the same map, Hijacked.

TmarTn's Gameplay:


Hutch's Gameplay:


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The sound is amazing to be honest. I really like the quick animation for calling in UAV's. MW2's and MW3's animation was too long honestly.

Also, I saw in TmarTn's gameplay that he was using the Type 95 but it seemed to be fully auto. Possibly a select fire attachment? That would be pretty beast.

Type 25 video looked like crap, bad sounds, terrible announcer, cheesy BO graphics are back. Blah. I like their fire and water but everything else about their graphics engine is lame.

Multi Team TDM from Hutch's video is cool, they finally followed suit of Halo 3 (or was it Halo 2?) nevermind even earlier PC games that probably had it. This at 0:39 is also pretty cool: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=jWDTkg7L0iQ#t=39s

Cluttered HUD though. And factions: Seals (ok), FBI (wat?), Mercs (like MW3's PMC ok), SDC? Lol. About SDC: http://callofduty.wikia.com/wiki/SDC

In-Depth Explanation of BO2's Perks and Wildcards Pick-10 System by JayEx23:

Activision is out to scam us again

Elite premium will be useless for Black Ops 2

To get any DLC for BO2 you either pay full price or buy a $50 season pass, which is basically like paying a second time for any current Elite premium subscribers.

Mine expires before any DLC would be released anyway but for people who bought Premium late or with extended subscriptions with the hopes of coverage for BO2 you got scammed.

Undoubtedly the fine print says they can do this and that you can't do anything about it, no complaints and no class action lawsuits. At least they've become honest about the mostly useless Elite and "made it free" separating the only part of value (DLC) into the season pass DLC function and making the rest free. That said even with the discount maps are barely worth investing $100+ in each COD.

Read about it

http://www.callofduty.com/blackops2/seasonpass?

I would think if you renewed your Elite Premium that you'd essentially inherit the BO2 season pass.

Right now, they haven't announced exactly what the BO2 Elite Premium will include, but no where does it say that you have to purchase the season pass COMBINED with an Elite Premium renewal.

This is what I dug up about the BO2 season pass:

"Elite - free service like battlelog.

3arch, didn't like IW handling of the DLC and prefer map packs.

Elite was a failure as well.

Activision has finally revealed how ELITE will work with Black Ops 2. First and foremost, there will not be a premium option. All the features of ELITE with Black Ops 2 will be free for everyone.

Player HQ — Track Call of Duty: Black Ops II performance with rich game statistics, including enhanced match information such as heat maps and recent match data; track challenges and extensively modify your classes like never before using Treyarch’s new Pick 10 Create-a-Class system.
Clan HQ — Join an existing clan or start your own, invite friends and then take part in Call of Duty: Black Ops II clan competitions with cool digital prizing.
Zombies Support — For the millions of Zombies fans out there, now you can track your Zombies personal statistics and compare it to other players’ around the world.
Call of Duty Elite TV — Launching with tablet support with Call of Duty: Black Ops II, the new Call of Duty Elite TV will deliver a renewed community focus featuring developer tips and strategy programming, custom class overviews and more.
Social Sharing and Notifications — With Call of Duty Elite‘s new notification system, you can stay updated with what is going on in Call of Duty: Black Ops II, as well as communicate directly with your clan.
Call of Duty Elite now offers players the ability to connect, compete and improve like never before. Call of Duty Elite features for the blockbuster game Call of Duty: Black Ops II, which launches worldwide on November 13, 2012, will be free. Call of Duty Elite for Call of Duty: Black Ops II will include a host of new and improved features, including both Player and Clan HQ, Zombies support, Call of Duty Elite TV, social sharing and notifications, and more!"

- Apparently there isn't even going to be a premium Elite service but rather just a season pass which will be $10 less if you buy it now rather than buy the maps separately when they're released in February next year.

projekt3000 wrote:

- Apparently there isn't even going to be a premium Elite service but rather just a season pass which will be $10 less if you buy it now rather than buy the maps separately when they're released in February next year.

Thus rendering premium obsolete and making everything said about how awesome elite was before MW3 b.s.

Now people have to pay for the season pass on top of any premium they may have remaining. Plus this will be packs instead of mini releases so less incentive to get it imo. Only the $10 discount is an advantage.

I agree it punishes the people who got Premium Elite late, but at least the people who got it early don't have to pay another $50 on top of the $60 they have to do for renewing XBL Gold each year.

The advantage is the $10 discount but they still haven't announced what they're officially going to do with Premium Elite.

Official Black Ops 2 Launch Trailer:

Also, it looks like our Elite clan will carrying over to BO2, but all of the stats are going to be reset. All that hard work to level up the clan only to have it brought back down to level 1..

That's dumb, they should just make it separate so you have a MW3 stats and BO2.

Elite Premium is done after MW3, it turns into free Elite, all features but DLC is free (since it has little value anyway when apart from DLC). I assume that also means the compete function is free. If they change it up some more we'll find out. What would be rich is if they charge for a premium elite + season pass.

Black Ops 2 Live Action Trailer:




Pretty funny. Nice to see FPS Russia in there as well

lol FPSrussia in there with those hovercraft things he did a video on

projekt3000 wrote:

Here are a couple quick 1:30min long videos of Black Ops 2 gameplay. The first is by Tmartn and the other is by Hutch. Both played on the same map, Hijacked.

TmarTn's Gameplay:


Hutch's Gameplay:


-------------------

The sound is amazing to be honest. I really like the quick animation for calling in UAV's. MW2's and MW3's animation was too long honestly.

Also, I saw in TmarTn's gameplay that he was using the Type 95 but it seemed to be fully auto. Possibly a select fire attachment? That would be pretty beast.

Aside from the sound being pretty cool, the game looks exactly the same as the others......

First off, it's multi-team deathmatch. First time ever in a COD game.

Secondly, how exactly is having a game look similar to the others in the series a bad thing? People want so much change in game's evolution that I think it's refreshing that COD still tries to maintain what makes Call of Duty, Call of Duty.

Is it so bad that Treyarch and Infinity Ward want to have things in COD that everyone can fall back on? Consistency is a virtue in itself.

Week and a half left till release. Anyone else have pre order for 2x xp for launch weekend. If so and on PS3 let me know. I will be happy to try to find ya and play some. Look in signature for my PSN id if you want.

I got it pre-ordered, but for the 360. Didn't want to pay for the same game twice..even if it was on 2 different gaming platforms.

Might consider getting it for the PS3 down the road, but for now it's just 360.

Props to the Activision teams.

Quote :

We are pleased to announce that we're extending your access to Call of Duty® Elite Premium features for Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® 3 until March 1, 2013. We hope you continue to enjoy the service and all the great features you are used to through your extended access period, and look forward to seeing you online.
A couple things to note:
We will be extending your access between 7:00 AM and 1:00 PM EST on November 8, 2012. You may notice a temporary Call of Duty® Elite service interruption during this time.
Your new extended access will not be visible when viewing your account details through Xbox LIVE or PlayStation Network. Rest assured, your access has been extended.
Thanks,
Your Activision and Beachhead Studio Call of Duty® Elite team

Not sure if this is for everyone, but this is what I got. STILL, premium elite is now rendered useless since BO2 will not use it and MW3 is done with it, but at least they made an effort to make people that PAID for Elite not feel as much ripped off that BO2 will be transitioning to free Elite and have a separate DLC pass.

Activision is now 5% less %$^*$ in my eyes.