u/WwwWario

Last night I finally did another attempt at the "beat Ashes' main quest on round 60+". I had Sam's Drawing relic on which cycled weapons every round, except wonder weapons. Did all steps except the last one, and started grinding to round 60. Got to round 54 before I had to quit, and wanted to continue today.

The Necro-whatever wonder weapon was gone... replaced by another random weapon, meaning I couldn't do the final trial, aka I was locked out unless I got it again from the Mystery Box... I got frustrated and just quit.

And so I tried the two Round 60 relics on Astra. Again, got to about round 48 before I saved and quit, went to work out, then came back now. Things worked, and I made sure to have the wonder weapon in my first weapon slot and not my 3rd. That was until the round swapped. I played 1 round, and after the round swap, the Wonder Weapon WAS GONE, and I only had 2 weapons instead of 3... So not only did my 3rd gun go away, but I lost the wonder weapon AGAIN. The wonder weapon that I had spent 175k on to 4x PaP it. So 175k out the window, and I was left with a 1x PaP'd weapon and like 8k points. So I quit.

Both of these runs also made me waste 2 Perkaholics and several other gums, as well as hours of my life.

If you're gonna make challenges require a grind to round 60, can you make sure your game fucking works 6 months into its life cycle? Please? Like, holy fuck.

Oof, I will be slaughtered for this lmao, but it's just my personal taste!

I've played since BO1, and I think BO7's mechanics are much better than that of the "classics", aka WaW - BO3. I will use BO3 as the comparison here since it's the newest of the classics, and BO7 for the modern as it's the newest.

I think the Perk system is miles better. BO3's system is a weird hybrids sytem that doesn't really know what it wants to be. It wants to be a "pick your playstyle" system by having 4 slots and several more Perks than that to choose from. But it also retains the system from WaW where there were only 4 Perks, and thus the Perks were designed to be things you would and should buy. And this old philosophy was never changed going forward into BO1 when more Perks were introduced. This resulted in a system where they want you to pick and choose, but the problem with that is that all Perks need to be very carefully balanced in order for there to be reasons to switch up your Perk selection - but they retained the old design Jugg and QR where they are essentials. There is 0 reason not to buy both of them (QR particularely in solo), and perks like Deadshot was not balanced on par with the others.

BO7's system... I honestly find it perfect. With the removal of the Perk limit where each next one gets more expensive, It's no longer a choice of which 4 perks to pick, but rather which ones you prioritize to get first. And since difficulty is balanced around being able to have all Perks, you really feel the progression of getting more and more Perks, and the more Perks are added via updates, that progression gets even longer. Plus, Augments open up so much replay value.

Progression is another main factor. What I didn't like in BO3 and previous titles was how fast you got everything ready. Buy your 4 perks, PaP your guns once, and you're pretty much set in terms of core progression. In BO7, I love how you more slowly and gradually get stronger and stronger throughout the match. In BO3, you'd be set up early, with tons of points to spare with nothing but traps to really spend it on - and if you went down, rebuying your 4 perks wasn't expensive. In BO7, especially in Tier 2 and 3 cursed with Gold Armor, Tier 4 PaP and Ultra Rarity, I feel like I'm constantly progressing and getting stronger way into the 40s and 50s. Armor, Perks, Ammo Mods, Rarity tiers, PaP levels... It gives me more to do, gives me a bigger sense of progression, more choices in what I want to prioritize, and points are more important than ever. I no longer end up with tens of thousands of points with nothing to spend it on. Even if I am fully set up, points are still important as rebuying your Perks if you go down is really expensive, so saving up points is super important.

The main thing I dislike about BO7's core gameplay is the Zombie respawn system, where you can't walk too far away before Zombies start respawning in front of you. I get they want it to be more chaotic and making you think more on the spot, but I think the Zombies AI already is great enough for this purpose to where the respawn system can be toned down a bit.

Honestly, BO7 in Cursed Mode (aka, with the classic point system and forced starting pistol) is the most fun I've had in Zombies in a long, long time.

What I know, or think I know:

It's the place people like Maxis tried to reach. It's based on the conspiracy theory/mythos of Agartha being a land inside a hollow Earth. In the storyline, it seems to not only be a physical place, but it also seems to be a copy of Earth (Monty's house seems to be located on the countryside somewhere in England). It's where Monty lives and he can communicate into the other dimensions from there, and Maxis can do that too via radios. The Apothicons' goal is to reach Agartha too.

So,

• What is Agartha really? Is it an alternate dimension just like all other dimensions in the fractured multiverse? Or is it a special dimension in some way?
• Is Monty the only one living here, or do other people live here too considering we can see other houses nearby and the fact that it seems to be a copy of Earth?
• What's special about Agartha - aka, why does Maxis and the Apothicons want to reach this place?
• If it's not part of the multiverse, does Agartha still exist in the reset timeline post-Tag?
• If Monty's plan was to survive by remaining in Agartha and not let the Apothicons take over, AND he seems to be aware of the cycle (?), why doesn't he just prevent events from happening? Hide the Summoning Key anywhere else, for example, preventing the Shadowman from ever escaping, preventing the need for a cycle at all?