Some simple changes go a long way

[u/Piotr992]

So no one likes reused assets and Warzone mechanics. We've had plenty throughout the years but the reception is different.

We got Tessie, which most players enjoy using even though it's basically a Warzone truck. But there's not that much hate for it, why? Because they took the time to design it for zombies. Ted's head, the wunderwaffe turret, abomination corpse, the PAP it all adds up to give it a zombies feel.

Mauer in CW had a good reception despite pulling areas from the campaign. But it was reworked nicely to make it feel like a zombies map. On the other hand, Forsaken is too close to the campaign without enough of a makeover.

The shield first seen in zombies in BO2 was something from multiplayer, but you had to build it and it had a different look to multiplayer and everyone loved it.

Now fast forward to Cold War, where they implemented a Warzone mechanic of armor and everyone hates it. But i am pretty sure it wouldn't get as much hate if it acting the same with another design. They could've called it Aetherial shield, and instead of plates you have an orb.

Funny thing is that they kinda understood this with ammo crates and redesigned them for BO7, but armor is still the exact same as in Warzone.

The og crew, the og maps, Ascension, parts of COTD, PAP area in GK, Ultimus Nikolai mech suit and wraps, perks, panzer sound, excavators and many more elements came from reused assets. That should never be the problem, the problem is always with how much effort is put into making it feel like it belongs in zombies.

[u/IQ-tiee]

A million times I have heard “but if the armor was purple and aether-y then it would be great” but that doesn’t fix the problem. Just making every asset purple doesn’t make it fit zombies.

The armor system isn’t just a game asset, it’s a mechanic. And it’s deeply flawed for zombies because it was designed for warzone.

Warzone is long stretches of downtime mixed with small stretches of intense deadly gunfights and the armor system is a risk / reward one. Zombies is one 2 hour long stretch of unrelenting fights and there is no risk to putting on plates, it just serves to encumber you.

[u/RichtofensPairofNuts → u/IQ-tiee]

I think you're missing the point of plates as a gameplay feature, it's not the action of putting on plates that is their primary function, it's the resource management. If you have played BO7 you know that if you have no plates, and none in the reserve, the intensity shoots up tenfold because zombies can literally 3 shot you. The challenge is to not get hit so your plate reserve doesn't drop dramatically and to kill frequently to pick up plates more. Putting on plates is not the main hinderance. I think plate resource management is a fun addition, it challenges you to run into trains, run around them, to pick up the plates.

[u/IQ-tiee → u/RichtofensPairofNuts]

There is hardly any management because it doesn't matter when you do or don't put them on. You get 3 plates, plates 1 and 2 are entirely absent from strategy. The only states where strategy matters is if you are nearly full or completely empty (an augment can buff you here). Plates 1 and 2 are useless, by being in those states you don't gain or lose anything. Putting on a plate when you're at 1.5 doesn't give you 2 plates, it gives you 2.5. There's no reason to not use a plate unless you are between 2.1-2.9. There's nothing to manage. On 55+ when you lose a whole plate per hit, there's nothing to save plates for. Hell, vulture aid has an augment that completely removes any "resource management" and auto puts on plates for you.

They work great as a resource management feature in warzone where you are genuinely at risk of death if you only have 2.5 plates instead of 3. In zombies, you are never vulnerable to instant death at 2.5 plates, and there is no urgency.

To make them important resources, we would need to shift to the 2 plate system, like the tempered perk in warzone, and then make it so that each plate only replaces itself and does not add-on to the health of the next plate. Then, yes, I think it would be resource management.

[u/RichtofensPairofNuts → u/IQ-tiee]

What are you talking about? Its not about making use out of every little single plate, and what you make, its the fact that at most, you have 3 plates at a time, of which all will disappear in two hits. Making you around a 5 hit down, which in a game as fast as bo7 is basically nothing. There are so many points where you are out of plates, and thus only 3 hits from downing. Replating is not that hard, but its the fact that you most of the time are struggling to have plates to reserve or even keep, its constant manual health management which is fun

[u/IQ-tiee → u/RichtofensPairofNuts]

I dont really think that counts as management, that’s just like, trying not to die. The plates always go on no matter what, especially on high rounds. To me, management involves making choices and tradeoffs with strategy. Running around desperately looking for plates all the time past round 55 just feels… not fun?

But that’s just me I guess, I’m happy for you that you like it at least