User blog:ItVaries/The Issue Of 2 Storylines in Black Ops 4

The story of Treyarch's Call of Duty: Zombies (now referred to collectively as the "Aether Story") has been going on for almost a decade now. It has introduced us to wonderful worlds, interesting characters and thought-provoking puzzles and situations. The fact that the storyline itself is not linear is the main reason why I have become so invested, even obsessed with it. It is confusing, it leaves a LOT of gaps to fill in, and I love almost every minute of it. However, in Black Ops 4, the Aether story no longer takes the main stage. Instead, a new storyline, never before seen has taken its place as the flagship of Zombies- one known as the Chaos Story. Now, I understand why Treyarch made a new story, and I don't have a single problem with ending the Aether Story and replacing it. But, there are quite a few issues with running 2 stories in a single gamemode at the same exact time.

The Aether Story is Not Complete
The Aether Story, obviously is not quite over yet. There are still loose ends to be wrapped up, and Blood of the Dead and Classified have set up what may possibly be the final conflict in this story. Primis and Ultimis (and possibly Victis) teaming up to defeat the enigmatic Doctor Monty in the Great War. There are still many scores to settle, and the playerbase wants to see these settles scored. It is noticeable that the Chaos Story, in comparison, just isn't as popular or given as much attention as the Aether Story. That is because before we get invested in a new storyline, we need to wrap up the old one in a neat, pretty bow.

The Chaos Story is brand new, and can't compete with the Aether Story fairly
The Chaos Story currently only has 2 maps, with 4 more planned to be released through the Black Ops Pass. However, we need to focus on the character development focused on in these 2 maps. Voyage of Despair is intended to introduce our new characters, and actually, in my opinion, does a decent job at it. Through character quotes, we get a sense of what each character is like. Shaw is spastic and paranoid, Bruno is tough yet gentle, Diego is psuedo-suave, and Scarlett is bossy and stubborn. Each character has their own, unique personalities that distinguish themselves from each other. The problem starts, however, in IX. In the ending, while it is extremely implied that the entire map is a hallucination of sorts, the characters are seemingly killed off, leaving their true fates unknown to the audience. This leaves IX in a position where it seems like an ending when it's literally the opposite- it's just the start of what's to come in 4 more maps. With the 4 characters ALREADY seemingly killed off, people lose interest and shift back over to the Aether Story. It didn't help that the IX main quest was completed before Voyage's, even if it takes place afterwards.

Lack of Interest in the Chaos Story
It seems that the community is uninterested in the Chaos Story, or at least not as interested as they are in the Aether Story. Most discussions on fourums, YouTube videos and r/CODZombies are usually about the Aether Story, theorizing about what has happened and what might happen next in the storyline. It appears there aren't many theories for the Chaos Story, as there isn't really much to work with in terms of mystery in the story. The Chaos Story is clearly going for a more straightforward story, with less focus on lore and more focus on having a single storyline in which events unfold.