Red Dead Redemption 2 is a huge critical and commercial success, with fans singing praise of the deep and fleshed out characters, the gripping story and fantastic gameplay. Red Dead Online? Not so much... yet. The multiplayer mode has had a rough Beta phase, and players are vocal about their ideas and requests for improving it.
Rockstar has made it clear that they intend to take player suggestions to heart during the beta period, which you can send to them via this specialized form. Players have been expressing their ideas and suggestions on other platforms as well, to see what others find interesting, and it shows which ideas really resonate with the fanbase.
A number of features stand out as the most frequently requested. A few of these pop up more often than any other and fit into the world and gameplay of Red Dead Online better than the majority of suggestions. These additions would truly allow Red Dead Online to bloom as a persistent multiplayer experience that may even eclipse GTA Online one day.
Homesteads
Camps are fine when it comes to roughing it in the wilderness, but they offer only so much in terms of functionality and upgradability. The most successful outlaws can easily score big enough to purchase a plot of land for themselves with a house and amenities. A homestead or ranch wouldn't just give players a more immersive home location, but it would give Rockstar significantly more opportunities to introduce upgrade options.
Players could renovate the buildings on their land, customize their function and appearance according to their preferences and protect it from raiders or other outlaws. While this would likely be a massive gold-sink for players themselves, owning and upgrading a homestead may be much more engaging than doing the same with a mere camp.
It's understandable that Rockstar went with the more humble camp initially - players spent most of the story mode traveling with the Van Der Linde gang and setting up camp in various locations. However, back in Red Dead Redemption, John Marston was the owner of his own ranch, and even Red Dead Online utilizes a morality system which means some characters are more aligned with vigilantism than crime.
The plentiful housing options available in GTA Online prove that Rockstar is more than proficient when it comes to developing these systems in a multiplayer game. The homestead locations could be instanced, so not every player home needs to be physically present on the map at the same time.
Farming
Why would you spend your time farming when there are many more action-packed activities available and better suited to outlaw life? Because it can be just as rewarding and fun.
A large number of fans support this idea, and the success of games like Stardew Valley or Farming Simulator prove that this is a legitimate market. Living on the fringe of society and eking out a living on the wild frontier have always been central elements of Red Dead Redemption, and farming reflects this perfectly.
Not only would it fit in perfectly with the previous suggestion, but farming would also offer a huge untapped category of gameplay additions. Players could choose to cultivate crops, tend to animals or breed their own horses. Selling these would offer a source of income, and players would be able to upgrade their facilities and acquire supplies for their farms.
Once again, experience gained from GTA Online could be put to use here. One needs to supply their farm, so players would be purchasing the necessary equipment, seeds, crops, animals, feed and more to sustain their business, in the hopes that they can turn a profit. Missions could be included that offer an alternative to purchasing supplies - players could steal them from caravans, or loot bandit camps to retrieve already stolen supplies.
Trapper and Wagons
This should be a fairly simple addition - the trapper is already present in the game's single-player portion, so you'd think that porting it over to Online would be trivial. It's rather strange that the trapper is missing from the multiplayer mode at all, with the NPC being nonexistent in Online.
Another useful feature would be the addition of player owned wagons which would allow for the transport of higher numbers of game. If someone wants to roleplay as a hunter, it involves a lot of legwork, whereas parking near rich hunting grounds and carrying multiple carcasses back to the wagon, so you can transport them at once, would be more convenient. Obviously, the wagons would cost a pretty penny for this benefit.
Gambling
Gambling is yet another feature we saw in Red Dead Redemption 2 that remains absent from Online to this day. Initially, one would think the reason is simple and insurmountable - due to the presence of microtransactions allowing the purchase of in-game currency with real money, adding any kind of gambling mini-games would potentially conflict with multiple national laws. Gambling in video games is illegal in most countries.
However, Red Dead Online already boasts two separate currencies, only one of which can be purchased for real money. So this could already solve the hypothetical issue that has prevented gambling from appearing in GTA Online for half a decade. Since players can only purchase gold with real cash, the simple solution is making gambling an RDO $ only activity. Again, the minigames themselves are already fully present in single player and porting them should be a minor affair.
Remember to send your own recommendations and suggestions to Rockstar, and contribute to the improvement of Red Dead Online for every dedicated player.
