Madrigalian

A timer will simply embolden griefers. They'll even let you kill them once, just so they can grief you in many ways for a half hour while there's nothing you can do to fight back. No thanks. I really think the "press charges" feature is going to play a pivotal role in the new Bounty Hunting additions. If you're a griefer and several people have pressed charges on you, you will likely accrue a significant bounty. Anyway, we'll see.

Hate to burst anyone's hopes here, but the skinning tree has been a part of my camp since day one. Mine usually has a pelt or two underneath it, if I recall correctly. I use the Adventurer theme. I do hope they have some intended use in the future as R* expands on camp utilization. Maybe using it to skin a 2* pelt gives it a chance of it becoming a 3* pelt! Haha... fat chance.

We should be able to pick differing hair styles with differing costumes. Hair down and slightly mussed under the hat for riding free roam. Up in a bun and styled just so, for an evening of Poker in the saloon. Hair styles should be a costume lock(able) option. There are several costume sets that I would wear more, but for them to work right I would need to go to the barber and change my hairstyle every time I wore that particular hat or dress, etc.

For me, it's the Australian Shepard. There are a couple of variations (coats) in the game. Please join me in a campaign to get R* to allow us to have (buy) our own guard dogs to guard our camps. True, this is mostly cosmetic. The dog isn't going to attack anyone and since it's in your camp it should be immune to being shot and killed. However, what if it just kind of wandered the camp and walked the perimeter, and could alert you (if you're in camp) when a game animal wanders close or a stranger comes riding nearby. (At greater range than your mini-map) The dog might bark or "point" in the direction of the game or interloper. At the very least, it would just be a friend to welcome you when you return from the range. Lord knows, Cripps is pretty useless in this dept. (teaching Cripps a new song besides camp town races is my next campaign) Anyway, maybe it's just me. But if you like the idea, please send a shout out to R* on the idea. We need a four legged partner in camp!

*UPDATE* Logged in last night and the first mission finally appeared. I'm all set. Thanks guys.

I love the new update. It has almost everything I have been asking for. New missions, new encounters, new random events, more animals in the world, more NPC interactions, new stranger missions, new items, bug fixes (Horse bonding) (Now, fix Walk Styles resetting and weight issues) and so much more! ... and Poker! I still want more to do with camps. (We should be allowed a dog to guard our camps) More to do with hunting and crafting. House ownership. And so on. But, the world finally feels alive again! Can't wait to log back in!

There have been rumors floating around that if you know how to get your PS4 routed through a VPN server you can bypass local/regional restrictions. Don't know if that's true, and I have no clue how to set up VPN for a gaming console. But I thought I would throw it out there for those who may want to look into it. Good Luck!

On this point, I wholeheartedly agree. This is coming. It always does. As for the rest, I love what R* is doing with RDO. But for the sake of those like HuDawg, I hope they get their own "hardcore" servers soon. It's a valid desire that ultimately will have to be separated from the rest if R* has any hope of appeasing both crowds. I won't participate on a hardcore server. But I would love a seat at the fire to hear some HuDawg war stories here in the forums.

Poland just wants to make sure that the "Govner" gets their fair share of the proceeds. "Licensing = Extortion" R* sees no profit in playing ball with licensing fees for fake gambling. /shrug Hopefully, they keep trying to clarify... not real money!

Lumper, thanks for the response. Makes perfect sense. Except, why aren't I getting the high honor missions? Bring a Goddamn Posse: High Honor The Hanging of Tom Davies: High Honor These Bastards Can Fight: High Honor Shouldn't I be able to do these now? And then lower my honor for the other two? Currently I am not getting any. Very confused. Maybe the "upper left corner" would provide me some clues... ? heheh

Ok, probably a dumb question and I am missing something simple... but when I log into the game and choose the new missions option (as apposed to the normal Free Roam) the game just takes me into Free Roam with no mission path or prompt. Is anyone else experiencing this? What am I missing? Currently have higher honor. Any ideas why I am not getting any new mission prompts? The stranger missions are there. (ie. Incest Twins, etc.)

Yes, at least it seemed so to me when I used bait in the single player mode. The more potent bait improved your chances of attracting better targets, both in terms of type and quality. In other words, a normal bait is more likely to attract a boar or fox of "good" quality. While a potent bait is more likely to attract a panther (or boar, or fox) of perfect quality. The problem, that other people have alluded to, is that if there is already a fox or boar spawned in the area and no panther you are still more likely to attract the fox or boar, just perhaps of better quality. Which is nice, but still a waste of potent bait. If nothing is spawned, you will have to wait for something to spawn in but you are more likely to get the better game animal to spawn with the more potent bait. Like I said, I did find bait helpful in the single player game. Not so much in the online version. Someone mentioned it above, in the single player you also had a scent cover that I found to be very important in setting up a hunting spot with bait. The scent cover doesn't exist in the online version. So... I dunno. Anyway, I don't use any of it online.

Me too! I remember Everquest where if you died you had a long and naked trek back to the zone where you died, to "try" and sneak back to your corpse, which was now camped by the monsters that already beat you when you had armor and weapons, just to try and get your stuff back. This usually did not end well, of course. Oh, and by dying, you lost xp and could actually de-level yourself in the process! Ah, fun times.

HuDawg, you have effectively summed up the differences between you and I and why you seem confused by my statement. I am not playing RDO as a shooter. I bought RDR2 to play a western. To enjoy an old west setting with old west plot themes, stories, characters and events. RDR2 was not a shooter. It was/is a story based, single player, mission driven, immersion into the trials and troubles of being a bandit on the run in the old west. This is what I played to 100% completion in the single player mode and what I want to continue to play in a shared online world with folks who share my love of old west tropes. I am not playing RDO to run around shooting everything that moves or player that crosses my path. If I want to do that, I will join a PVP event (make those free aim, I don't care) but I rarely do join such events because I find them boring and not at all immersive in terms of experiencing an old west online world. I don't personally recall events in the old days were men and women were encouraged to shoot, dynamite, and kill one another for sport. Maybe I just missed those tales. /shrug Like I said in a previous comment, I like PVP. I enjoy PVP aspects of the game and enjoy the free roam dangers that an open PVP world allows. But that doesn't mean I play this game to PVP. I play this game for the western tropes, the missions, the immersion of riding, hunting, fishing, making friends, making enemies, and generally playing and leveling up a cool western character in a cool western world. Making the game more PVP centric simply does not interest me, much. I would much rather R* focus on more missions, more cooperative events, more free roam events, more random encounters, more NPC characters and interactions, more reasons to Hunt and Craft, more reasons to use your camp and defend it, continuing to fix bugs, etc, etc. If I wanted to play a straight up shooter game, I have better games to choose from. That's not what I play RDO for. Obviously, I may be in the minority. But that's OK. I paid in, so I'm entitled to share my mind as well. YMMV.

I don't share most of the OPs complaints. 1. I like auto-aim. I'm not playing RDO as a shooter, pvp, skill oriented, shoot-em-up. I play RDO for the immersion. (more on that momentarily) If I want to really test my skills and play a true free aim pvp game there are plenty of better games to choose from. 2. I don't get griefed very often. And when I do, I like it. There are some bad Hombres in the world. Not everyone can be trusted. Strangers should be met with suspicion. Bandits roam the open plains. This creates tension in the world and makes me happy to be a pretty formidable Hombre myself. In the immortal words of Doc Holiday; "I'm your huckleberry". This isn't toxic. This is fun. I don't even pay off my bounties. I prefer to have random bounty hunters looking for me. Keeps free roam more interesting. 3. I have no issue with them lowering the level requirements for crafted items. (Ammo and tonics) I felt this was needed to make the playing field more level for the vast majority of players. Prior to the reduction, only a very few had an extreme advantage. Now at least, there is more parity with the community at large. 4. Losing connection for me is rare. It happens, but not often. For me, my complaints revolve around the need for more immersive content. More missions, more random encounters, more NPC interactions, etc. I would like them to fix a few of the bugs, ie; Character weight bug, Horse bonding level bug, walk style reset bug, etc. Expand the use of camps. And so on... I'm not playing as much or as often as I once was, but I still hold out hope that R* has more surprises coming. Besides, it's not like I am being charged money to log in and play whenever I feel the call of the wild, wild, west.

Just my perception but, it seems to me that the Predator and Herbivore baits were designed primarily for use in the single player game with a focus on attracting specific mission driven targets. Either the Legendary animals (usually just track those) or the rare(r) skins needed to make upgraded satchels or trapper clothing. Like a perfect panther pelt, for instance. I believe you had a better chance of getting a 3* pelt with the more potent baits. Either way, I have found little use for any of it in the online game. Without trappers, etc., there just isn't much the bait can do that simply riding around on an open hunt doesn't already provide.

I've tried several iterations on my go to weapons. Dual wielding Schofields, Volcanic plus a schofield or sawed off, Bolt Action Rifle, etc. Here is what I have currently settled on... Dual Wield - Sawed Off - With equipped incendiary rounds - This makes short work of any close quarter or surprise encounter. It also means I keep my back and shoulder free, not having to carry another shotgun. Switching out the incendiary rounds is quick and painless when not needed. Over the Shoulder - Evans Repeater - Express Rounds - Fast fire rate, lots of rounds - perfect for close to mid range fast paced action. No need for a pistol. Across the back - Springfield Rifle - High Velocity rounds for range - I used the Bolt Action for a long time. I just found I liked the Springfield better as I seemed to get more 1 shot kills. Could just be perception though. Put a mid size scope on it for long range targets. There are certainly better more specialized weapons for specific situational uses. Sniper rifles, pump action shotguns, etc. But for me, the above set up has worked best for every day free roam and most events. YMMV.

When I look at what my time is worth, essentially how much I am currently paid for an hour's work, it becomes very apparent to me that in the long run spending $19.95 for 55 Gold Bars is a hell-of-alot cheaper, in terms of my time's investment, than grinding out the hours to achieve the same gold payout. But then, I think the same way about a lot of activities. How much is it going to cost me to have some neighborhood kid mow my lawn vs. how much "time" it would take me and whether I want to invest my time into it. Call me a n00b. I don't care. I am not even a little ashamed of it.

My character is very embarrassed about her speech impediment. Just talking to her can send her into a blind rage. Just yesterday, she's riding out from Valentine when a passing stranger complimented her on her horse. Since she couldn't say, "Thank you", she shot the man in the head with her sawed off shotgun. This made her feel better and less self conscious about being born a mute. True story.

Two anecdotes - I am good friends with a married couple that met online playing City of Heroes. They lived several states apart when they met through the guild online and are now married with 3 kids. I thought he was crazy just for going out to meet her, much less marrying her. But they are very happy and a good couple. So, I know, it can happen. But I have also seen these relationships go the other way, badly. So yeah, online life isn't all that different from real life. I almost always play female avatars. If I am going to stare at a game and my toon for hours on end I would prefer to stare at, well... because b00bs! I never pretend to be a female 'player' and always find it amusing when I jump into a posse or something the first time and you can almost "feel" the disappointment when they match my microphone voice to my character. I have had players offer me free gifts, leveling help, and many "private chats", over the years, until I let on (usually very quickly) that I am a guy. They always seem so dejected, and sometimes offended, and I always find it amusing.

I think I just found my new battle cry.

Thanks, Dissetion. I will give that a try. Appreciate the help!

Just a few pointers on how to deal with certain things in the game... you might find some useful, lumper. 1. Do the story mission to take out the ammo dump. You will be given free dynamite. 1a. Use dynamite to harass interlopers who invade your camp. It won't kill them but it will make them leave. No one likes being repeatedly blown into the air. 2. If someone steals your horse, whistle. Your horse will throw the rider and return to you. 3. If someone Lassos you, quickly pull out your knife to cut the rope before they Hogtie you. Once or twice and they usually give up. 4. In your situation I would highly recommend running several story missions, over and over, again. These are cooperative missions with 2-4 players. Don't worry, no one talks and half the time, sometimes, there is actually some teamwork. This would be a good way to make some money, learn from watching others, and not be in a competitive vs. mode with other players while you make some quick cash, get some good xp, and learn from watching other more experienced players. (and some not so experienced, as well) 5. Most of all, endeavor to have fun. As someone said above, death is pretty painless in this game. Getting killed shouldn't ruin your play. Just chalk it up to a speed bump and keep moving on. If someone is really dead set on harassing you, jump into a story mission or two and come back to free roam in a new lobby with new folks and your enemy will have moved on. Hope this helps! Yeehaw!

So, what's the story with story missions not loading? I like to jump into Story Missions throughout my game play. Do some hunting, do a stranger mission, jump into a story mission, go back out to free roam, etc... it's just another way to break up the time and enjoy a quick cooperative mission between other solo pursuits. It's also not a bad way (cheap and easy) to jump around the free roam map a little bit. Ever since the last update however, I keep getting put into these story missions where the countdown clock never starts counting down and you can't "ready" your character until it does. Sometimes, it will kick in within a minute or so. But more often than not, you can sit there for 5-10 minutes and the clock never starts, or starts only after someone leaves, counts all the way down and then kicks everyone back to free roam without running the mission. Anyone else running into this, or know the cause?

Personally, and I realize I may be in the minority, following the mini-map/pixel changes my desire for private lobbies has diminished quite a bit. Now, that griefers can't see potential victims across the map at a glance and actually have to go out in search of someone to harass, someone that can see the griefer coming from over a mile away, the need for private lobbies has not been as hot a topic for me. I like the fact that I can see the griefers before they can see me. I can usually avoid them now, or know when to prepare for a fight. Either way, I am not constantly looking over my shoulder at ever passing pink blip on the map. More importantly, I am meeting a lot of new friends in free roam that I never would have chanced talking with in the past. Blue Dot, check. Pelts, check. Waving friendly like, check. What do you know, they don't know where Gavin is either... I've only had one blue name player try to gank me in the last week. Rode by all casual like and then I watched his blip turn around back toward me and my ability card kept me from losing my head on the first shot. The next couple of shots made the other guy know what eating a couple of sawed off shotguns tastes like. The open world (free roam) feels more immersive to me now. I feel like I can hunt, fish, travel, do stranger missions, with a lot more confidence that I am not going to be griefed if I am careful. While, at the same time, still very aware that there are bad bastards out there that will get you if you're not careful and aware of your surroundings. It's not perfect. But man, I appreciate the steps they are trying to take.