BropolloCreed79

I don't know... a good pork shoulder with cherry wood makes some exceptional bark.

Most of what passes as "journalism" these days is anything but. 99% of what you see on a "newscast" is opinion, as opposed to fact. The internet has fostered the dreams and ambitions of armchair journalists who have access and a medium without the training and discipline of actual journalists.

Oh, we're on the same page. I just didn't want to be presumptuous. I never call what I do with propane "barbecue", I call it grilling. And yes, despite my heathen ways I will gladly sacrifice the flavor of charcoal for the convenience of propane. A little seasoning goes a LONG way.

That phenomenon is actually a Hollywood trope as opposed to actual legal doctrine. There is currently no article, subsection, or law on file with the United States Code of Federal Regulations which requires Army Rangers to identify themselves as having received special training before an engagement in either civilian or military activities. Unless there is relevant case law (which I was unable to locate) specifically spelling out legal requirements for current or former military to self-identify and inform an opposing party in a dispute of specialized training, then it doesn't exist. Simply put, it's movie magic, and a plot point from "Con Air": Not doubting your story, @YodaMan 3D, but the person claiming such was full of hot air.

This reminds me of an issue I was having with ESO when I first picked it up on PS4. When you mentioned, "excess data stored in cache", it clicked for me. I'm going to try resetting my data cache tonight when I get home. If anyone is interested, the steps are actually provided on R*'s site: I will check back in once I've had a chance to try it out.

Spoilers, Bro!

Like Dewey Cox, I'm Guilty as Charged when it comes to this. I leave an open mic on and just goof around when I have nothing better to do. Especially if someone is just randomly yelling into their mic--that's when it gets fun. You know, for the five or ten whole minutes I get to play before I get the "D/C'd from R*'s Servers" error message. Don't censor me, you tyrant! Let's keep it above the belt--despite the fact that this is a "Rated M" game, we try to keep it PG around these parts. Unless I'm talking about my rampant alcoholism. I always tell them I'm 6'4", and if they can kick that high, they're either world-class martial artists, or ballerinas. I'm in there most of the time as well, but with people playing two or three different games. It's cool being able to talk to multiple people you haven't seen since high school (over 20 years ago) and just shoot the breeze while everyone does their thing online. Good times.

I'll take "smoked" over "barbecue" unless we're conflating the two into one package of deliciousness.

Hard pass. I'd rather have some of that Lumbago.

I refuse to believe that it's related to folk's router settings or ISP. I can play literally every other game in my library, including two MMOs (ESO and The Division) with ZERO connectivity problems. Friday the 13th, the Game? NO PROBLEM (at least, not with staying connected to the matches. The game itself on the other hand...). Hard lined, wifi, port forwarding, none of it makes a lick of difference for me at 300mbps download speeds that never dips below 200, even when sharing bandwidth. Disconnects every five to ten minutes, regardless. There's no reason to believe that the issue has anything to do with a person's hardware (my router is less than two years old), and every reason to believe that it has to be on the back end with R*. I have one simple rule. R* gets to disconnect me twice within the hour and then I just quit. I've yet to play more than 30 minutes online after the most recent update that brought us "Gun Rush".

I don't have to share the spoils of victory. Like beer. That's two big things, right there. You know you'll never get "The Bro Show" in your posse. I'd sooner trust Micah to cover my back than group with a bunch of Rando Calrissians.

I call Micah! Feel free to shoot me in the face.

It... it just popped in there...

It doesn't bother me as much as it should, which is odd, because normally I'm a stickler for these things. Maybe it's because 80% of the time I'm staring at Arthur's butt in third-person mode, so the holster isn't in my field of vision. Maybe it's because 80% of the time I'm three sheets to the wind when I'm playing (High West Double Rye if you're keeping score at home).

aka: Salt Mines 2.0. Because they worked out so well for Gun/Illfonic.... Are they really that much of an issue at this point? Granted, my online time isn't as robust as others', but I have a difficult time believing that the "griefing" issue is as widespread or pervasive as it's purported to be on these boards. The possibility that it could happen doesn't necessarily mean that it will happen, and I can say for certain that I've had far more positive interactions with unknown players than negative ones. It does happen from time to time, but I don't see it being as big an impediment to the growth of the online community as the absolute dearth of content or connection issues.

I stop playing when R* disconnects me from their service every fifteen minutes. They can't claim that they care when they design the mechanics of a game to specifically suit the activity. There's a reason traditional MMOs had segregated servers for PvP and PvE, and why now, the undisputed Emperor of MMOs, WoW, has gone to an individual toggle for PvE and PvP status by player, within the same server. PvEvP is a euphemism. A lie. If you can attack another player, it's PvP, period. Adding in a third-party, such as NPCs does nothing to alter the fact that players can actively attack other players. If anything, the true designations should break out to PvP, PvE (with "E" changing from "Environment" to "Everyone" or "Everything"), and "PvN" with the "N" standing for "NPC". It's sloppy, lazy, uninspired design. For my money, the trend towards "PvEvP" games is just as much an indictment against the industry as the blatant copying of the "Battle Royale" phenomenon. If R* really cared about the online portion as much as the single player story mode, they'd devote resources into creating something new or different to set them apart from their peers in the MMO or "Games as a Service" arena. And make no mistake, RDO is being built as a Service.

And they're running out of time. People aren't willing to wait around while R* swims in their pile of money like Scrooge McDuck in his money bin while the online continues to be a half-baked beta.

I know someone who excels at "snapping"

There may be a difference between blocking players on PSN and PS Plus. I wouldn't put it past $ony to lock blocking players behind a paywall.

I'll do you one better, @Cokeyskunk; they should do none of the above, and instead offer a remastered RDR1 experience as an add-on DLC to the existing game. Finish RDR2's story mode and then download the DLC for a fee and roll right into RDR1 with the same systems, physics, and progression from the current game, but adapted to the engine. Same story beats and missions, new engine and experience. It'd be like when George Lucas released the Special Editions in theaters, except this would actually be good.

Can't argue with you there. I think you'll find a lot of like-minded individuals here. I really dig this suggestion. There's a R* support page that has been mentioned in other posts, and it might be helpful if you provide this feedback directly to the studio: https://www.rockstargames.com/reddeadredemption2/online/feedback?step=decd9bdb

That's exactly how I learned to make apple pie. Bobby Flay got me started, but with trial and error I found a way to tweak it and add Fireball for some extra kick. I haven't had cake in over a decade. ALWAYS PIE.

I don't want to "learn" anything. I want to go full on Janet Reno and firebomb some fools.

Nobody compelled other players to assist the law. If I see a pile of dead bodies in a town, I'm probably going to ride the other way unless I WANT to get involved. Itd be one thing if those players were getting ambushed, but in my experience, they knew exactly what they were getting into.