Johnny-the-Thug

First of all - thanks for having me here and let me voice my honest opinion. RDR2 is a game a care about a lot, probably more than most other games out there, so I decided to voice a couple of my opinions regarding its state right now (single-player). I know a lot has already been said, including the things I'm about to say, but hear me out nonetheless. I didn't want this post to be buried somewhere on Reddit, so I figured addressing some of my complaints on the official RDR2 forum would be the wisest thing to do. Here it goes. I love Red Dead Redemption 2. Truly, love. It is a very very special game, a one-of-a-kind masterpiece. I never cared about RDR2's online mode, and although its fun, it's not what makes RDR special for me and most of us playing this game. The only thing I truly care about is its single-player, and for everything great about it, there are aspects that I feel could be and should be improved. In short - I think Rockstar needs to find a way of making all those single-player open-world mechanics (hunting, camp upgrades and donations, survival elements, bounty systems) work better and actually, well, matter. Hear me out. I don't want to have 300+ ammo for every weapon and have nothing to spend my money (and other resources) on later in the game, no true gameplay incentive to craft all those knives and arrows and tomahawks, and make camp donations for no other reason than roleplay. If R* would find a way to introduce at least a "simple" hardcore mode (like in original RDR), that would be a major, major plus. But first... Imagine having certain big story missions not appear on your radar until the sum in camp's depository box reached a certain amount. This alone would: - make activities in open-world a whole lot meaningful (like scavenging, hunting and robbering - with all the systems that come along with it) ; - compliment the overall narrative of Arthur's journey; - make player become more invested in the camp and make later story developments and revelations feel that much more powerful; - actually make those camp upgrades meaningful (like the one which motivates others to donate more). Better yet - it creates meaningful opportunities to seek other activities and alternative earning methods. Let's say you don't want to rob and kill innocent folk for their money to progress the story. That's fine! Go on a treasure hunt and bring those gold bars to the camp! Don't like riding across the whole map for 1 gold bar? Go win a high-stakes poker game! OR - if you really want to hold on to all those trinkets and gold bars and money AND be an honorable person AND not gamble - introduce a simple system in which camp's cosmetic upgrades would count as "camp donations". Say you really want to make that camp fire area really cozy, you spent hours hunting and gathering resources. You come back with all that, you craft those carpets and hang those buffalo skulls - and the game recognizes your investment to the community not just by having gang react to that, but also via gameplay mechanics. And voila - suddenly you got yourself a game where all the systems work in tandem to serve both the story and gameplay, while providing meaningful options for the player. Adding a Hardcore Mode (less ammo, harsher status effects and core regen, no auto-aim, more expensive items in shops etc, deadlier enemies, death penalties) will further improve the experience, boosting the necessity of using (as well as crafting and buying) all those tonics and other buff items, including special ammo types. Now, I fully realize that it will take some tinkering and balancing, sure, but just imagine how better the game would become because of that. Also, I'm 100% certain Rockstar had all these ideas discussed at some point, or potentially discussing them now. Still, I try not to have too much hope for any of that, given how focused they are on the online component right now. Yet, I think it would not be unreasonable to estimate that we might get some version of what I described above with the release of the next-gen systems (along with a PC version). Thanks for your attention!