SimonTemplar

No problem at all! Kids' instinctive reactions often turn out to be the right ones. It's just that too many of the rest of us get caught up in the wrong stuff and forget what it's all about.

Lol I had to shoot my way into Valentine a little while back, a couple of posses were going at it and no one really trusted me trying to wander into the middle to catch up on some shopping (when you have to buy a shotgun, you just have to buy a shotgun). Made for a fun change. Wonder if it was you guys?! But back to topic - yes, I'd love to see some villain roles, and perhaps some corresponding good guy roles. As the current crop (in particular collector and trader) are neutral (even bad guys like making money and eating), so yes you could have train robber, bank robber, cattle/horse rustling, wagon theft, protection rackets etc on one side, with added property/business ownership for neutrals and then marshall/sheriff/deputy/bounty hunter posse-type roles for the good side of the coin. Lots of scope for long-tern development there. And yes, I agree, with the Outlaw Pass ending shortly they might be teeing gup the next stage. Never know!

You're not alone finding the horses a key draw to the game. The animation and intuitive movement is incredible and I really feel a bond with mine (and in real life I'm into old cars not horses). But also - my kids got me the game for Christmas, three boys and a girl (aged 6, awwh). I have four horses in the game, one for each of my kids, and I take it incredibly personally if someone messes with them or tries to hurt them. Messing with me is fine if sometimes upsetting depending on the context, but if someone comes at one of my horses I will pursue them to the gates of hell. It's minty meat and special ammo all the way. I have the gunslingers choice card (I think that's it) purely for such horse-attack moments. (Sorry all, I seem to be leaning towards off-topic posts today. Apologies. Trying to provide reassurance to another player that they aren't alone, hopefully there's always space for that.)

I'm a random hat tipper, too - I very often get a wave or a thumbs up back, only very occasionally does it turn into hostility and as I'm facing the other guy and ready I can hold my own. So if you see a smartly turned out gent (blue frock coat, fancy vest, twin pearl-handled LeMats, natty pair of striped trousers - with a curly moustache (think Doc Holliday with a worse barber) give me wave and I'll reciprocate. If we're really hitting it off I tend to feed the other player's horse, I love a bit of horse care. I was racing around a corner in the middle of nowhere earlier in the week, clattered headlong into another player, racing similarly quickly (s/he didn't appear on my radar until we hit, and I guess I was similarly invisible), unhorsing us both. My horse was fine but the other player's stayed down, wounded. Rushed over, revived the horse for them, gave it a pat and a couple of carrots. I got a thumbs up and a war cry for my trouble. It was a lovely moment, out there in the bleak wilderness. So it does happen.

I agree with you on blue-that-is-now-red; if they just attacked me in town then I'm chasing them and introducing them to Captain and Tennille. Other than that I don't use them or discriminate (not sure I have even seen a couple of the colours you mention!).

The doc pays a surprising amount for some of the herbs. I drop in every now and then if I have started getting the 'you are already carrying the maximum amount of this' prompt and sell off my excess and there are a good few dollars in it. Plenty for some ammo. Hunting and gathering herbs pay plenty well enough to keep yourself in ammo, weapons and a happy horse.

I find that outside of a posse there is no chat in this game. If I'm posse'd up with people I have met then it's chatty but otherwise I just lose myself in the sound of the wildlife. And Cripps chuntering on about that time he robbed a bank!

Sympathies on lots of that (and agree, Press Charges is a waste of thumb movement), but to answer your third point - I don't think that there is a maximum level, it is open-ended. The unlockables just stop at level 100 (although you still get a treasure map every five levels). The xp target increases by 10% or so each time IIRC although others will correct if I'm a bit out. I need something in the low 6000s to hit 98.

On a happier note - the new bounty was great, did two levels last night, one alone and one in a posse, I bought all the collector maps at discount (free money and gives some focus if I'm ever at a loose end so like to carry a few maps) and the new white vest goes great with my frock coat. I cut quite the dash. So I'm a happy customer, thank you!

I have a lot of sympathy with people struggling to let things go, to be honest. I was right outside my Camp last night, maybe 50yds, I could hear Cripps talking to me. I had a deer carcass on my horse and another on my back, so I was on foot (yes, I could have dragged it but not sure that would have helped and I was 10 seconds out of Camp!). A blue dot suddenly runs up behind me, knocks me to the ground and murders me with an axe. I respawn, but get no parley button, just isn't there, although there was the option to press charges. When I came back (unhelpfully with no horse and much further from Camp), he was standing right there so I shot him with a repeater. He then fired a dynamite arrow at me and I was dead again. Lost the two carcasses and wasn't happy that he got the last word in something he started when I was just innocently hunting and right by my own Camp. So I logged off and played Elite Dangerous for an hour instead. I have bigger guns and shields in Elite. Thing is, I'm level 97 with decent kit, stats, cards etc., so while some have said that his is a sort of rite of passage we each must go through I find it lasts longer than that. It isn't too frequent, though, although it has made me wonder why I try being a good guy. Bandits have it easier. The dots to me seem to mean nothing. I have been attacked by both blue and red (axe dude last night was blue), makes no difference, and I have never shot first, I don't do the PvP minigames and I am usually hunting or collecting when being bullied. It's like being in school. Nothing against the game, it's amazing and the unpleasantness is rare enough that it isn't making me lose that love, but the coloured dots mean literally nothing useful.

You're a beacon of sense and reason in a confused world!

I bought into small game arrows etc because I am rich so thought I should find out. Much like the hunting wagon I have ditched it. I use the varmint or the bolt action for hunting, depending on the size of the prey. If Cripps needs perfect carcasses I can get perfect rabbits with the varmint or perfect deer with a scoped bolt action. I found the small game arrows a lot of faff and prep for insufficient benefit. I reserve my bow for griefers and dynamite.

I saw the same one, was similarly disappointed when the player skipped town. We might have had an impromptu forum meetup, as the three of us arrived in a hurry to get our man! I think simply increasing the bounty reward would make the whole player bounty thing function better. There could be a gold reward or something for the bounty target, which they earn if they manage to avoid the hunters. Would give them some incentive to stick around and see if they can take the heat.

As @Harlock1796 said above, give it a chance as it really doesn't need to be full time to pay. I have four kids and two jobs, my wife has a career job, too, we're a very busy household. I bought the half price initial gold, bought the trader role, a few weeks later I'm rich and I play Saturday mornings and several evenings a week (but not for that long, generally - one long session but the others are just an hour or less while my wife does the kids' bedtime. Both Trader and Collector rake in a fortune. And with Collector you rank up very quickly so get to most of the unlocks, if you're in a hurry. It rewards patience (like anything worthwhile), but does not need massive numbers of hours invested to get somewhere. But then, I didn't try to run a permanent posse in my first week.

If you ever see me online when you need to make a run (I see that we're both Xbox), feel free to invite me to posse up to escort the delivery in. I run better security than my dandy suit, fancy waistcoat and curly moustache would suggest!

Interesting that you say that - I was walking outside Valentine over the weekend, using the metal detector (so no gun even drawn) and suddenly got the ominous chime and the red prompt came up 'murder!', as if I had just killed someone. I hadn't. The law weren't interested so I moved on, but interested to hear that similar has happened to others. In terms of Camp yes, it can be tough to set up (although not as bad as a couple of weeks ago), I find that moving to a less popular area (not as onerous as it sounds, with Fast Travel in a Camp) gets me set up much more quickly. Heartlands is generally a waste of time for me, never get a site. And if I do, Cripps tears it down if I dare leave.

What system do you play on? I have joined lots of temporary posses to run deliveries in with people - it's fun and it pays very well, have made a lot from it. So if I say yes I'll stick with it and see it through, I can't be the only one. For my own deliveries I just do local solo runs. Between the two I am making a packet and don't have to run a posse (maybe I'm averse to pressure!). But I figure you'd be safe with casual invitations more often than not. I have done many and never seen an issue.

I had a slightly depressing moment last night, and then one which made me chuckle. 1) I was (recklessly, admittedly) sitting on my horse studying a map right by a main thoroughfare. Map on full screen. I get a vibration from the controller, exit the map, and find that some random passing player has pulled me from my horse (hence the vibration) but now rather than attacking me he is sticking a knife in my horse! I pick myself up, draw twin LeMats and let him have it (not very creative, should have lasso'd him but I was surprised and worried about the horse). Horse survived, he's dead, all fine but what's up with that?!? Who does that??? I rode off, didn't see him again, I'm level 96, he's level 15, don't know what makes some people tick. We had no previous. 2) I was out collecting up on the cliffs north of Annesburg, using the metal detector. I hear hooves and gunfire below me, and there's a player with a bounty on his horse, being chased by gang members. He has been unhorsed, the bounty is lying in the middle of the road and he's outnumbered. Looked like a sticky situation, so I drew a repeater and took out the bandits. Then holstered my gun and tipped my hat to him. He turned to face me, holding a gun, there was a loooong moment when he was deciding whether I was a threat, so should he shoot me. He chose not to, eventually, so picked up his bounty and rode off to hand it in (he must have had a timer, obviously), and I went back to digging up a necklace. Was fun seeing the dilemma he had, trying to read my intentions. Well, it made me chuckle. And counted as my good turn for the day.

I like the thoroughbreds for IIRC not a lot of money, use them as my main horse now and I have been playing a while, have plenty of cash. I expect that taming horses will become a thing with future updates/careers, but the trouble is from a developer point of view I guess they want/need to keep us spending money in game. If we don't need to buy horses that's a big repeat expense gone (I can't be alone in having bought everything for my Camp already, and having all the weapons I want, so horses and the odd new outfit are the only big ticket items I buy now).

Thanks, I'm stuck with gold as I'll go with the black - I'd be buying purely for the stats, to sample a meta horse, I have others I already love (palomino chestnut thoroughbred or something being my favourite - dappled chestnut brown coat with white mane and tail - best all-rounder I have found so I keep going back to him. So I'll get the Black Arabian and bypass the white altogether. Thanks for the clarification; I'm rarely at the stables, for some reason, and never go to websites surrounding the game as I try to stay immersed.

I tried it over the weekend and was similarly unimpressed. If it held more, and if I could maybe tether my horse to it so I could have both out at once, to facilitate more ranging, then maybe, but as it is I think I'll stick to my horse for hunting. With fast travel into Camp I'm never really short on stock, anyway.

No idea tbh, didn't look - once the $750 for the stall dropped my bank below $800 I knew I wouldn't be able to afford an elite horse so left to do some bounty hunting. Fortunately the seem to have fixed the glitch with daily challenges resetting (certainly I am at 24 currently, couldn't get past nine for weeks previously!) so gold is no longer an issue. In my camp, we use gold bars to stabilise wobbly table legs. Thanks for the warning, though.

This has been awful for a while now but does suddenly seem a bit better this week, post-update (although I might just have been lucky). As a trader it hasn't been easy. I have had to go through the same routine detailed in @James Hickok_1837's excellent post earlier in this thread.

Quite - I banked over $2000 and almost a whole level of xp in one visit to Nazar last night. If I hadn't then blown the lot in the gunsmith I'd have bought myself a new horse to celebrate. She is the route to the millionaire lifestyle, that lady. Even if she does find me a bit mundane.

Ooh, hadn't realised that - fine might as well go all in and get the Black Arabian, will pick him up tonight. I do like the Kladruber - it's a bit like driving a chunky 4x4, rarely seems to have to slow down for anything and feels very stable, but will be nice to experience the RDR high performance end of the market. Was going to take the plunge last night, but hadn't realised that another stable stall would be $750 (ouch!) so once I had done that I was a couple of hundred short of the horse. I'll get Cripps to get his rear in gear this evening and get the Arabian. Thank you for the assist. (Need a cowboy tipping hat emoji here)