New Player Blip Mechanic & App (RESOLVED)

[Kean_1]

UPDATE: Please see my responses below.  The issue seems as though it is resolved.

As some may know, the new player blip mechanic was implemented to help mitigate the griefing issue.  The idea was that trolls would not have the advantage of knowing or observing other players in other regions and outside of a relatively short range.  

However, as it turns out, the RDR2 App (which also shows the entire map) was not updated to mimic the range restrictions in this new update. For those who don't or can't use the App, this puts them at a huge disadvantage as anyone else with the App will know where they are but they will now essentially be blind.  I don't think I have to tell you how trolls will use this to their advantage.

The reason for this thread is 1) to help make people more aware of this issue.  2) to request that those affected or concerned to please submit a trouble ticket and a feedback report through the following link:

https://www.rockstargames.com/reddeadredemption2/online/feedback?step=f2e50892

I submitted a trouble ticket using the Bug/Technical Issue link describing the problem as the new update mechanics not working in the App.  I then submitted a response through the Feedback page describing the problem as a gross oversight that the App does not mimic the in-game anti-griefing measure and the obvious potential for exploitation.

I will say that I received a canned response from the 1st tier reps when I submitted the trouble ticket.  I rated them poorly and used to the link to request a response from a R* representative.  We'll see how that goes.

Either way, I am sure this will be an issue that many will see as a glaring oversight and wouldn't be surprised to find gaming news outlets reporting on the problem like they did with the missing NPC/wildlife bug.

If this is an issue / concern for you, I would encourage and appreciate if you could take the time and submit your feedback / trouble ticket through the link provided.

Thanks,  Kean

 

[Madrigalian]

Good, looking out, Kean.  Much respect. 

[Kean_1]

9 minutes ago, Madrigalian said:

Good, looking out, Kean.  Much respect. 

Thanks. I give HuDawg credit for first bringing it up though. I tested it and could confirm.

[Ragee503]

52 minutes ago, Kean_1 said:

As some may know, the new player blip mechanic was implemented to help mitigate the griefing issue.  The idea was that trolls would not have the advantage of knowing or observing other players in other regions and outside of a relatively short range.  

However, as it turns out, the RDR2 App (which also shows the entire map) was not updated to mimic the range restrictions in this new update. For those who don't or can't use the App, this puts them at a huge disadvantage as anyone else with the App will know where they are but they will now essentially be blind.  I don't think I have to tell you how trolls will use this to their advantage.

This is not a good sign.  Getting off to rough start. Will post to R*

[Kean_1]

9 minutes ago, Ragee503 said:

This is not a good sign.  Getting off to rough start. Will post to R*

Thanks Rage.  See you later tonight eh?

I'll make sure to have my App on.  lol

[Ragee503]

42 minutes ago, Kean_1 said:

I'll make sure to have my App on.  lol

Yes and by the sounds of it you won't be alone.  

[G IR U IB]

2 hours ago, Ragee503 said:

Yes and by the sounds of it you won't be alone.  

Ain't you 2 lucky. Being able to use the app. I tried to download it for hours last week but nothings working on any platform I've tried. 

I won't be on till the weekend so I'll see what happens then.

Can I just ask. This games getting so much hate, did gta v online start off like this?. Just that seems to be going strong after all these years. I stopped playing gta at San andreas

[MrBigFatWhale]

I could only see the "bad" red player blips on my (Android) phone app. They show up as white, however. What are now "safe" blue dots are still pink dots, but only visible when also close enough to show up in the HUD radar, or as red blips if they're countering a stranger mission.

[Kean_1]

1 hour ago, MrBigFatWhale said:

I could only see the "bad" red player blips on my (Android) phone app. They show up as white, however. What are now "safe" blue dots are still pink dots, but only visible when also close enough to show up in the HUD radar, or as red blips if they're countering a stranger mission.

Earlier this morning there were pink blips everywhere, that was it.  Just like it was before.

Perhaps they hadn't updated the app until later today?  I'll look again myself when I get on this evening.  Thanks for providing your experience.

[Kean_1]

UPDATE:

Well, I had a chance to play about 2 1/2 hours of RDO tonight and I observed two things.....

1) The radar blips now seem to be working like the in-game map.  As Whale mentioned however, offenders can appear white in the App while they appear red on the in-game map.  .....but the App isn't showing a bunch of pink player blips on the map like I initially noticed early this morning.

2) The App seems to show offenders sooner than the in-game radar or map.  I don't know why this is but "bad guys" were showing up on my App about 30 seconds or so sooner than they did in the game.  It's funny because you would think it would be the opposite.

Anyhow, it seems everything is sorted in regard to this concern now.  My friend and I actually had a fun and relatively peaceful session.  There was a particular group who remained red about the entire time we were on but they were extremely easy to avoid.  .....and best of all, they had no clue where we were so it was easy enough to slip past if we wanted to.

[BropolloCreed79]

8 hours ago, Kean_1 said:

I don't know why this is but "bad guys" were showing up on my App about 30 seconds or so sooner than they did in the game.  It's funny because you would think it would be the opposite.

If I had to guess, it's because the server is quicker to update one app than it is multiple connected systems (ps4's in your case) and reflect said changes.  I.E. it can't update the server until all the players (all 20-32 of them in free roam) are able to be notified of the player status change at the same time.  Since there's only one map to update on the app (as opposed to the 20+ in-game) it makes sense that the app would update first.

[HuDawg]

8 hours ago, Kean_1 said:

 My friend and I actually had a fun and relatively peaceful session.  There was a particular group who remained red about the entire time we were on but they were extremely easy to avoid.  .....and best of all, they had no clue where we were so it was easy enough to slip past if we wanted to.

Well the red players may not even have been griefers.. Could have just been a player who defended themselves against a hostile player(s).

My blips red now..  And I've never shot anyone 1st ever.

But now.. thanks to R*..  Im a bad bad man..lol

[Kean_1]

1 hour ago, HuDawg said:

Well the red players may not even have been griefers.. Could have just been a player who defended themselves against a hostile player(s).

My blips red now..  And I've never shot anyone 1st ever.

But now.. thanks to R*..  Im a bad bad man..lol

No, they were griefers "bad guys".  It's easy enough to tell once they appeared on the map and you observed them for a bit.  They were a group of 3 with two high level players buzzing around Blackwater.  No one else as turning color in their vicinity. 

We were doing a mission delivering to a location at McFarland Ranch and they made a bee line for us.  .....we were hunting and trying to run out the clock.  As soon as we saw them getting close, we finished the mission and rode off.  They continued toward where we were but then stopped and turned around.   We disappeared from their sight and  they had no clue where we were at that point.  I loved it.

.....btw, one of their names included a phase about "trolling" people so yeah, that was a no-brainer I would say.

We eventually made it into Blackwater when they left the area and found the town crawling with blue dots except one who seems to be engaging NPCs.  We went to the stores, did our business and left without incident.  Ran into one hostil on a road. Killed my partner so I shotgunned him (dead).  ......got a 20 cent bounty for it which I paid at a post office (seems it reduced to 10 cents by then.  He never came back after us and we continued our session without incident.

[Kean_1]

1 hour ago, BropolloCreed79 said:

If I had to guess, it's because the server is quicker to update one app than it is multiple connected systems (ps4's in your case) and reflect said changes.  I.E. it can't update the server until all the players (all 20-32 of them in free roam) are able to be notified of the player status change at the same time.  Since there's only one map to update on the app (as opposed to the 20+ in-game) it makes sense that the app would update first.

Yeah, thanks for the explanation.  It makes sense.

The App served as an early warning of sorts but essentially reflected what I was seeing on the radar and map in the game.  I'm just glad they sorted it out quickly or whatever the circumstances were.

It was only one session but I'm actually digging the multi-colored, proximity blips now.  Those who have done enough killing or bad stuff to turn red will appear from the other side of the map.  I will say that it does get a little distracting on the radar though since they appear on the edge and you never know how far away they are until you look at the big map or the App.  

Those who are purple / pinkish also show up sooner but when you observe their behavior, it's easy enough to get a good feel of whether or not they will be hostile.  The nice thing now is that I used to have to rely entirely on observation while now I have an indication that they may have already been hostile toward other players.  .....and yeah, I take into account that they may have defended themselves but at least I can keep my guard up especially with those who turn dark red.