RDR2 Online: Micros or "Sharkcard" equivalent?

[DoomAkuma]

With the announcement of Red Dead Redemption 2 and it's multiplayer addition, I am slightly worried it will get the GTA online treatment of micro transactions and a daily grind for a digital currency to buy more virtual items instead of focusing on fun gameplay modes and unlocking virtual items through winning game moods and earning XP.

 

Considering GTA online has made so much money for Rockstar through micros (shark cards), then it is not such a big leap in logic to assume Rock star might try to implement a similar system. What do you all think, will there be a shark card equivalent in RDR2 or micros?

 

If there are micros or a sharkcard equivalent how do you think that it will work, as there is not that many virtual items that you can buy from the time era of the game setting because of how archaic the technology is, I'm assuming this anyway maybe we'll get Jetpacks (joke).

 

I think if Rockstar does not implement micros then it is safe to assume the game will have purchasable DLC like in Red Dead Redemption 1 and GTA4; I am hoping for this option as games with Micros (like GTAO) can become a grind to play really easily; where I RDR was not a grind at all it was always fun to play.

 

 

[The Deadite]

Man, what the f*ck you can buy in the old West?

Gold horseshoes?

Gems incrusted rifles?

A canoe with suspensions?

A horse corral with can-can dancers?

 

If they choose to add this, no doubt it will be painfully obvious

[Brandon00151]

I really hope that this is RDR2's "saving grace" when compared to GTAO. Realistically this game should be shark card free since the time period there were no super/sports cars for R* to jack up the price, no jets(and I doubt we'll get planes even if this takes place after they were invented)no real luxurious objects and you're really limited to what kinds of DLC they could add. The only way I could see R* pushing the shark cards(or RDR2 equivalent ) is if they really low ball the payouts for missions or jobs or really jack up the prices to unrealistic period standards.

[Hybrid_Punk]

Gems encrusted rifles?

I can actually see this happening lmao

[LincolnClay]

Oh god no, not GTA Online Wild West edition. Shark cards are bad enough (making the DLC items so overpriced in game that we need real life shark cards just to buy them). Tell me I'm not the only one who hates them...right?

[saintsrow]

In another thread, someone called them "cattle cards"

 

It's always amazed me that shark cards are called "microtransactions." $20 or $100 doesn't seem very damn micro to me.

 

Anyway, maybe the price of ammo and guns in game will be some nontrivial fraction of the real world prices. So 100 rounds for the Winchester might cost the "micro" equivalent of $2 in real world money. And the Winchester itself might cost the equivalent of $20 in real world money. That's along the same lines as the prices of supercars and lowrider mods in GTA0.

Edited October 21, 2016 by saintsrow

[Mr_Corbeau]

I hope it'll work pretty much the same as GTAO. Let us buy houses/rooms/shacks instead of apartments, stables or corrals instead of garages, and a good variety of horses and buggies. There's plenty of room for customizing carriages and horse tack, not to mention apparel(I pray that we'll be able to make our own characters instead of choosing from presets.).

 

There's plenty there to be had, and I hope that the gameplay has a significant money-making angle. Let the Honorable chase bounties and herd cattle, and the Honorless rob trains and stick up stagecoaches.

[Guest]

Shark cards are not 'micro'transactions, a microtransaction would be unlocking a new vehicle for $2, not $120.

[Watain]

They'll make us buy "bags of gold" for this game, or horseshoes yes.

[Shane_Dbns]

We are definitely getting a RDR version of shark cards. Let's just hope the don't add RnG loot crates too...

[LincolnClay]

I don't mind, I'll never use 'em...but let's just leave it at shark cards...NO SUPPLY DROPS or something like that. I'm talking about you COD.

[Sussus Amongus]

Man, what the f*ck you can buy in the old West?

Gold horseshoes?

Gems incrusted rifles?

A canoe with suspensions?

A horse corral with can-can dancers?

 

If they choose to add this, no doubt it will be painfully obvious

Horses with hydraulics?

[lessthan3]

They made a ton of money off of shark cards and they were fairly inobtrusive and don't affect gameplay balance, so I'd be extremely surprised if we didn't get something similar here.

 

What will you buy with your horse-bonds? Who knows? Houses, rare horse breeds, fancy weapon skins? As long as you can't buy power, as in better weapons, levels for your character that increase health and whatnot, then I really don't care.

[Sunrise Driver]

Man, what the f*ck you can buy in the old West?

Wait till release and be amused of R* fantasy.

Edited October 21, 2016 by Street Mix

[LincolnClay]

 

Man, what the f*ck you can buy in the old West?

Gold horseshoes?

Gems incrusted rifles?

A canoe with suspensions?

A horse corral with can-can dancers?

If they choose to add this, no doubt it will be painfully obvious

 

Horses with hydraulics?I'd pay to see that. Even if it ruined the game for me, I'd be having too much fun laughing at it.

[Independiente]

In RDR 2 would be a new economy system. In addition to the money, to buy something, it would be necesary complete challenges about that thing that you are buying. It would be excelent for two reasons: to reward the really best players, and to decrease the valor of potential money glitches.

[JesusFR33K]

Man, what the f*ck you can buy in the old West?

Gold horseshoes?

Gems incrusted rifles?

A canoe with suspensions?

A horse corral with can-can dancers?

 

If they choose to add this, no doubt it will be painfully obvious

They would just make op guns n horses that the casual gamer cant afford. Then make it hard/frustrating to earn $. And finally add safehouses/properties with sweet features and high pricetags. It will be subtle, but undeniable.

[The Time Ranger]

Man, what the f*ck you can buy in the old West?

Gold horseshoes?

Gems incrusted rifles?

A canoe with suspensions?

A horse corral with can-can dancers?

 

If they choose to add this, no doubt it will be painfully obvious

The infamous Elder Scrolls horse armour comes to mind.

[epicluca]

Deer Pelt, Bear Pelt, Cougar Pelt, etc?

[Hunter]

Please don't let there be microtransactions.

 

If there's one thing I want for this game more than anything, it's that they look at the things people didn't like so much about GTA V and do something about them. Dedicated servers, less money-squeezing, no glaring balance problems, etc.

 

I want it to sort those out, sell great, and show them they don't have to do that stuff. Then maybe all their games will stop that kind of thing.

[lessthan3]

Money-squeezing? How are the shark cards money-squeezing? They're 100k, 200k, 500k, 1,250m, 3m, and 8m respectively. 500k is literally one run at Pacific Standard on Hard, if you get 20%, which you do most of the time. Making money in GTAO is easy peasy. The cards are just convenience items for people with more money than time. It's the least offensive microtransaction system I've seen in a game so far.

[ColePhelps]

"shark cards" ruin the game for me, it takes out all of the effort and hard work to earn things.

[nkjellman]

I do expect them to do a multiplayer like GTA Online. However, I don't expect it to last as long. They are limited in what they can do in terms of content because of the time it is set.

 

Regarding the stuff I believe you will have available to buy, I think it could go somewhat like this.

-Weapons as well as upgrades.

-Property ranging from sheds, log cabins, or houses.

-Hideout/stronghold properties. These would work similar to the CEO organizations and Biker Club Houses in GTA Online.

-Many different types of mounts. They would have minor customization, to include changing the saddle and horse shoes. Perhaps they may have something you can buy for the horse to increase its trust in you so it won't pop you off as frequently.

-Clothing for your character.

-Customization of carriages. This could include changing the seats, paint job and wheels. If your character gets wealthy enough, they could upgrade their carriage from a wooden one to appear more like one that a wealthy person would own.

 

So yes, they can go the GTA Online route, but in a limited fashion. But I believe that money will be much more valuable in RD O than in GTA O. In real life, $1 was worth much more long ago than it is today. So expect prices to be lower, but payouts to also be lower, and also expect the micro transaction equivalent to Shark Cards to be for lower amounts. So $10,000 will be worth more in RD O. It will buy more stuff, but will be much harder to obtain that amount. Basically, imagine all of the prices and payouts in GTA O with 0's plucked off.

[lessthan3]

lol, hard work in GTAO? Good one.

[Hunter]

How are the shark cards money-squeezing?.

How are they not? They are fundamentally money-squeezing, and I just hope they don't infect this game like they did GTA.

 

The whole principle of it. Paying real money to see a virtual number get higher. Basically legitimizing cheating and trying to have a monopoly over it (not that money cheaters bother me). They're horrible value too, considering how much things in that game cost (you can get a ton more from the glitches that they regularly introduce with updates).

 

Sure, you can get quite a lot of money together quite quickly in GTA. Everything's extortionately expensive though, as a result of the focus on those stupid cards.

 

It's the least offensive microtransaction system I've seen in a game so far.

Probably so, but that doesn't mean it's not offensive all the same. It's like the difference between being punched in the teeth or kicked in the balls - I'd rather have neither.

 

I've had this same back and forth argument a thousand times over in the Online section anyway. All you really need to know is that uh ... Fingers crossed they don't have them in Red Dead. And hopefully we get dedicated servers this time.

 

They should learn from the work they do, and the criticism they get.

[Vice City criminal]

I don't like the idea of those things being brought back but if rockstar feels the need to add it I just hope they keep it to a minimum to avoid getting in the way of the immersion and the "hard earned" feel of acquiring things in the wild west.

also I'm kind of a cheapskate with this things and I'm just looking through a view that would benefit me more.

[DangerZ0neX]

I'd be really pissed off if they kept things exclusive to Online and deprive Singleplayer from content just like how they did for GTA V.

[Osho]

Its a brand NEW multiplayer experience, which clearly suggests that its going to be on the same ( GTA O ) lines, not like RDR 1 MP.

So, microtransactions are obviously going to return as well, and why not?

GTA Online Shark Cards brought In 700 Million dollars!

R*/T2 can't be that stupid to not make more money by not having planned RDR for that.

The fact that RDR was announced close to the very end of GTA:O's lifespan with only few updates to come, including what T2 clearly said that GTA:O won't be supported forever, means their next stop is clearly Red Dead Online!

I think they'll continue with the same name used for microtransactions in GTA:O, in order to keep some kind of balance or parity to your account, so that you don't have to pay for both games separately but can use the amount to purchase any item from both games with the same shark card.

Edit:

To those saying, what can you buy in the old West? I'd say, the expansions ( if any ) for SP will be the first casualty by combining any of those post-release content with RD O that normally you would receive for SP in the form of 'paid DLC', which can be a good thing since now you don't have to pay extra for those items and accessible for free. As for the type of content RD O could include, I'm guessing much of the same type of items and activities of what we've seen in case of GTA O with the difference of time and context of the setting. Like horseracing instead of cars online, just to give a simple idea. That's all what Rockstar needs to do really. Just continue with the same strategy with better launch and improvements on board to make it even more popular, easy, smooth and fun ride! RDR had a number of features which can be expanded with new ones certainly.

Edited October 22, 2016 by Osho

[Jabalous]

To my mind, 'brand new online multiplayer experience' indicates an online mode that might work differently to that of GTA Online in a number of interesting ways. We all know that GTA Online is primarily based on a virtual in-game economy where players can accumulate wealth to buy various items and accessories. Whenever you've the money, you can buy whatever you want as everything is being produced in mass quantities by the virtual in-game factories and companies. In what economy-related aspects could Red Dead Online work differently?

 

I've an interesting theory or an idea. How about an economy that works based on an input from the sum of all players engaging in the virtual multiplayer world? Given the scarcity of resources and the lack a large workforce that is capable of mass production back in the old days, we instead have a market where there can be lack or shortage of items and accessories at a time and this would fluctuate based on whether the raw material needed to make a specific item is available in enough quantities. Steel, crops, herbs, animal skin and lumber are examples of the type of raw materials that the players should bring to the market for items to be made and be available for buy and sell. This will also cause the in-game price of items to shift up and down based on whether that specific item is available in large quantities or there's a shortage of it.

 

An interesting idea, right? I believe that this will take the Online world to a new level of interactivity that a single player could have a direct effect on. It will also create a survival-based gameplay that even if you cheated money somehow, you would still have to work and bring raw material for your desired item to be made. This idea might be nice and all on paper, but it will bring the Online grind to new levels, too, but who knows, R* might implement something similar to this. Personally, please no, I would rather have an economy-free multiplayer.

Edited October 22, 2016 by Jabalous

[lessthan3]

It's not money-squeezing. Money-squeezing would be putting something people need, or at least really really want, behind a paywall. Like if they made it take forever leveling up, and put some sort of booster for 200% experience behind a paywall. Or if certain amazing weapons and vehicles were only available with real money. That would be frakking terrible.

 

But shark cards? If you don't buy them, they don't affect you. If someone else has a busy life and only gets a bit of time to play GTAO, and they decide that rather than grinding a couple of heists, they'd rather just pay a bit of real money and buy a supercar or whatever, who cares? It doesn't hurt anyone. The people who don't buy cards can just play some heists and then buy the same boat, or supercar, or helicopter. It just takes them a few hours of gameplay.

 

The people who buy stuff still need to grind to unlock weapons, level up their skills, and still need to do the same amount of racing to unlock upgrades. Literally, the only thing they're skipping is playing the heists/missions/whatever to get money.

 

It's so not-an-issue that I often forget that shark cards even exist. Only when someone mentions them do I remember "Oh yeah, that's a thing." that's how unobtrusive they are. I seriously don't understand how people can have an issue with something that's optional, doesn't affect gameplay balance, and can easily be gotten ingame with just an hour or two of investment.

 

Let the whales keep buying shark cards. It's good for the rest of us. They're paying for our free DLC.

Edited October 22, 2016 by lessthan3