I feel that the Northern Cold areas were kind of wasted

[FreeMaxB585]

I was just really hoping at least one chapter of the game the gang would move all the way up north when too much was going down. There wasnt enough game play in the north. If you didnt really hunt, aside from the opening parts of the game one would rarely be up there. Only thing I can think of is the Flacco mission. Having the whole climate thing feels wasted because about 90% of the game I didnt have to put on my warmer clothes. I really would have loved if at least one chapter or part chapter was having a camp up in the snow. Not enough game play between opening and ending was used in that area

[SneakyDeaky]

The gang was so relived to be out of that cold. I don't blame them. I love the Grizzlies, as an atmospheric location, but its very claustrophobic and lacking in events and the spontaneity you get in the rest of the map. Perhaps the prologue could have gone on a little longer? You only get to hunt once and you don't get to make a proper camp. I think the feeling of being stuck up there for a long time and having to survive on crumbs could have worked for a full 8 hour chapter, but it could have felt like a bit of a slog, especially for casuals.

[RedDadRedemption]

The snow area could of added a legendary snow leopard, eskimo type rival gang and tiny active town atleast .

Edited December 20, 2018 by RedDadRedemption

[BretMaverick777]

I definitely wanted to/want to see a town in Ambarino.   For one thing, it makes absolutely no sense for a region with absolutely no infrastructure, no active settlements, no visible economy, and very very very little population on the whole to even remotely qualify for statehood in the US of A.    There's mention in the story of a "Northern Grizzlies," and there certainly seems to be plenty of space for it in the empty but explorable lands past the map edges.   I've been speculating about map add-ons to the north for a long time before the game released, and I'm still sure they're coming eventually.    A northern region of Ambarino featuring an actual working town in the snow, a mining-based economy (and gameplay feature), a gold rush in full effect.   And there are hints in the campaign itself, with John Marston mentioning a time between 1899 and 1907 that the Marstons went to the Yukon to try their luck at the gold rush; as well as Charles Smith helping Rains Fall lead the remnant of the Wapiti tribe north to Canada, and ultimately retiring there himself to presumably settle down with a family, as he'd planned.  

 

 

[Kirk Lazarus]

All of that, plus there's no place to fast travel to.  I love the settings, not so much the long ride and massive deadend just to see Sadie's place again.  Can't even camp inside of Colter.

 

Side note... after exploring the outer edges and freezing because there's no way to take a coat off any stranger... a nice addition would've been a way to create something warm with animal skins.  It's strange the Trapper can craft you a flur blanket for your shoulders in cold weather, but you can't.  (sorry I digress)

[chronic lumbago]

Well it's up to you whether you go back up there or not.

[Non Funkable Token]

A miner town serving as law enforcement/civilization point around The Loft would make the state more interesting. Leave the western part as truly wild hideout.

[AnimalFather]

you mean much like the 80% desert area of GTA 5 ya i agree besides the one mission in the epilogue and going after flaca gonzales revolver there is no point in being up there.

Edited December 20, 2018 by AnimalFather

[Grotti Vigilante]

12 hours ago, RedDadRedemption said:

The snow area could of added a legendary snow leopard, eskimo type rival gang and tiny active town atleast .

Agree with all except for the idea of a legendary snow leopard. It just doesn’t make a lot of sense really. Unless by snow leopard you mean a another cat of sorts with a snow coloured coat?

[SeniorDerp]

Definitely wasted opportunity. A Strawberry sized town would’ve been awesome. Even if Colter was a real town would’ve made it a lot more interesting to head north further in the story.   

[Grotti Vigilante]

Let’s try to be realistic for a minute though and consider that the mountains are very cold and hostile as an environment, and not only would a lack of agriculture and wild life be an issue for food, but the harsh conditions would’ve easily caused problems for bringing food in as an import and such. So I don’t think you could realistically expect there to be a Stawberry-sized village in the mountains given its poor environmental conditions.

[VercettiGuy]

The Grizzlies are a really big disappointment for me.

 

Everything leads to a dead-end and you always have to take the same route('s) back. It's really boring.

Edited December 20, 2018 by VercettiGuy

[BretMaverick777]

41 minutes ago, Grotti Vigilante said:

Let’s try to be realistic for a minute though and consider that the mountains are very cold and hostile as an environment, and not only would a lack of agriculture and wild life be an issue for food, but the harsh conditions would’ve easily caused problems for bringing food in as an import and such. So I don’t think you could realistically expect there to be a Stawberry-sized village in the mountains given its poor environmental conditions.

Ever heard of Alaska? 

 

Funny story, in the very year RDR Online takes place (1898), the now tiny village of Dawson, Alaska was one of the biggest cities on earth for just a couple of brief years simply because of the Klondike Gold Rush, made famous in fiction by Jack London, one of its denizens.  

 

You can also look to the Wild West history of the Colorado Rockies, which the Grizzlies are directly based on.   The mountains were dotted with boom-and-bust mining towns which played major roles in the lives of Wild West heroes and villains, including Butch Cassidy and Doc Holliday.  

 

And again, that gets back to the issue of how/why Ambarino would have ever qualified for federal statehood in the first place, if there's no infrastructure, population, or economy.  

[Xerukal]

I would've loved some kind of settlement up in the snowy areas. Random encounters and strangers, too. People who are away from civilization, and some who maybe create settlements of their own up there.

 

Missed opportunity, in my opinion.  

[Grotti Vigilante]

59 minutes ago, BretMaverick777 said:

Ever heard of Alaska? 

 

Funny story, in the very year RDR Online takes place (1898), the now tiny village of Dawson, Alaska was one of the biggest cities on earth for just a couple of brief years simply because of the Klondike Gold Rush, made famous in fiction by Jack London, one of its denizens.  

 

You can also look to the Wild West history of the Colorado Rockies, which the Grizzlies are directly based on.   The mountains were dotted with boom-and-bust mining towns which played major roles in the lives of Wild West heroes and villains, including Butch Cassidy and Doc Holliday.  

 

And again, that gets back to the issue of how/why Ambarino would have ever qualified for federal statehood in the first place, if there's no infrastructure, population, or economy.  

You know what’s really funny? When you mentioned a state not qualifying for statehood cause of the lack of any infrastructure, population or economy I actually thought of Alaska at first because of it’s cold climate and loads of bears, a bit like the game’s mountains. Never been though so I can’t comment. I know it’s not exactly as populated as other states (most definitely not the states of NY and CA). All I can suggest is that Ambarino has another side to it that can’t access over the mountains. I can only assume it’s based on the states of Colorado or Wyoming given its location so maybe it is populated somewhere. Who knows?

Edited December 20, 2018 by Grotti Vigilante

[Ingrobny]

16 hours ago, FreeMaxB585 said:

Only thing I can think of is the Flacco mission.

+ a legendary fish, a legendary animal, a item needed to make a trinket or talisman, a rare horse and a rare map, but other than that it is a empty place and nothing much to do up there, it would be cool if Colter could be populated though.

Edited December 20, 2018 by Ingrobny

[Ziggy_Ivanhoe]

2 hours ago, Xerukal said:

I would've loved some kind of settlement up in the snowy areas. Random encounters and strangers, too. People who are away from civilization, and some who maybe create settlements of their own up there.

 

Missed opportunity, in my opinion.  

I actually did encounter a random mission up near Cairn lake and not the Flaco thing. I went up there to hunt a moose and had a stranger run out and ask to me to help look for his friend up in the hills. Don't want to spoil anything, but it's a little mystery to solve, nothing too crazy. But it is there and there is also the strange panoramic map to pick up, the Arabian, and a legendary fish plus animal to hunt. Yeah, but more stuff to do would be a bonus but I also really kind of like the feel of isolation up there on the other hand. 

[jje1000]

7 hours ago, Fluffy Sock said:

A miner town serving as law enforcement/civilization point around The Loft would make the state more interesting. Leave the western part as truly wild hideout.

I think in the later chapters or even the epilogue, Colter should have been reinhabited. Really a huge missed opportunity.

 

1 hour ago, Grotti Vigilante said:

You know what’s really funny? When you mentioned a state not qualifying for statehood cause of the lack of any infrastructure, population or economy I actually thought of Alaska at first because of it’s cold climate and loads of bears, a bit like the game’s mountains. Never been though so I can’t comment. I know it’s not exactly as populated as other states (most definitely not the states of NY and CA). All I can suggest is that Ambarino has another side to it that can’t access over the mountains. I can only assume it’s based on the states of Colorado or Wyoming given its location so maybe it is populated somewhere. Who knows?

I just presumed that we only got a look at the southern parts of Ambarino, and that there's more of the state north of the mountains. To be honest, the only states that really made sense were West Elizabeth and Lemoyne, I just assume videogame logic in how the others are structured, as they would have really been territories than states.

 

 

Edited December 20, 2018 by jje1000

[RedDadRedemption]

3 hours ago, Grotti Vigilante said:

Agree with all except for the idea of a legendary snow leopard. It just doesn’t make a lot of sense really. Unless by snow leopard you mean a another cat of sorts with a snow coloured coat?

A snow leopard is a species of leopard that lives in the snow  we had a legendary panther and cougar i dont know maybe we could of had a legendary snow leopard as well for a predator in the cold all we have up there are wolves 

[Smokewood]

5 hours ago, AnimalFather said:

you mean much like the 80% desert area of GTA 5 ya i agree besides the one mission in the epilogue and going after flaca gonzales revolver there is no point in being up there.

I like it up there and have fun, so yes there is a point.

[Tonesta]

Have to say, I find it a little odd that they gave you so few reasons to go into the snowy part of the map post-Chapter 1.

 

No Dreamcatchers. No dinosaur bones. No rock carvings. No stranger missions other than Flaco. Very few random events.

 

It was beautiful, and I did head up there for a couple of hunting and fishing trips just because.....but I could absolutely see why a player wouldn't bother because there's so little to do there.

[Grotti Vigilante]

23 minutes ago, RedDadRedemption said:

A snow leopard is a species of leopard that lives in the snow  we had a legendary panther and cougar i dont know maybe we could of had a legendary snow leopard as well for a predator in the cold all we have up there are wolves 

I’m afraid you’re wrong on the first point. The snow leopard is it’s own animal and not a species of leopard (since the leopard itself is a species) that either way wouldn’t be featured in the game due to it not being native to the Americas. It is kind of a pity since I’d live to be able to actually hunt a few animals not in game but it’s got to stay realistic really, hasn’t it? Aside from wolves I think there are also bears but I don’t know much else. A cat in the snowy mountains would have been interesting though too, I’ll give you that, but sadly not.

 

33 minutes ago, jje1000 said:

I just presumed that we only got a look at the southern parts of Ambarino, and that there's more of the state north of the mountains. To be honest, the only states that really made sense were West Elizabeth and Lemoyne, I just assume videogame logic in how the others are structured, as they would have really been territories than states.

 

 

It can be confusing how it works. I was never sure if New Austin and West Elizabeth were parts of Texas in the original game. I still am somewhat unsure. I’m with you on the thing about Ambarino though.

[FreeMaxB585]

41 minutes ago, Marcinguy said:

I actually did encounter a random mission up near Cairn lake and not the Flaco thing. I went up there to hunt a moose and had a stranger run out and ask to me to help look for his friend up in the hills. Don't want to spoil anything, but it's a little mystery to solve, nothing too crazy. But it is there and there is also the strange panoramic map to pick up, the Arabian, and a legendary fish plus animal to hunt. Yeah, but more stuff to do would be a bonus but I also really kind of like the feel of isolation up there on the other hand. 

 

For people who dont hunt they have no reason to go there. Maybe unless they want the white arabian. But lets keep in mind that the Flacco Hernandez mission is just an optional side mission  anyway. So im sure good bunch of people didnt do it at all. There is some who mainly just do the yellow story missions (not me but many do). So for the people who dont hunt and didnt do Flacco chances are they never went up there.

 

There is so so so so many cool winter coats to, all kinds of sick ass cold weather gear. And I guess in certain cities there can be certain times at night where it gets more chilly. But 95% of the people wont notice or care to change clothes cause unless its super freezing its not like they will lose even a little bit of health/stamina etc to the point where they would notice.

 

I got the white arabian early, and did Flacco. But I have a few friends who have never been up to the snow aside from chapter 1 and the epilogue. And forgot there was even climate change and certain outfits designed for strictly cold weather.

 

Even if no town there should've least been 1 or 2 story missions up there. Maybe the gang gets a tip that the O'Driscols have a secret money stash buried there, or even something as simple as some of out fellow gang members went up there for better hunting or because of a treasure map and haven't returned in awhile so have to go looking for them. Just anything at all that would allow people to dress in the warm weather clothes even if its for 3% of the whole game. Hell put at least 1 stranger up there. Or even getting Buell for example, have that mission line on the eastern part of the snow etc. Just simple things so all the cool cold weather clothes dont go to complete waste.

 

And about the clothes..... I am VERY shocked that nearly 100% of the game (again excluding flacco, 1st chapter and hunting) you can get by in just regular warm weather clothes. I would have least expected maybe valentine for example to sometimes get hit with snow storms once in awhile so have to change there, just some other types of climate change that can mix things up

 

And sorry ranted about the clothes part for a bit, but I had bought some really cool cold outfits that I freaking LOVED and never got to use them much. And I at least got the white arabian and did flacco, so can only imagine the people who did neither

[Lemoyne outlaw]

im surprised nobody mentioned the hamish missions. he is one of my favorite strangers. but anyways. i made a thread similar to this when the game first came out. ambarino really does feel underused. i feel like what was the point of even making it if they werent going to add an active town. and use it in more missions. i rarely ever go there. and i dont see many people up there. so i hope they add some dlc and use ambarino for that. maybe a singleplayer dlc that uses it a lot.

[Kirk Lazarus]

20 minutes ago, confederatestatesgta said:

im surprised nobody mentioned the hamish missions. he is one of my favorite strangers. but anyways. i made a thread similar to this when the game first came out. ambarino really does feel underused. i feel like what was the point of even making it if they werent going to add an active town. and use it in more missions. i rarely ever go there. and i dont see many people up there. so i hope they add some dlc and use ambarino for that. maybe a singleplayer dlc that uses it a lot.

Hamish Sinclair was a great guy!  I would've loved to see him earlier in the game and have him be an intro to various activities or special variants.  It would've also be fun to have the Trapper guy (does he even have a name?) be a person who you'd do a couple activities with too.  He could show you how to craft winter gear or something.  I kept trying to find a good combination of the bazillion clothing option to have a Grizzly/Native American outfit like Hamish or the Trapper and was sadly disappointed it's not possible.

[Smokewood]

3 hours ago, RedDadRedemption said:

A snow leopard is a species of leopard that lives in the snow  we had a legendary panther and cougar i dont know maybe we could of had a legendary snow leopard as well for a predator in the cold all we have up there are wolves 

and bears....

[Smokewood]

54 minutes ago, confederatestatesgta said:

im surprised nobody mentioned the hamish missions. he is one of my favorite strangers. but anyways. i made a thread similar to this when the game first came out. ambarino really does feel underused. i feel like what was the point of even making it if they werent going to add an active town. and use it in more missions. i rarely ever go there. and i dont see many people up there. so i hope they add some dlc and use ambarino for that. maybe a singleplayer dlc that uses it a lot.

Well, we are supposed to be getting forced to move farther and farther East. We never go back West. After horseshoe overlook, we moved on even further East.

I would have been surprised if we did get any story quests up there after chapter 1. Very surprised... 

[Jabalous]

19 hours ago, BretMaverick777 said:

There's mention in the story of a "Northern Grizzlies," and there certainly seems to be plenty of space for it in the empty but explorable lands past the map edges.  

I remember there's a campfire NPC in Redemption that says he wants to explore the Grizzlies one day. It makes me wondering if the writers had all of this planned (i.e. prequel and northern states) since they started creating the universe, because that reference doesn't seem incidental. I don't know where "Northern Grizzlies" was mentioned in Redemption 2 because I don't remember hearing it in the game, but if it was, then it may turn out to be a setting in the next Red Dead game. I'd love map expansions, but I've zero expectations for it. 

Edited December 20, 2018 by Jabalous

[Cutter De Blanc]

For a game that focuses on little details,  its baffling that they built several bridges and tunnels for the train to go through Ambarino,  when it makes no stops there. There's no apparent reason for the train to even go through Ambarino except for the scenery. All those man hours digging tunnels and building bridges, for what? The tracks don't go anywhere near Colter, nor Ewing Basin,  the only two "communites" up there.

[kasa]

Yes totally agree, such a beautiful area but so little content