Need to vent (and ask for advice) - my OCD's greed shot itself in the leg.

March 20, 2019

Hey there.

Firstly, wanted to mention that when I first found this forum, I was glad to see that there are people who seem to be very thorough and OCD-driven; only here was I able to find info about things like getting that damn Antique Watch from Wrobel's house to stay in the inventory, a good amazing list and discussion about missable Hats, and all things like that.

Let me explain to you what sort of player I am.

I need my playthrough to be 'perfect'. It's not just 100%. It's not just all missables. If, say, some random encounter has a dialogue line that would only happen if you 'Greet' him from afar (for instance, the Gold Panner), but doesn't happen if you just ride up to him to start the encounter 'proper', I re-play the save until I get every single thing like that. I went around the camp with drunken Swanson, because there are voice lines for every gang member that happen only during that time - when you bring him home from Flatneck station, but before you drop him at his tent. If an event has a horse with lootable saddlebags, I re-loaded until I got at least one gold nugget from it.

That's how I play. I've been playing almost constantly since game's release, and have never seen Chapter 3 yet. I've restarted the playthrough many times after pouring 3-4 weeks into it. One time, I had to restart when I learned that the guy who invites you to camp and talks about Fort Riggs can be looted for Native American Ring, which can't be obtained otherwise; I didn't have saves before that event, so I started over. Another time, I learned that it IS, after all, possible to keep Wrobel's Antique Watch, and again I didn't have the saves prior to that mission by that point.

Each time I tried to take measures against such things; making more saves, save backups, compiling written plans with tables and such... But today all those measures didn't help me.

I had a very elaborate plan to 'make the most' out of the first stage of Appleseed Timber Co. I had my Castor's Ridge (Father and sons building house) at stage 3, which I didn't launch yet (so I helped them against the bandits, but didn't get the request to bring them some wood yet). What I planned to do is to get Legend of the East satchel before heading to Appleseed Timber Co., get (and craft) a sh*tton of items, tonics and such, and bring all of that to the Foreman and sell it at a premium price he's offering. I made a trip to the eastern part of the map, got a beaver, a panther, swam across the Flat Iron Lake to get an iguana... Came back home, happily crafted a Legend of the East Satchel, and was already going past Valentine to go on with my plans, and then I noticed something horrifying.

The house has been built. I heard that it was possible, but I thought that it can only happen if you initiate stage 3 (when the Father asks you for wood or money), and **THEN** take your time to help them. I never expected the stage to be completely skipped even if I never initiated it. I guess all the traveling across states and reloading of the zones somehow triggered it, even though I was very early in chapter 2. I haven't even completed 'Paying a Social Call', 'The Spines of America' or 'The First Shall Be Last' missions, I only did 5 story missions (2 in Valentine, Hosea and the Bear, Swanson and finally the first debtors to unlock Leatherworking tools).

And again, I don't have a save before it happened. I never expected that those events could cause anything problematic. So here I am, in the same situation again, not knowing how to prevent it in the future. What I want to ask you is this: if you have encountered 'Event Areas' skipping stages, were you able to pinpoint the exact reason to why that happens?

I wonder, if I go for the Satchel again (so having to make a trip to the eastern part of the map), but this time never initiate even the first stage of Castor's Ridge, will things be different? Can the first stage also happen 'automatically'? I know that some stages of event progress automatically with new chapters, and my own experience has shown that stages can even auto-progress without any missions being completed - just traveling long enough can cause this; but I don't know what happens if someone never initiates those events in the first place. For instance, if someone never touches Castor's Ridge and comes in the very end of Chapter 2 or even early Chapter 3, will the event be there for them, waiting at its first stage?

In any case, just wanted to vent. Hopefully, this resonates with someone.

March 20, 2019

Holy crap Batman you’re not just OCD but beyond OCD brah and I’ve known some OCD players in my days and I’ve been know to way to get 100% or 5 Stars before especially on the game Carrier Deck but none this bad.

At this rate you won’t finish the game until RDR3 comes out on PC.

Edited March 20, 2019 by AiraCobra

March 20, 2019

2 hours ago, Beatrice said:

Hey there.

Firstly, wanted to mention that when I first found this forum, I was glad to see that there are people who seem to be very thorough and OCD-driven; only here was I able to find info about things like getting that damn Antique Watch from Wrobel's house to stay in the inventory, a good amazing list and discussion about missable Hats, and all things like that.

Let me explain to you what sort of player I am.

I need my playthrough to be 'perfect'. It's not just 100%. It's not just all missables. If, say, some random encounter has a dialogue line that would only happen if you 'Greet' him from afar (for instance, the Gold Panner), but doesn't happen if you just ride up to him to start the encounter 'proper', I re-play the save until I get every single thing like that. I went around the camp with drunken Swanson, because there are voice lines for every gang member that happen only during that time - when you bring him home from Flatneck station, but before you drop him at his tent. If an event has a horse with lootable saddlebags, I re-loaded until I got at least one gold nugget from it.

That's how I play. I've been playing almost constantly since game's release, and have never seen Chapter 3 yet. I've restarted the playthrough many times after pouring 3-4 weeks into it. One time, I had to restart when I learned that the guy who invites you to camp and talks about Fort Riggs can be looted for Native American Ring, which can't be obtained otherwise; I didn't have saves before that event, so I started over. Another time, I learned that it IS, after all, possible to keep Wrobel's Antique Watch, and again I didn't have the saves prior to that mission by that point.

Each time I tried to take measures against such things; making more saves, save backups, compiling written plans with tables and such... But today all those measures didn't help me.

I had a very elaborate plan to 'make the most' out of the first stage of Appleseed Timber Co. I had my Castor's Ridge (Father and sons building house) at stage 3, which I didn't launch yet (so I helped them against the bandits, but didn't get the request to bring them some wood yet). What I planned to do is to get Legend of the East satchel before heading to Appleseed Timber Co., get (and craft) a sh*tton of items, tonics and such, and bring all of that to the Foreman and sell it at a premium price he's offering. I made a trip to the eastern part of the map, got a beaver, a panther, swam across the Flat Iron Lake to get an iguana... Came back home, happily crafted a Legend of the East Satchel, and was already going past Valentine to go on with my plans, and then I noticed something horrifying.

The house has been built. I heard that it was possible, but I thought that it can only happen if you initiate stage 3 (when the Father asks you for wood or money), and **THEN** take your time to help them. I never expected the stage to be completely skipped even if I never initiated it. I guess all the traveling across states and reloading of the zones somehow triggered it, even though I was very early in chapter 2. I haven't even completed 'Paying a Social Call', 'The Spines of America' or 'The First Shall Be Last' missions, I only did 5 story missions (2 in Valentine, Hosea and the Bear, Swanson and finally the first debtors to unlock Leatherworking tools).

And again, I don't have a save before it happened. I never expected that those events could cause anything problematic. So here I am, in the same situation again, not knowing how to prevent it in the future. What I want to ask you is this: if you have encountered 'Event Areas' skipping stages, were you able to pinpoint the exact reason to why that happens?

I wonder, if I go for the Satchel again (so having to make a trip to the eastern part of the map), but this time never initiate even the first stage of Castor's Ridge, will things be different? Can the first stage also happen 'automatically'? I know that some stages of event progress automatically with new chapters, and my own experience has shown that stages can even auto-progress without any missions being completed - just traveling long enough can cause this; but I don't know what happens if someone never initiates those events in the first place. For instance, if someone never touches Castor's Ridge and comes in the very end of Chapter 2 or even early Chapter 3, will the event be there for them, waiting at its first stage?

In any case, just wanted to vent. Hopefully, this resonates with someone.

Hey. I have OCD, I'm on meds and I've done tons of therapy etc etc. And its affected my RDR2 experience a hell of a lot also. I have restarted dozens upon dozens of times. If something happens that somehow feels 'wrong', or like it shouldn't have or wouldn't have happened that way, I go right back to the start because otherwise the whole experience feels tainted somehow and I can't enjoy it. If I say a line of dialog that doesn't seem to align with my idea of Arthur as a character, I go into a spiral of negative thoughts and just feel utterly compelled to start again, like the whole things ruined. Basically,

I'm trying to sanitise the experience, make it perfect and true to life, because I care about the game a great deal.

My advice, both in RDR2 and in life is just to embrace that uncomfortable feeling. Even create in on purpose if you can and avoid any and all compulsive behaviours that you usually do to give yourself relief. I know this works, but its definitely easier said than done, and more often than not I'm not strong enough to do it in my day to day life.

OCD sucks, hard. The last 2.5 years of my life have been hell, because when I turned 18/19 it suddenly got much, much worse. I don't know how far gone you are, but if you aren't too seriously unwell yet, you have to take action today and start fighting back against it. Accept any and all feelings of discomfort, stop trying to make things feel 'just right'.

Sorry if I've misjudged the tone and you aren't that serious but I felt the need to reply properly because your post resonated with me in a big way. Messing with your RDR2 save is one thing, but when OCD creeps into every other aspect of your life, youre in trouble, as you may already know.

Good luck!

Edited March 20, 2019 by Stannard96

March 20, 2019

Hey. I have OCD, I'm on meds and I've done tons of therapy etc etc. And its affected my RDR2 experience a hell of a lot also. I have restarted dozens upon dozens of times. If something happens that somehow feels 'wrong', or like it shouldn't have or wouldn't have happened that way, I go right back to the start because otherwise the whole experience feels tainted somehow and I can't enjoy it. If I say a line of dialog that doesn't seem to align with my idea of Arthur as a character, I go into a spiral of negative thoughts and just feel utterly compelled to start again, like the whole things ruined. Basically,

I'm trying to sanitise the experience, make it perfect and true to life, because I care about the game a great deal.

My advice, both in RDR2 and in life is just to embrace that uncomfortable feeling. Even create in on purpose if you can and avoid any and all compulsive behaviours that you usually do to give yourself relief. I know this works, but its definitely easier said than done, and more often than not I'm not strong enough to do it in my day to day life.

OCD sucks, hard. The last 2.5 years of my life have been hell, because when I turned 18/19 it suddenly got much, much worse. I don't know how far gone you are, but if you aren't too seriously unwell yet, you have to take action today and start fighting back against it. Accept any and all feelings of discomfort, stop trying to make things feel 'just right'.

Sorry if I've misjudged the tone and you aren't that serious but I felt the need to reply properly because your post resonated with me in a big way. Messing with your RDR2 save is one thing, but when OCD creeps into every other aspect of your life, youre in trouble, as you may already know.

Good luck!

Hey, thanks for your reply.

In my case... Well, I didn't intend for this topic to go deeper into this, but I guess it's okay.

I'm currently 31, I was born in the USSR. In that country, psychiatry has existed only as a tool to suppress dissidents, and nothing more; trying to find ways to combat mental health issues usually resulted in being sent into a horrifying asylum used mostly to test new medication. Even though I was young during the death throes of that country, I remember it all too well. And I also see (and know from friends working in related fields) that not that much has changed. Trying to find professional help for mental health issues in this country is close to impossible. So I have never actually found any ways to combat this in a proper medical way.

It has been happening since early childhood, and games weren't really the catalyst for that. However, some games were worse than others... A good example would be Katauri's King's Bounty reboot. Those games had insane amounts of possible OCD-driven things that kept me occupied. Before them, it was the Might and Magic series, and even before those - some Sega MD games, like Beyond Oasis for example.

Rockstar's open world game design with many random encounters surely seems to be extremely incompatible with such approach! And yeah, I've tried to learn living with that, but then again - some games welcome such approach and are almost made for people like us (King's Bounty is really the perfect example, especially the Armored Princess installment), but RDR2 is definitely the opposite case.

So yeah, as AiraCobra says, I feel like I'll never beat this game. I've decided to take it easy for a couple of days - Sekiro is coming soon, I'll probably be immersed in it for some time, and then return to RDR2. I really hope to make a better PLAN™ this time... Perhaps I'll mostly do things the same way as the last time, with the only difference being not ever initiating the Castor's Ridge event area at all, even the first stage. Hopefully, the first stage can't auto-progress and things will be fine. I just dread the things that I still have yet to learn... This time I will probably make saves backups to USB.

March 20, 2019

Hey there.

Firstly, wanted to mention that when I first found this forum, I was glad to see that there are people who seem to be very thorough and OCD-driven; only here was I able to find info about things like getting that damn Antique Watch from Wrobel's house to stay in the inventory, a good amazing list and discussion about missable Hats, and all things like that.

Let me explain to you what sort of player I am.

I need my playthrough to be 'perfect'. It's not just 100%. It's not just all missables. If, say, some random encounter has a dialogue line that would only happen if you 'Greet' him from afar (for instance, the Gold Panner), but doesn't happen if you just ride up to him to start the encounter 'proper', I re-play the save until I get every single thing like that. I went around the camp with drunken Swanson, because there are voice lines for every gang member that happen only during that time - when you bring him home from Flatneck station, but before you drop him at his tent. If an event has a horse with lootable saddlebags, I re-loaded until I got at least one gold nugget from it.

That's how I play. I've been playing almost constantly since game's release, and have never seen Chapter 3 yet. I've restarted the playthrough many times after pouring 3-4 weeks into it. One time, I had to restart when I learned that the guy who invites you to camp and talks about Fort Riggs can be looted for Native American Ring, which can't be obtained otherwise; I didn't have saves before that event, so I started over. Another time, I learned that it IS, after all, possible to keep Wrobel's Antique Watch, and again I didn't have the saves prior to that mission by that point.

Each time I tried to take measures against such things; making more saves, save backups, compiling written plans with tables and such... But today all those measures didn't help me.

I had a very elaborate plan to 'make the most' out of the first stage of Appleseed Timber Co. I had my Castor's Ridge (Father and sons building house) at stage 3, which I didn't launch yet (so I helped them against the bandits, but didn't get the request to bring them some wood yet). What I planned to do is to get Legend of the East satchel before heading to Appleseed Timber Co., get (and craft) a sh*tton of items, tonics and such, and bring all of that to the Foreman and sell it at a premium price he's offering. I made a trip to the eastern part of the map, got a beaver, a panther, swam across the Flat Iron Lake to get an iguana... Came back home, happily crafted a Legend of the East Satchel, and was already going past Valentine to go on with my plans, and then I noticed something horrifying.

The house has been built. I heard that it was possible, but I thought that it can only happen if you initiate stage 3 (when the Father asks you for wood or money), and **THEN** take your time to help them. I never expected the stage to be completely skipped even if I never initiated it. I guess all the traveling across states and reloading of the zones somehow triggered it, even though I was very early in chapter 2. I haven't even completed 'Paying a Social Call', 'The Spines of America' or 'The First Shall Be Last' missions, I only did 5 story missions (2 in Valentine, Hosea and the Bear, Swanson and finally the first debtors to unlock Leatherworking tools).

And again, I don't have a save before it happened. I never expected that those events could cause anything problematic. So here I am, in the same situation again, not knowing how to prevent it in the future. What I want to ask you is this: if you have encountered 'Event Areas' skipping stages, were you able to pinpoint the exact reason to why that happens?

I wonder, if I go for the Satchel again (so having to make a trip to the eastern part of the map), but this time never initiate even the first stage of Castor's Ridge, will things be different? Can the first stage also happen 'automatically'? I know that some stages of event progress automatically with new chapters, and my own experience has shown that stages can even auto-progress without any missions being completed - just traveling long enough can cause this; but I don't know what happens if someone never initiates those events in the first place. For instance, if someone never touches Castor's Ridge and comes in the very end of Chapter 2 or even early Chapter 3, will the event be there for them, waiting at its first stage?

In any case, just wanted to vent. Hopefully, this resonates with someone.

The way you play is insane and you are causing unneeded pain to yourself.

Do this:

Delete all saves, start from scratch and play through it naturally.

Once done, start a new playthrough and do things in a different order.

Eventually you will see and do everything.

You don't have to hear and see everything in 1 single playthrough.

March 20, 2019

Hi again. Sorry to have started such a deep dive on psychiatry Those circumstances sound extremely difficult. However, by the sounds of it, you’ve come out of it fairly well adjusted (certainly far better than me!)

perhaps your micro managment of video games could even be a good outlet for that part of your personality; I just know that for me it usually snowballs until the point at which I have to permanently quit certain games.

All the best, I hope you get to finish the game sometime.

Edited March 20, 2019 by Stannard96

March 21, 2019

Okay well, here we go. I too suffer from OCD both in real life and it definitely has come into my gaming. It started for me around 2011 with games like Mass Effect 2 and Fallout New Vegas. I have seen the New Vegas intro literally over 20 times, probably over 30. I've only completed the game 5 times. If I missed dialogue, gotta restart, even though I can recite literally every word that happened without thinking about it, if I didn't hear it, gotta restart.

Over the years this has continued into games like Skyrim, Fallout 4, Batman Arkham Knight, GTA V, Fable III and most recently RDR2. However while my OCD is real life has gotten worse since 2011, much worse, I like to think it has improved in my gaming over the years. In my real life I don't quite feel I am able to take control of the OCD but the one place I do have the power, somewhat is in gaming.

Now I haven't improved much but if I miss a line of dialogue I'll either suck it up or record a short clip and rewatch it so I can hear it. Back then that would have never flied. It got to a point where this hobby that is meant to be fun and an escape from real life stress became too stressful in itself to be worth it. So I had to let SOME of those OCD things go, the things I feel like I could let go. Here is a small list of things I can not let go in RDR2.

1. "Inspect" - Any time you have the option to "Inspect" something, if I miss it, boom that is a mission restart. That would've been a game restart back in 2011, although if I miss the "Inspect" option more than once in the mission to find John, I will get fed up, stop playing and restart the game another time.

2. "Horseback Dialogue" - While riding on horseback and having an optional dialogue with a character you are riding with, if I miss that, mission restart.

3. "Style" - If I don't like the style I choose for Arthur in a particular playthrough, that is a restart for sure. Like it happened to me just a few days ago, I had planned for Arthur to have Level 7 Hair and Level 8 Facial Hair, well come to find out that facial hair growth is glitched and you can't grow it past Level 7. So my plans are screwed up and I was a day and a half into the playthrough, so now I'm in the planning phase where I am putting together a look for Arthur both hair and clothing wise. Not every outfit fits every hairstyle.

So those are my main issues at this point. I try my best to suppress these issues and just enjoy the game, doesn't always work.

WARNING - The Father and Sons House Building Sequence, you CAN miss the first stage of it. Where you get introduced and his sons drop the wall they just put up. I found this out the hard way, it went right to Scenario 2 where the thugs are shooting the place up and unfortunately that led to a glitch where whenever you go back to them, the same sequence will play over and over and it will never progress to the stage where they ask you to go to Appleseed. That led to a restart from me. Here is how I do it now. I make this a priority. This is what I do.

1. Polite Society, Valentine Style

2. Introduction to House Building (Wall Falls Down)

3. Go back to Horseshoe (This will trigger Susan's dialogue telling you Micah and Lenny went out scouting, if you do Americans at Rest before going back to camp, Susan will never give you this line)

4. Go back to Father and Sons (Thugs will shoot up the place, save them)

5. Do some collecting, rock carvings, dino bones, GOLD BAR, etc or go back to Horseshoe and get some camp dialogue by wandering around it, doing chores or you could spend some time in Valentine.

6. Next day go back to Father and Sons (This time, they'll be back on track, look for the line from the father "He sent me a bunch of donkeys", this is important)

7. Americans At Rest

8. Back to Father and Sons (You'll get the same scenario as last time, the father will again say "He sent me a bunch of donkeys", don't worry it is not glitched)

9. Exit, Pursued By A Bruised Ego

10. Back to Father and Sons (This will trigger him asking you to go to Appleseed)

11. Go to Appleseed and get that going, give him some food

12. Go back to the nearby river, the same one you took to get to Appleseed. It's far enough away from Appleseed to trigger event 2. If you don't get event 2 right away, return to this spot and set up camp and sleep.)

13. Appleseed event 2 (Pick up the tree off the guys leg)

14. Repeat 12

15. Go back to Appleseed (This time the Foreman will say he is not a miracle worker, Arthur says "you sure ain't")

16. The First Valentine Bounty (I forget the mission name or his name but I remember he is a Medical Man, a Healer...Albright that is his last name)

17. Go back to Appleseed (There is a good chance you will once again get the he is not a miracle worker line, that is fine)

18. The Spines of America (Not sure this matters but choose to do it during the day and sneak in while Hosea does his thing) (This will also allow you to sell gold bars at the Fence to be able to afford the wood if you don't have enough money already)

19. Go back to Appleseed and purchase or steal the wood and return back to the Father and Sons. (Maybe don't steal the wagon, it might lock off the wolf mission at Appleseed)

20. You're gonna likely need to do another mission or two to get the house to be completed and paid. Check though after doing one mission.

This may seem like a lot, but you can get it done is one sitting, two or three hours max.

Unrelated to this but you mentioned reloading if you don't find a golden nugget in saddlebags. If money is your issue, you can find gold bars that pay $500 each. Look up these locations to find them, it's easy and take very little time, especially the Lympany one and the Strange Statues one. If it's not a money thing, think of it this way. Realistically not many people will have gold nuggets, let alone in their saddlebags, so try to think it'd be unrealistic to find them and if you do, wow you got real lucky.

March 21, 2019

1. Polite Society, Valentine Style

2. Introduction to House Building (Wall Falls Down)

3. Go back to Horseshoe (This will trigger Susan's dialogue telling you Micah and Lenny went out scouting, if you do Americans at Rest before going back to camp, Susan will never give you this line)

4. Go back to Father and Sons (Thugs will shoot up the place, save them)

5. Do some collecting, rock carvings, dino bones, GOLD BAR, etc or go back to Horseshoe and get some camp dialogue by wandering around it, doing chores or you could spend some time in Valentine.

6. Next day go back to Father and Sons (This time, they'll be back on track, look for the line from the father "He sent me a bunch of donkeys", this is important)

7. Americans At Rest

8. Back to Father and Sons (You'll get the same scenario as last time, the father will again say "He sent me a bunch of donkeys", don't worry it is not glitched)

9. Exit, Pursued By A Bruised Ego

10. Back to Father and Sons (This will trigger him asking you to go to Appleseed)

11. Go to Appleseed and get that going, give him some food

12. Go back to the nearby river, the same one you took to get to Appleseed. It's far enough away from Appleseed to trigger event 2. If you don't get event 2 right away, return to this spot and set up camp and sleep.)

13. Appleseed event 2 (Pick up the tree off the guys leg)

14. Repeat 12

15. Go back to Appleseed (This time the Foreman will say he is not a miracle worker, Arthur says "you sure ain't")

16. The First Valentine Bounty (I forget the mission name or his name but I remember he is a Medical Man, a Healer...Albright that is his last name)

17. Go back to Appleseed (There is a good chance you will once again get the he is not a miracle worker line, that is fine)

18. The Spines of America (Not sure this matters but choose to do it during the day and sneak in while Hosea does his thing) (This will also allow you to sell gold bars at the Fence to be able to afford the wood if you don't have enough money already)

19. Go back to Appleseed and purchase or steal the wood and return back to the Father and Sons. (Maybe don't steal the wagon, it might lock off the wolf mission at Appleseed)

20. You're gonna likely need to do another mission or two to get the house to be completed and paid. Check though after doing one mission.

That sounds really interesting! Where do you think it's safe to put in a trip for Legend of the East bag animals?

This is how I did it, it was really similar you your way:

1. Polite Society

2. First stage at Father and Sons

3. Camp

4. Second stage at Father and Sons

5. Benedict Albright

6. Americans at Rest

7. There was at least one time I visited the Father to get his 'donkeys' blank dialogue, maybe two

8. Exit, Pursued By a Bruised Ego

9. Who is not Without Sin

10. Money Lending and Other Sins I-II (did all 3 debtors)

11. At this point I went east, getting a Beaver, a Panther in Lemoyne, and an Iguana on the island in the lake. I already had all other animals by that point.

12. I was planning to go to Appleseed at this point to initiate the first stage, but when passing near Valentine I saw that the Father&Sons' house has already been built, skipping the third stage.

So basically, my plan is to still postpone Appleseed Stage 1 for as long as possible, getting the LotE satchel before that point, in order to pack it up with a ton of items to sell. Apparently having several reloads and/or just leaving far enough to get to Lemoyne was enough to trigger the stages.

Interestingly though, is that when I realized I messed up, I went to Appleseed just out of curiosity - and at least I can say that THIS event area didn't give a damn about me travelling: I was greeted with the normal stage 1 of that area. It didn't auto-progress anywhere. The fact that you're saying that Castor's can even auto-skip the very first stage is very, very worrisome. I don't know how to proceed, then. Probably, taking a trip for the panther and the iguana ASAP would be the best idea; Beaver can wait a bit, I should probably catch one near Strawberry instead of going into the Murfree territory and causing more 'loads'. I'm just not sure whether I can get Panther without a rifle. I can probably try to forse the 'snake bite' event ASAP in one of its usual spots, to get a free Spingfield in Valentine.

March 21, 2019

That sounds really interesting! Where do you think it's safe to put in a trip for Legend of the East bag animals?

This is how I did it, it was really similar you your way:

1. Polite Society

2. First stage at Father and Sons

3. Camp

4. Second stage at Father and Sons

5. Benedict Albright

6. Americans at Rest

7. There was at least one time I visited the Father to get his 'donkeys' blank dialogue, maybe two

8. Exit, Pursued By a Bruised Ego

9. Who is not Without Sin

10. Money Lending and Other Sins I-II (did all 3 debtors)

11. At this point I went east, getting a Beaver, a Panther in Lemoyne, and an Iguana on the island in the lake. I already had all other animals by that point.

12. I was planning to go to Appleseed at this point to initiate the first stage, but when passing near Valentine I saw that the Father&Sons' house has already been built, skipping the third stage.

So basically, my plan is to still postpone Appleseed Stage 1 for as long as possible, getting the LotE satchel before that point, in order to pack it up with a ton of items to sell. Apparently having several reloads and/or just leaving far enough to get to Lemoyne was enough to trigger the stages.

Interestingly though, is that when I realized I messed up, I went to Appleseed just out of curiosity - and at least I can say that THIS event area didn't give a damn about me travelling: I was greeted with the normal stage 1 of that area. It didn't auto-progress anywhere. The fact that you're saying that Castor's can even auto-skip the very first stage is very, very worrisome. I don't know how to proceed, then. Probably, taking a trip for the panther and the iguana ASAP would be the best idea; Beaver can wait a bit, I should probably catch one near Strawberry instead of going into the Murfree territory and causing more 'loads'. I'm just not sure whether I can get Panther without a rifle. I can probably try to forse the 'snake bite' event ASAP in one of its usual spots, to get a free Spingfield in Valentine.

I would hold off on going for LOTE satchel until you have delivered the wood to the Father and Sons. I know this means you can't donate loads and loads of food but you don't really need to. I just give 3 or 4 cans of food. The Foreman is grateful for you giving that and if you go for the gold bars you do not have to leave the New Hanover or Grizzlies area. I can not say for sure but I have a feeling that you going into Lemoyne is what is skipping the certain events. I can't say for sure because I never go into Lemoyne until Chapter 3, that is one of my OCD things as well, I don't travel to parts of the map until there is a story reason for me to do so.

So staying in the New Hanover, Grizzlies and West Elizabeth areas is fine for Chapter 2. If you really want the LOTE satchel as soon as possible, I'd simply wait for you to get paid by the Father, this way you know it's done and your good. Aside from this and the railroad building camp, there really is no time sensitive things like this, so you can rest easy once these are complete.

Although I feel you do need to be warned about Camp Requests. These are also hell on anyone with OCD like us. Some camp requests are Chapter specific so I recommend checking this out.

https://primewikis.com/guides/rdr2-all-companion-item-requests/

Just don't bother looking at Charles Request 3 and Uncle's Request, you don't need to know these until very late in the game. Don't wanna risk spoilers.

Another thing, Pearson's rabbit request is simply not possible. Don't even try for it, you won't get it and don't get upset over it because it simply is not going to happen, it is glitched and unless Rockstar ever decide to patch it, it's gonna stay this way. So do like me, pretend it doesn't exist because currently it doesn't.

Also side thing: Camp dialogue, I wish there was a way trigger them, it drives me nuts when some don't trigger and I know I'll never get them.

March 21, 2019

I would hold off on going for LOTE satchel until you have delivered the wood to the Father and Sons. I know this means you can't donate loads and loads of food but you don't really need to. I just give 3 or 4 cans of food. The Foreman is grateful for you giving that and if you go for the gold bars you do not have to leave the New Hanover or Grizzlies area. I can not say for sure but I have a feeling that you going into Lemoyne is what is skipping the certain events. I can't say for sure because I never go into Lemoyne until Chapter 3, that is one of my OCD things as well, I don't travel to parts of the map until there is a story reason for me to do so.

So staying in the New Hanover, Grizzlies and West Elizabeth areas is fine for Chapter 2. If you really want the LOTE satchel as soon as possible, I'd simply wait for you to get paid by the Father, this way you know it's done and your good. Aside from this and the railroad building camp, there really is no time sensitive things like this, so you can rest easy once these are complete.

Although I feel you do need to be warned about Camp Requests. These are also hell on anyone with OCD like us. Some camp requests are Chapter specific so I recommend checking this out.

https://primewikis.com/guides/rdr2-all-companion-item-requests/

Just don't bother looking at Charles Request 3 and Uncle's Request, you don't need to know these until very late in the game. Don't wanna risk spoilers.

Another thing, Pearson's rabbit request is simply not possible. Don't even try for it, you won't get it and don't get upset over it because it simply is not going to happen, it is glitched and unless Rockstar ever decide to patch it, it's gonna stay this way. So do like me, pretend it doesn't exist because currently it doesn't.

Also side thing: Camp dialogue, I wish there was a way trigger them, it drives me nuts when some don't trigger and I know I'll never get them.

Thanks for elaborating!

As for Pearson's Rabbit request, I've heard about people having issues, but surprisingly every time I restart (that count has already went past 10 times), I reliably get Pearson's Rabbit request. Every time I reach Chapter 2, I never leave the camp until I get 5 requests: Pen, Pipe, Mystery Novel, Herbs, Rabbit. Rabbit is always the 5th, I need to get the other 4 before it happens, but I've been getting it very consistently so far!

March 21, 2019

Thanks for elaborating!

As for Pearson's Rabbit request, I've heard about people having issues, but surprisingly every time I restart (that count has already went past 10 times), I reliably get Pearson's Rabbit request. Every time I reach Chapter 2, I never leave the camp until I get 5 requests: Pen, Pipe, Mystery Novel, Herbs, Rabbit. Rabbit is always the 5th, I need to get the other 4 before it happens, but I've been getting it very consistently so far!

HOLY CRAP!!!!! I may have to try that myself when I start again after this planning phase I'm in. Thank you! What update are you on btw?

Edited March 21, 2019 by HeyThereFriend

March 21, 2019

HOLY CRAP!!!!! I may have to try that myself when I start again after this planning phase I'm in. Thank you! What update are you on btw?

Hopefully it helps!

I've always been updating the game as soon as any patch rolls out, so right now I'm on the latest patch, and never went unpatched for more than a day at most, I guess.

As for the other things related to that request, it's really the usual stuff - the 'golden time' is around ~10-11 AM, when Pearson is in his most active Stew-preparing phase. The usual spot behind the table, pot on the table, beer in hand, everything like usual.

Also, not sure whether it's relevant, but I think I usually sleep once before leaving the camp (I like getting lines from Dutch/Susan about not leaving the camp, not being the man of action etc, and this is a good way to trigger those!).

March 21, 2019

Hopefully it helps!

I've always been updating the game as soon as any patch rolls out, so right now I'm on the latest patch, and never went unpatched for more than a day at most, I guess.

As for the other things related to that request, it's really the usual stuff - the 'golden time' is around ~10-11 AM, when Pearson is in his most active Stew-preparing phase. The usual spot behind the table, pot on the table, beer in hand, everything like usual.

Also, not sure whether it's relevant, but I think I usually sleep once before leaving the camp (I like getting lines from Dutch/Susan about not leaving the camp, not being the man of action etc, and this is a good way to trigger those!).

Okay thanks, I will keep that in mind my next go around.

March 21, 2019

I don’t know much about the facts of OCD, but one thing I’m sure of is RDR 2 doesn’t have enough save slots for a game that’s so huge. And atleast with my PS3 you could back them up to a USB and restore them to effectively create more. Not possible on the One X (afaik).

Still atleast it’s better than the original RDR which only had THREE save slots. That really was taking the p155.

Edited March 21, 2019 by Jimbatron

March 21, 2019

I don’t know much about the facts of OCD, but one thing I’m sure of is RDR 2 doesn’t have enough save slots for a game that’s so huge. And atleast with my PS3 you could back them up to a USB and restore them to effectively create more. Not possible on the One X (afaik).

Still atleast it’s better than the original RDR which only had THREE save slots. That really was taking the p155.

This is an aside, but I agree. To further add to my lack of slots, I have two sons, a roommate and a girlfriend who all also have saves on my list.. Not to mention the "Heading East" save I have where I can begin at Chapter 2 and ignore the First chapter when I play over again. I just can't take the learning introduction missions anymore. And a save from after the epilogues I am trying to get back to. It's maddening/ madness/ crazy.

More on point with the initial post and intent of this thread I'm also very curious about getting the Legend of the East Satchel as early as possible. Are you guys getting the buck trinket ? Since you are not completing Spires of America I know you are not getting it in Emerald Ranch. Do you just go to the fence in Rhodes then say before going to get panther and iguana?

I have killed the panther with Springfield for sure., I don't recall if I have used an improved arrow. But I know I can kill cougars with the improved arrow all of the time. So the Panther <should> be doable with the bow. Especially using the predator bait gotten from Hosea in the Ego mission.

I get the beaver over in the Lake by Strawberry, they are usually so still they are an easy kill without the trinket so I get that on the trip while i hunt the legendary buck.

March 21, 2019

This is an aside, but I agree. To further add to my lack of slots, I have two sons, a roommate and a girlfriend who all also have saves on my list.. Not to mention the "Heading East" save I have where I can begin at Chapter 2 and ignore the First chapter when I play over again. I just can't take the learning introduction missions anymore. And a save from after the epilogues I am trying to get back to. It's maddening/ madness/ crazy.

More on point with the initial post and intent of this thread I'm also very curious about getting the Legend of the East Satchel as early as possible. Are you guys getting the buck trinket ? Since you are not completing Spires of America I know you are not getting it in Emerald Ranch. Do you just go to the fence in Rhodes then say before going to get panther and iguana?

I have killed the panther with Springfield for sure., I don't recall if I have used an improved arrow. But I know I can kill cougars with the improved arrow all of the time. So the Panther <should> be doable with the bow. Especially using the predator bait gotten from Hosea in the Ego mission.

I get the beaver over in the Lake by Strawberry, they are usually so still they are an easy kill without the trinket so I get that on the trip while i hunt the legendary buck.

In this failed run of mine, I didn't have the Buck trinket yet.

What I always do very early, is head to the spot near the river, somewhere between Limpany and Caliban's Seat. There is one of the usual spots for the 'snake bite' random event. If it doesn't proc, try exhausting other events in that area (guy throwing stones, guy looting a body near a wagon, gold panner, herbalist dude) first. As soon as I do that event, I head to Valentine for the 'consequence event' - this guy allows you to get a free firearm from the gunsmith. At this point in the game, if you have a Special Edition and Pump-Action shotgun and Volcanic pistol are already free for you, the ONLY option you can really even use this snakebite guy for is Springfield rifle. So yeah, I get it very early, and I often get the 'cougar attack' event at Caliban's seat almost immediately after - that cougar seems to always be pristine, so this springfield rifle gets some very early action and one of the required 'hard-to-get' pelts for the satchel.

March 21, 2019

This is an aside, but I agree. To further add to my lack of slots, I have two sons, a roommate and a girlfriend who all also have saves on my list.. Not to mention the "Heading East" save I have where I can begin at Chapter 2 and ignore the First chapter when I play over again. I just can't take the learning introduction missions anymore. And a save from after the epilogues I am trying to get back to. It's maddening/ madness/ crazy.

More on point with the initial post and intent of this thread I'm also very curious about getting the Legend of the East Satchel as early as possible. Are you guys getting the buck trinket ? Since you are not completing Spires of America I know you are not getting it in Emerald Ranch. Do you just go to the fence in Rhodes then say before going to get panther and iguana?

I have killed the panther with Springfield for sure., I don't recall if I have used an improved arrow. But I know I can kill cougars with the improved arrow all of the time. So the Panther <should> be doable with the bow. Especially using the predator bait gotten from Hosea in the Ego mission.

I get the beaver over in the Lake by Strawberry, they are usually so still they are an easy kill without the trinket so I get that on the trip while i hunt the legendary buck.

Crickey RE number of people using your save slots?

BTW I’m not sure if there are limits but I’ve got two accounts (just for me because I’m greedy!) on one copy on the Xbox One X - which effectively gets me an extra whole set of saves! Maybe encourage them to create their own accounts!

RE the satchel I don’t do any serious hunting until I have the buck antler trinket, I find it too frustrating otherwise. Otherwise it’s exactly as I do it but I use poisoned arrows if available for the panther.

March 21, 2019

In this failed run of mine, I didn't have the Buck trinket yet.

What I always do very early, is head to the spot near the river, somewhere between Limpany and Caliban's Seat. There is one of the usual spots for the 'snake bite' random event. If it doesn't proc, try exhausting other events in that area (guy throwing stones, guy looting a body near a wagon, gold panner, herbalist dude) first. As soon as I do that event, I head to Valentine for the 'consequence event' - this guy allows you to get a free firearm from the gunsmith. At this point in the game, if you have a Special Edition and Pump-Action shotgun and Volcanic pistol are already free for you, the ONLY option you can really even use this snakebite guy for is Springfield rifle. So yeah, I get it very early, and I often get the 'cougar attack' event at Caliban's seat almost immediately after - that cougar seems to always be pristine, so this springfield rifle gets some very early action and one of the required 'hard-to-get' pelts for the satchel.

What? You are getting to the Legend of the East Satchel without the buck trinket? While I guess re-loading saves after failing to get pristine pelts would help offset the lost bonus, WOW. Hats off to you for your much better hunting skills than mine. Couple of questions along these lines. 1. Where do you find your badgers? and Isn't there an unlock trigger for the springfield? or is it just the cost that has been holding me back? Obviously you've solved the cost issue if you do the snakebite guy. I'll look into that. Thanks

Crickey RE number of people using your save slots?

BTW I’m not sure if there are limits but I’ve got two accounts (just for me because I’m greedy!) on one copy on the Xbox One X - which effectively gets me an extra whole set of saves! Maybe encourage them to create their own accounts!

RE the satchel I don’t do any serious hunting until I have the buck antler trinket, I find it too frustrating otherwise. Otherwise it’s exactly as I do it but I use poisoned arrows if available for the panther.

Own accounts? Do you mean ps4 plus accounts? (This is the first and only game I have ever played on ps4 so I'm almost clue-less) I guess when I login it asks who is using the controller, we have just the one account. Maybe that is the account 's profile we're all on. Can I create a profile for me on this ps4 and play the same copy of the game too? Not on what is actually my roommate's save accounts then? LOL Maybe I should ask my kids too. At least two of them have ps4 plus accounts already.

March 21, 2019

What? You are getting to the Legend of the East Satchel without the buck trinket? While I guess re-loading saves after failing to get pristine pelts would help offset the lost bonus, WOW. Hats off to you for your much better hunting skills than mine. Couple of questions along these lines. 1. Where do you find your badgers? and Isn't there an unlock trigger for the springfield? or is it just the cost that has been holding me back? Obviously you've solved the cost issue if you do the snakebite guy. I'll look into that. Thanks

I have a habit of mostly hunting using the lasso. In my opinion, the only real case where the Buck trinket shines is those pesky little animals/birds that usually require Small Game Arrows. Being able to kill those with Varmint is a HUGE QOL that this trinket provides; but Legend of the East satchel really needs just one squirrel, everything else is either Varmint Rifle material (and with the exception of Badger and Beaver, all others are really just 'shoot them anywhere', no need to aim for the head), lasso material, or in case of Bison, Panther and Cougar, it's rifle material.

But I guess I might deserve some of that praise, since I reach the last pre-epilogue Hunting Request without the Buck trinket, too, and THIS one is quite brutal, finding a pristine Robin is one thing, getting close enough for the small game arrow to even be in reach (it doesn't really shoot that far, some of the Robin spots are simply too high for those arrows to reach) is another thing. But, well, this is a completely different topic.

As for the Springfield rifle, I'm 100% certain it's one of the three (five in special cases) weapons available right at the beginning of Chapter 2 in Valentine:

1. Varmint Rifle (free for Special Edition)

2. Volcanic Pistol (free for Special Edition)

3. Springfield Rifle

There are two others that are available at the start of Chapter 2, but only in special cases:

4. Pump-Action Shotgun (Special Edition)

5. Double-Action Revolver (GTA Online Treasure Hunt) - but in the most recent versions of the game you get this one automatically if you're eligible, so it's not relevant.

So yeah - if you own a Special Edition and already got the freebies, Springfield rifle becomes pretty much the *only* way to use the 'Consequence' encounter!

//edit: PS: about the Badger, I have no clue, actually. In my most recent failed run that I'm describing in OP post, I had it very early, I think way before all my travels. I guess I got really lucky, now that I think about it. Unless I'm mistaken, I think I got it somewhere near the Dakota river while running around on my usual business there.

Edited March 21, 2019 by Beatrice

March 21, 2019

Own accounts? Do you mean ps4 plus accounts? (This is the first and only game I have ever played on ps4 so I'm almost clue-less) I guess when I login it asks who is using the controller, we have just the one account. Maybe that is the account 's profile we're all on. Can I create a profile for me on this ps4 and play the same copy of the game too? Not on what is actually my roommate's save accounts then? LOL Maybe I should ask my kids too. At least two of them have ps4 plus accounts already.

Yeah, for me when I had a PS3 all I needed was a different email to create a new account. I assume it’s the same still unless they charge for PS4 plus account?

IIRC with the PS3 if you didn’t care about online you could create a new user and not register it with Sony, and you’d still be able to play sp with your own saves and achievements. But you couldn’t link to R* social club or play online etc.

March 27, 2019

On 3/21/2019 at 1:22 AM, HeyThereFriend said:

Okay well, here we go. I too suffer from OCD both in real life and it definitely has come into my gaming. It started for me around 2011 with games like Mass Effect 2 and Fallout New Vegas. I have seen the New Vegas intro literally over 20 times, probably over 30. I've only completed the game 5 times. If I missed dialogue, gotta restart, even though I can recite literally every word that happened without thinking about it, if I didn't hear it, gotta restart.

Over the years this has continued into games like Skyrim, Fallout 4, Batman Arkham Knight, GTA V, Fable III and most recently RDR2. However while my OCD is real life has gotten worse since 2011, much worse, I like to think it has improved in my gaming over the years. In my real life I don't quite feel I am able to take control of the OCD but the one place I do have the power, somewhat is in gaming.

Now I haven't improved much but if I miss a line of dialogue I'll either suck it up or record a short clip and rewatch it so I can hear it. Back then that would have never flied. It got to a point where this hobby that is meant to be fun and an escape from real life stress became too stressful in itself to be worth it. So I had to let SOME of those OCD things go, the things I feel like I could let go. Here is a small list of things I can not let go in RDR2.

1. "Inspect" - Any time you have the option to "Inspect" something, if I miss it, boom that is a mission restart. That would've been a game restart back in 2011, although if I miss the "Inspect" option more than once in the mission to find John, I will get fed up, stop playing and restart the game another time.

2. "Horseback Dialogue" - While riding on horseback and having an optional dialogue with a character you are riding with, if I miss that, mission restart.

3. "Style" - If I don't like the style I choose for Arthur in a particular playthrough, that is a restart for sure. Like it happened to me just a few days ago, I had planned for Arthur to have Level 7 Hair and Level 8 Facial Hair, well come to find out that facial hair growth is glitched and you can't grow it past Level 7. So my plans are screwed up and I was a day and a half into the playthrough, so now I'm in the planning phase where I am putting together a look for Arthur both hair and clothing wise. Not every outfit fits every hairstyle.

So those are my main issues at this point. I try my best to suppress these issues and just enjoy the game, doesn't always work.

WARNING - The Father and Sons House Building Sequence, you CAN miss the first stage of it. Where you get introduced and his sons drop the wall they just put up. I found this out the hard way, it went right to Scenario 2 where the thugs are shooting the place up and unfortunately that led to a glitch where whenever you go back to them, the same sequence will play over and over and it will never progress to the stage where they ask you to go to Appleseed. That led to a restart from me. Here is how I do it now. I make this a priority. This is what I do.

1. Polite Society, Valentine Style

2. Introduction to House Building (Wall Falls Down)

3. Go back to Horseshoe (This will trigger Susan's dialogue telling you Micah and Lenny went out scouting, if you do Americans at Rest before going back to camp, Susan will never give you this line)

4. Go back to Father and Sons (Thugs will shoot up the place, save them)

5. Do some collecting, rock carvings, dino bones, GOLD BAR, etc or go back to Horseshoe and get some camp dialogue by wandering around it, doing chores or you could spend some time in Valentine.

6. Next day go back to Father and Sons (This time, they'll be back on track, look for the line from the father "He sent me a bunch of donkeys", this is important)

7. Americans At Rest

8. Back to Father and Sons (You'll get the same scenario as last time, the father will again say "He sent me a bunch of donkeys", don't worry it is not glitched)

9. Exit, Pursued By A Bruised Ego

10. Back to Father and Sons (This will trigger him asking you to go to Appleseed)

11. Go to Appleseed and get that going, give him some food

12. Go back to the nearby river, the same one you took to get to Appleseed. It's far enough away from Appleseed to trigger event 2. If you don't get event 2 right away, return to this spot and set up camp and sleep.)

13. Appleseed event 2 (Pick up the tree off the guys leg)

14. Repeat 12

15. Go back to Appleseed (This time the Foreman will say he is not a miracle worker, Arthur says "you sure ain't")

16. The First Valentine Bounty (I forget the mission name or his name but I remember he is a Medical Man, a Healer...Albright that is his last name)

17. Go back to Appleseed (There is a good chance you will once again get the he is not a miracle worker line, that is fine)

18. The Spines of America (Not sure this matters but choose to do it during the day and sneak in while Hosea does his thing) (This will also allow you to sell gold bars at the Fence to be able to afford the wood if you don't have enough money already)

19. Go back to Appleseed and purchase or steal the wood and return back to the Father and Sons. (Maybe don't steal the wagon, it might lock off the wolf mission at Appleseed)

20. You're gonna likely need to do another mission or two to get the house to be completed and paid. Check though after doing one mission.

This may seem like a lot, but you can get it done is one sitting, two or three hours max.

Unrelated to this but you mentioned reloading if you don't find a golden nugget in saddlebags. If money is your issue, you can find gold bars that pay $500 each. Look up these locations to find them, it's easy and take very little time, especially the Lympany one and the Strange Statues one. If it's not a money thing, think of it this way. Realistically not many people will have gold nuggets, let alone in their saddlebags, so try to think it'd be unrealistic to find them and if you do, wow you got real lucky.

Hey, reading this, I feel for you man. OCD is a terrible thing that people who don’t have it just don’t understand.

I feel like a hypocrite even giving this advice, but please try and learn how to tolerate discomfort, I honestly believe it’s the only way forward. In terms of gaming, maybe do something totally out of character and try and resist restarting. In terms of real life, same goes, do something that makes you uncomfortable and try and resist compulsions.

Remember anything you do that gives you a sense of relief is actually perpetuating the problem...you’re addicted to that feeling of relief. You may get it when you restart a game, you may get it when you compete a ritual in your head or when you check something. I know it sounds weird, but one of the best things I’ve ever learned in therapy is that we are essentially drug addicts.

I probably won’t reply to this again for a while as I’m not on here too often, but good luck to you. OCD is...terrible and life changing, but I honestly believe we can get through it.

Edited March 27, 2019 by Stannard96

April 18, 2019

I have to say I was able to get all of the satchels before triggering the first mission at Appleseed Timber Co.

I had upgraded the camp food and medicines to full as well, so I stocked up quite a bit before going to visit. I made just under $300 selling most everything $292 and change I think.

I then wandered a bit to trigger the tree falling and wolves so that I could get timber for the house. After crossing the river and talking to the father to get the mission request for the timber to build the house I stopped in Valentine for the butcher. There next to the butcher was a wagon load of lumber and I could not resist the -1 honor penalty to get the full $150 profit instead of going back to buy lumber from the camp.

It seemed like the thing to do. And while it doesn't 100% match with the OP's plan. I think this proves that plan would work. I was trying to loosely follow jimbatron's 100% completion guide with an added caveat to rush the satchel like OP here and make that happen. So best of luck Beatrice.

April 20, 2019

On 4/18/2019 at 9:07 PM, UnexpectedParole said:

I have to say I was able to get all of the satchels before triggering the first mission at Appleseed Timber Co.

I had upgraded the camp food and medicines to full as well, so I stocked up quite a bit before going to visit. I made just under $300 selling most everything $292 and change I think.

I then wandered a bit to trigger the tree falling and wolves so that I could get timber for the house. After crossing the river and talking to the father to get the mission request for the timber to build the house I stopped in Valentine for the butcher. There next to the butcher was a wagon load of lumber and I could not resist the -1 honor penalty to get the full $150 profit instead of going back to buy lumber from the camp.

It seemed like the thing to do. And while it doesn't 100% match with the OP's plan. I think this proves that plan would work. I was trying to loosely follow jimbatron's 100% completion guide with an added caveat to rush the satchel like OP here and make that happen. So best of luck Beatrice.

Thanks for the info!

Do you remember when did you do the House Stages 1-2, relative to the satchel hunt? In my case, it looked somewhat like this:

- I did Stage 1 early, before even starting going for animals

- Then I did Stage 2 some time after doing Hosea's mission to unlock the Stables and the first debtor for Strauss to unlock the Ledger.

- After that, I went in the general direction of Lemoyne to get the Beaver, the Panther and also an Iguana on the island on the way back.

- After coming back and completing the satchel, I went to the House, only to see that it skipped Stage 3 (wood request) and is already at Stage 4 with the House fully built. During this whole process I never visited Appleseed at all, but after this tremendous failure I checked Appleseed and it was okay - waiting for me in its Stage 1 state.

I haven't come back to trying again yet due to Sekiro, but I'm almost done squeezing everything from that game so going to come back to RDR2 any day now!

April 21, 2019

12 hours ago, Beatrice said:

Thanks for the info!

Do you remember when did you do the House Stages 1-2, relative to the satchel hunt? In my case, it looked somewhat like this:

- I did Stage 1 early, before even starting going for animals

- Then I did Stage 2 some time after doing Hosea's mission to unlock the Stables and the first debtor for Strauss to unlock the Ledger.

- After that, I went in the general direction of Lemoyne to get the Beaver, the Panther and also an Iguana on the island on the way back.

- After coming back and completing the satchel, I went to the House, only to see that it skipped Stage 3 (wood request) and is already at Stage 4 with the House fully built. During this whole process I never visited Appleseed at all, but after this tremendous failure I checked Appleseed and it was okay - waiting for me in its Stage 1 state.

I haven't come back to trying again yet due to Sekiro, but I'm almost done squeezing everything from that game so going to come back to RDR2 any day now!

I fear I have taken rubbish notes, and getting the badger, moose and last cougar too so long that I forgot doing those important steps.

I know I started the Appleseed Co late and had to go there, then away and back to trigger through all the steps. I don't recall vrey well doing the first mission or 2nd interaction with the House Builder at all at. I know I avoid Valentine like the plague for a bit after Americans at Rest, partly to not trigger the father to advance his story.

I also played past by a little bit as I was trying to catch up to jimbatron's 100% completion guide.

I never go east to get the beaver or panther. That might be an issue? The beaver I always get at the lake SW of Strawberry and the panther from down south at the Fen.

I'm going to re-run the trial again and see if I have a better save than 'eastward bound'. And take better notes.

Though I'm curious as to if I am reading this right?

Thanks for elaborating!

As for Pearson's Rabbit request, I've heard about people having issues, but surprisingly every time I restart (that count has already went past 10 times), I reliably get Pearson's Rabbit request. Every time I reach Chapter 2, I never leave the camp until I get 5 requests: Pen, Pipe, Mystery Novel, Herbs, Rabbit. Rabbit is always the 5th, I need to get the other 4 before it happens, but I've been getting it very consistently so far!

Do you mean to say after waking up day 1 you just wander camp talking to everyone over and over and over until these quests are given out? I have not had very much luck locating these people or getting the requests triggered. The book is easy by picking it up, and Dutch was surprisingly easy once I walked to him. One playthrough I did get Susan to request the herbs, and another MaryBeth to ask for the pen. But neve all 4 and never Pearson. Do you have any better hints as to time-line or criteria?

April 21, 2019

1 hour ago, UnexpectedParole said:

Do you mean to say after waking up day 1 you just wander camp talking to everyone over and over and over until these quests are given out?

Yep, that's pretty much exactly what I'm doing! The whole first day, right after Eastward Bound, I walk around the camp, talking to everyone and doing chores. Then I go to sleep sometime in the evening, then wake up, do new chores and continue walking back and forth. At some point, random events around camp stop spawning, this is where I either save and load the game, or go to sleep again. But usually I get Pearson's rabbit request the next day after Eastward bound, at the usual time (~10-11 AM)

1 hour ago, UnexpectedParole said:

and the panther from down south at the Fen.

Well, that kinda IS quite in the eastern part of the map, probably not as east as the second Panther spawn, but I think if my whole situation has anything to do with crossing the states than it shouldn't matter much, since both panthers are technically in Lemoyne.

April 21, 2019

1 hour ago, Beatrice said:

Yep, that's pretty much exactly what I'm doing! The whole first day, right after Eastward Bound, I walk around the camp, talking to everyone and doing chores. Then I go to sleep sometime in the evening, then wake up, do new chores and continue walking back and forth. At some point, random events around camp stop spawning, this is where I either save and load the game, or go to sleep again. But usually I get Pearson's rabbit request the next day after Eastward bound, at the usual time (~10-11 AM)

Well, that kinda IS quite in the eastern part of the map, probably not as east as the second Panther spawn, but I think if my whole situation has anything to do with crossing the states than it shouldn't matter much, since both panthers are technically in Lemoyne.

Thanks for the tip on the quest. I checked my two saves on this ps4 profile. One is like 12:00 noon on the morning after getting into Horseshoe Overlook, and the other is in camp and I can go to Castor's Ridge and get my $150. I never got a chance to buy firewood , I assume they don't let me buy it since I have no-where to take it. (I stole the wagon in Valentine.)

I'm going to first check the other ps4 profile, I'm pretty sure my Eastward Bound save is "better". Otherwise I have to do chapter 1 over again and I'm not happy about that.

As far as calling the Fen panther "east". I don't disagree with you that Lemoyne is "east", But I would actually call the Fen more South. And leave "east" as the descriptor for the lands east of the River.

For some reason I'm thinking Raider country is south and Brood country is "east" and that the beaver and panther should not be taken from those areas. But thinking back, I am not sure I didn't already at least visit Ms. Belle which is pretty close to the same area anyway. I had a theory that the advancement of the Castor Ridge storyline might have had soemthing to do with that.

I actually suspect it is just more likely tied to how quickly you initiate it to begin with. I try to avoid that portion of the map until much further in my quest for satchels.

In fact, I get the Buck Trinket before chasing too many of the pelts too. When going down to Rhodes to buy the trinket I stop by the fen and the island by clemmons point to get the pantehr and iguana anyway. (and sometimes some perfect snake pelts if I am lucky)

April 28, 2019

On 3/20/2019 at 9:41 AM, Beatrice said:

Hey there.

Firstly, wanted to mention that when I first found this forum, I was glad to see that there are people who seem to be very thorough and OCD-driven; only here was I able to find info about things like getting that damn Antique Watch from Wrobel's house to stay in the inventory, a good amazing list and discussion about missable Hats, and all things like that.

Let me explain to you what sort of player I am.

I need my playthrough to be 'perfect'. It's not just 100%. It's not just all missables. If, say, some random encounter has a dialogue line that would only happen if you 'Greet' him from afar (for instance, the Gold Panner), but doesn't happen if you just ride up to him to start the encounter 'proper', I re-play the save until I get every single thing like that. I went around the camp with drunken Swanson, because there are voice lines for every gang member that happen only during that time - when you bring him home from Flatneck station, but before you drop him at his tent. If an event has a horse with lootable saddlebags, I re-loaded until I got at least one gold nugget from it.

That's how I play. I've been playing almost constantly since game's release, and have never seen Chapter 3 yet. I've restarted the playthrough many times after pouring 3-4 weeks into it. One time, I had to restart when I learned that the guy who invites you to camp and talks about Fort Riggs can be looted for Native American Ring, which can't be obtained otherwise; I didn't have saves before that event, so I started over. Another time, I learned that it IS, after all, possible to keep Wrobel's Antique Watch, and again I didn't have the saves prior to that mission by that point.

Each time I tried to take measures against such things; making more saves, save backups, compiling written plans with tables and such... But today all those measures didn't help me.

I had a very elaborate plan to 'make the most' out of the first stage of Appleseed Timber Co. I had my Castor's Ridge (Father and sons building house) at stage 3, which I didn't launch yet (so I helped them against the bandits, but didn't get the request to bring them some wood yet). What I planned to do is to get Legend of the East satchel before heading to Appleseed Timber Co., get (and craft) a sh*tton of items, tonics and such, and bring all of that to the Foreman and sell it at a premium price he's offering. I made a trip to the eastern part of the map, got a beaver, a panther, swam across the Flat Iron Lake to get an iguana... Came back home, happily crafted a Legend of the East Satchel, and was already going past Valentine to go on with my plans, and then I noticed something horrifying.

The house has been built. I heard that it was possible, but I thought that it can only happen if you initiate stage 3 (when the Father asks you for wood or money), and **THEN** take your time to help them. I never expected the stage to be completely skipped even if I never initiated it. I guess all the traveling across states and reloading of the zones somehow triggered it, even though I was very early in chapter 2. I haven't even completed 'Paying a Social Call', 'The Spines of America' or 'The First Shall Be Last' missions, I only did 5 story missions (2 in Valentine, Hosea and the Bear, Swanson and finally the first debtors to unlock Leatherworking tools).

And again, I don't have a save before it happened. I never expected that those events could cause anything problematic. So here I am, in the same situation again, not knowing how to prevent it in the future. What I want to ask you is this: if you have encountered 'Event Areas' skipping stages, were you able to pinpoint the exact reason to why that happens?

I wonder, if I go for the Satchel again (so having to make a trip to the eastern part of the map), but this time never initiate even the first stage of Castor's Ridge, will things be different? Can the first stage also happen 'automatically'? I know that some stages of event progress automatically with new chapters, and my own experience has shown that stages can even auto-progress without any missions being completed - just traveling long enough can cause this; but I don't know what happens if someone never initiates those events in the first place. For instance, if someone never touches Castor's Ridge and comes in the very end of Chapter 2 or even early Chapter 3, will the event be there for them, waiting at its first stage?

In any case, just wanted to vent. Hopefully, this resonates with someone.

Coming across this thread has brought back some bad memories for me because I used to be the same exact way. I'd say it was about 2 years back when I would constantly be affected by OCD when it came to me playing video games. When I used to play games like GTA IV, RDR1, etc. I would not even get passed the first mission, let alone get into the game itself without having to restart hundreds and I mean HUNDREDS of times. I don't know how long you've experienced this, but I know for me it started to affect me after a HUGE change occurred in my life. A change that was a bad one that would shape me up as a person in good ways and bad ways. It wasn't just one change that affected me, it was multiple. I'm going to be honest with you by saying that my childhood was very carefree for me, but once I got old enough to understand what was going on around me and I was exposed to some of the upsets of life itself, I began to develop what I would say was large amounts of paranoia that I think would later contribute to my experiences of OCD. I was never taken to the doctor to be diagnosed until the worst of it had been put behind me, which is why I think that they said I didn't have it. They said that I was "borderline OCD". The reason I can say that I show very little symptoms of it now would be because of gaming. I know everyone is different so everyone gets affected by things in different ways, but after what seems like years of issues with these symptoms I finally began to almost "grow out of it" in a way. This is because I think that I hit a point in a playthrough of GTA IV where I missed out on a certain opportunity for a certain mission to where I wanted to restart entirely. But I only had one save and then I realized the hours of effort and immersion that I had put into the game. And you know what? I argued with my inner thoughts and accepted it, finished the save, and felt good afterwards. Basically my point is, I feel that if you keep going down this road, then you'll get to a point where you miss out on something while playing a game and you'll realize that its either continue the save or restart, and you won't want to restart. So you end up accepting it and moving on and in the long run this would hopefully drag you out of these feelings. Now I'm no doctor, I'm just going off my own personal experiences and I hope that what I've told you can help you experience a great game like RDR2 in peace. Now I'm assuming that you're still on your first playthrough, and I've got to tell you that there is A LOT of side quests and activities that are available only for a short time and will disappear out of the blue if left untouched. But that's okay because I've beat the game and I can tell you that there are A LOT of things that can and can't happen while playing it. Its a BIG game and there is A LOT of stuff to experience, but you can always play through it again. Basically once you've beat it the first time you'll then know what to do and what not to do to get the full experience out of the game. I'm terribly sorry to hear about what you're going through and I hope that what I've shared with you will help you in some way.

- Sincerely,

Cole.

Edited April 28, 2019 by HitmanSniperAssassin

April 28, 2019

You guys should probably avoid the chronological mission order thread...

In seriousness though, I can relate. I have restarted GTAV hundreds of times because either:

A) I got shot in North Yankton and didn't like the shot marks on Trevor, or

B) I didn't get through the repo job without crashing, even slightly.

I have restarted RDR2 many times because I didn't like how something happened, and in my brain it means the playthrough is imperfect.

The funny thing is, I played the first 4.5 chapters on PS4 on release and because I had no idea how it was 'meant' to be played, I just let things happen. And that is when a game like RDR2 shines - when you play in blissful ignorance and let the game unfold infront of you.

May 11, 2019

Wow. I have been having this exact same situation since I got the game Christmas last year. I have restarted the game over 30 times and have memorised most of the lines from chapter 1 just because something felt off or I missed a line of dialogue or something. I took a break from it and played Red Dead 1 for a while, and I managed to get to the West Elizabeth section of the game. It wasn't easy, mainly because of the OCD. When I play games, I must read every single line of dialogue, in cutscenes and in gameplay. If I don't understand what's going on or what a word a character says means, I have to rewatch the cutscenes until I finally understand what's going on and I have to go on the internet and define the word that was said. This, of course, means pausing cutscenes every few seconds and I feel by doing this i'm sort of ruining the experience for myself because it sort of takes me out of the game whenever I do this. I made it to chapter 3 this month for the first time and I have to say I am proud of myself. The OCD is still there, but it seems to be a tiny bit more manageable mainly because of how far I am in the story. I have to read EVERYTHING, too. For example, the little help boxes in the top left corner. I HAVE to read them. If I miss one I gameclip and watch the gameclip to see what it said. Another problem is when the dialogue gets cut off. This triggers my OCD because I HAVE to see all that is said. So, for example, when you're in a mission and you're riding to a destination and there's dialogue, if you reach the destination fast and a character is in the middle of dialogue, it gets cut off. I also CANNOT run. I must only walk unless I am in a situation where I need to run. Also, I must not gallop on the horse unless absolutely necessary. I also HAVE to take a few days off between missions, otherwise I feel as if i'm rushing the game and I hate that feeling. I ALSO did the Reverend Swanson thing with walking up to all the camp members to hear their unique dialogue :). I couldn't find Grimshaw no matter how hard I looked but I figured she wasn't supposed to be in gameplay in that moment as she appears in the cutscene after you drop Swanson in his tent.

August 21, 2019

I think I could have some sort of ODC myself trying to complete games with minimal kills. Maybe I'm just a perfectionist and try to challenge myself. At one point I decided to test this part of myself. In RDR2 I loaded my save file, i killed a random NPC and animal, after which ive quickly overwritten to make sure I can't do anything about it. It made me anxious and got me thinking I could probably have OCD, or maybe it was because I'd ruined my hard worked save file.

I like to sort of role-play single player games and if i play the way they're meant to be played i end up having hundreds of kills in the stat tracker. Which doesn't feel right to me and ruins my immersion. As a result I play the games in absurd ways to get the killing stats to the lowest possible. I realize they're just games, but the same thing can be said about movies, you know those guys are actors but you like to immerse yourself in the story anyway. I enjoyed watching John Wick but if the movie had some sort of kill counter in a corner of the screen and by the end of the movie you'd see he mass murdered over 100 people for a f*cking dog, it would ruin the movie.

Because of this I really get turned off by games which have stats trackers. Devs should really let us disable stat trackers and achievements.

Note this only bothers me when I'm trying to roleplay and immerse myself in singleplayer games. If i play a game for the sh*ts and giggles like i do in multiplayer games, stats dont really mean anything to me

Edited November 25, 2019 by fleathemighty

Need to vent (and ask for advice) - my OCD's greed shot itself in the leg.

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