Villains, lawmen, businesses, photography, and heists – the future of Red Dead Online, a Rockstar interview

[CMCSAVAGE]

15 minutes ago, ivarblaauw said:

They NEVER said they won't do a SP dlc. Reread the piece, they never answer the question, just evade it. 

There won't be any SP DLC. There could've been a very very slim chance had the game not had online. It's much easier and sensible from a business standpoint to recoup development cost and profit (through MTX) by focusing on what the majority is doing, and that's playing RDO. GTAO gave them several billion reasons to continue this business model.

[RyuNova]

3 minutes ago, Nerfgoth said:

Kill the bounty and you get bad honor! Did it with a gang of four and my honour went down...........

 

We should not get bad Honour for doing our job. We are legally employed as a Bounty Hunter, we are legally defending ourselves while performing that job. We should not even get good Honour for turning them in alive.

 

Everyone will turn them in alive for more money and Gold. Why do we get good Honour when greed is the main motivation?

Edited September 27, 2019 by RyuNova

[Ring Dang Do]

4 hours ago, RyuNova said:

 

You shouldn't have your Honour changed for doing Bounty Hunting work at all. Violent criminals who shoot first should be put down or you should get some that don't instantly open fire. No sane Bounty Hunter would charge someone who is shooting at them waving their Lasso screaming "Swiggidy Swooty, Gimme day BOOTY!"

 

Honour changes should come from taking bribes or killing Hogtied Bounties. Bribes could be as simple as matching the Bounty or leading you to treasure but you have the chance of being led into an ambush.

When you read the actual bounty poster though some of them are not as clear cut and black and white as you expect, some of them seem potentially innocent and I would feel bad for blowing someones head off if the only thing they were guilty of was getting drunk in the local saloon. A few of the bounties I have come across as well don’t fight back at all and basically just give up and stand there. 

 

Would be cool if every now and then you came across one where you decided to make a plan for more reward, as in capture and lock the bounty up and get your reward then break into the jail and free the bounty to then be rewarded by them as well. Maybe even shoot the rope with a noose around their neck for a fistful of dollars...

[RyuNova]

Just now, Ring Dang Do said:

When you read the actual bounty poster though some of them are not as clear cut and black and white as you expect, some of them seem potentially innocent and I would feel bad for blowing someones head off if the only thing they were guilty of was getting drunk in the local saloon. A few of the bounties I have come across as well don’t fight back at all and basically just give up and stand there. 

 

Would be cool if every now and then you came across one where you decided to make a plan for more reward, as in capture and lock the bounty up and get your reward then break into the jail and free the bounty to then be rewarded by them as well. Maybe even shoot the rope with a noose around their neck for a fistful of dollars...

 

I would rather take all my Bounties back alive but if they shoot at you even if they are innocent that's still attempted murder on a lawfully employed Bounty Hunter.

[TinyRakan]

Next update. .. Dec or Nov Will introduce 4 new roles ? Hopefully it's true  

[RaigeGames]

The fact that they said they are listening to our concerns and specifically mentioned the want to be able to mix and match/pick apart role outfits is very promising to me. I think it really shows they are listening, especially with this update as that is a more recent concern. Even if they are poor at responding to feedback at times, at least they're listening

[TheLordMarvel]

Only issue I find, is them withholding the properties because they want us to live in a camp.

 

The issue? Camps don't f*cking work! Let us pitch them and then I'll like camps.

 

I would feel much more of the wild west if I had a small cabin to live in too.  Thing is, a cabin won't be big enough to run a business inside, so they could easily give us a cabin and the camp. 

 

 

But everything else sounds pretty interesting. Specially the photography role. 

[~INDIO~]

I was hoping the reason online was still so riddled with bugs and slowly developed was due to them working on something bigger, like a SINGLE PLAYER DLC THAT EVERYONE AND THEIR f*ckING DOG WANTS, but no.

Nothing planned that anyone is actually interested in, but hey guys we're gonna release a f*cking photography role.

The funniest thing is them repeatedly saying they don't wanna OVERWHELME us with content all at once

f*ck me. I bet so many people will actually believe that bullsh*t aswell. They have no single player DLC in the works, no Mexico expansion, a few "ideas" about heists which is nothing new at all (completely predictable and will end up being boring as f*ck).

 

At least we have The Last Of Us Part 2 to look forward to at this point I guess

I've been a Rockstar fan since the PS1 days, never been so disappointed in them.

This Tarek Hamad fella sounds like a sausage.

Edited September 28, 2019 by ~INDIO~
.

[The Shakermaker]

How much more money would rockstar make from online than another dlc? 

Personally I am never gonna buy gold bricks ever. But I would spend money on a dlc. I guess online is more profitable though? 

Also how many studios do they have?8?

And it took them how long to do the summer update? They must be working on other things too?

[RyuNova]

The part about hearing us over Role Outfits is bullsh*t. They made them in the first place. They made them purposefully go against the current and much loved system of different layerable parts. Some team leader looked at them hundreds, possibly thousands of times all the while nodding their head and saying "Yep, people won't want these in parts. They want their rewards for doing Roles to look exactly like everyone else just in a different colour!" 

[Potter145]

14 hours ago, Caffeination said:

 

But I don’t want any empire for crying out loud, or a dozen more money-making ventures, I want STORIES and ADVENTURES [...]

 

And isn’t the core theme of RDR2 is its criticism of how industrialists poison the earth? So why try to evolve the Online portion of the game to be the antithesis of its story portion’s stance and messages?

 

Red Dead Online is about simulating a life on the frontier.

And the capitalistic pursuits are part of it, they are part of the mix, but not the single focus. Many players, inlcuding me, really enjoy the trader aspect of the game. It's not an antithesis of the story, it's an american archetype. You will find adventures with the Bounty Hunter and Collector, and Story is part of it too (The stories of the bounties, and there will be more missions in the future too).

[Talisman_83]

11 hours ago, TinyRakan said:

Next update. .. Dec or Nov Will introduce 4 new roles ? Hopefully it's true  

I'll be extremely surprised if they bring out another update of the size we've just had this year.

Perhaps a small one at Christmas, but new roles? Next year I bet.

 

[Leftover Pizza]

If they really listen, why don't we ever get the opportunity to remove the offhand holster? Or both the weapons on each hip? Or pitch up a tiny camp like in story mode while being far away from the main camp? The little QoL things, outfit-wise. I think many have asked for it a looooooong time already. Second character slot? Can't see why this would oppose any gameplay problems. A long lasting request? Yep, it is. 

Is Rockstar listening? Hello?!?

 

[Lonely-Martin]

Still to fully read, so just based off of the OP quotes...

 

Heists, and a healthy respect for respect for co-op/PvE is great news for me, we'll see what happens but these roles are a good start in not forcing PvP all the time I feel. I have to say, though not keen on the trader role, it is significantly better than GTA businesses with options to go as discrete as LJT once eluded to. Big praise for that.

 

Defensive has largely helped me too. Took a while, and not perfect, but I'm coming around more. (Not been killed in a good week and usually only a 'one and done' thing when a twat turns up too. Much better.

 

Don't really care about what they do with PvP here if it's kept away from PvE elements like Heists, I'll never play any of it. Put all the cards ya want, add all the boom booms ya can, it's already too daft for me.

 

Would be nice to know a possible Mexico/map expansion is in the works, but it could be that they're playing it down too, lol. Never say Never, but I wasn't expecting that anytime soon anyway. Maybe for next gen re-release.

 

No story DLC was expected, it would be nice of course, but after GTA O, was never gonna happen, lol. Shame though.

 

I'll read later, but photography sounds fun as this map really is a gem. I hope the game gets more fixes and stability help if heists rely on co-op though. GTA:O was equally a bastard for this and this game is showing to be unreliable at times for many here at least. But at least they seem to be trying to fix stuff more regular atm.

Edited September 28, 2019 by Lonely-Martin
Wording.

[Jason]

3 hours ago, RyuNova said:

The part about hearing us over Role Outfits is bullsh*t. They made them in the first place. They made them purposefully go against the current and much loved system of different layerable parts. Some team leader looked at them hundreds, possibly thousands of times all the while nodding their head and saying "Yep, people won't want these in parts. They want their rewards for doing Roles to look exactly like everyone else just in a different colour!" 

They made them that way probably thinking we'd all like them cause bandoilers and sh*t, hopefully what they learned is that no, we don't like outfits that are just skins.

 

I'd be surprised if they get fixed, I get the impression that these outfits are designed exactly for the whole getup, I doubt the shirts exist under the jackets and stuff like that. Best case scenario would probably be that they salvage some of the accessories so they can be used in custom outfits and create the next Role outfits the way we all want and expected.

[The Shakermaker]

No DLC. Might get an undead overrun for October though? 

[ibsmokin]

If robbing a bank or train isn’t free roam I’m so done. 

[RyuNova]

23 minutes ago, Jason said:

They made them that way probably thinking we'd all like them cause bandoilers and sh*t, hopefully what they learned is that no, we don't like outfits that are just skins.

 

I think "skins" is the correct term. They made them as gaudy and "cool" looking as possible so attract people into buying them to look cool. Plus they bypass the restrictions that R* has put on clothing like not having mantles, capes and ponchos on top of coats as seperate items or to manage the clipping that Bandoliers would make.

 

25 minutes ago, Jason said:

They made them that way probably thinking we'd all like them cause bandoilers and sh*t, hopefully what they learned is that no, we don't like outfits that are just skins.

 

I'd be surprised if they get fixed, I get the impression that these outfits are designed exactly for the whole getup, I doubt the shirts exist under the jackets and stuff like that. Best case scenario would probably be that they salvage some of the accessories so they can be used in custom outfits and create the next Role outfits the way we all want and expected.

 

To be honest, for me, I would be happy if the outfits got split up into the basics, top (with neckwarmers, Bandoliers etc), pants, boots and gloves. Just separate all those and let us have the hats separate.

[Jason]

Re-reading again and one particular quote I glossed over yesterday caught my eye:

 

"Rockstar doesn’t call Red Dead Online an MMO, but its approach to introducing elements is similar. Anyone who plays these three new roles and progresses through them will be immediately ready for what comes next, while any new players will start at this first step, the Frontier Update. This way Rockstar can keep that sense of progression the same for each player and prevent new players from feeling overwhelmed."

 

I really hope they stick to that because that is so f*cking important. GTAO throws almost everything at you day 1, if you have the cash which you can buy with real money. It's not just GTAO that has this problem either, a lot of these online progression games get to a point years after launch where new players don't know where to begin because there's a bajillion progression paths they have access to immediately. It also, like Rockstar emphasise in the interview in general, is nice sense of progression for veteran players, you can look back and see how far you've come, you'll meet other players out in the world that are on that same path you were once on, etc.

 

6 minutes ago, RyuNova said:

Plus they bypass the restrictions that R* has put on clothing like not having mantles, capes and ponchos on top of coats as seperate items or to manage the clipping that Bandoliers would make.

Yea I imagine a big reason for the way they made them is because they add those types of accessories and not have to worry about clipping but yea... it's not what players wanted at all. Maybe they just need to add certain clothing that is compatible with bandoilers and stuff to get around it in future.

 

8 minutes ago, RyuNova said:

To be honest, for me, I would be happy if the outfits got split up into the basics, top (with neckwarmers, Bandoliers etc), pants, boots and gloves. Just separate all those and let us have the hats separate.

At least let us wear the tops with custom pants, or pants with custom tops ya'know? The fact everything beside the hat is compatible only with Role outfits is meh. Worse still you have to have the accessories on them at all times, you can't just take a jacket and remove the bandoiler/satchel or whatever.

[RyuNova]

40 minutes ago, Jason said:

Re-reading again and one particular quote I glossed over yesterday caught my eye:

 

"Rockstar doesn’t call Red Dead Online an MMO, but its approach to introducing elements is similar. Anyone who plays these three new roles and progresses through them will be immediately ready for what comes next, while any new players will start at this first step, the Frontier Update. This way Rockstar can keep that sense of progression the same for each player and prevent new players from feeling overwhelmed."

 

I really hope they stick to that because that is so f*cking important. GTAO throws almost everything at you day 1, if you have the cash which you can buy with real money. It's not just GTAO that has this problem either, a lot of these online progression games get to a point years after launch where new players don't know where to begin because there's a bajillion progression paths they have access to immediately. It also, like Rockstar emphasise in the interview in general, is nice sense of progression for veteran players, you can look back and see how far you've come, you'll meet other players out in the world that are on that same path you were once on, etc.

 

Might just be the cynic in me but I see this in a different way. Its basically confirming that players will need to grind and grind past pay/play walls to get the stuff they want. What if someone wants to be a Lawman? Can they jump right into that Role after paying the entry fee or do they need to slog and slog through weeks and weeks of Bounty Hunting? It's fine for people that play regularly but they have just replaced the "overwhelming" options with an unsurmountable mountain of grind and grind and grind.

 

"Oh cool I can be a Police Officer!"

"The f*ck you can you little turd! You gotta go through weeks of being a Bounty Hunter!"

 

If they did it properly each part of the game would be introduced and explained to new players. They could add an NPC to Saloons that you can speak to to have them explain each Role before you put any money down. Or even let players play the Roles for free for a few levels before they commit and spend that Gold.

 

47 minutes ago, Jason said:

Yea I imagine a big reason for the way they made them is because they add those types of accessories and not have to worry about clipping but yea... it's not what players wanted at all. Maybe they just need to add certain clothing that is compatible with bandoilers and stuff to get around it in future.

 

If they just split the top up from the rest I would not mind the Bandoliers being glued to the tops.

 

 

[Jason]

3 minutes ago, RyuNova said:

Might just be the cynic in me but I see this in a different way. Its basically confirming that players will need to grind and grind past pay/play walls to get the stuff they want. What if someone wants to be a Lawman? Can they jump right into that Role after paying the entry fee or do they need to slog and slog through weeks and weeks of Bounty Hunting? It's fine for people that play regularly but they have just replaced the "overwhelming" options with an unsurmountable mountain of grind and grind and grind.

Well that's a cynical way of looking at it yes, but the alternative is having some pretty damn shallow progression long term. The idea of having to earn a role such as the Lawmen is sound, not everyone should just have instant access to everything cause the alternative is having to grind through X. It's good that players who've put in time are ahead of players who have not.

 

It also gives new players a goal to aspire to, rather than just getting access to everything in the game day 1. Instead, they start from scratch and set goals for what they want to be and what they want to do. Player driven goals are huge in games like this as the devs are never going to be able to put out daily or weekly brand new playable content, so goals to aim for and to earn through playing what content's available is a huge motivation for players in games with progression/loot.

 

It's literally just a leveling system when you boil it down to the most basic concept, you start at level 1 and have to level to X level to unlock stuff. Nothing dark or sinister about it really.

[Master Tyrus]

14 hours ago, ~INDIO~ said:

I was hoping the reason online was still so riddled with bugs and slowly developed was due to them working on something bigger, like a SINGLE PLAYER DLC THAT EVERYONE AND THEIR f*ckING DOG WANTS, but no.

Nothing planned that anyone is actually interested in, but hey guys we're gonna release a f*cking photography role.

The funniest thing is them repeatedly saying they don't wanna OVERWHELME us with content all at once

f*ck me. I bet so many people will actually believe that bullsh*t aswell. They have no single player DLC in the works, no Mexico expansion, a few "ideas" about heists which is nothing new at all (completely predictable and will end up being boring as f*ck).

 

At least we have The Last Of Us Part 2 to look forward to at this point I guess

I've been a Rockstar fan since the PS1 days, never been so disappointed in them.

This Tarek Hamad fella sounds like a sausage.

Who wants single player DLC when they can flesh out online more. Go play something else

[RyuNova]

20 minutes ago, Jason said:

Well that's a cynical way of looking at it yes, but the alternative is having some pretty damn shallow progression long term. The idea of having to earn a role such as the Lawmen is sound, not everyone should just have instant access to everything cause the alternative is having to grind through X. It's good that players who've put in time are ahead of players who have not.

 

It also gives new players a goal to aspire to, rather than just getting access to everything in the game day 1. Instead, they start from scratch and set goals for what they want to be and what they want to do. Player driven goals are huge in games like this as the devs are never going to be able to put out daily or weekly brand new playable content, so goals to aim for and to earn through playing what content's available is a huge motivation for players in games with progression/loot.

 

It's literally just a leveling system when you boil it down to the most basic concept, you start at level 1 and have to level to X level to unlock stuff. Nothing dark or sinister about it really.

 

I don't mind having to level up but I don't hink that Roles should be locked behind other Roles. Give the players that have done the previous Role and reward or incentive like instead of paying Gold get paid Gold.

[Non Funkable Token]

22 minutes ago, RyuNova said:

 

Might just be the cynic in me but I see this in a different way. Its basically confirming that players will need to grind and grind past pay/play walls to get the stuff they want. What if someone wants to be a Lawman? Can they jump right into that Role after paying the entry fee or do they need to slog and slog through weeks and weeks of Bounty Hunting? It's fine for people that play regularly but they have just replaced the "overwhelming" options with an unsurmountable mountain of grind and grind and grind.

 

"Oh cool I can be a Police Officer!"

"The f*ck you can you little turd! You gotta go through weeks of being a Bounty Hunter!"

 

If they did it properly each part of the game would be introduced and explained to new players. They could add an NPC to Saloons that you can speak to to have them explain each Role before you put any money down. Or even let players play the Roles for free for a few levels before they commit and spend that Gold.

 

I see them doing something like asking you to pay some gold to become a lawman in case you haven't reached rank 20 as BH. People with rank 20 would get in for free, people in the 10-19 range would pay X, people in the 1-9 range would pay X+Y, and the rest would pay X+Y+Z.

 

I don't think they'll force anyone into something that might not be welcomed, that can push away some players. No matter how hard they try to make people think this isn't GTAO, because the business model will be the same at the end of the day. There always will be a monetary shortcut for newbies. 

[Rokushakubo]

What's SORELY missing for me is all the supernatural stuff from SP. I want vampires, UFO encounters and big foot etc. I would love an Investigator role where we get to explore all the crazy kind of stuff...maybe you get a special collectable from each encounter/solved case to put in your camp.

 

 

[RyuNova]

1 hour ago, Mirror Park Resident said:

I see them doing something like asking you to pay some gold to become a lawman in case you haven't reached rank 20 as BH. People with rank 20 would get in for free, people in the 10-19 range would pay X, people in the 1-9 range would pay X+Y, and the rest would pay X+Y+Z.

 

I am fine with the reward for doing the previous Roles being that you can unlock the new Role for free. I also would not mind previous Roles being tied into the new ones like Moonshiner for example can use the Medium and Large Wagons from Trader. You are rewarded for putting time and money into the previous Roles but the new ones are not locked off from you.

[Tez2]

I wonder how would a new role free roam event would work for the Outlaw/Villain role, it sounds really interesting to me now that I have seen and played all the role free roam events.

A big business man hire the best of lawmen to protect his precious goods while we try to rob it? or have us go robbing banks ?

[RyuNova]

4 minutes ago, Fun 2 said:

I wonder how would a new role free roam event would work for the Outlaw/Villain role, it sounds really interesting to me now that I have seen and played all the role free roam events.

A big business man hire the best of lawmen to protect his precious goods while we try to rob it? or have us go robbing banks ?

 

I like the idea of a Cops Vs Crooks idea. They could even make it a siege (The military tactic not the game) kind of thing where the goal is for one side to take an enterable building from the other side.

Edited September 28, 2019 by RyuNova

[Tez2]

8 minutes ago, RyuNova said:

 

I like the idea of a Cops Vs Crooks idea. They could even make it a siege (The military tactic not the game) kind of thing where the goal is for one side to take an enterable building from the other side.

That would mean they have to include the Lawman role with it ? Unless you mean we go against NPCs in a Cops V Crooks mode?

Edited September 28, 2019 by Fun 2

[RyuNova]

1 minute ago, Fun 2 said:

That would mean they have to include the Lawman role with it ? Unless you mean we go against NPCs in a Cops V Crooks mode?

 

Well when we eventually get a villain Role and a Lawman Role it would be a good game mode.