There’s Too Much Griefing
The Wild West was a dangerous place in the 1800s, certainly, but the mean streets Valentine in Red Dead Online would have even the hardiest of cowboys quivering in their boots. And for no good reason, either, other than the fact that other players are just massive jerks, apparently.
The griefing that’s going on in the beta as of this moment is just too much. It’s hard to take a leisurely walk down toward the lake for a fishing trip, enjoy a trot on horseback across the mountains of Ambarino, or to engage with the game in any sense, without being shot in the back of the head by some giggling idiot.
Something needs to be done. Moving forward it’d be great to see Rockstar Games implement a stricter punishment system for players that continually grief. Sure, they have a system in place already: the Feud and Parley mechanic. Repeat offenders trigger an in-game option to parley, which prevents the other player from attacking; mutually agreeing to a feud triggers a gun-slinging sequence to sort out your differences.
Unfortunately, though, it still doesn’t actually stop other players from randomly killing you once, twice, or even three times before activating. You can effectively be shot by five different players two or three times without any consequence, which isn’t very fun.
Currently, we’re faced with a situation that’s reminiscent of Grand Theft Auto Online’s teething problems. It too suffered (and still suffers from) players continually griefing others. Except it’s even more irritating in Red Dead Online, a world that’s supposed to cater to immersion and realism.