Why Red Dead Online Players Restart After Hundreds of Hours

It’s not easy to flush hundreds of hours of video game progress down the drain, but many cowboys just do it. Players leave their Red dead Online accounts at the back of consoles to pick up the Windows PC version of the game, though that means leaving behind exclusive cosmetics, refurbished moonshine huts and even real money investments.

Red Dead online start as a mode inside Red Dead Redemption 2 on the modest PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, but it is now available as a standalone game and playable on the new generation consoles thanks to backward compatibility. Red Dead online accounts are not platform compatible; You can go from PS4 to PS5 as it uses the same account but not from PS4 to PC or from PC to Xbox One. This means that the players pick up Red Dead online for $ 4.99 on a computer, even though they have a rich history with the game, you have to press the restart button.

My friends all recently made the switch, meaning we are passing the finished season, as well as established characters that we have very much liked to dress up and pamper. So, what makes that sacrifice worthwhile?

Image: Rockstar Games via polygon

For some gamers, it’s about escaping from a console that feels restrictive. Players I spoke to on Twitter and Discord mentioned loading times, connectivity issues, and the last generation system actively attached as a burden that hampered their console playing time. Red Dead online.

Jumping to a PlayStation 5 or an Xbox Series X can solve some of these problems … but it actually requires finding and paying for one, which is not easy for most people. Meanwhile, anyone with a gaming computer can only drop $ 5; Rockstar made the driveway very simple. The whole Red Dead Redemption 2 game is no longer necessary, and players can even skip the tutorial to get back into the open world for maximum effectiveness. The price was also accessible for now low; it will rise to $ 19.99 on February 15.)

Some players leave behind the exclusive rewards of the first season in the game, including cool dances, pretty rings, special eye spots or masks for their horses. There is no way to go back and claim it once you jump to a computer; the unlimited passes for limited time are done and dusted.

‘In the beginning, [starting over] kind of sucked because I was not that flashy and all, ”one player who goes to HealsNKills said in a conversation with Polygon on Twitter. “But it’s actually nice to get a fresh start.”

There are also great achievements that require thousands of dollars in the game (or money with real money via gold) to build, such as having a moonshine hut with a bar, a band and a great drink full of quality.

The sacrifice is still worthwhile for some. “The biggest impact for me was on performance and footage, which was just so much better on a computer,” said GracelessExit, another player we spoke to on Twitter. “To start over was worth the better overall experience.”

Image: Rockstar Games via polygon

There are also new social opportunities for fans making the leap. Private servers, like Wild West RP, offers storylines and exclusive opportunities for drafting players Red Dead Redemption 2 on a computer. Playing a private server goes far beyond the basics Red Dead online offers, with mods to enable players to buy wagons, equip new hairstyles or use tools such as digging and axes in the open world. These fringe benefits, along with role-playing communities, are a draw for die-hard fans who have grown tired of the standard experience.

There is also a degree to which the beginning of the game improves the pace of the game. GracelessExit mentioned it earlier in Red Dead onlines development there were limited roles. By playing the game fresh at the end of 2020 or early 2021, the player can just dive into all the content on offer at the same time, instead of finishing the roles and waiting for the new one one by one.

Early acceptance of Red Dead online has often complained about the game’s pace and update program – specifically that it feels like a drip feed. A new player does not take on the roles and missions of the game one by one, with monthly interruptions in between. They can jump straight to the good things and juggle multiple priorities at once.

Players can earn everything for free if they sign up regularly and perform daily challenges. Missions and challenges yield small amounts of gold, which can be stored and saved for expensive upgrades or cosmetics. Rockstar occasionally holds events such as the Festive Series, which pays out double gold and tons of dollars in the game. This is not a perfect system, and HealsNKills admits that the “only downside” of its choice to start over on the computer is that “grinding the gold bar is high and expensive.”

Players lost rings, horses, and dresses, but at the end of the day, the Red Dead experience exceeds these things. It’s about fighting with friends on the border, and it’s still strong. Hopefully Rockstar finds a way to restore this lost wealth, but it’s not enough to avoid an obstacle to jump players in again. Red Dead online on a new platform.