Proper way to deal with griefers:
Short demonstration of thinking on your feet after being griefed:
“Best” horse guide:
Oh man, that griefers video is a GREAT reminder why I play all my games solo.
I think most of the Qt3 community is acutely sensitive to those kinds of interactions in online games. Myself included. Even just thinking about it tends to create anxiety for me. Hence, I’m guessing, the low level of activity in this thread & interest in RDO on this board.
That being said, for what it’s worth, I do feel compelled to mention that griefing incidents in RDO dropped off dramatically after the initial launch, spiked again a bit during the holidays, and dropped off again. It’s rare enough that very simple precautions and strategies make it practically a non-issue.
I was tempted to share a bunch of minimizing and countering griefing tips, but I doubt there’s enough interest in online at this point, so I’ll hold off. I will quickly mention, though, that it’s easy to avoid other players and have a whole area to yourself. Simply start Free Roam in, for example, New Austin and then fast travel or ride over to Lemoyne. Chances are no one else will be there, and anyone who is did the same thing you just did, and wants to be left alone just like you.
Since I own it anyway, I will definitely try out RDO eventually. I just didn’t want to spoil any single player moments for myself by exploring RDO first.
I for one would be interested in your tips, but do you even enjoy the online part so far?
I do, still. But then, I think I might have an addiction to grinding in online multiplayer games. I’m now ranked in the 80s and have basically unlocked everything important, minus the highest tier saddles which are not super crucial but pretty useful in edge case situations. And explosive ammo is supposedly super useful against heavy tank builds, but I usually avoid players like that.
I play solo still. My brother played with me a bit, but he’s the opposite of me in game tastes, and only likes casual games that he can just jump into and play for an hour or so. These days, I spend most of my time hunting and completing stranger/story missions for cash and xp to upgrade cards, and avoid groups of players whenever possible.
Griefing situations that are an actual problem for me only arise when I’m very focused on something, or when I’m lazy and not paying attention, or when I’m fishing and don’t have a radar to alert me. The Companion App helps improve situational awareness in some of these cases, and if I see someone closing in I usually move away from them as soon as I can. Sometimes I spend a few minutes watching blips on the map and studying what other players are doing. This helps 90% of the time, and as long as I diligently follow best practices I almost never lose stuff from my horse, which is the only real risk when it comes to being attacked by other players.
To minimize the risk and reduce the material effects of actually being griefed:
- Always pick an area to hunt and complete missions in where there are very few players. Use the method I mentioned above by loading into one part of the map, and fast traveling to another. Note in particular the areas you’ll be operating in and the butcher you intend to sell to. Get used to jumping sessions when the situation changes, or when that one player blip you saw turns out to have a hard-on for other players.
- Check the map frequently and always keep an eye on the radar. Get into the habit of having the Companion App open at all times.
- Try to prioritize for satchel hunting (these stay on your person when you are killed), and save up storing carcasses and pelts on your horse until close to when you’re ready to head to the butcher. Get acquainted with areas that provide the highest value. Personally I like Lemoyne for feathers and baby alligators, and I sell in Saint Denis. Don’t fall into the bad habit of doing a bit of hunting while doing other things such as Stranger Missions. You’ll just lose whatever’s on your horse at some point.
- Keep an eye on your health, stamina and dead-eye, and try to keep them topped off. Be in the habit of keeping a good stock of cooked meat and tonics. Practice quickly eating meat and drinking tonics.
- The Never Without One card is super useful for mitigating against a surprise attack. It prevents the first headshot and decreases damage taken while you have a hat on. I use it when I’m fishing, and in a few other situations.
- Always have pistols or sawed off shotguns ready, and practice quick drawing and hip firing. Spend time practicing this. When another player comes close to you, be super ready to quickly take them down. If they’re heading in your direction – especially if they’re running – don’t even give them a chance. Like, assume they intend to kill you. Sometimes they’re friendly, but usually they’re not. Personally, I rock a pair of sawed off shotguns. No matter where it hits them, they are dead if I react quickly enough. Note that I don’t always fire immediately. Sometimes just taking my guns out and showing them that I’m ready is enough to dissuade them from starting anything.
- Melee is trickier and kind of janky until you get used to its quirks. Don’t melee unless they force you into a melee fight. Use the knife if you can, especially if they’re trying to lasso you. If they do lasso you, the knife will cut you free, and then you can commence stabbing them. (There are a bunch of “hidden” melee moves that I haven’t learned yet.)
- If you are griefed, take a moment to note who the player is. Get on chat and communicate a WTF response right away. Report them if you want to, even if this buys them time to kill you again. I have no idea what RS does with griefing reports, but I’m assuming that if a player accumulates a lot of reports it may have consequences for them at some point down the road, so why not.
- Remember their player name – this is very important – and note their position and what they are doing after they griefed you. Note their posse and the posse player names. If it’s a large posse and they’re all in the vicinity, try to diffuse the situation in chat, and just change sessions if you think they’re going to be a continued problem. If the griefer is alone, you probably stand a good chance at resolving the situation and keeping your self-respect intact.
- Griefers usually aren’t very good at combat, and prefer to get the drop on you. They like easy kills. Don’t be an easy kill. Make it frustrating for them. Don’t shy from retaliating after your first encounter with them. Often it’s not too hard to take them out a few times which tends to motivate them to leave the server or the area. Use chat to diffuse the situation if you can. Sometimes people attack by mistake, thinking you’re a different player or an NPC, and sometimes they’re just goofing around and don’t realize that you take such behavior seriously.
- When I’m dealing with a dedicated griefer, I sometimes spend time going after them again and again until they get the message. Dying repeatedly is pretty humiliating, and bullies are cowards and have the thinnest skin in my experience. Honestly, I’ve become pretty good at hunting them down and am starting to actually enjoy it. Standing up to a bully builds confidence and self-respect. But I’m always happy to part ways amicably if that’s an option. And it often is.
- Interfering with Stranger missions isn’t really griefing, but it can be a gray area sometimes, and certainly will feel like griefing for players like you and me. When starting a Stranger mission, check the map and look at the area around the stranger. If you see one or more posses, expect trouble, but if there are just a few individual blips you’ll probably be OK. Taking down a single player isn’t too difficult once you have some experience under your belt and if you’re prepared.
That’s just the basics. I’m sure there’s more I could say, but I’ll leave it there for now.
wow, thanks a lot! I just finished chapter 2 of the story and wanted to take a good look at the multiplayer this weekend, your tips sound very helpful!
On another note, I did try to join one of the multiplayer deathmatches and wow, I was pretty good, I shot 2 guys before they could even return fire! Well, turns out, I somehow didn‘t actually join a match and just shot some random guys. :( I accidentally became who I hate in games like that.
Nice! Now that you mention it, it strikes me that spending a lot of time in showdowns might be a good way to start out, as it will eventually potentially improve your skills quite a bit, and it will thicken your skin w/r/t being pwned. And ranking high in showdowns is supposedly the fastest/most efficient way to accumulate lots of xp and cash, hands down.
I’m terrible at showdowns myself, and feel like I ought to be spending more time in them.
Glad this helped. Happy to dump more tips in here if there’s interest.
I just fired this up today after completing the story, and after the initial handholding I wandered into Valentine to get a hat because the (perfect) one I stole off of a bandit didn’t save. The prices for hats in multiplayer are, uh, not the same as those in single player! Discouraged and hatless I tried on some facial hair styles when I heard some gunfire on the other side of town. I went over to investigate and saw some people firing at each other, and the chatter made it sound like some were O’Driscolls, so naturally I pulled my gun, but mysteriously I didn’t get any red dots when I aimed, and then I noticed the blue dot on the radar. Oh, another player. I aimed at him to see if the reticle would change for him, and he shot me down. I spawned nearby and shot at him, actually critically injuring his horse and…I was charged $4 for it! Then he owned me again, with a shotgun at quite long range.
IRL $4?
No, four in game dollars, but money is pretty tight at the beginning. I’ve decided to spend my time on Monster Hunter World, so I haven’t been back into RDO since the above.
I still have never tried the online portion of RDR2. It sounds like I’m currently missing out on this bit of weirdness.
Sorry folks. Party is almost over.
I guess I should fire it up at least a few times just to see what it’s like.
It just was never as popular, and hence not as profitable, as GTAO. RDO didnt have skyscrapers, jets, speedboats, sports cars, wacky physics, goofy jumpsuits, or really anything cartoony to appeal to players that just wanted screw around and troll each other.
It’s basically the same issue Battlefield has versus CoD when it comes to cosmetic goofball stuff. People that buy cosmetic DLC tend to go for outrageous stuff, but Battlefield’s aesthetic prevents it.
It was always supported like crap. If they had done a better job of releasing content it might have done well. But with how much money they make on GTA I can see why they don’t want to bother.