It’s not easy to throw hundreds of hours of video game progress down the drain, but many cowboys are doing just that. Players are leaving their Red Dead Connected bills back on consoles to get the Windows PC game version, even if it means leaving behind exclusive cosmetics, revamped tents and even real money investments.
Red Dead Online started as a way inside Red Dead Redemption 2 on the humble PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, but is now available as a standalone game and can be played on the new generation of consoles thanks to backward compatibility. Red Dead Online accounts are not cross-platform; you can go from PS4 to PS5, since that would be using the same account, but not from PS4 to PC or from PC to Xbox One. That means players taking Red Dead Online for $ 4.99 on the PC, even if they have a rich history with the game, they need to hit the restart button.
All of my friends have recently changed, which means we’ve left full season passes behind, along with established characters we love to dress and pamper deeply. So, what makes this sacrifice worthwhile?
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Image: Rockstar Games via Polygon
For some players, it is about escaping a console that seems limiting. Players I talked to on Twitter and Discord mentioned load times, connection issues and keeping the state-of-the-art system actively connected as a burden that hampered gameplay on the console at Red Dead Online.
Jumping to a PlayStation 5 or an Xbox Series X could solve some of these problems … but that really requires finding and paying for one, which is not an easy task for most people. Meanwhile, anyone with a gaming PC can only spend $ 5; Rockstar made the ramp very simple. The whole Red Dead Redemption 2 the game is no longer needed, and players can even skip the tutorial to return to the open world for maximum efficiency. The price is also affordable for now; will increase to $ 19.99 on February 15.)
Some players are leaving behind exclusive rewards for the first season’s passes, including cool dances, beautiful rings, special eye patches or masks for their horses. There is no way to go back and recover them after jumping to the PC; Limited time Outlaw Passes are made and dusted.
“At first, [starting over] kind of boring, because I wasn’t that flashy and all, ”said a player who serves for HealsNKills, in a conversation with Polygon on Twitter. “But it’s really good to start from scratch.”
There are also great achievements that require thousands of game dollars (or real money currency via gold) to rebuild, such as having a moonlight hut with a bar, a band and a large distillery full of high quality drinks.
The sacrifice is still worth it for some. “The biggest impact for me was on the performance and the look, which were much better on the PC,” says GracelessExit, another player we talked to on Twitter. “Starting over was worth the best overall experience.”
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Image: Rockstar Games via Polygon
There are also new social opportunities for fans who make the leap. Private servers, like Wild West RP, offer exclusive stories and events for players who create Red Dead Redemption 2 on the PC. The private server game goes far beyond what base Red Dead Online offers, with mods that allow players to buy carts, equip new hair styles or use tools like shovels and axes in the open world. These advantages, along with the drama communities, are an attraction for diehard fans who have grown tired of the standard experience.
There is also a point where starting over really improves the pace of the game. GracelessExit mentioned that previously in Red Dead Onlinedevelopment, there were limited roles. When playing the new game in late 2020 or early 2021, the player can simply immerse themselves in all the content offered at once, instead of finishing the roles and waiting for new ones one patch at a time.
The first to adopt Red Dead Online they have often complained about the pace of the game and the update schedule – specifically, that it looks like a drip. A new player is not taking on the roles and missions of the game one at a time, with intervals of months between them. They go straight to the good stuff and juggle multiple priorities at once.
Players I can get everything for free if they log in regularly and complete daily challenges. Missions and challenges grant small amounts of gold, which can be accumulated and saved for expensive or cosmetic upgrades. Rockstar occasionally hosts events like the Festive Series, which pays double gold and tons of dollars in the game. This is not a perfect system, and HealsNKills admits that the “only downside” of his choice to start over on the PC is that “the gold bar grind is high and very expensive”.
Players lost rings, horses and dresses, but at the end of the day, the Red Dead experience transcends those things. It’s about walking around with friends on the border, and it’s still going strong. Fortunately, Rockstar finds a way to restore these lost riches, but it is not a sufficient barrier to prevent players from returning Red Dead Online on a new platform.