Red Dead 3/Red Dead Redemption 2 - IT'S HAPPENING.gif

[The Last Stand]

Here's my winter outfit replication.



Can this be possible in game? Let's find out. I damn near froze to death clothes shopping. THEN, it decides to warm up to 75 degrees in the same session.

 

[William Murderface]

I don't really have complaints, it just feels like she is just kinda there until BAM she's important.

Which is really her role. She's still in shock in Colter and Horseshoe Overlook, she comes out of her shell in Clemens Point when she asks for the harmonica and tells Arthur nobody is ever taking any thing from her again and goes into town with Arthur and comes back dressed like a gunslinger. She accepts her old life is over. At Shady Belle she asks Dutch for role in robbing but when the O'Driscolls attack she just rushes into the fight. She simply no longer cares if she lives or dies because everything in her life has been ripped from her and she isn't really a part of the gang.

It isn't until the bank robbery goes bad that she steps into a leader role and once they get back she's A) more than willing to suicidality run into a fight when the Pinkertons show up in Lagras and when they scout the prison John is in and she takes on the O'Driscolls while Arthur is taking his balloon ride. She's also the one who initiates the whole breakout scheme because Dutch isn't doing anything with regards to saving John, and when her fight against the O'Driscolls gets the pilot killed she doesn't care in the least. It's almost like she's come totally unglued at that point. She's the one who starts the firefight with the O'Driscolls when Colm hangs.

It isn't until the last fight at the O'Driscoll ranch that she really opens up to Arthur when she kills the last one and says they turned her into a monster and she has nothing left. But she does: whatever loyalty she feels to Arthur and her word that she would help John and Abigail and Jack get free. She's the only one who helps Arthur rescue Abigail. She could have walked away after that, but she comes back to help and be helped by John and to bring Micah down. But she does tell John during one of the bounty hunting missions she does want to die.

I think in the early parts of the game she doesn't have a lot to do because there just isn't a need for her to do them yet. Until she just flips out she's just there. It wouldn't have been as much of a character growth if Susan takes charge of the gang when Dutch and the rest are in Guarma but she needs to be there to have that end to the O'Driscolls. She needed to be totally fearless to taken them down in revenge AND be that avenging angel who they brought on themselves. Dutch really doesn't care about them except for Colm, Arthur keep reminding Dutch that revenge is a fool's game, and no one else seems to have much of a history with them.

 

[William Murderface]

Sorry, I should have clarified.

Arthur might know what the gang should do, but he doesn't know how they should do it. He knows the gang should go somewhere, but he doesn't know how to organize such a thing. Dutch, and Hosea were in charge of that stuff, and once shit hit the fan, well, we all know what happened.

The problem is even if Arthur or Hosea knew what to do AND how to do it, it was Dutch's gang and Dutch's goal was simply to cause chaos and fight just to fight. He even says as much in RDR1 and Uncle calls him out in a camp scene in RDR2.

Milton was right: Dutch found all these lost people and offered them hope, but it was always a pipe dream. He said they could be free and live on their own terms, but he never had any intention in leading them there. All they had to do was steal and kill for him and eventually they would get to their own paradise, but the entire time Dutch was intentionally making it so it didn't work simply so he could keep the chaos and fighting going. Now he did tell the gang they were fighting against the rich, the powerful, all those who step on the small but that was secondary to his real goal. So while Arthur, John, et al, were robbing and killing they weren't supposed to be robbing and killing people who have nothing. There's one bit of dialog where Arthur even mentions when he was young robbing a poor guy and Dutch is pissed about it. And he tells Kieran that the gang feeds them that need fed, help those that need help, and hang those that need hanged...but we never actually see them do any of that. It's all just part of Dutch's facade. Strauss still engages in loansharking and uses Arthur as his muscle. But Dutch did surround himself with people who were lost or who he saved from a hangman's rope and tell them he and he alone knows how to lead them they just need to listen to him like he's a messiah. Dutch just wants to serve his ego and uses people and tosses them aside when they are no longer needed and Milton flat tells the gang members that. And the only three who saw through that the whole time were Uncle and Micah and John. Uncle because despite his idiot act was a very smart guy, Micah because he saw someone he could manipulate, and John because he spent that year apart from the gang and when he came back no longer had Dutch's full trust. It wasn't until it was too late to do anything about it that Arthur saw it too.

But because Dutch had his own agenda, neither Arthur nor Hosea were ever going to be able to keep Dutch in the direction the gang needed to go in. Dutch thought he was a different type of criminal and overestimated his own abilities. The Greys and Braithwaites saw who and what he was right away and when he thought he was pitting them against each other, they were simply using him to do their dirty work and it was only because the gunslingers in the gang were really good that the ambush in town and the assault on the mansion didn't end up with all of them killed. It was the same thing with the mob in Saint Denis. Dutch things he can make Bronte do his bidding but Bronte sees Dutch is just a nobody from the west and when Dutch says he and his gang won't do the wetwork, Bronte decides to simply have them ambushed by the cops at the trolley station. Dutch decides to hit the bank and is surprised when the law shows up so quickly. Milton just figured it out. Dutch and the gang need money and where is the money? The bank. It's Dutch hitting the Cornwell train in Colter and then Arthur and co hitting the Train in the Pouring Forth Oil strand is all because Dutch ignored Hosea and Arthur and kept hitting where the money was (Cornwell's assets) and that's what kept Milton after them. And Milton knew exactly where the gang was and still gave them an out each time, probably so he could catch them in the act of robbing, and it was only because of the gang's abilities that Milton kept seeing them slip away.

 

[The Last Stand]

Some recipes for moonshine requires herbs like vanilla flower. Is there a way to buy herbs like you can for canned/fresh fruit or do you HAVE to search for it?

I bought the average moonshiner upgrade for a few hundred. I managed to make that money back after a couple sales with the event. I have plenty of treasure maps I need to use for the reserve.

 

[wtfNeedSignUp]

The problem is even if Arthur or Hosea knew what to do AND how to do it, it was Dutch's gang and Dutch's goal was simply to cause chaos and fight just to fight. He even says as much in RDR1 and Uncle calls him out in a camp scene in RDR2.

"Fighting for the sake of fighting and chaos" is pretty bullshit reasoning. The big issue with RDR2 is that the gameplay fucks with the story to the point if falls apart in the end. How the story is supposed to be is that the gang keeps being poor and just goes place to place and burns bridges in stupid get rich quick schemes, but ingame you keep your fuckload of money and items. This makes the situation ridiculous that the gang still needs more money, even if the amount of money you carry can basically guarantee them good land for several years. And it's not due to grinding side content, one of the earliest missions is a bank robbery that gives a ridiculous payout that should be plenty to end the gang's plight.

What doesn't help is making the gang like a big diverse family (yet extremely sparse for a gang), that just doesn't make sense being a fighting force.

 

[William Murderface]

It's not a fighting force per se. It's just a means to an end for Dutch. It's all about fighting just for the sake of fighting. Dutch ignores every bit of advice he gets from Hosea, Arthur, John, and everyone else. He simply doesn't care about getting them out at all. He talks a good deal, but he doesn't do any of the things needed. For all his bluster about family and them getting out of America and finding somewhere to be free and whatnot they are no closer at the end of the Blackwater Ferry job than they were before it. Dutch even says in RDR1 all he knows how to do is fight and it's all he's done his whole life. It's his nature. He puts on airs of being this intellectual but Lenny, who does have a head on his shoulders, tells Dutch he doesn't get out of Evelyn Miller's books the same thing Dutch does. Lenny just isn't old enough or wise enough to get that he's being buffaloed by Dutch. But Dutch does know where the Ferry Job money is stashed and does keep all the rest of their money close by. Dutch could have gone to ground or gone to Canada or whatever after killing Micah, but instead he grabs a bunch of pissed off Indians who start a new gang just to cause chaos in the West Elizabeth area.

Obviously, what the player can come up with in cash and jewels and horse and all of that through game play isn't canonically what happens, but that isn't the point.

 

[The Last Stand]

How the story is supposed to be is that the gang keeps being poor and just goes place to place and burns bridges in stupid get rich quick schemes, but ingame you keep your fuckload of money and items. This makes the situation ridiculous that the gang still needs more money, even if the amount of money you carry can basically guarantee them good land for several years.

That's a double standard of what the open world can allow versus the story that the game is trying to tell. Now, imagine with all the money you've accumulated through whatever means gets drained for story purposes. You want absolute freedom, but then you question the story in spite of your perceived freedom.

As an aside, there's a barf emote where your character COULD ACTUALLY vomit. Vomit actually stays on the surface for a couple minutes. Great attention to detail.

 

[William Murderface]

CJ in GTASA would throw up if he ate too much at one time.

 

[TVB]

CJ in GTASA would throw up if he ate too much at one time.

No kidding

 

[I'll Call Now]

Some recipes for moonshine requires herbs like vanilla flower. Is there a way to buy herbs like you can for canned/fresh fruit or do you HAVE to search for it?

I bought the average moonshiner upgrade for a few hundred. I managed to make that money back after a couple sales with the event. I have plenty of treasure maps I need to use for the reserve.

Yeah you can only search for it.

I just use the online map to find all the spawn points.

 

[wtfNeedSignUp]

That's a double standard of what the open world can allow versus the story that the game is trying to tell. Now, imagine with all the money you've accumulated through whatever means gets drained for story purposes. You want absolute freedom, but then you question the story in spite of your perceived freedom.

As an aside, there's a barf emote where your character COULD ACTUALLY vomit. Vomit actually stays on the surface for a couple minutes. Great attention to detail.

It's bad game writing, especially in a title that tries to present itself as realistic. If your gameplay revolves around the monetary value of your character's equipment rising, up to a point of having insanely expensive horses and guns, then don't center the plot around the hero being broke and doing very dangerous tasks for money.

It's a major problem in modern gaming. The devs try to fit a square peg in a round hole because god forbid they base the plot around the gameplay.

 

[William Murderface]

I just look at it as separate things. "Story Demands" versus "Game Mechanic". Money is really only good for getting weapons, equipment, and clothing. The story says they're trying to scrape up enough to escape, but the game mechanic allows the player to amass way beyond what he needs to buy everything. It's kind of like how Arthur can single handedly kill thousands of O'Driscolls between seeing Colm hang and Sadie's mission at the ranch, but he also says in the game that after seeing Colm swing he just doesn't feel the need to kill them any longer.

 

[Snekposter]

I just look at it as separate things. "Story Demands" versus "Game Mechanic". Money is really only good for getting weapons, equipment, and clothing. The story says they're trying to scrape up enough to escape, but the game mechanic allows the player to amass way beyond what he needs to buy everything. It's kind of like how Arthur can single handedly kill thousands of O'Driscolls between seeing Colm hang and Sadie's mission at the ranch, but he also says in the game that after seeing Colm swing he just doesn't feel the need to kill them any longer.

Him losing the need to kill them is a shame, since I'm with Dutch on this. Total O'Driscoll Death.

 

[xXx: State of the Union]

I just look at it as separate things. "Story Demands" versus "Game Mechanic". Money is really only good for getting weapons, equipment, and clothing. The story says they're trying to scrape up enough to escape, but the game mechanic allows the player to amass way beyond what he needs to buy everything. It's kind of like how Arthur can single handedly kill thousands of O'Driscolls between seeing Colm hang and Sadie's mission at the ranch, but he also says in the game that after seeing Colm swing he just doesn't feel the need to kill them any longer.

"muh ludonarrative dissonance tho"

 

[The Last Stand]

Supposed ban wave going live for Red Dead Online as of yesterday. Console players affected as well likely due to treasure chest exploit. R* does not know how to detect mod menus, so they use algorithms to detect unusual margins through currency.

They'll abandon RDO, but won't patch glitches that can result in bans. Great logic.

 

[The Last Stand]

I finished the Moonshiner story in RDO. Surprising mission twist at the finale.

I have over $10K now after some grinding. I see that the bar is on sale, but aside from some daily challenges, what purpose does it serve? I learned that the RDO map can also be used for flower locations, among other things. That's handy for some moonshiner ingredients.

I hate player bounties. Sometimes, they don't load after accepting the invite. Often, the bounty will have a posse or enabled tonics with them. The payout isn't worth it when you have to deplete ammo to even get a chance against them. I wish it was adjusted to where a higher payout through cash or Gold would apply since it IS a human player.

 

[The Last Stand]

or the fact that Saint Denis was a fake New Orleans, which was beyond segregated and had sundown laws, but is in-game a rainbow hugs and kisses melting pot, is proof that modern video games are as useless at teaching history as Hollyweird is.

If it makes you feel better, my western Joan Crawford expy harassed a Black beggar in Saint Denis to provoke him to hitting a White woman. I responded by knocking him out, hogtying him, looting him and placing him on the tracks for some dastardly carnage. Nobody said a word.

 

[RA-5C Vigilante]

If it makes you feel better, my western Joan Crawford expy harassed a Black beggar in Saint Denis to provoke him to hitting a White woman. I responded by knocking him out, hogtying him, looting him and placing him on the tracks for some dastardly carnage. Nobody said a word.

Should have fed him to gators to really add spice.

 

[Ughubughughughughughghlug]

"Fighting for the sake of fighting and chaos" is pretty bullshit reasoning. The big issue with RDR2 is that the gameplay fucks with the story to the point if falls apart in the end. How the story is supposed to be is that the gang keeps being poor and just goes place to place and burns bridges in stupid get rich quick schemes, but ingame you keep your fuckload of money and items. This makes the situation ridiculous that the gang still needs more money, even if the amount of money you carry can basically guarantee them good land for several years. And it's not due to grinding side content, one of the earliest missions is a bank robbery that gives a ridiculous payout that should be plenty to end the gang's plight.

What doesn't help is making the gang like a big diverse family (yet extremely sparse for a gang), that just doesn't make sense being a fighting force.

The point for Dutch is to play cult leader. If you picture him being a 1970s radical Left nutjob in the 1890s with 1890s-era social issues then everything about them makes sense, and unfortunately Dutch becomes so disgusting that it kind of ruins the whole story for you.

But I do think it is absurd just how many followers they have, and how useless some of them are and how little they add to anything or even make the story actively worse. You have an alcoholic preacher that follows them around, because? Does Dutch even seem like the kind who would have use for such a character? I really can't remember a damn thing that the Reverend contributed the plot or even all that many missions to justify his existence. You've got the loan shark, which is straight up asinine, yet can't be written out of the plot either without major reworks since the idea that Arthur got tuberculosis as karma is important to the whole second act (could have gotten from something else, I guess). I hated that character both because it was completely at odds with the idea of them being social bandits, which I get the hypocrisy is intended but I would have rather seen it set up some social banditry at the start and then expose Dutch more and more for a lunatic without cheap shit like that, and the basic business model makes no fucking sense. Like yeah, this gang that is constantly on the run is going to be making out loans, things that require waiting long amounts of time to collect. It makes sense in Video Game Logic with Video Game Time, but not reality, but the story wants the player to take it seriously.

Then they have five (!) whores (Black one, Sean's girlfriend, fat one, old one, Marston's bitch of a wife?) just for the hell of it, and their status within the gang is more like being the tribe's "women," but not the hoes that a real gang might let tag around, but more like respected. The whole thing is gay as hell. It justified them to an extent with them scouting around, but it's asinine.

Last but not least, there's Lenny, the heckin' good chungus token Black man who was more educated than his masters and going to be a lawyer because lol incest Alabama right? The Southern plantation owners were college educated aristocrats.

 

[Snekposter]

Should have fed him to gators to really add spice.

There's that black widow hooker in Valentine who has you dump her victims in the pig corral... shame you can't do that to people you tie up.

Then they have five (!) whores (Black one, Sean's girlfriend, fat one, old one, Marston's bitch of a wife?) just for the hell of it, and their status within the gang is more like being the tribe's "women," but not the hoes that a real gang might let tag around, but more like respected. The whole thing is gay as hell. It justified them to an extent with them scouting around, but it's asinine.

Abigail is a thief and pickpocket, and the other women do camp chores when they aren't finding marks. Bill and Micah sure as shit aren't doing any laundry or chopping potatoes for Pearson. Reverend is... well, a holy man adds some legitimacy, and I get the feeling those loans Strauss was making were the equivalent of modern-day payday lending. As in they're for the desperate and stupid and have high interest rates and a short turnaround. Don't need to wait for a collections agency when you've got Arthur Morgan around to start seizing assets, after all.