Update: First Major Red Dead Online Update Released

Update 02/26/2019: Red Dead Online's first major update has now been released, and Rockstar has detailed what's included, and what's coming at a later date.

Today's update includes the addition of Daily Challenges, the Rare Shotgun weapon, a range of new clothing items and outfits, and new emotes (which will be available through the Wheeler & Rawson Catalogue). PS4 players will also get early access to the new Jawbone Knife weapon.

Logging into the game any time between now and March 5 will also award players with a delivery of recovery items and rare ammo.

The previously announced world enhancements – updated player visibility, easier Parley and Feuds and a more fully-fledged Law and Bounty system – have also gone live.

There's seemingly a lot more to come. From next week, the Fool's Gold free roam event will be added. Beyond next week, we'll also see Target Races, Fishing Challenges, and new Showdown Modes

In terms of weapons, the Evans Repeater – "a high grade, high capacity rifle that is devastating at medium and long range" – is listed as coming soon. Limited Time clothing will also begin to see release, with catalogues offering different outfits and items of clothing each week.

PS4 players will also get access to the Special Series, which launches you into the current early access-only mode. That will begin with Open Target Races, in which players compete in a set space to take out as many targets as possible while on horseback.

Update 02/20/2019: Rockstar has released new details for Read Dead Online's update on February 26, which include new Free Roam Events, Showdown Modes, Races, and its first batch of new weapons, clothing, and emotes.

Fool's Gold will be added to the Free Roam Events, which will let players compete for a protective suit of Golden Armor. Whoever takes down the player wearing the armor will earn points and will then be the wearer of the Golden Armor.

Three new Showdown Modes will be in the update, that involve stealing loot from one another for survival and capturing and delivering bags.

A new race will be added where players get to shoot at targets while on horseback while getting to checkpoints on a track, and new Fishing Challenges will come with the update, which will give you the equipment you need to complete each fishing challenge, such as rods, lures and proper bait for the challenges.

New weapons include the Evans Repeater rifle and the double-barreled longarm Rare Shotgun, which will be available at local Gunsmiths and in the Wheeler & Rawson Catalogue.

The original story follows:

New features and improvements will be added to Red Dead Online's Beta on February 26, including a new Law and Bounty system, weapons balancing, and mini-map changes for players.

In order to prevent players from being repeated targets across the map, Rockstar said that player blips' visibility will be reduced over long distances – a person's map position will only be displayed if one is within 150 meters of another player, otherwise it will only appear on the map while firing a weapon.

A new system will also be put into place to shed light on overly aggressive and destructive players. The more hostile a player becomes in the game, the more visible that player will become on the map.

Rockstar notes aggressive behaviors include, attacking and killing other players or their horses outside of a structured mode, Free Roam Mission, event, or competition.

Posse-wide Parleys and improvements on Feuds will be included in the update as well. Parleys will be able to be initiated by the player to their attacker's entire Posse after a single kill. Or, players can propose a challenge to their opponent with a Feud, Posse Feud, or Leader Feud after one kill – which is basically a mini-deathmatch style of play on a time limit.

The new Law and Bounty system will give players with a high bounty the opportunity to fight against an NPC Bounty Hunter – which could end in a positive or negative outcome.

Criminal behavior will have a higher bounty than other, lesser crimes, such as if you kill another player versus if you assault a random person in the town. Looting and ransacking are considered lower level crimes though and will just decrease your honor.

Daily challenges will offer more variety, including selling items at a Fence, hunting and skinning animals, foraging for herbs, clearing hideouts, and more. Rockstar plans on continually expanding the daily challenges for rewards, streaks, and other bonuses for players to acquire.

Other improvements from community feedback include re-balancing the accuracy on the Varmint Rifle, voice chat reduction for closer proximity, and horse cargo fixes that will be continuous due to the numerous issues.

For more on Red Dead Online, read about the main details of the modes, IGN's Wiki guide of everything Red Dead Online, and our review of Red Dead Redemption 2 where we gave it a 10/10 saying, "It’s a gorgeous depiction of an ugly period that’s patient, polished, and a huge amount of fun to play, and it’s combined with Rockstar’s best storytelling to date."

Jessie Wade is a news writer at IGN and loves writing about RDR2. Chat with her on Twitter @jessieannwade.

Source Link