10 Things Rockstar Games Should Have Done with Red Dead Online

10 Things We Wish Rockstar Games Would Have Done with Red Dead Online

Image: Rockstar Games via HGG

Human Made

My name is Gibson Vasela. I am a freelance writer who has been playing video games for almost 20 years now. I play all kinds of games, but I especially love immersive sims and RPGs.

Reviewed by Benjamin Barr

It is a sad, sad day for Red Dead Online. Many players — myself included — were disappointed by one of Rockstar’s most recent newswires, which revealed they would be changing the way they update Red Dead Online. Rather than major updates twice a year, it looks like we’ll only be getting new telegram missions from here on out.

This is a shame considering how much potential that Red Dead Online has, but alas, Rockstar just doesn’t seem to care. Today, I would like to send off one of my favorite online games by reminiscing with everyone on what could have been in this article for the ten things we wish Rockstar Games would have done with Red Dead Online.

10 Update Ideas We Wish Rockstar Would Use for Red Dead Online

Let’s get right to it! We’ve got these ideas listed from good to the best idea that they should use for Red Dead Online.

10. Trader Role Expansion

Starting off our list is a fairly basic one — the Trader role expansion. The Trader role as it currently stands sees you hunting animals and hauling them back to your camp so they can be turned into a sellable product. Once you accumulate enough, you’ll be able to sell it for a fat wad of cash. It’s a pretty decent role that I found a lot of fun to play with friends, but it’s also a very basic one.

There was some speculation a while back that Rockstar would be adding an expansion to the Trader role. This makes sense, as we’ve already gotten one for the Bounty Hunter that adds new mission types and new items to purchase. Rumors floated around about a taxidermy-based expansion for the role, where you could purchase a physical storefront and sell animal goods in towns and cities.

As a big fan of the Trader role, the idea of opening your own animal goods store sounds great. It would have been a great way to expand your financial empire and make even more money than what you were already making. If we did get an expansion like this, it would have been nice to see some new mission types and even some customization for the store, similar to the moonshine shack we have.

9. Native American DLC

Here’s one that isn’t as talked about online. I’m talking about a DLC based around the Native American tribe found in the game. In the story mode, Arthur and Dutch eventually cross paths with a tribe that’s struggling greatly against the American government. Since Red Dead Online is a prequel to the story mode, it would have made since for there to be a DLC where you work with the tribe.

In the story, we get to see two main characters from the Native American reservation — Rains Fall, the pacifistic leader of the tribe, and his son Eagle Flies, who wishes to start a violent opposition to the American government. As outlaws, it would have made a lot of sense for us to fight with Eagle Flies against the law in order to better the tribe and make some money for ourselves on the side.

We could even have a choice between working for either Eagle Flies or Rain’s Fall after doing an introductory mission for the DLC. Depending on our choice, we could get different missions and different rewards. In canon, I don’t think Eagle Flies started attacking the law until the story mode, so while you would have the option to work for him, I doubt it would be considered the “canon” choice.

8. Lawman Role

Up next on our list is the Lawman role many players believed we would be getting eventually. Back in 2020, it was speculated that a more advanced version of the Bounty Hunter would be coming to the game. This new role would work similarly to how the Moonshiner and Trader roles work, in that you need to have at least Rank 5 in Bounty Hunter in order to get started on the Lawman role.

The Bounty Hunter is by far one of the most popular roles in the entire game. It’s a very fun and replayable role that allows you to make some decent money with your friends, especially with the legendary bounty missions. Given how you can become a deputy during the story mode, I think it makes a lot of sense that a lawman role would have eventually came to Red Dead Online.

Imagine being able to take on a new set of curated story missions similar to what we got with the Moonshiner role. We could work alongside law enforcement to take down more dangerous criminals across the frontier. There could even be some PVP missions with low-honor players! It would have been the perfect DLC to introduce some brand new weapons and horse breeds to the game as well.

7. Mexico Expansion in Red Dead Online

Here is one of the more popular requests I’ve seen players make over the years — a Mexico expansion! There is currently a glitch in the game that allows players to travel across the border and see Mexico, but there’s nothing there. Introducing a big expansion that gives us more of the map to explore would be great for both newer Red Dead fans and those who are nostalgic for RDR1.

Speaking of Red Dead Redemption 1, Mexico played a very big role during that game’s story. We saw John Marst- I mean, Jim Milton, travel across the Mexican desert for much of the game. It would be incredible to see some of those iconic locations rebuilt in Red Dead Redemption 2. We’ve already seen some of the first game’s locations again in New Austin, so why not some in Mexico as well?

Besides new locations to explore, we could also see new NPCs to give us new missions. And we could get new animals to hunt and skin for rare pelts. They could even tie it into some of the roles in the game. Maybe we could get some unique legendary bounties set there. Maybe our moonshine business could be expanded and we could take on higher-risk missions across the border for higher pay?

6. Rancher Role

Oh man, this next one. This just breaks my heart to say, but we could have gotten a Rancher role in Red Dead Online. I remember when I first played through the story, I was pumped to see that we could build a farmhouse for John Mar- I mean, Rip Van Winkle and his family. Then I was disappointed to learn we had no choice in how it was built. It makes sense, of course, as it is the same house from RDR1.

A Rancher role would be the perfect way to give players a place to call their own. We could purchase land from any of the states in the game. We could choose what we want the design of the house to be. What colors it should be painted, and the interior decorations. Then we could decide on different livestock to raise. Once everything is set up, we could do some missions to acquire all that we need.

Once everything is up and going, we would have a cozy place to call our own. We could hire some farm hands and get the business side of things up and running. We could sell a variety of different animal products, each with different payouts and requirements for production. Occasionally, we’d have to defend our homestead from bandits and other players looking to take a piece of what’s rightfully ours.

5. Red Dead Online Official Fight Clubs

The melee combat in Red Dead Redemption 2 is a huge improvement over GTA V’s. And it’s a shame there are only a few missions that take advantage of this combat. It’s a very satisfying and enjoyable way to take down enemies, and it’s something many players enjoy doing. The melee combat is so popular in this game some players have even banded together to make fight clubs in online mode!

Now, imagine if Rockstar had gone the extra mile and made these fight clubs into an official feature? Players could gather at set locations on the map and talk to an NPC to enter a matchmaker with other players, similar to how it works in poker matches. You’d then be able to either partake in a 1v1 fight yourself or stand off to the sides and watch in on the match. Then place some bets and let the fists fly!

This sort of thing would have really added to the social aspect of the game. There could be a bar and some games like poker or dominos at these locations that you could play with others in-between matches. The bet-placing aspect would add lots of suspense to fights. And it would even give players a great way to make some money from the melee combat in the game.

4. Guarma Expansion

We’ve already talked about a Mexico expansion and all of the great things that would come with it. But how about a Guarma expansion? We all remember Guarma from the story mode of Red Dead Redemption 2. It was a location that felt very different from the five states we got to explore in most of the game. Guarma felt very linear and underutilized, which is something that could be fixed in online mode.

I would love it if we could travel to the island to do missions for the plantation owners that live there. Maybe they would hire us for some less-than-legal jobs. Maybe we could even double cross them and pull off a heist on their estates, similar to the Cayo Perico from GTA V? It would be a nice change of pace from the American frontier, and it would be great to see the tropical island “paradise” once again!

As for some free roam activities, it would be cool to explore the jungles and get some unique random events we could only get in Guarma. I don’t think this DLC would have been too challenging to make. Guarma is already a location with lots of assets and areas built out in the single player. And Rockstar has experimented with map expansions in the past (see the Cayo Perico example mentioned earlier).

3. Red Dead Online needs Purchasable Properties

This next one is especially frustrating for me. Back when I regularly played Red Dead Online, I watched loads of YouTube videos discussing leaks about purchasable properties that would be coming to the game. They were all very expensive, but still really cool nonetheless. After buying everything in the game, I’ve since racked up over 10,000 dollars without anything else to purchase…

This is an issue many players are facing. I’ve seen YouTubers with hundreds of thousands of dollars, equal to hundreds of millions of dollars in GTA V. Why is it that we have so much money to spend, yet we’re still living in a camp in the wilderness? It just doesn’t make that much sense. It’s obvious Rockstar originally planned to add buyable houses and estates, but they’ve since changed their mind.

Imagine purchasing a massive estate in St. Denis with loads of bedrooms for your friends, a horse stable for all your steeds, and a secret armory where you could store your weapons! Now imagine being able to customize that estate with different floors, wall patterns, and various other decorations! It could have been a huge evolution over GTA V’s decoration, and it would have made grinding for cash worth it.

2. A Finished Story

If you’ve recently started a character in Red Dead Online, you’ll most likely remember the game’s opening. In case it’s been a while, let me give you a refresher. Our character is locked away in jail but is busted out by a man named Horley. You’re given a campsite and some clothes and it’s explained that Horley’s boss, a woman named Jessica LeClerk, needs your help to track down her husband’s killers.

The payouts weren’t the best, but it was still enjoyable to play. While the story was nothing groundbreaking, it was still very interesting and well-written. It had interesting characters, fun missions, and a half-finished story. Many players assumed Rockstar would eventually finish Jessica LeClerk’s story and release an update with the other half of her missions, but this has not happened yet.

This is a real tragedy, as many fans were looking forward to the conclusion of LeClerk’s revenge tale. There was only one more person on LeClerk’s kill list that needed to be taken care of. It’s confusing to me that Rockstar couldn’t find the time to release at least one or two missions to wrap up the story. Looks like we’ll only be able to speculate on how the story of Jessica LeClerk ended…

1. Actual Robberies & Heists

And now, taking the number one spot on our list of the ten things we wish Rockstar Games would have done with Red Dead Online, is actual robberies and heists. We all remember when the Blood Money update first dropped in the summer of 2021. It was a major update that introduced robberies, “heists,” and a new currency called capitale. We also all remember how disappointing many of the update’s features were.

The robberies lacked the replayability that we were hoping they would have. There is very little room for creativity in how you want to approach things, and the mission variety could be better. Many of the crimes we could do shared many similarities to the missions we already had in the game. Not to mention the terrible payouts and the useless new currency, capitale, which NPCs won’t shut up about!

Imagine an update where we could rob banks in public sessions. You could scout out a location, and choose from several different approaches. Con your way in, go in guns blazing, blow out the back wall for a snatch and grab, etc. Then get the loot and fight off other players and the law as you attempt to flee with your prize. Even just being able to rob NPCs like in story mode would have been really cool.

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Happy gaming!

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