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While the world is full of detail and various systems to mimic real-life, there are some quirks to it. Some things are obviously the result of being a video game, but others seem odd in general. In fact there are a number of things that don’t make any sense in this game.
10 Horses Can’t Die
In the single-player version of the game, players must contend with the possibility that their horses could die. It could be from a gunfight, animal attack, or a mistake by the player. As a result, players tend to be more careful and treat the animal with respect.
In Red Dead Online, however, these animals are immortal. It doesn’t matter how much damage they suffer, they will not die. Sure they need a trip to the vet if it’s a serious enough injury, but the player can do this at their leisure with no risk to the horse.
9 Hair Growth
Whether it’s facial hair or head hair the player can decide what length and fullness it is. One minute the player could be clean-shaven with a bald head and after walking into a barber have luscious locks and a beard that would make a Viking proud.
While some might wave this off as the nature of cosmetic choice in a video game, it’s worth pointing out the singleplayer had more realistic hair growth. Over time hair grew longer and players needed to trim it back to the desired length. Why hair suddenly behaves differently makes no sense.
8 The Saddle Is Greater Than The Horse
There are plenty of horses in the game. Each comes with their own strengths and weaknesses that make them suited to different roles. In theory, a plow horse would be slower than a racehorse and a warhorse would be less skittish than either.
Yet it seems that having the right horse matters a lot less than having the right saddle. Once the player has the Nacogdoches Saddle the horse doesn’t matter all that much. Why a saddle would suddenly make horses expend less stamina or have their health drain lowered makes no sense.
7 Everyone’s Mute
From the NPCs’ perspective, the world can be separated into two groups; those who talk and those who don’t. Every player in the game is an absolute mute and will never utter a word under any circumstances.
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Fortunately for the player NPCs are telepaths who can understand what they’re saying at any given time. The player could be covered in blood, have someone hogtied on the back of the horse, and approach an NPC in the middle of the night with a shotgun on their shoulder, and the NPC intuitively knows they just want to sell them some feathers.
6 An Economy Exists
Any given day players are causing some form of chaos in the world. Players are robbing banks, gunning down people in the streets, lassoing people going about their lives, purging the area of wildlife, and so on.
Yet the economy never seems to take a hit from these actions. While the players are causing untold damage, disrupting livelihoods, and making legitimate business a nightmare, things keep trucking along. The banks alone must have incredible reserves to stay afloat after so many robberies.
5 A Racing Horse Doesn’t Have To Be A Race Horse
Horse racing is a time-honored tradition in Red Dead that can make the player a nice bundle of money. One would think that having a racehorse bred for the event would be paramount to having any level of success.
Yet it seems racehorses aren’t a requirement for being a successful horse racer. For instance, the Silver Dapple Pinto Missouri Fox Trotter is one of the best horses to race with in the game. It’s also one of the best workhorses. Considering workhorses are bred to pull heavy weight and have no speed whatsoever, this makes no sense.
4 Occupations Mean Nothing
The player can choose one of a variety of roles in the game to earn a fortune and leave their mark on the world. Players can be Naturalists who hunt wild game, Moonshiners who peddle swill, or track down bad guys as a Bounty Hunter.
Yet there isn’t a single person in the west who cares what the player is. You’d think certain NPCs would have issues speaking with Moonshiners or be nervous around a Bounty Hunter. But no one will comment on the player’s role and nothing changes regardless of what they do for a living.
3 Defensive Players
In the world of Red Dead Online there are individuals who are harder to kill than others. They are immune to certain attacks, take longer to die, and carry heftier penalties for the player who attacks them.
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These individuals are Defensive Players. These players have special immunities and protection in exchange for being left alone more often. It’s a feature that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense in terms of realism and probably confuses many of the NPCs.
2 Ability To Pay Off Bounties
When a player has done enough bad deeds they can rack up quite the bounty on their heads. This causes them to be targeted in towns and can even draw the attention of other players. As a result, those with criminal leanings need to balance committing crimes and keeping their bounties low.
Fortunately for them, the game allows the player to pay off the bounty on themselves — meaning a person could rob a bank for thousands of dollars, walk into the Bounty Office, pay the hundred or so dollars, and keep the money they stole. It’s a very strange system of law and order that’s easily broken by players and makes no sense.
1 Buy Back Honor
As confusing as the bounty system is, the honor system is even more absurd. Players who’ve generated a high level of infamy can wipe the slate clean by giving gold to Old Man Jones. This hermit in the middle of nowhere can remove a person’s honor instantaneously.
There’s no explanation for how this is done. Does Old Man Jones launch a PR campaign on behalf of the player to reset their honor? How would paying some old man alone in a camp in the wilderness enable a person to regain the trust and respect of everyone in the world?
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