Red Dead Online has transformed a lot over its three years of existence. While it began limited to just roaming the map hunting animals and having shoot-outs, players can now run their own small businesses, work for the law, and partake in online events. However, there are still some areas that could be improved by Rockstar to make the gameplay more immersive.
As Rockstar Games fans know, many of the GTA titles over the years, including GTA Online, have allowed players to buy in-game real estate. This feature was also available in the original Red Dead Redemption story. Despite the content that has already been added to Red Dead Online over the last few years, nothing would add a touch of personalization more than players being able to purchase their own room, house, or cabin, complete with enough space to park a wagon.
Red Dead Online Real Estate
GTA online has over 80 properties available for players to buy, bringing a sense of identity to its gameplay - especially given one of the properties has the option for customization. Rather than existing within the open-world environment, players must load into their chosen abode, meaning no one else can access it and multiple people can own that property on the same server. If Rockstar decided to extend this feature to Red Dead Online, it would have plenty of choices when looking for potential buildings to put onto the market.
With most RDR2 towns containing a saloon or hotel, it would make sense for Rockstar to put rooms up for sale or rent as it did in the original Red Dead Redemption. Even if just for the night, giving a wandering cowboy or cowgirl a place to regenerate would go a long way. Plus, in the musky atmosphere of a saloon it would give the gameplay a real spaghetti western feel. The personal campsites used in Red Dead Online are functional but get slightly boring, even after changing the theme a few times.
Aside from saloons and hotels, there are over fifty isolated buildings across RDR2’s map, from little desert shacks of New Austin to the snowy cabins of Grizzlies West. Many of these more remote buildings are surrounded by open land or wild forest, with plenty of room to park a wagon or keep a paddock full of horses. Similar to how the properties in GTA come with garages that players can store their personal vehicles in, players should be able to have an interactive place to store all their horses, rather than having to select one from a stable list.
Red Dead Online Vehicles
As for wagons, the only ones currently available are the Hunting Wagon and Bounty Wagon, accessible once players reach rank ten of the trader and bounty hunter roles, respectively. Although this was an exciting addition with the role update, it is a shame there are no other vehicle options for players who did not want to buy roles. Introducing a range of vehicles from two-wheel traps to extravagant stagecoaches would certainly spice the game up, especially if Rockstar enabled customization of these vehicles by driving them into a stable - like the cowboy version of Los Santos customs.
While the thought of driving a customized wagon into a personally owned ranch is very appealing, Rockstar has not confirmed whether this will ever be an option for Red Dead Online. Presently, the only way to own property is by purchasing the Moonshiner role, or by downloading real estate mods on Red Dead Online for PC. However, in the memory of John Marston’s various potential abodes in Red Dead 1, a slither of hope remains. Maybe the cabin at Manzanita Post will come onto the virtual property market once again.
Red Dead Online is available on PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One.