Grand Theft Auto Online was already praised as a highly immersive experience when FiveM released GTA Online RP. This mod was extremely successful and has drawn in hundreds of thousands of players across the world. Some prefer to do mundane tasks, like driving a taxi, that help them unwind after a long day. Other players will strive to be the antagonist robbing the banks and causing general mayhem. FiveM has seen great success with its platform that runs Grand Theft Auto Online RP and is currently prepping something for Red Dead Redemption 2.
FiveM has reached a series of peaks in success throughout the years, but has recently celebrated a new level of success with over 250,000 concurrent players during the April 23 weekend. There is a countless list of growing servers and the popularity has shown no sign of slowing down. However, that might change when Red Dead Redemption 2's RP servers release as a part of FiveM's new project. RedM will be a Red Dead Online RP server that works just like FiveM's other Rockstar mods. While it is still currently in beta, some fans have created websites and Discord channels to prep for when it's finally unveiled.
Comparing Red Dead Online to GTA Online
Rockstar had previous experience with online modes, but stepped it up with the level of activities available in Grand Theft Auto Online. It was assumed that Red Dead Redemption 2's online mode would be a natural successor to GTA Online. However when the online western frontier launched, it was a wide open area that felt like it had little to do. The game mode had already spent months in beta after the initial game's release, and many fans felt disappointed at the lack of activities on the map. Another complaint about Red Dead Online was that the microtransactions were unbalanced heavily in favor of Rockstar.
While Grand Theft Auto never had those issues, Red Dead Online and GTA Online both immediately had a problem with players griefing. Rockstar has since attempted to fix these issues and have added new roles to flesh out the online mode. Since improving and adding a fair amount of content, Red Dead Redemption 2 has been able to win back a fair amount of players, reaching a peak of 24,230 last month. Although, compared to Grand Theft Auto 5's peak of 178,142, Red Dead Redemption 2 has a ways to go. Perhaps RedM will give the online mode the boost it needs to compare to Grand Theft Auto Online's massive numbers.
The Red Dead RP Servers are Being Built
Ever since FiveM announced it would be placing the RedM service into beta, many modders have began to shape their Red Dead Online RP servers. In videos discussing the process, some YouTubers, like TagBackTV above, even hope to recapture the success of GTA Online RP. They feel it will be a huge boost to Red Dead Redemption 2's popularity. Some of the features the scripters hope to include are new roles, posses, and land ownership. This would certainly evolve Red Dead Redemption2's immersion, and sounds like the capabilities could go beyond even what GTA Online RP has been able to do.
While all of this sounds impressive, it will only evolve in the same way that GTA Online RP has over the years. The video also shows the creator showing off that players can set a location for their gang, and they hope to modify this to apply to property ownership. TagBackTV also hopes to be able to fully customize the property's exterior and interior. There are other systems that they discuss in this video, with hopes that maybe a lawful and lawless posse could take over each other's camps. A lot of this is still a work in progress, but TagBackTV states that the goal is to make a space that allows for good and extensive RP.
How RedM Can Enhance Red Dead Online's Roleplay Experience
As demonstrated by the video above, the ability for role-playing inside Red Dead Online's new RP servers is still expanding. It would be a huge boost to Red Dead Online, as many players wrote it off or finished it early due to the lack of content. With the role system already put in place by Rockstar, RedM server creators will be able to easily create new occupations in a way that GTA Online RP has no way to compete with. This will enhance the immersion and role-playing ability ten-fold. If players can have something to do while they wait for official content from Rockstar, it will do a lot for player retention.
Something that TagBackTV discusses in their video is the hope that the server might be able to host a property takeover system. This would likely entail putting the lawless and the lawful on the morality system against each other on the map. How TagBack tells it, it would allow for those opposing sides of the moral divide to take each other's land. The bandits would have to overpower the lawmen, and vice versa, and the winner would walk away with the property. This kind of high-stakes operation would be really interesting to watch unfold, as so many serious role-players would run with that opportunity.
Red Dead Redemption 2 Online might've had a few issues at launch, but Rockstar has been pretty consistent in finding ways to increase the content in Red Dead Online while making sure the most annoying issues are resolved. Even still, it hasn't been able to reach a similar concurrent player level as Grand Theft Auto Online. Some modders attribute Grand Theft Auto 5's continuous popularity to the interest that FiveM RP generated for the game. It would follow that a similar evolution with the RedM platform will create that same opportunity for Red Dead Redemption2's longevity.
Red Dead Redemption 2Â is available now for PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One.
