Red Dead Redemption 2’s online mode has a clever way of managing griefers. Here’s how Parleys and Feuds work to keep the peace in RDR2’s Wild West.
Red Dead Online invites dozens of heavily armed cowboys to share the same multiplayer space. But what happens when someone used to a life of crime in the story mode of Red Dead Redemption 2 ambles into a crowd of unsuspecting do-gooders who are just trying to get along? Rockstar Games has baked a clever system into its new online experience to slow down griefers, one that relies on timed “Parleys” and opt-in, competitive “Feuds.”
I stumbled onto the system of Parleys and Feuds when a man rode into me, nearly killing my horse. He was thrown clear of the tangle of limbs and was on his way back to check on his own mount when I shot him dead.
I figured he had it coming, but it seems he saw things differently.
Moments later he spawned back into the game, galloped up from behind me and my horse Wally, and shot me dead. But he didn’t stop there. He hunted me down two more times. Each time, Red Dead Online spawned me just a little further away from where I had died. Each time, he found me on the in-game map, rushed over and put a bullet between my eyes.
It was the fourth time that he shot me down when Red Dead Online gave me an option: Would I like to Parley? Or would I rather challenge my rival to a Feud?
My first inclination was to choose Parley.
