The microtransactions in Red Dead Online continue to be a major point of contention in the community. It splits fans into two major camps: one group of players is against the monetization of the game, while another finds the purchasable gold not so bad.
What are microtransactions? This means that you can buy in-game currency for real money to acquire virtual items in Red Dead Online with the game money.
Didn’t you expect this? It was clear to everyone that Red Dead Online would implement a microtransaction system.
After GTA V became the commercially most successful entertainment product of all time, no one expected Rockstar to abandon this lucrative revenue opportunity.
However, players had hoped that the microtransactions in RDO would not be as bad as in GTA Online.
Accordingly, there was great outrage when it became clear that various items in the online mode cost up to twelve times their offline equivalents.
To appease fans, Rockstar adjusted the prices and gave all beta participants a chunk of gold bars. While this measure could pacify some fans, others remain dissatisfied.
Players argue over the cash shop
This is why players are still dissatisfied: A user on Reddit calculated that even after the price adjustment, one must grind for over 4000 hours to be able to buy all items from the shop without microtransactions.
For many players, that is still too expensive.
They are also dissatisfied with the status of the beta, which is still full of bugs and problems. The thread titled “Microtransactions are here. They are crap as always. People, don’t buy it. Show Rockstar and Take Two that this is not what we want” has over 45,000 upvotes in the RDR subreddit.
Another argument is based on the experiences made with GTA Online. The game did not receive a single story DLC over the years, such as “The Ballad of Gay Tony” from GTA IV.
Instead, GTA Online was flooded with new cosmetics. This is what players fear will happen with Red Dead Online now.
Some memes and comparisons to other games have also arisen. For example, the DLC Blood and Wine from Witcher 3 was taken as a point of comparison:
This is why some players say microtransactions are okay: There are also fans who believe that the microtransactions in Red Dead Online are okay.
Some players are even annoyed by the ongoing outrage over the prices in the cash shop.
This group of players believes that the grind is justified because you have to earn the items in online mode. According to them, those who complain want everything handed to them.
Some other fans believe that no one should dictate how they spend their money. “I’ve invested a hell of a lot of time into Rockstar Games. If I want to spend my own money for more, I will,” said user mccannz1.
Another argument from the more moderate players is that Red Dead Online needs to finance itself and its future content somehow. Therefore, the prices are justified. Moreover, it is still in beta and much can change about the shop before launch.
Which of the two opinions is more common? Although the opponents of microtransactions constitute the majority in the community, there is still a large number of fans who find the cash shop either not so bad or even necessary.
What do you think? Are the prices too high or is the grind justified because you have to earn the items?
If you want to get by without microtransactions:
