Red Dead Online: The Ultimate Concept Bundle - A 5 Year and 11 Update Plan - Update 4: In Vein of Further Pursuits

Concept Update 4: “In Vein of Further Pursuits”

Seasonal Changes:

• Takes place during RDR2, Chapter 3.
• The Van Der Linde gang is shaken up after the events of Valentine and having to flee for Clemens Point.
• After the shootout at Valentine, the town is now under the law restrictions previously seen in Blackwater and Strawberry, with the same boost to bounty payouts.
• The Wapiti Native American Reservation is now home to a large number of Native Americans. Players can help the reservation by delivering them meats and health cures for a new Stranger: Captain Monroe.
• Live events:
  • Daily event: Two weeks in, players will be able to see the woman’s suffrage protest from ‘The Course of True Love – III’.
    • After this event, players will be able to accept Stranger Missions from Beau Gray and Penelope Braithwaite. These involve taking letters and gifts from one of them to the other.
  • Weekly cutscene: One week later, players will be able to enter the Rhodes Saloon and be served free alcohol from Arthur and Hosea as seen in ‘Advertising, the New American Art’.
    At the end of the cutscene, players will see their character wake up in a hotel bed, walk through to the main bar and see a bunch of dead Lemoyne Raiders scattered around the place.
  • Weekly cutscene: Two weeks later, players will be in Rhodes and see a glow off in the distance. Upon inspecting, they’ll see Arthur and Sean blast out of the flaming tobacco fields on horseback, as seen in ‘The Fine Joys of Tobacco’.
    • After this event, Trelawney will move to the Van Der Linde camp following the events of ‘Magicians for Sport’
  • Daily cutscene: One week later, players will be approached by Dutch at Clemens Point, and told that Arthur has gone missing after a botched peace treaty with Colm.
  • Daily cutscene: Three days later, players can return to Clemens Point and see Arthur Return in horrible shape.
    • After this event, players will be able to deliver healing herbs once again to Reverend Swanson in order to look after Arthur.
  • Weekly cutscene: On the final week of the season, players will be treated to an epic cutscene spanning three back-to-back story missions. It starts with the events seen in ‘A Short Walk in a Pretty Town’ where the player is in the general store browsing goods, they catch the gang in the middle of the town and are about to head out as they see Sean get killed. They fight their way back to camp in order to alert the rest of gang.
    Upon arriving at the gang camp, they see everyone searching for Jack and begin looking around too. Upon Arthur, Bill and Micah’s return, they learn about Jack’s kidnapping by the Braithewaites. Dutch tasks the player with sourcing fire bottles as they confront Catherine, as seen in ‘Blood Feuds, Ancient and Modern’. The player arrives at the manor and begins handing out bottles to Hosea, Bill and Javier. The player then returns to the camp to check on everyone who is still there. The rest of the gang return to the camp and the player begins to head out.
    As the player is leaving, they pass Agent Milton on the way, and the pair lock eyes with eachother. The player quickly gets off their horse and sits in the bushes, watching the confrontation. When Lenny shows the Agents out of camp, they go to turn a gun on him and arrest him. Thankfully, the player is standing behind them with their gun drawn. Milton and Ross drop their weapons and leave on horseback. Lenny thanks the player.

Role Expansions:

• Each of the first five roles of the game have been expanded with twenty to thirty new levels, which will lay the foundations for future role developments in the form of “Rolepaths”
• Rolepaths will lead players through one hundred ranks of a lifestyle, with completing one role unlocking another.
• Rolepaths will only expand the three original Frontier Pursuits, this update is about completing them with 20 - 30 more levels with focus on the next steps coming in the next update.
• Moonshiner and Naturalist have also been expanded with new levels and content, but there are no plans to create any Rolepaths from these.

Trader Levels 21 – 50:

• 30 new levels have been added to the Trader role.
• Distinguished Traders can purchase the new ‘Scran Table’ for their camp for 15 Gold, allowing them to progress through the next thirty role levels.
• The Scran Table is manned by ‘Foody Dave’, who will accept meats, fish and skinned animal carcasses and turn them into Meat Goods.
  • For maximum efficiency, players can skin animals they hunt down, turn the pelt in to Cripps and the rest of the animal to Dave.
• Players can add seasoning and herbs to increase the value of the food.
• Unlocks (In order):
  • The Chicken Coup – Increases the quality of meats and all stews in the stew pot.
  • Medium Ice Box – Allows more meats to be stored before sale.
  • Banquet Table – A large table for the camp, with ten seats around it for a full posse and a tarp to act as a rain shelter.
  • Blowpipe – Fires “sleep darts” which are functionally similar to the sedative darts from ‘The Naturalist’ but work much faster, can pacify smaller creatures, and are used to humanely kill an animal.
    • Deadeye and PiB cannot be used with this weapon, and due to its tougher nature of control, successfully landing a shot on a player will cause them to enter a ragdoll state for three seconds and apply a “drunk” effect for another thirty.
      • This won’t apply when one of the players are in defensive mode.
  • Large Ice Box – Allows more meats to be stored before sale.
  • Deluxe Campfire 2 – Features sofas and comfier chairs with throws and blankets for faster core regeneration, as well as a communal coffee pot over the fire for players to collect coffee from.
  • Camp Animal Traps – Players can place different types of bait in these to capture animals. Cripps and Dave will collect the animals and split the resources.
    • Players must refresh the bait at the camp ledger after an animal has been caught.
  • Improved Leather Working Tools – Increases the speed in which Cripps produces pelts.
  • Doghouse – Allowing the player to purchase a second active dog.
  • Trade Route: Boats – Four boats with three boat stops, starting at Clemens Point, continuing through Saint Denis, Van Horn and ending at Annesburg.
  • Double Delivery – Players can now store double the maximum amount for Cripps’ pelts, but any more than 100 goods in a sale will require a second wagon.

Collector Levels 21 – 40:

• 20 new levels have been added to the Collector role.
• Madam Nazar will contact the player and tell them about exciting new treasures around the world. She mentions she wants to get them started on something easier, but much more valuable than what they’re already searching.
• Nazar mentions how a lot of these items are much bigger and offers to sell the player a “Collector’s Case” for 15 Gold, allowing them to progress through the next twenty role levels.
• New high-tier collections have been added, including:
  • Antique weapons
    • The Vintage Flintlock
    • Pirate Cutlass
    • Viking Axe
    • Landon Rickett’s First Revolver
    • The Silver Blunderbuss
    • The Golden Katana
    • The Ornate Bow
  • Exotic fruits
    • Bananas
    • Dragonfruit
    • Mangoes
    • Coconuts
    • Passionfruit
    • Lychee
  • Special paintings
    • Landon Ricketts Portrait
    • Early Saint Denis Settlement
    • Amos Lancing Tribute
    • Penelope Braithwaite portrait
    • Armadillo’s Golden Age
    • The Strange Man
    • Princess IKZ Portrait
  • Legendary journals
    • Landon Ricketts
    • Black Belle
    • Emmet Granger
    • Frank Heck
    • Billy Midnight
    • Arthur Morgan’s first journal
    • Laurence Dunn
    • JD McKnight
    • President Fisher
    • Geraldine Emerson
    • Princess IKZ
• Unlocks (In order):
  • The Wispy Lantern – Emits a brighter, blue-purple light. Makes nearby collectables glow.
  • Camp Phonograph – Allows players to play music at their camp.
  • Skill: Fence valuables can be sold to Madam Nazar.
  • Camp Telescope – Allows players to stargaze, which will recharge deadeye and fortify to level IV during the night.
  • Salvage: Guarma Shipwreck – Salvage event taking place on the shores of Guarma.
  • Friendship – Madam Nazar will now permanently be marked on the player’s map.
  • Wispy Horse Lantern – The Wispy Lantern can now be attached to a horse saddle.
  • New crystal gun inlays: Amethyst, Ruby, Diamond, Emerald, Topaz.
  • Skill: Lasso Drop – Allows players to rappel down cliff faces using a reinforced lasso.

Bounty Hunter Levels 31 – 50:

• 20 new levels have been added to the Bounty Hunter role.
• These ranks are available to any Bounty Hunter with a Prestigious license.
• Upon hitting rank 31, the Legendary Bounty Hunter from Rhodes visits the player at camp and tells the player they could be doing a lot better.
• Five new Prestigious Legendary Bounties have been added, and will become available over the next five weeks:
  • Katherine Gunne – The Plague Doctor
    • 1 – 4 players
    • Katherine has been seen around Armadillo and is suspected to be involved in the town’s plague. She makes the player sick in the intro cutscene, in order to survive, players must craft an antidote in time, before pursuing and capturing her.
    • Completing this will unlock the ‘Plague Doctor’ mask.
  • Bill Smith, Jesse Clark, Isaac Van Johnston, Carl Davidson and Josiah O’Neill – The Klansmen
    • 1 – 4 players
    • Gathered at Shady Belle, these disgusting racists are holding a gathering. Players can take them in alive or dead.
    • Completing this mission will unlock the ‘Common Sense’ buckle, which is shaped like star on fire.
  • Dutch Van Der Linde Impersonator – The False Preacher
    • 1 – 4 players
    • A man claiming to be Dutch Van Der Linde and radicalising young people has been seen around Cochinay. Storm the camp and capture him.
    • Completing this will unlock Dutch’s main story outfit – ‘The Preacher’
    • Later, post chapter 6 seasons will have this poster change to be one about capturing the actual Dutch, but it will still be an impostor at Cochinay.
  • Francis McFadden – Big Frankie
    • 2 – 4 players
    • An angry Scotsman in a bar in Van Horn with the brute body type, he will charge the player and must be knocked out in unarmed combat and loaded onto a wagon by two players due to his size.
    • Completing this mission will unlock ‘the kilt’
  • Colm O’Driscoll – King of the Irish
    • 2 – 7 players
    • Colm must be caught alive to pay for his actions. Players can chase him down in the mill near Colter and capture him and a few O’Driscolls for punishment.
      Colm is seen fleeing jail after completing this mission.
    • Completing this mission will unlock the “Cold Weather” camp theme and allow the player to set up camp in the snowy regions of Ambarino.
      • Such locations include the old Adler home and near Colter.
• Unlocks (In order):
  • Camp Lighting – Torches and lanterns around the camp, increasing vision at night
    • Wooded camp locations will have lights hanging from trees and such.
  • The Baton – A non-lethal melee weapon, perfect for knocking targets out
  • ‘Stronghold Siege’ Freemode Event – Players team up and storm a heavily-fortified NPC base and kill all the enemies. Player each get two respawns due to difficulty.
  • Camp Bounty Board – Offering access to each Infamous Bounty within the state, and the ability to launch a Legendary Bounty after levelling up further.
  • New coloured gun metal tints: Red, Blue, Green, Purple and “Oily Metal”
  • Skill: ‘Intimidate’ – Bounty targets now have a 20% of immediately surrendering.
    • Ranking up can increase this to 50%
  • ‘Prison Riot’ Freemode Event – Players are sent to Sisika in order to incapacitate and hogtie escaping and rioting prisoners. Players don’t have access to any lethal weapons and can only knock out and hogtie. Players get one respawn each due to difficulty.
    • Players get a bonus for capturing a high-priority target, which is a prisoner who has stolen a Carbine Repeater from a guard they defeated.
  • Reinforced Bolas: Bolas which take longer to break.

Moonshiner Levels 21 – 40:

• 20 new levels have been added to the Moonshiner role.
• Maggie says there’s a way to make the Moonshine production and sale seem more legitimate, with fake documents and such. Players can purchase “Documentation” for 10 Gold, allowing them to progress through the next twenty role levels.
• Players can now choose the Bootlegger mission they want to complete.
• One new Bootlegger Mission has been added – Rat Clearance.
  • This involves killing rats at nearby saloons and hotels.
• Unlocks (In order):
  • ‘Official Documentation’ – Revenue agents are now 50% more likely to let the player pass through inspection areas, and 70% more likely to have a lootable antique alcohol bottle.
  • Three new band songs, which are covers of songs from singleplayer.
  • ‘Bartenders’ – Can be hired for a one-off fee to sell Moonshine to customers and players for a set price. They can also be upgraded to sell bar food. Each Bartender will have their own loyalty mission, seen detailed further down.
  • ‘Sturdy Jugs’ – Bottles of moonshine are less likely to smash in the delivery wagon.
  • ‘Branding’ – Increases the number of buyers available at a time, and the price they are willing to pay. Also allows players to choose a logo to be placed onto their wagon, with a posse name.
  • Wagon Disguise – Decreases the chance revenue agents will attempt to stop players on sale missions.
  • Six new flavours of moonshine, which can all be flavoured with collectable plants.
    • These can increase sale value to RDO$500
  • Speakeasy Safe – Allows players to collect income from the bar.
  • The Greenhouse – Details listed further down.
  • Speakeasy Extension – A bathroom and more seating, allowing more customers to come to the bar and increasing revenue stream.
    • If players get too drunk and pass out, they may now wake up in the bathtub.
  • Lem as an assistant Moonshiner for Marcel – Increases the speed in which Moonshine is produced.
  • Service Industry – Players can now sell their Moonshine at their lodge. This will increase revenue, but also the time it takes to produce Moonshine as some will be sent away.

Naturalist Levels 21 – 40:

• 20 new levels have been added to the Naturalist role.
• Harriet thanks the player for helping her find out new information about the local wildlife and explains to the player she has found a way for them to become more in tune with the world. Players can purchase the ‘Earthly Charm’ for 10 Gold in order to progress through the next twenty role levels.
• At the same time, Gus will contact the player offering to set up shop at the player’s camp.
  • This will cost the player RDO$500
• Harriet's 'Poacher Missions' will now have a 5% chance to spawn with a Legendary Animal, with each level past 20 growing the chance by a further 5%.
• Six new Prestigious Legendary Animal Sighting Missions are now available to high-level Naturalists:
  • The Ivory Bear – Players must search for this around the geysers in Ambarino. This animal’s garment is a pure white fur cloak.
  • The Cyan-Shelled Turtle – Seen around Shady Belle. If killed, the shell can be turned into an armoured holster and gun belt for the player.
  • The Bloodbunny – Seen around Beecher’s Hope, and will try to attack and poison the player. It can be turned into a red and white scarf.
  • The Gold-Banded Snake - A black and gold snake seen in the Bayou. Can be turned into black and gold snakeskin boots.
  • The Violet Spotted Armadillo - A grey armadillo with purple spots, found near Fort Mercer. Can be turned into 'Violet Spotted Armadillo Shell Gauntlets'
  • The Ginger Fur Boar - Seen in Scarlett Meadows, this ginger boar is bigger than usual. Can be crafted into a fluffy orange poncho with boar tusks tying it together at the front.
• Unlocks (In order):
  • Predator Defence – Players can now quickly pull a knife on bears and alligators which have pinned and would otherwise kill them.
  • Forgiveness – It will now take up to twenty more animal kills before Harriet becomes frustrated with the player. The cooldown has also now been reduced to three minutes.
  • Pacify – Allows players a 15% chance to pacify an animal with a new interaction. If successful, the animal will not run away from the player or attack them.
  • Tame – Building on pacify, this allows players to interact with their pacified animal for another 30% chance to tame them. A tamed animal will return to camp and act as a guard.
    • Any animal can be tamed, but the percentage decreases based on the fighting power of the animal. When killed, the animal can be revived for RDO$50.
      • Tamed animals cannot be skinned or sampled, in order to avoid them being farmed.
  • The Tacked Saddle – A saddle made from random materials which have been scavenged and tacked together, is free with mid-tier stats.
  • Naturalist Camp Theme – Styled tents made entirely out of leaves and branches, with the ‘Covered’ tier being Harriet’s tent.
  • Legendary Tame – Gives players a 2% chance to tame a pacified legendary animal.
    • f this is killed, it will cost RDO$100 to revive, and also cannot be sampled or skinned.

The Greenhouse:

• The Greenhouse is a side business for the Moonshine Shack.
• Players can grow their own plants by collecting them in the wilderness and planting them in the greenhouse.
• This allows players to farm plants better in order for moonshine ingredients, crafting and cooking.
• There is one plot for a rare flower to be farmed, which can only be harvested once per real life day.
• There are sixty other plant pots to fill with whatever the player chooses.
• A wagon of sixty plants can be exported to doctors for quick deliveries of around RDO$50
• A gardener can be hired for RDO$4.50 per day to double the sell price as they will increase plant quality.
  • As they will also collect the plants, the player can choose whether to keep them in the greenhouse or have them sent to the player’s lockbox.

Camp Guard Loyalty Missions:

• A set of loyalty missions has been added, one for each camp guard. These go as follows:
  • Tobias Johnston
    • BOUNTY HUNTER RANK 40 REQUIRED - Tobias approaches the player and informs them of a posse of bounty hunters who came by, claiming they had beef with the player for capturing all of the high-paying bounties, and saving no work for everybody else. Tobias mentions this posse said they’d be back when the player was around to “eliminate the competition” – Just as he tells the player this, a bullet flies past the player and into Cripps’ wagon.
      The player(s), guards, dog and Cripps must now defend the camp from a few waves of attackers.
      1 – 7 players
  • Albert Smith
    • LEMOYNE LOCATION REQUIRED – Albert tells the player whilst they were away, a group of Lemoyne Raiders swung by camp, stealing various supplies, and saying they had no right to be set up here without paying a fee. The player(s) must approach three nearby Lemoyne Raider camp locations and wipe them out.
      1 – 7 players
  • Francis Bruce
    • CHICKEN COUP REQUIRED – The cutscene starts with Francis and the player looking at the chicken coup, where all the chickens are dead. She tells the player she’ll head into town to get some more chickens, whilst the player works out what happened.
      The player(s) must follow some tracks, to a group of laughing Del Lobos who are boasting about how they’ve been messing with livestock across the states. The player(s) must wipe them out and destroy their poison supplies to prevent this from happening again.
      Upon returning to camp, Francis presents the player with some new, prize-winning chickens.
    • 1 – 7 players
  • Margaret Reid
    • OTHER GUARD LOYALTY MISSIONS MUST BE COMPLETED – Margaret informs the player that the rest of the guards seem to have gone missing, and she hasn’t heard from them in a strangely long time. They wait around for about a day, and as they’re sitting eating some stew at the table, they are hit with some sleep darts, knocking them both (Or all of them, if there’s more posse members) out.
      Margaret and the player(s) wake up in a dungeon with the rest of the guards, who are all locked in a cell. The player must use some wire from Margaret’s boot in order to pick the lock, strangle the guard, reclaim their weapons and fight their way out with the rest of the guards and any posse members.
  • Camp loyalty missions improve the accuracy, skill, and health of each of the guards, and decrease the chance of a raid by 10%
  • Each of these missions must be completed in order
  • Scripts for these can be read here

Bartender Loyalty Missions:

• A set of loyalty missions has been added, one for each bartender. These go as follows:
  • Joanna Booth
    • The player(s) enter the shack, where they see Joanna arguing with Maggie. She is shouting about wanting to strip search every patron in the bar downstairs because she believes one of them stole her valuable family ring, which has been an heirloom for generations. She storms into the stairs hall where she sees a man admiring the ring and smiling, but before she can do anything, he shoves her down the stairs and takes off.
      Maggie shouts at the player(s) to go catch him whilst she checks on Joanna with Marcel. The player(s) chase the man to a nearby train, which he jumps onto. The players have to chase him down the train and avoid being shot by the guards, kidnap the man, and return him to the shack alive so he can personally return the ring to Joanna.
    • 1 – 4 players
  • Charlie Green
    • Charlie shows up to work with a bullet hole in his shoulder, pale as a ghost and barely conscious. He says he was attacked by a group of Braithwaites who discovered the Moonshine Shack’s location and are on their way to burn it to the ground. The player(s) have to defend the shack from three waves of attackers, and a few who snuck in disguised as guests. The player can choose to give Charlie a health tonic in order to have him help defend the shack, or simply let him rest up and be bandaged by Lem and Marcel.
    • 1 – 4 players
  • These missions can be completed in any order.
  • Scripts for these can be read here

Miscellaneous Content and Additions:

• Players can now store up to five more horses at their stable.
• One new base collection has been added from singleplayer: Cigarette Cards.
• All Stranger Missions have had their RDO$ and XP multiplied by five.
• New Greenhouses have been added around the Frontier.
• Players can now refuse and abandon rescue missions.
• Bounty payouts have now been reworked to reward faster completions, with triple payouts for living targets, and double for dead.
• Marcel’s character model has been fixed to include nostrils.
• Bounty Hunters will now be able to turn in their XP for RDO$ and Gold at Bounty Hunter Rank 50.
  • Players can do this with other roles upon reaching their max rank too.
• Players can now permanently equip their lantern to their belt, so they can walk around in the dark without having to carry it.
• Previous limited seasonal cutscenes can now be viewed in a new pause option, called “Theatre Mode”.
  • This feature will soon be able to show clips made in the Rockstar Editor, but this is still a while away.
• Outlaw Pass will be themed around Rhodes with Civil War-themed outfits, ball gowns and the likes.
• Given some new voice lines to Blind Man Cassidy, including:
  • “The life of law might be for you, but will you pursue it with honour?”
  • “I see a small boy, with a reptilian man from Italy. His eyes reflect a house on fire, and a demon burning within. Strange.”
  • “A man from another world thanks you for avenging him, he asks you to look after her.”
  • “You speak with the animals, but do you listen to what they have to say?”
  • “The Rhodes ahead are pathed with blood”

Justification:

My original ideas for expanding each of the roles in the game was a little different, mostly because they were conceptualised before the original Bounty Hunters expansion. For the Further Pursuits part 1 section of this concept, I had to rework what would be the second expansion to the role – Hopefully serving as the love and expansion the role needs.

Beginning the notion of the rolepath introduces a new style of progression and character development to RDO and gives players a long-term path to work their way through, finally ending with a sense of achievement several updates down the line.

The new legendary bounties and their prizes bring a new challenge and reward system making the original Prestigious Bounty Hunter license more valuable. Not to mention, adding unlocks for the camp and skills to make bounty hunting easier will give a real sense of progression and growth within the role.

The current trader only deals with animal pelts and skins, so allowing players to work with the meats and other parts of the animals helps ensure nothing goes to waste whilst maximising profits. The first Trader role allowed some upgrades to be made to the camp, so I felt as if adding more progression here would help keep some consistency. Upgrades like the chicken coup and animal traps allow a feeling of self-sustainability to the camp, with the Deluxe Campfire 2 and Doghouse make it feel more homely. Doubling delivery sizes and adding a new form of Trade Route keeps events fresh and allows players to make even more money when working within a posse.

To allow more detailed rolepaths in the future, I only added 20 ranks to the Collector as it’s not a role that can be expanded upon much itself with a healthy gameplay loop. The new collections will have unique models with interesting details and such, and perhaps the weapons could be equipped secretly from the inventory, the fruits could be eaten, and the journals and paintings could be viewed to see in their full glory. Allowing players to sell regular valuables to Nazar is a huge boost to convenience, which the game needs due to the lack of Fences around the map. Whilst the new customisation and gear is mostly for cosmetics and slight upgrades, I’m really passionate about the Lasso Drop skill. Of course, this would require a lot of upgrades to the game world and an overhaul of some animations, but it would be 100% improve map traversal potential.

I didn’t want to leave the other two roles out of the picture whilst upgrading the original three. I felt as if the Moonshiner business could really grow as, well, a business. Whilst I added a few smaller additions such as new Bootlegger missions and band songs, I wanted to focus on a few features which many felt were missing from the original Moonshiners update. Upgrades like the sturdy jugs and safe to allow bar income really help the role become more profitable. Adding the crossover with the Lodge and purchase of the Greenhouse allows a more dynamic and intertwined feel to the roles.

The Naturalist released with a few examples of what we’ve all come to know as “Rockstar Logic” through the years. I sought to rectify these with my expansion to the role. For one, turning the six new animal pelts into Gus will create unique pieces of clothing. The skills will allow players to survive and, eventually, avoid attacks from predators which helps avoid the drugging from Harriet.

Loyalty Missions allows players to partake in new, personal missions with character-driven narratives whilst providing eventual gameplay benefits. The narrative-focused cutscenes and stories in the likes of the Moonshiners update, or GTA Online’s “The Contract” really were next level and increase immersion, and I think these can help do that.