A roleplaying server active in clown protests, and moonshiners. The storied online mode has extended the lifetime of a massively successful sequel and many players have taken extensive steps to expand the immersion that they are able to receive while playing with other fans.
Red Dead Redemption 2 released on PC during the holiday season of 2019. Since then, it has received Steam's Game of the Year award and a multitude of mods, ridiculous and useful in all. The online mode has seen several updates that added Roles, basically in-game job paths for players, and various game modes, cosmetics, weapons, and items. The various Roles added to the game have expanded the adventures players can explore with their friends or even solo. Bringing in and take down dangerous criminals and their gangs as a Bounty Hunter, hunting down and uncovering various treasures and items to increase one's wealth as a Collector, hunting animals and building a merchant operation as a Trader, or manufacturing one's own illegal alcohol operation as a Moonshiner are all solid options for an in-game gunslinger to pursue.
In an article by Polygon, it is detailed that a privately ran roleplaying server known as Wild West RP has turned the unused jail on the game's map into a fully functioning prison that is in use for criminal and law enforcement players alike. Players can spend extended periods of time within the prison depending on the crime they were brought in for. Other players roleplaying as law enforcement or bounty hunters will even be dispatched to apprehend other of the server who have decided to break the law. Most of these criminal players are then brought into custody and sentenced to a certain period of time within the penitentiary. The server's s have staffed the prison with guards and players interred within can partake in parole hearings and labor activities.
Sentences are not extensive. For example, if a character is sentenced to 180 months in prison, that is translated to 180 actual minutes. 14 years in prison is equivalent to 14 real-time days. The server's owner, a player by the handle of Tiberione, says the staff works with players to plan specific events such as riots and even prison breaks. Right now, a player and their posse is planning on breaking into the prison to assassinate a rival posse leader while they are interred. The dedication to true, detailed roleplaying has made Wild West RP extremely popular with many Red Dead Online players looking for a more immersive experience as many have found Rockstar's official of the online game subpar.
When Red Dead Online was first released, it was criticized for having an empty open world map with no real purpose. Rockstar kept the mode in a Beta state for almost a year before they started adding updates and the Roles seen within the game today. But even still, many players find that Rockstar has not given the game the attention it it deserves. Most fans assumed Rockstar would lend the same or a similar amount of expansion and that has been shown to the eight year old Red Dead Online but many players are beginning to lose hope that there will ever be another sizable update to the game.
Source: Polygon