When he and I squared off again, we found that the only weapons we had at our disposal were our words. Once selected, a 10-minute timer started ticking down in the background.
My first inclination was to choose Parley. 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? Each time, he found me on the in-game map, rushed over and put a bullet between my eyes. Each time, Red Dead Online spawned me just a little further away from where I had died. Moments later he spawned back into the game, galloped up from behind me and my horse Wally, and shot me dead. I figured he had it coming, but it seems he saw things differently. 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 stumbled onto the system of Parleys and Feuds when a man rode into me, nearly killing my horse.
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.” Red Dead Online invites dozens of heavily armed cowboys to share the same multiplayer space.
