Red Dead Online: How The New Law & Bounty System Works

Red Dead Online just received a new update, including lots of new cosmetic items, new PVP modes, and lots of bug fixes to round things out. It also included changes to the game world to reduce ‘griefing’ — when not-so-nice players target friendly cowpokes for repeated attacks. Originally, the map in RDO displayed every single character in a session on the map. You’d be able to see everyone, all the time.

There aren’t just changes to the ‘blips’ on the map. You’ll also see new bounty system changes, including tweaks to the previous Parley and Feud features. I’ll explain everything you need to know in the section below. Some of these changes are being greeted with excitement by the community, but others aren’t having the intended effects.

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How The New Bounties System Works | Anti-Griefer Guide

Let’s break down all the new changes and additions to Bounties / Anti-Griefer features in the February 2019 update to RDO.

Changes To Player Visibility:
- Friendly (Blue) Player blips appear only at close-range.
- Aggressive (Red) Player blips appear on the map for everyone to see.
- Red blips are permanently added to your minimap, no matter what distance they are from you.
- Local voice chat now has a smaller vicinity.
- The more aggressive a player is, their dot will turn red, and become darker.
- A player’s “aggressiveness” is calculated by how many friendly (blue) players they kill.
- All members of a Posse joined by an aggressive player will also be highlighted red.
Changes To Parley / Feud
- Mini-PVP Feud challenges can now be triggered after 1 kill.
- Safe, timed Parleys can be initiated after 1 kill.
Changes To Bounties / Laws
- Earn a high bounty, and NPC bounty hunters will spawn and attack you.
- The higher your bounty, the more NPC hunters will appear, and more often.
- Bounties are no longer cleared after the player is killed.

This all sounds well and good, but there are a few issues players are experiencing with the new systems. First, you earn a bounty for every player you kill — even if they’re an aggressive player that has killed you previously. The bounty is small, but it’s still a bounty. Killing an enemy player nets you about $1.50 in charges you’ll have to pay off eventually. This small amount will not trigger a posse.

Now that blips are hidden, it’s difficult to find low-population areas. Generally, the player base is friendlier, and won’t simple shoot on sight if you’re going to town to sell pelts. Pelts may be much, much less valuable than before — but, they remain on your horse even if you leave, and even full animal carcasses will remain on your horse at all times. You can sell them to the butcher directly.

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