'Red Dead Online' Anti-Griefing Measures Coming Soon

Rockstar Games took to their official blog to share what's new for Red Dead Online players and what's on the way. From a special Gold Gift award for those diligently playing the Online beta, to news of how the team is planning to tackle griefers, the studio has revealed what's on the horizon for the popular Red Dead Redemption 2 online component.

The overall patch itself focused on game stability and certain reported exploits, though the specifics were not detailed at this time. As far as griefers, here's what Rockstar had to say about the coming update and how they plan on balancing out the online play experience:

"We have been pouring through incoming community input and suggestions and are working on updates for early 2019 to address many popular bits of feedback including some new anti-griefing measures in the works and other updates to improve gameplay balance. We are also working on lots of new features, modes and additional Red Dead Online gameplay content updates that we are very excited to share more about in the new year."

Since griefing - a term used for players that go out of their way to terrorize lower-level players - is a common occurrence in an online environment, it makes sense that they would want to address that immediately.

The team also revealed a special way they are thanking fans with a currency that means everything in the game: Gold. "As a thank you for your ongoing support, we are awarding everyone who has played from the Red Dead Online Beta launch through this Thursday, December 20th with a gift of 15 additional gold bars," reads the blog post. "The awards will begin rolling out today and if you haven't experienced the Red Dead Online Beta yet, play by Thursday, December 20th for eligibility. All gold bar gifts should be delivered by Monday, December 24th. Keep an eye out for an alert screen when entering the Red Dead Online Beta to confirm the gift."

There's also a cash gift as well, "As an added thank you to players who pre-ordered Red Dead Redemption 2, and those who purchased either the Special or Ultimate Edition, we are awarding additional RDO$ gifts. These will be active starting Friday, December 21st and are automatically added to your character's balance the next time you play Red Dead Online during the Beta and permanently afterwards."

• Special Edition Owners: RDO $100
• Ultimate Edition Owners: RDO $1,000
• Everyone who pre-ordered: RDO $100 (in addition to Ultimate and Special Edition gifts)

The latest Red Dead Online update is now live on Xbox One and PlayStation 4.