rdr2 is a prequel to the original rdr so I dont see how they can reference events from rdr1 since they have not happened yet... Unless you are playing the events in rdr2 that are only referenced in rdr1

The gta games and original rdr game had a statistics page on the start menu.

It looks like they have a "companion ap" that links to your rockstar social club page. But the social club page might also show your game stats. You need to link your xbox or ps account though for it to let you see the stats.

social club
https://socialclub.rockstargames.com/

companion ap
https://www.rockstargames.com/downloads/

im not sure if im going to be able to hold out for PC release...

Can someone recommend a sort of player's guide that includes things like what map symbols mean? Or maybe also tips on things that might not be so obvious in the game like how to lasso a wild horse - I would aim with the left trigger and throw the lasso with the right trigger but at first I didn't know to keep the left trigger depressed to make it take hold all the way until I got on the horse to break it in. Had to figure that out on my own.

That's not what I meant Master. When you play the first RDR, the game world or newspapers will reference for example "The Blackwater Massacre". This is obviously expounded upon in RDR 2's events. Also characters like John Marston telling other characters something like "Dutch wasn't always crazy. He changed. We loved him like a father." helps build interest and questions that get built upon in the second game. So there are tidbits of background only hinted at in the first game that RDR2's story now builds upon where upon which its helpful and entertaining to have the first game's info fresh in your mind when going into RDR2.

letterboy1, are you talking about the first game? If so this looks pretty useful with different categories.

http://reddead.wikia.com/wiki/Portal:Red_Dead_Redemption

Yes you do have to hold down the left trigger the whole time to keep the horse or individual roped. Then you just close the distance in and press the appropriate button to hogtie. You can also yank on the rope and reduce the slack with the right trigger I think. It took me awhile to remember when playing it a second time but in some cases if you hold down the B button, you can get alternate views while riding on a carriage with someone. Its kind of funny. Way back when I first played the game I eventually got pretty good at horseshoes. For some reason all these years later when I played through it again, I could not for the life of me figure out how to do it. I tried so many different ways but I totally lost how to use the controls correctly to play that game. Really quite frustrating lol.

[quote=Lieste
I think (from casual observation only, so take with a hundredweight of salt), that any weapon dropped (and left behind) is only discarded from your equipped set, but it goes to stash/saddle to be reclaimed later.[/quote]

This is true, anytime you drop a weapon to pick up one off of the ground, it magically goes into your horse's inventory.
This also works for hats you own, if you lose it or pick up another on the ground. I don't know how to save the new ones yet though.
The tool tips are really terrible in this game, they disappear before I can read them and there's no list of them in the menu anywhere.
I'm always poor in this game, but you seem to make the most money by doing story missions, and I get too distracted exploring, hunting, fooling around and admiring the scenery.

I can't play this game anymore, because I'm currently staying at my dingbat GF's house and she goes REEEEEEEEEEEEE every time I kill an animal.

She actually threw up when she saw me skin one....

I think personally its better to play RDR2 first...because if you play RDR1 akready you know exactly who lives and who dies already.

https://youtu.be/H6ePzOhheNM

Also this...just like with RDR1...there is a music break

I lol'ed at this... but then my wife yelled at me when I killed a coyote in "theHunter: call of the wild" and then didnt speak with me for 2 days. Coyotes are her spirit animal as I am told. So maybe... its not as funny as I originally thought...

lol

Feeding the suffragette to the Gator is a must do activity.

I don't know, I saw that video and not even the gator could stomach her.

You can always go treasure hunting and find gold bars. I have about $4000 now, which I guess in 1899 dollars is pretty close to having a billion in GTAV after purchasing stocks and then doing the assassination missions. Gives you a chance to go exploring as well.

Cheap PC alternative: https://www.gog.com/game/call_of_juarez?

Call of Juarez 1&2 are really pretty good Western first person shooters. I still play them from time to time. Never played what looked like the goofy modern one or the latest one they did which seemed popular but was even more of an on the rails shoot house game. One of my favorite things to do in the first game when you play the eldest brother turned minister is to walk around with the Scriptures open, quoting passages of judgment and wrath as I shoot the enemies in my way.

I'm confused by the hats too. If you go into your outfit section under hats and pan over(you can also change your clothing at a store's changing room), you'll see a subheading of crafted hats, stolen hats and found hats. I don't know how this system works. Awhile back for the first time I picked up another NPC's hat but it never got saved to my inventory. I have a feeling you might need to get back to camp or a general store's changing room and manually hit that "save outfit" button for that hat to be archived. I could be wrong but the game is very nuanced in its systems and as others have said not very forthright in instructions when it comes to certain things.

Spidey has a good suggestion there. Having played the original I've got it in my head that perhaps any newcomer to these games need to experience them in the same way however, people new to the game do have an unique opportunity to experience them in a way that other people who started with the first game can not which then might lead to their own interesting order of consumption of these games that would be just as fascinating by playing them in reverse with regards to the story. I like his idea. Both are written well enough to be impactful either way no matter how your order of experience goes but doing it as he suggested could produce an interesting and unique experience and an opportunity for newcomers to experience these game's stories in a way others can not.

Thanks!

Hickok45 has published a nice video on some of the guns used in RDR2:

Thanks for sharing MadDog. I enjoy the gentleman's channel and really enjoy this RDR2 themed firearm survey.