Schlagwort-Archive: Felix Zimmermann

A love letter to Harriet Davenport, the maddest of them all – The life of a Naturalist in Red Dead Online

by Felix Zimmermann

Introduction: Doing the work in Red Dead Online

Harriet is a killer. Well, that’s not quite right. Harriet makes me kill for her. However, she is very specific about who or what to kill, mind you.

Let me tell you that Red Dead Online, the stand-alone online version of Red Dead Redemption 2, is very much a game about killing. Even more so than the single player story surrounding Arthur Morgan and the Van-der-Linde-Gang, Red Dead Online is concerned with keeping me busy with small tasks to very slowly earn money and experience. One wouldn’t be wrong to call this grind or work. However, I have to admit that the world of Red Dead Online – which is the same as in Red Dead Redemption 2 with its five fictional states based on real-world North American landscapes – continues to enthrall me. I come back to the game almost every day to fulfill some of the so-called “Daily Challenges”, watch the sun set behind the Ambarino mountains and take a picture of it.[1]


The Ambarino Mountains in Red Dead Online (Source: Screenshot by author)

Every day, I am greeted with seven new “general” challenges and up to 15 challenges spread around the five “roles” available in the game: the “Bounty Hunter”, the “Trader”, the “Collector”, the “Moonshiner” and the “Naturalist”. To unlock these roles, you must accumulate a certain amount of in-game gold currency which can also be bought with real-world money. It takes almost forever but it is possible to earn enough gold by logging in every day and fulfilling the challenges. I have done that. Am I proud of it? Not so sure about that. Did I have a good time? Most certainly. A love letter to Harriet Davenport, the maddest of them all – The life of a Naturalist in Red Dead Online weiterlesen

Mein blauer Freund: Gerechtigkeitsmechaniken in Digitalen Spielen

von Felix Zimmermann

Der nachfolgende Text erschien ursprünglich im WASD Magazin N°16 zum Thema „Gerechtigkeit“

Wie kann es eigentlich sein, dass mir der Begriff „Gerechtigkeitsmechaniken“ in den Sinn kommt, wenn ich an den Blauen Stachi-Panzer aus Mario Kart denke? Kaum eine Mechanik hat mich in meinem Leben in tiefere Löcher gestoßen, hat mir schmerzhaftere Nackenschläge verpasst, hat mich exakter kalkulieren lassen, ob mein Controller den Wurf gegen die Wand wohl unbeschadet überstehen würde. Und trotzdem denke ich an „Gerechtigkeit“, wenn mir nur wenige Meter vor der Ziellinie mein allzu verdient scheinender Sieg genommen wird. Vielleicht denke ich an meine Konkurrentinnen und Konkurrenten, die jetzt voller Stolz, voll ungebändigter Freude ihre Controller in den Himmel strecken. Gewonnen, gegen mich, der ich doch schon hunderte Stunden Training vorweisen kann, der jede Kurve schon auf Kaffee und Kuchen eingeladen hat und der die schmutzigen Geheimnisse jedes Boost-Feldes kennt. David gegen Goliath. Aber ist das gerecht?

Mein blauer Freund: Gerechtigkeitsmechaniken in Digitalen Spielen weiterlesen