It’s no secret that I’ve played disgusting amounts of Red Dead Online. My current playtime in Red Dead Redemption 2‘s online component is rapidly approaching 600 hours (on top of the almost 200 hours I spent in the campaign).
I’ve also mentioned that I’ve played so much Red Dead Online that I’ve worn out the X button on two PS4 controllers. What I forgot to mention was that I also wrecked the right analog stick on at least one of those controllers.
In Red Dead Online, there is the Dead Eye skill, which is activated by pressing R3 (pushing the right analog stick downward into the controller). If you have the Paint It Black card equipped, you can paint X’s on targets for a guaranteed (well, almost) hit. It also reduces the bloom of your weapon to almost a perfect point, which is really, really useful once you get the hang of it. I spent a lot of time practicing this, so I’ve gotten pretty decent at using Paint It Black.
Because of this, I’ve abused my right analog stick like crazy by rapidly mashing R3 to activate Dead Eye. The result is that I’ve worn out the right analog stick on at least one of my controllers (though I’m suspecting it’s affecting two of them now).
The right analog stick, in so many games, repositions the camera. Because mine has worn out, I’ll be in the middle of an intense firefight when all of a sudden the camera starts rotating around my character. It’s disorienting, dizzying, and frustrating. I thought it was just a weird glitch in Red Dead Online at first, but the problem has now started cropping up in every game I play that uses the right stick to adjust the camera position.
I can (probably) fix the X button, but the analog stick is a whole new bag of minnows. Or can of worms, if worms still come in cans. I don’t know that I can actually fix this (or if worms come in cans).
I guess I’m just hoping for some really great Black Friday sales on DualShock controllers, because at this point I really need a new one.
