If anyone is game (no pun intended), we might consider setting up an online session one of these days. Personally, I probably won't be able to do the public servers, but I've played several times on private sessions with my son and it worked great. He has a fast connection and mine is slow yet we still could do perfect sessions (no lag, no dropped connections, just a perfect game).
As spaceboy mentioned in several posts, the online play is simply fabulous - if you haven't tried it yet, you should really consider it even if you only play your session alone. You can still do the challenges, clear out the gang hideouts, etc, and increase your game level - it's just tons more fun if you do it with someone else.
For instance, my son and I developed the method of franking the enemy and one going into the front of a building while the other goes into the back - all to divide and conquer. We also went on rampages where we killed people or did other unsavory deeds which put a bounty on our heads - killing the lawmen that came after us increased our experience points as well.
We've only begun exploring, but have done several gang hideouts which range from Mexican villages to gold mine tunnels - there is so much variety! My next step is to try to get my blue tooth device connected to the console so I don't have to use my cell phone ;D
Yeah i'd definitely join if the times w@&k out PZ - the free roam MP is basically setup like a huge open world co-op session. Very nice. And we'll be getting free actual co-op missions in June too!