GTA 5: Standby to Standby, Bigger Letdowns Ahead?

[x0v3rKiLx]

 

I'm sure multiple people have posted this already so I apologize if this post is a tad redundant, but there's no way to express your opinions quite like voicing them yourself, even if someone else's DOES come close.

 

Let me start off by saying I LOVE GTA 5. I have spent literally every day since launch playing it for 5-6 hours at a time. It's practically my new full-time job. I think it's a vast improvement on GTA IV, and while i also loved IV, GTA 5 is easily the best game I've played in a LONG time - probably the last 5-10 YEARS. Now....that being said...

 

GTA 5 has unfortunately been a story of waiting. Waiting as Rockstar postponed the release date from Spring to September. We waited patiently. I did mine, as you all did yours. I didn't complain. We understood that Rockstar was taking the time to work out issues and, in their words, make GTA 5 the best game it can possibly be. I actually RESPECTED their honesty, and I took the delay in stride.

 

However, while I HAVE found GTA 5 single player to be very immersive just as advertised, I feel as though Rockstar has rather overblown, misrepresented, or outright lied to us about the features we were to expect in GTA 5 story mode, which makes all that waiting seem quite irritating in retrospect.

 

Rockstar, in the gameplay trailers, emphasized how heists would form the GROUNDWORK of singleplayer. This was parroted to no end by gaming media outlets. Considering there are only four-something heists in the course of the story mode, and the fact that you can't do any more on your own initiative upon completing the story, I consider that to be a great exaggeration of the role heists play in the big picture.

 

Another thing we were told to expect was the ability to buy houses, not just businesses. As we all now know, that feature was never implemented, and will strictly be available in the heretofore unplayable GTA: Online, which will become playable God-knows-when.

 

The garages in single-player were another point to which Rockstar unfortunately severely overstated the function of. In single player, there are only THREE. And each one can only hold FOUR cars. Considering that the disappearing vehicle glitch has yet to be patched, we can thus infer that you can only reliably save 12 cars in single player. TWELVE. While there are what? 250 vehicles in the game total? 12 out of 250. That's absolutely no improvement at all over GTA 4, where you could save a maximum of 10 cars, and up to as many as 16 in TBOGT.

GTA 5 gives players little to no incentive to invest in the single-player stock market, as stock prices seem randomized despite the claim that your actions in-game control their movement. Perhaps your actions during the story do, but once you complete the main story mode, investing in the stock market becomes quite discouraging, as you no longer have that same influence to control the outcomes of your investment. After thousands of dollars in near-constant losses, I have thoroughly surrendered my attempts at investing in stock. As far as I'm concerned, that entire feature is unusable as a source of income.

The income earned from properties in single player doesn't NEARLY offset their enormous costs, and it takes FAR too long to simply break EVEN to justify purchasing expensive properties like the Tivoli Cinema or the ludicrously expensive Los Santos Golf club. 150 million dollar price tag, with only a low-end six-figure income per week? Come on...if you brought that idea to Donald Trump, he'd probably laugh at you. And probably fire you.

 

So...in single player, you can't:

1) Buy houses
2) Buy properties that are worth the investment

3) Invest in a reliable stock market that generates any sizeable returns.

4) Formulate your own heists.

5) Farm cars and truly build a sizable collection.

HOWEVER, we were told that we CAN expect to buy houses and create jobs (presumably heists as well) in GTA: Online. The problem? The vast majority of players still can't play GTA:O more than two full days after its presumed "launch".

 

We waited all this time to enjoy these features we assumed we'd see in singleplayer, found out they'd only be in GTA:O, waited the two weeks after GTA 5's launch for GTA:O to come online, and now that it's "out", we can't play GTA:O and thus have to wait even longer for Rockstar to figure out a way to support 15-something million people all trying to cram their servers simultaneously.

 

And what will come after we've done all THIS waiting? Will we be disappointed with the job creator in GTA:O? Will the houses we buy be insanely overpriced like the businesses in single-player? How reliable will car saving be?

 

While I will always reserve my praise for this game and how satisfied i am with it, my qualms linger, and I, personally, am no longer as hopeful about GTA: Online as I once was. The disappointments over single player have caused this, and if GTA: Online continues to falter and ends up not delivering on promises as much as single player, I fear this game may end up collecting dust sooner than I imagined at first. Let's just hope Rockstar gets it together, and soon. If Rockstar truly wants to put all their eggs in one basket with GTA:O as much as they apparently have, things need to go over far more smoothly than they have thus far.

Edited October 3, 2013 by x0v3rKiLx

[Markf44.4]

I'm sure multiple people have posted this already so I apologize if this post is a tad redundant, but there's no way to express your opinions quite like voicing them yourself, even if someone else's DOES come close.

 

Let me start off by saying I LOVE GTA 5. I have spent literally every day since launch playing it for 5-6 hours at a time. It's practically my new full-time job. I think it's a vast improvement on GTA IV, and while i also loved IV, GTA 5 is easily the best game I've played in a LONG time - probably the last 5-10 YEARS. Now....that being said...

 

GTA 5 has unfortunately been a story of waiting. Waiting as Rockstar postponed the release date from Spring to September. We waited patiently. I did mine, as you all did yours. I didn't complain. We understood that Rockstar was taking the time to work out issues and, in their words, make GTA 5 the best game it can possibly be. I actually RESPECTED their honesty, and I took the delay in stride.

 

However, while I HAVE found GTA 5 single player to be very immersive just as advertised, I feel as though Rockstar has rather overblown, misrepresented, or outright lied to us about the features we were to expect in GTA 5 story mode, which makes all that waiting seem quite irritating in retrospect.

 

Rockstar, in the gameplay trailers, emphasized how heists would form the GROUNDWORK of singleplayer. This was parroted to no end by gaming media outlets. Considering there are only four-something heists in the course of the story mode, and the fact that you can't do any more on your own initiative upon completing the story, I consider that to be a great exaggeration of the role heists play in the big picture.

 

Another thing we were told to expect was the ability to buy houses, not just businesses. As we all now know, that feature was never implemented, and will strictly be available in the heretofore unplayable GTA: Online, which will become playable God-knows-when.

 

The garages in single-player were another point to which Rockstar unfortunately severely overstated the function of. In single player, there are only THREE. And each one can only hold FOUR cars. Considering that the disappearing vehicle glitch has yet to be patched, we can thus infer that you can only reliably save 12 cars in single player. TWELVE. While there are what? 250 vehicles in the game total? 12 out of 250. That's absolutely no improvement at all over GTA 4, where you could save a maximum of 10 cars, and up to as many as 16 in TBOGT.

 

GTA 5 gives players little to no incentive to invest in the single-player stock market, as stock prices seem randomized despite the claim that your actions in-game control their movement. Perhaps your actions during the story do, but once you complete the main story mode, investing in the stock market becomes quite discouraging, as you no longer have that same influence to control the outcomes of your investment. After thousands of dollars in near-constant losses, I have thoroughly surrendered my attempts at investing in stock. As far as I'm concerned, that entire feature is unusable as a source of income.

 

The income earned from properties in single player don't NEARLY offset their enormous costs, and it takes FAR too long to simply break EVEN to justify purchasing expensive properties like the Tivoli Cinema or the ludicrously expensive Los Santos Golf club. 150 million dollar price tag, with only a low-end six-figure income per week? Come on...Donald Trump would laugh at the idea of putting your eggs in that basket.

 

So...in single player, you can't:

 

1) Buy houses

2) Buy properties that are worth the investment

3) Invest in a reliable stock market that generates any sizeable returns.

4) Formulate your own heists.

5) Farm cars and truly build a sizable collection.

 

HOWEVER, we were told that we CAN expect to buy houses and create jobs (presumably heists as well) in GTA: Online. The problem? You still can't play GTA:O more than two full days after its presumed "launch".

 

We waited all this time to enjoy these features we assumed we'd see in singleplayer, found out they'd only be in GTA:O, waited the two weeks after GTA 5's launch for GTA:O to come online, and now that it's "out", we can't play GTA:O and thus have to wait even longer for Rockstar to figure out a way to support 15-something million people all trying to cram their servers simultaneously.

 

And what will come after we've done all THIS waiting? Will we be disappointed with the job creator in GTA:O? Will the houses we buy be insanely overpriced like the businesses in single-player? How reliable will car saving be?

While I will always reserve my praise for this game and how satisfied i am with it, my qualms linger, and I, personally, am no longer as hopeful about GTA: Online as I once was. The disappointments over single player have caused this, and if GTA: Online continues to falter and ends up not delivering on promises as much as single player, I fear this game may end up collecting dust sooner than I imagined at first. Let's just hope Rockstar gets it together, and soon. If Rockstar truly wants to put all their eggs in one basket with GTA:O as much as they apparently have, things need to go over far more smoothly than they have thus far.

Well written sir....and I agree with everything you have stated kudos

Edited October 3, 2013 by Markf44.4

[VDubG]

Ah f*ck off , YOU can't play GTA:O even after two days . stop making groups saying WE can't play . im playing it right after the launch when i finished the update . Play it or sell it !

[x0v3rKiLx]

Ah f*ck off , YOU can't play GTA:O even after two days . stop making groups saying WE can't play . im playing it right after the launch when i finished the update . Play it or sell it !

 

You are fortunate enough to be one of the few people that CAN access GTA:O. The vast majority of players cannot. It is far from being an isolated issue.

 

"Play it or sell it"? Did you even read my post? I am playing this game. 5-6 hours a day. Every day without fail since its release.

[Harwood-Butcher]

Ah f*ck off

 

LOL, Why would someone acknowledge your post when you write that.

Edited October 3, 2013 by Harwood-Butcher

[Laggard]

So sell it. No one's forcing anyone to play.

[TezJaggs]

So many corporate apologists on this site, I love rockstar and all there games, red dead redemption I prefer to GTA5 after finishing the story, but all you corporate apologists need to clean rockstars brown sh*t out of inbetween your teeth.

If something is broken it is broken, and online is broken, I also cannot access it AT ALL as the first race doesn't even load.

Also I loved GTA5's story and the characters were superb, especially trevor, but I agree with the OP, the ''free roam'' elements are pretty poor, and I was disappointed in the lack of heists and how easy and simple they were, the jewelry heist was my favourite, as I felt like I was doing a job on them as I took the gems from the counter and the getaway was good too, all the other heists were pretty crap I thought.

[x0v3rKiLx]

So sell it. No one's forcing anyone to play.

 

I really tire of absolutists like you. Read my post before you reply! I LOVE GTA 5 and have ZERO intention of selling it because of a relatively short list of annoyances and/or complaints. This is not Call of Duty, it is not unplayable. It is a wonderful game and I still think it was worth every penny I paid, perhaps even more.

[Markf44.4]

So many corporate apologists on this site, I love rockstar and all there games, red dead redemption I prefer to GTA5 after finishing the story, but all you corporate apologists need to clean rockstars brown sh*t out of inbetween your teeth.

If something is broken it is broken, and online is broken, I also cannot access it AT ALL as the first race doesn't even load.

Also I loved GTA5's story and the characters were superb, especially trevor, but I agree with the OP, the ''free roam'' elements are pretty poor, and I was disappointed in the lack of heists and how easy and simple they were, the jewelry heist was my favourite, as I felt like I was doing a job on them as I took the gems from the counter and the getaway was good too, all the other heists were pretty crap I thought.

[email protected] apologists My new favorite term

[Markf44.4]

 

So sell it. No one's forcing anyone to play.

 

I really tire of absolutists like you. Read my post before you reply! I LOVE GTA 5 and have ZERO intention of selling it because of a relatively short list of annoyances and/or complaints. This is not Call of Duty, it is not unplayable. It is a wonderful game and I still think it was worth every penny I paid, perhaps even more.

 

Dude don't bother replying to those kind of post...most come from pre pubescent fanboys who would cut off their own balls if R* asked them to......To them (trolls) no one can have an opinion that doesn't fit their logic

Edited October 3, 2013 by Markf44.4

[The Wooden Mask]

Just give it time, its steadily starting to work in area's. Its working *at least from what i have seen* in almost all of the East Coast of the USA. Though i do agree with most, if not all, of what you said. Well written and logical. I really enjoy when people post these things, pleace keep it up. And if you are on Xbox do you want to play sometime when Online is up in your area?

[TezJaggs]

 

So many corporate apologists on this site, I love rockstar and all there games, red dead redemption I prefer to GTA5 after finishing the story, but all you corporate apologists need to clean rockstars brown sh*t out of inbetween your teeth.

If something is broken it is broken, and online is broken, I also cannot access it AT ALL as the first race doesn't even load.

Also I loved GTA5's story and the characters were superb, especially trevor, but I agree with the OP, the ''free roam'' elements are pretty poor, and I was disappointed in the lack of heists and how easy and simple they were, the jewelry heist was my favourite, as I felt like I was doing a job on them as I took the gems from the counter and the getaway was good too, all the other heists were pretty crap I thought.

[email protected] apologists My new favorite term

 

Lol that's what a lot of people on here seems to be though. If everybody was like them companies, not just gaming companies, but all companies would never try to better there products, because they could keep selling the same stuff to these apologists, while the apologists squeeeeeze their head up the corporate asses, and get turd stuck in their hair.