Is the character deletion bug an intentional way to get people to buy

[GodWaffle]

For the TL;DR people: Read the title, but take into account this is merely a vague speculation, and I still love the game

Okay, so firstly this is pure speculation, I don't really believe this myself but I thought I'd throw it out there for discussion.

So on Saturday I literally spent the day with my friends having fun on GTA: Online, towards the end of the day we started grinding doing races ($6,000 payout for the winner most times) and we came out of it with a lot of money (you also rank up very fast in races, it should be said).

Anyway, on Sunday, we did a bit more grinding before putting our money into new stuff, I bought an apartment and modded my car (all together cost me over $200,000 and left me with about $5,000), so anyway I had to jump off for about half an hour, and when I came back on my character wasn't there. I went onto the Social Club website and he was still there so I was okay with it, about 20 minutes later he disappeared from the Social Club.

It still says I have $5,000 left, which is a bit odd - why is it losing everything else but money? Why is money not dependant on individual characters like RP anyway? And a bigger question: Why did Rockstar keep cash cards disabled at launch?

My idea here is that maybe we're being given this frustration, so that people will just say "f*ck it, I'm just gonna buy a cash card, it's quicker than doing all that again". And keep in mind the cash doesn't get deleted, so you aren't 'wasting' money.

Anyway, feel free to share your thoughts, no need to flame though, I love GTA V and I love GTA: Online, got frustrated when I lost my guy though and this popped into my head. Needless to say I'll just make a new character and rank up again.

[Lukezordz]

Short answer: No.

 

Long answer: f*ck, No.

[irishgoods]

[FlairGamerHD]

No.

[Clay33]

Jeez... NO! You think they wanna f*ck up their reputation? Hell no.

[Phyxsius-]

You can`t sell money to people that aren`t playing your game.

 

And having a non-functional game and crap troubleshooting is the best way to keep people from playing your game.

 

So, no, it is actually hurting Rockstar`s plans, as they could have been selling cash cards for a week now, instead of taking the system offline in fear of fraud lawsuits.

Edited October 7, 2013 by Phyxsius-

[SnapChap]

Considering they've turned off micro transactions, I'm going to go ahead and take the tin foil hat off your head.

[GodWaffle]

Ah, yeah I figured this would be the general response. Like I said though I don't believe this myself, but it was just an idea that popped into my head, and I don't think Rockstar are like that.

However they do need to fix this deletion bug, it's very annoying, lost 2 characters so far.

[orangensaft]

 

[GodWaffle]

Considering they've turned off micro transactions, I'm going to go ahead and take the tin foil hat off your head.

 

I know this, what I was suggesting is that they're off until the bug is fixed, when there will be people who have lost characters who decide to just buy a card, and anyone else has already paid money either way so it's win-win for Rockstar.

[Phyxsius-]

 

Considering they've turned off micro transactions, I'm going to go ahead and take the tin foil hat off your head.

 

I know this, what I was suggesting is that they're off until the bug is fixed, when there will be people who have lost characters who decide to just buy a card, and anyone else has already paid money either way so it's win-win for Rockstar.

 

Think of it this way... SWTOR (the only game I`ve cared enough to know this), had 2.1 mil sales. Out of them, only 1.7 mils had active subs when it was first known. (the game launched as a sub based MMO).

 

I suspect this game has a healthy number of players that won`t touch the online and / or "first week players" - those are lost clients and potential revenue.

 

The issues this game is having is hurting Rockstar`s plans, so they have absolutely no reason to actually do it.

[GodWaffle]

 

 

Considering they've turned off micro transactions, I'm going to go ahead and take the tin foil hat off your head.

 

I know this, what I was suggesting is that they're off until the bug is fixed, when there will be people who have lost characters who decide to just buy a card, and anyone else has already paid money either way so it's win-win for Rockstar.

 

Think of it this way... SWTOR (the only game I`ve cared enough to know this), had 2.1 mil sales. Out of them, only 1.7 mils had active subs when it was first known. (the game launched as a sub based MMO).

 

I suspect this game has a healthy number of players that won`t touch the online and / or "first week players" - those are lost clients and potential revenue.

 

The issues this game is having is hurting Rockstar`s plans, so they have absolutely no reason to actually do it.

 

Fair points. Anyway, the bug essentially could just get people to buy cards even if unintentional, I've considered it after losing 200k. Anyway, game is awesome, hope these bugs get ironed out soon so I can play again