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All we're missing is a story.


vipprimo

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I know I've said this before but I think it deserves a rehash. I don't know if we could fix it for this Online game, but for future games there may be opportunity if we make some noise.

 

I know right now that I could pick any GTA from GTA 3 and onward, put it into its related game system and have fun. There was no online for those games. What keeps the replay ability up? The answer is easy. Story.

 

640px-NikoBellic-GTA4-CombatPistol.jpg

 

If anything, and I mean anything, needed to have replay-ability it needed to be GTA Online. It should've been able to virtually stand alone as a game within a game. It could've actually revolutionized the way we play. Even with its flaws it may still do that, but it could've been so much stronger.

 

When I turned on the online and there was Lamar accepting me off the plane I really felt like this is what we've been waiting for! There were a couple of phone calls, but I was still waiting for that gameplay moment that, after level 120, realized I would never get what started off strong.

 

What I don't understand is how R* missed that. Online has a ton of content, races, missions, versus, you name it! Yet every one of them is dry, albeit the framework is there to have the "story" that we needed to have.

 

Gta_sa_intro_snapshot_2.png

 

Progression Missions

No, not every mission has to be important, just key ones that progress the story. Each progression mission should have a cut scene before and after and a requirement to unlock it. Just like when you first go with Lamar to meet Gerald or stopping by Lester's house you feel like you're progressing. Gerald sends you out to a TDM for instance so you're no longer just facing random thugs in missions, but capable players as well. This could work for TDM, races, and versus missions. You would still have the NPC missions to grind to such as Judging the Jury or Rooftop Rumble where facing other players isn't as feasible.

 

Money could be associated with missions as well. For instance, working with the mafia would require you purchase a suit or one would require a helicopter to get to the roof. Now that Frogger is relevant to purchase. You may need to buy an outfit that matches another Crew to set them up!

 

Parallel Lives
One of the key parts is what I call parallel lives or parallel stories. For instance, when you first face a mission you're the low level character trying to overcome someone higher than you. Later on you'll be doing this mission again, but you'll be the higher level guy trying to hold back the lower level character from advancing!

AnOldFriend-GTAVC2.jpg

Imagine Sonny Forelli was another player who is trying to keep you from taking over his turf.

 

Nemesis

This was also the opportunity to make the bad guys... wait for it... the other players!!! You have a Nemesis in your game stats. Well, why isn't he the henchman in the cut scenes! You even have a Victim so you know who is seeing you as a henchman! Your character would just show up in cut scenes and would make a random player a relationship to you. Everyone has that bad player that is like a bad penny who keeps turning up.

 

Catalina_betrays_Claude..jpg

Maria was Claude's Nemesis who kept turning up in efforts to foil Claude and his inevitable revenge. What if Maria was another player in the game!

 

Crews are Important!

Since you have a Crew, why aren't the NPCs with you just like your Crew or even your Nemesis Crew? No longer are we just facing Ballers and Vargas, but other in-game Crews running their colors and appearance during missions.

577px-GroveStreetFamilies-GTASA-members.

 

 

The crazy thing is, all this stuff is already capable in the Online game. It's like they got there, but didn't push it over the edge. They just threw everything out on the map and said, "have at it." People got bored and they started finding ways to get everything up front.

 

In a story mission the story is the fun of it, not so much the stuff. The player had nothing that made this game theirs and it had no cohesion. People got bored and it lost its most important feature, replay-ability. Getting to level 120 should've been something special and we should want to delete characters and start over. In reality people said, "that's it?" And for good reason.

 

It's not to hard to figure out that even with a story that people will be tooling around the lobby shooting at each other just like they are now. I probably spent 90% of my time in GTA3 to 4 driving around looking for content and basically getting into trouble, so the game wouldn't look any different from that perspective. Just because I defeat the story doesn't mean it's over for me either. I'll still grind missions and race races. I'll have a reason other than collecting cars and to have 2 characters or more.
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HopalongCasidy

Disagree. I don't read playboy for the articles, and don't play multiplayer for the story. I do go back to storymode every now and then, though.

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kipakolonyasi

AnOldFriend-GTAVC2.jpg

 

dat Broken Wings in the background gives me the chills evertim.

Edited by kipakolonyasi
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Soran Is On

story is just about the least important thing in replayability of gta games. It's the open world and options provided with in. Any time I go back to an old gta i don't play through the story again, I pick up all the crap I unlocked after beating the game and jack around with it.

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Disagree. I don't read playboy for the articles, and don't play multiplayer for the story. I do go back to storymode every now and then, though.

 

I should've clarified. Not everyone needs the story, but having the option would be better.

 

This game is more like Playboy with just articles, advertising, and no pictures.

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story is just about the least important thing in replayability of gta games. It's the open world and options provided with in. Any time I go back to an old gta i don't play through the story again, I pick up all the crap I unlocked after beating the game and jack around with it.

 

I'll give you a game of Monopoly. Here's all the property and all the playing pieces and all the money. You can push the car around the playing board all day long. And you're happy with that game?

 

To each his own I guess.

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Also missing consistency in the game world. And dynamic change - but there's only been a handful of studios who have figured that out.

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I agree OP. The opening cutscene with Lamar is incredibly misleading in terms of what to expect later on.

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The online story is your life online as you progress through various missions, unlocks, meet new contacts, earn rewards etc etc.

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story is just about the least important thing in replayability of gta games. It's the open world and options provided with in. Any time I go back to an old gta i don't play through the story again, I pick up all the crap I unlocked after beating the game and jack around with it.

 

 

personally this is what kept me coming back to previous titles, i love open world games and having the freedom to do what i want, it has always frustrated me about some linear games that i can see somewhere id like to explore and its jsut a texture that you cant reach, making the world seem flat and dull..

 

GTA titles have always given a freedom to explore and do things i cant in real life... i don't NEED a story to be able to enjoy 400 hours of online gameplay with GTAO...... but i do think it would be a huge addition to the gameplay experience and i would welcome it (the same as i have for any new content so far)....

 

i would love to see more gang based interaction, this is LS after all...

 

 

 

I agree OP. The opening cutscene with Lamar is incredibly misleading in terms of what to expect later on.

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Mr. Muramasa

There is a story. Your a random bloke from out of state, and your gonna become the Master Criminal of Los Santos, and you just happen to be forced to rely upon a gangster, a sane drug dealer, a credit fraud car dealer, a shady tech geek, an insane drug dealer and his business partner (if thats what you can call Ron), a private military force, and a couple insurance companies to become the master.

 

Its the kind of story that isn't actually a story, but rather the motivating drive you have to grind on Coveted and Rooftop Rumble for the 4000th time that day.

 

Sarcasm aside, GTA O is fine the way it is. It doesn't need a story. It needs room to grow what it has already. and what it has is cars, guns, missions, and is promising heists.

 

 

story is just about the least important thing in replayability of gta games. It's the open world and options provided with in. Any time I go back to an old gta i don't play through the story again, I pick up all the crap I unlocked after beating the game and jack around with it.

 

I'll give you a game of Monopoly. Here's all the property and all the playing pieces and all the money. You can push the car around the playing board all day long. And you're happy with that game?

 

To each his own I guess.

 

 

What kind of pathetic example is that. Monopoly is a square board, San Andreas is an expansive state that I haven't even fully traversed yet, and to this day still have some trouble remembering where everything is. If you want to compare THAT to a piece of cardboard, then be my guest, but my god you need help regarding your way of thinking.

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ShinobiFixer

There should have been a story, where our decisions mattered and affected something. Finishing storylines should give us rewards based on our playstyle, strengthening our playstyles. Perks, special abilities, allegiances, business opportunities (legal or illegal), things that would make each and every one of us unique talent wise.....

 

Would make the World dynamic with different players with different skills... would be cool to meet different players with different specialties.

 

Plus the story would have to be well thought out. I'm thinking more in the lines of Fallout and Skyrim type storylines.

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There is a story. Your a random bloke from out of state, and your gonna become the Master Criminal of Los Santos, and you just happen to be forced to rely upon a gangster, a sane drug dealer, a credit fraud car dealer, a shady tech geek, an insane drug dealer and his business partner (if thats what you can call Ron), a private military force, and a couple insurance companies to become the master.

 

Its the kind of story that isn't actually a story, but rather the motivating drive you have to grind on Coveted and Rooftop Rumble for the 4000th time that day.

 

Sarcasm aside, GTA O is fine the way it is. It doesn't need a story. It needs room to grow what it has already. and what it has is cars, guns, missions, and is promising heists.

 

 

story is just about the least important thing in replayability of gta games. It's the open world and options provided with in. Any time I go back to an old gta i don't play through the story again, I pick up all the crap I unlocked after beating the game and jack around with it.

 

I'll give you a game of Monopoly. Here's all the property and all the playing pieces and all the money. You can push the car around the playing board all day long. And you're happy with that game?

 

To each his own I guess.

 

 

What kind of pathetic example is that. Monopoly is a square board, San Andreas is an expansive state that I haven't even fully traversed yet, and to this day still have some trouble remembering where everything is. If you want to compare THAT to a piece of cardboard, then be my guest, but my god you need help regarding your way of thinking.

 

People grind Coveted for money and XP, but for what? You're not unlocking anything new. You're not reaching any goal. You're definitely not taking over the world. What's the difference? Sure it's a lot deeper, but the reality is the same. You own all the property and all the money, what's left? You are right about one thing. There is a lot more inter player interaction in Monopoly than GTA. It's unfortunate that you can't see that either.

 

For instance, I own every vehicle in the game, my 2 garages are full of cars and I'm way over 120th level. I have spent so little money that I have millions amassed from playing with friends. All I do in lobbies is run into grieving tanks and bored players who all they do is glitch stuff because they have nothing better to do. Thankfully I have friends that do car shows and other fun stuff to actually keep it interesting, but it's gotten so bad that people are blowing each other up to see if they can get their character into a hoop at the basketball range and you don't think that's a massive fail? That is super lack of content.

 

Yup, I made 120th level, tons of money, 9:1 k/d and over 1,000 race wins. I've won. No point in playing anymore. Seriously I was bored at level 30. By that level I had higher level friends who had hosted every race and every mission and I kept asking myself, what was the point after that and the answer is there is none.

 

If everything everyone is saying is true then why don't we just open GTA 5 with no characters, no story, no nothing. It'll just be us standing in the game shooting each other. Done! And that game wouldn't sell. I'm not saying you did the Kifflom missions, but they are there when you get bored or need more money or just want to have fun.

 

Since everyone seems to be missing the point at the end I said the world isn't going to change. It would still be open world, just like GTA 5 where you could just run around and go nuts. All I've suggested is adding a "story" that GTA 5 has and GTA Online doesn't.

 

Then I suggested using the Nemesis and Crew stuff better and I'm amazed, no flabberghasted that anyone could disagree with that and it makes me understand why R* screwed up... because they listened to their fans.

There should have been a story, where our decisions mattered and affected something. Finishing storylines should give us rewards based on our playstyle, strengthening our playstyles. Perks, special abilities, allegiances, business opportunities (legal or illegal), things that would make each and every one of us unique talent wise.....

 

Would make the World dynamic with different players with different skills... would be cool to meet different players with different specialties.

 

Plus the story would have to be well thought out. I'm thinking more in the lines of Fallout and Skyrim type storylines.

 

Exactly. Thanks for understanding.

Edited by vipprimo
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What story would you need for online?

 

Your character is a friend of Lamar on Lifeinvader. He travels to Los Santos, meets him and starts working in the criminal world with him and other characters.

 

Nothing else is needed

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XxX19Dude95XxX

I'm not going to lie but when games try to make online have a story it takes away some things, look at halo 4 you can not play as elites because its just a simulation on a ship, with no elites on it so it would not make sense to be an elite but it also takes away something from the game, just because it won't fit with the story you can also say the same thing about the whole realism in games.

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Mr. Muramasa

(long comment, so to keep things short, this space has been cleared out)

 

Alot of what you said is exaggerated in some form. Just to clarify though, you can only ever have one property per character.

 

Anyways, people do Coveted/Rooftop Rumble because they need money, simple as that, but people also do other missions, even if they pay horribly, just for the joy of it. I know I do, and I know a few players who did in the past.

 

Also what kind of lobbies are you getting into to see players doing stuff like that.

 

Besides the point, but anyways, you can't "win" GTA O, you also can't complete GTA O, and especially you can never become the best at GTA O, and I know you didn't bring it up, but I know for a fact that you probably think its possible just because of your K:D ratio, money, vehicles, and whatever else.

 

You don't make a good game by telling people to run around and kill each other, which is one of the reasons I'm not a fan of FPS's. GTA V/O is a good game because you do more than that, even without a story. You race people, you can golf, you can arm wrestle, I think theres darts, you can just cruise around, you can show off, you can basically do a lot of things that would get you killed in real life. and Online gets the most praise for that because the most story your going to get is the reason your in San Andreas, otherwise online is just handing you a gun and telling you which idiots to kill next.

 

Its also about the player interaction. Survival is always a fun thing to do, as are the deathmatches, and the contact missions have left some memories.

 

...you know what, no, GTA O does NOT need a story, it is fine with what it has and what it promises. it is a good goddamn game and I'm happy with it, and if you aren't happy with it just because there isn't a story, then oh well, better go read a book, because those are just FULL of stories.

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Mr. Muramas,

You are so correct. In fact, if you own one property with 10 cars... you own them all because they all look the same, but lets not get into that as its a whole other can of worms. I'm also not going to get into what happens in lobbies. They are so painful and since I posted the lobbies won't change then it's also irrelevant.

 

You should learn from your own example on the exaggeration. I have done missions for the "fun of it" and I still try to push people to do more than Rumble, albeit ineffectively because they're bored. Seriously, you and your friends go back and host up an old "Blow Up" mission just for the heck of it? I highly doubt that. How many times do I have to do the same old mission with the same results, money?

 

What if it was a three part mission with cut scenes that resulted in you having access to a cool unique car and another chain of missions to unlock another car? And make it repeatable! I have a feeling I'd be doing that mission over and over and wouldn't even care about the car! I would help other people do it and I would feel like I "accomplished" something. Of course, that's not "winning" at GTAO, but it's a lot more fulfilling than just, "hey, you're level 60, you can buy a tank now and rage in the lobby."

 

When did I reference a game that is going around killing each other? Yet, you are right, that's what you got here. I even chuckled when you mentioned arm wrestling. I received one invite to arm wrestle and when I showed up the guy left. And really, who do you "show off" too. Come on. Again, the results are money. Now, what if you had a Street Racing Championship like in GTA 5 that Franklin has that you race one race and unlock another. Hardly any cut scenes there and still I feel I have to do every one of them and at the end you get a trophy or a car or maybe that is how you unlock the upgrades? Accomplishment again! Instead people trade wins on these forums to get them and they pick the shortest race to do it.

 

And like I said in my initial post that must've failed to read. Generic missions wouldn't change. There is a place for grinding and Death Matches, and even Survival, even . I'm not saying take those out. I'm saying add too. Never in the history of mankind has someone added good content to something and people complained, yet here you are doing it.

 

You're right. This game doesn't need a story. It's done rather well without one. I can tell you're trolling at this point though because it hasn't given what it promised. That's okay because it still did okay. Now imagine what it could've been with one...

 

Who said I wasn't happy? Maybe I'm making this post because I'm happy and I feel the game could be even more! I love reading books. Then the book becomes a movie. Then the book becomes a television show. Wait, the whole world revolves around... stories! Holy hell I'm a revolutionary! Heck most successful video games even become movies... oh yea, because they're all stories and people like, the story! Sigh.

 

Seriously the world can't be this bad.

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beat_savy_9

OP, I like the string theory idea you posit, but if you want the story, ask Jerry :)

 

 

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We were told that the "events" in Online took place a brief while before the SP story. What does that matter if there's no story?

Come on people, most games of this nature have, at least, a very basic storyline.

The way it is now; Lamar is my buddy and I moved to LS to be a criminal. The End.

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I remember before GTA:O came out, in an interview, R* said that they were trying to create a game where a player could replay the same mission over and over and not get bored. Now they're trying to remove the options to replay missions. I would have been fine if the online had a bit of a story, not a big one, just something.

 

Edit: What i'm saying is i'm ok with no story, but bring back the quick replay option after missions. Come on R* I still have faith in you.

Edited by develvis
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Yup the online lacks progression and it sucks because of it. The online game needs a story.

 

The thing is ever since gta3 one of the biggest things players and fans have wanted is multiplayer a chance to play the story with friends. Even in vice city forums accross the internet where screaming why can't my friend play as lance in guardian angels. In san andreas it was the same why cant my friends play as sweet in gang attacks or story missions. And again in gta 4 why cant friends pkay as little jacob and hang with you on missions. And in the earlier days if 5s development when they nentioned the 3 characters in the story players were hopeful of coop I could play as franklin my friend plays as Michael or something like that. And then when it was discovered itnwouldnt work that way. Then players hopes transferred to gta online to provide that experience that players have been seeking for many years.

 

So yeah gta online needs a story that people can progress through with there friends and actually get a long lasring sense if progression.

 

That said some gamers are happy with cheap and pointless pvp battles but I personally like the things I do in games to have some form of meaning or impact. So yeah gta needs some real progression in it as at the minute its all just circles and it gets boring fast. But some players like that as it means they can dick around and not fall behind

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ShinobiFixer

We were told that the "events" in Online took place a brief while before the SP story. What does that matter if there's no story?

Come on people, most games of this nature have, at least, a very basic storyline.

The way it is now; Lamar is my buddy and I moved to LS to be a criminal. The End.

 

Even then, we can't even chill with Lamar. I don't even know where that fool lives. He never even hits me up to kick it or nothing.

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We were told that the "events" in Online took place a brief while before the SP story. What does that matter if there's no story?

Come on people, most games of this nature have, at least, a very basic storyline.

The way it is now; Lamar is my buddy and I moved to LS to be a criminal. The End.

Even then, we can't even chill with Lamar. I don't even know where that fool lives. He never even hits me up to kick it or nothing.

He's probably still upset about losing that race.
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JOEsAGGRESSIVE

I agree with you OP. Wish there was a story for my character. I was also very excited about the whole Lamar cut scene in the beginning and then with Gerald when Lamar introduces you to this new contact. I'm thinking holy sh*t this really is the most ambitious game R* has ever put out. I'm still hoping that someday it will be.(like when heists come out lol)

 

But that being said I still play the game(not that often) just so mainly to troll in FR now.

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I disagree. I play multiplayer for the gameplay, not the story.

 

Oh, please, I think I can speak for everyone and anyone in this forum when I say, if the game play sucks no amount of story will ever fix it. So please don't get me wrong when it comes to that.

 

You have to start with good game play. So, I hope that everyone here agrees that the game play is at least acceptable in GTA:O, or at least I think it is.

 

That's the beauty of the idea. Adding in the story wouldn't take away from anyone who is just here for the game play. If all you want is TDM and Racing this wouldn't effect you at all, other than adding a couple of seconds of video maybe.

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