GTA What went wrong?

[elscuberino]

I've been a long time lurker here and as time goes on the worse the fan base gets. I hate to admit it but GTA has been over run by kids under 17 who first started playing GTA at SA,Stories, or even IV. I believe the series is going downhill and the fan base has a lot to do with it. R* listens to whoever is talking, and the only ones that are talking are young kids. I want to address some common misconceptions/questions around this forum.

 

1. GTA wasn't always a big hit in gaming. I remember back in the days of III/VC serious gamers didnt appreciate GTA. The consensus was GTA didn't have a deep story, had weak gameplay, and only appealed to 13 year olds. I'm not saying GTA didnt have a legacy, but at that particular time period being a hardcore GTA fan took a lot of explaining. It seems everyone today loves GTA.

 

2. San Andreas is the best game evar!!11 While i admit SA is guilty of getting the most gameplay hours from me (100% 3 times) its still not the best in my opinion. like i said earlier, this forum and the internet is infested with kids whos first GTA was SA. They are the only ones who spread their opinions around and most of those opinions are purely based off nostalgia. GTA SA had plenty of flaws, some of which upset veteran GTA players. When SA was released a lot of people complained it had too many RPG elements, took itself too seriously, and had a drawn out story among others. Just because it was your first GTA doesnt make it the best GTA.

 

3. Where's the loyalty?! During IVs lifespan it was extremely rare to find people praising it. It got so much hate it was unreal. No one could wait till V. Now that V is out, everyone hates it and talks about how great IV was. im totally lost as to why this happens.

 

4. Stories. Why weren't the Stories released on PC/Xbox? Why wasnt there a SA stories? First off the stories were never intended to be part of the III universe. Sony and R* had a good relation (contracts i believe too) so when Sony released the PSP it needed games. R* made GTA games exclusively for Sonys new PSP to help sales. To increase R* sales they were released on Ps2 as well. but ultimately these stories games were made for portable console and thats it. They dont carry the weight the trilogy had because they were intended as spin offs for a less demanding portable console. By the time SAS was due, the PSP was old news and R* had IV to worry about. Im sorry if you think the stories were main titles in the series deserving a PC port.

 

end rant.

Edited December 12, 2014 by elscuberino

[American Viking]

I've been a long time lurker here and as time goes on the worse the fan base gets. I hate to admit it but GTA has been over run by kids under 17 who first started playing GTA at SA,Stories, or even IV. I believe the series is going downhill and the fan base has a lot to do with it. R* listens to whoever is talking, and the only ones that are talking are young kids. I want to address some common misconceptions/questions around this forum.

 

1. GTA wasn't always a big hit in gaming. I remember back in the days of III/VC serious gamers didnt appreciate GTA. The consensus was GTA didn't have a deep story, had weak gameplay, and only appealed to 13 year olds. I'm not saying GTA didnt have a legacy, but at that particular time period being a hardcore GTA fan took a lot of explaining. It seems everyone today loves GTA.

 

2. San Andreas is the best game evar!!11 While i admit SA is guilty of getting the most gameplay hours from me (100% 3 times) its still not the best in my opinion. like i said earlier, this forum and the internet is infested with kids whos first GTA was SA. They are the only ones who spread their opinions around and most of those opinions are purely based off nostalgia. GTA SA had plenty of flaws, some of which upset veteran GTA players. When SA was released a lot of people complained it had too many RPG elements, took itself too seriously, and had a drawn out story among others. Just because it was your first GTA doesnt make it the best GTA.

 

3. Where's the loyalty?! During IVs lifespan it was extremely rare to find people praising it. It got so much hate it was unreal. No one could wait till V. Now that V is out, everyone hates it and talks about how great IV was. im totally lost as to why this happens.

 

4. Stories. Why weren't the Stories released on PC/Xbox? Why wasnt there a SA stories? First off the stories were never intended to be part of the III universe. Sony and R* had a good relation (contracts i believe too) so when Sony released the PSP it needed games. R* made GTA games exclusively for Sonys new PSP to help sales. To increase R* sales they were released on Ps2 as well. but ultimately these stories games were made for portable console and thats it. They dont carry the weight the trilogy had because they were intended as spin offs for a less demanding portable console. By the time SAS was due, the PSP was old news and R* had IV to worry about. Im sorry if you think the stories were main titles in the series deserving a PC port.

 

end rant.

1) My first GTA game was actually the first one, but what really sold the series to me was GTA III. I can agree that the series did not take off until San Andreas.

 

2) Vice City was a great game but it's merely a person's opinion on which one they like best, so it shouldn't bother you if they think SA is the best game "evar"!! I know it was at the time.

 

3) Think of this like a girlfriend. You just don't know what you've got until it's gone.

 

4) I only play the main games.

Edited December 12, 2014 by American Alpha

[cryptorelic]

 

I've been a long time lurker here and as time goes on the worse the fan base gets. I hate to admit it but GTA has been over run by kids under 17 who first started playing GTA at SA,Stories, or even IV. I believe the series is going downhill and the fan base has a lot to do with it. R* listens to whoever is talking, and the only ones that are talking are young kids. I want to address some common misconceptions/questions around this forum.

 

1. GTA wasn't always a big hit in gaming. I remember back in the days of III/VC serious gamers didnt appreciate GTA. The consensus was GTA didn't have a deep story, had weak gameplay, and only appealed to 13 year olds. I'm not saying GTA didnt have a legacy, but at that particular time period being a hardcore GTA fan took a lot of explaining. It seems everyone today loves GTA.

 

2. San Andreas is the best game evar!!11 While i admit SA is guilty of getting the most gameplay hours from me (100% 3 times) its still not the best in my opinion. like i said earlier, this forum and the internet is infested with kids whos first GTA was SA. They are the only ones who spread their opinions around and most of those opinions are purely based off nostalgia. GTA SA had plenty of flaws, some of which upset veteran GTA players. When SA was released a lot of people complained it had too many RPG elements, took itself too seriously, and had a drawn out story among others. Just because it was your first GTA doesnt make it the best GTA.

 

3. Where's the loyalty?! During IVs lifespan it was extremely rare to find people praising it. It got so much hate it was unreal. No one could wait till V. Now that V is out, everyone hates it and talks about how great IV was. im totally lost as to why this happens.

 

4. Stories. Why weren't the Stories released on PC/Xbox? Why wasnt there a SA stories? First off the stories were never intended to be part of the III universe. Sony and R* had a good relation (contracts i believe too) so when Sony released the PSP it needed games. R* made GTA games exclusively for Sonys new PSP to help sales. To increase R* sales they were released on Ps2 as well. but ultimately these stories games were made for portable console and thats it. They dont carry the weight the trilogy had because they were intended as spin offs for a less demanding portable console. By the time SAS was due, the PSP was old news and R* had IV to worry about. Im sorry if you think the stories were main titles in the series deserving a PC port.

 

end rant.

1) My first GTA game was actually the first one, but what really sold the series to me was GTA III. I can agree that the series did not take off until San Andreas.

 

2) Don't complain about "kids" on this forum and then write like one. "Evar"!!...really. I actually come to these forums bc I find most of it's users to be respectful and true GTA fans. If you're looking for your kids then go to Youtube.

 

3) Think of this like a girlfriend. You just don't know what you've got until it's gone.

 

4) I only play the main games.

 

So true about number three, so sadly f*cking true, AmericanAlpha !

Edited December 12, 2014 by Florz

[woggleman]

Gamers and people in general have gone downhill.

 

 

As for number three gamers are like your girlfriend or boyfriend who has perpetual grass is greener syndrome. They scream and they shout how they want things changed then when things do change they want it the way it was before. Chances are the same cycle will repeat when VI is released. I also agree R just needs to do their thing and stop listening to outside influences.

[The Dedito Gae]

Glad to know the op is not raiden1018

 

3. Where's the loyalty?! During IVs lifespan it was extremely rare to find people praising it. It got so much hate it was unreal. No one could wait till V. Now that V is out, everyone hates it and talks about how great IV was. im totally lost as to why this happens.

 

 

This

Also you have to accept that the gta fanclub is not a place where only older members are allowed, some "newcomers" arrived at IV and played the rest of the games and are actually quite mature

 

we are talking about a videogame here, it's expected to atract a lot of dumb kids.

Edited December 12, 2014 by Midnight Hitman

[Osho]

The main issue is they are gradually falling into the direction of the magnetic crowd of filthy casuals, and modern gaming noobs who f*cking think that the only reason behind plenty of fanloving for GTA SA is just based off nostalgia and nothing more, nothing less.

Same thing is also apparent with many new releases of my other favorite franchises; Thief 4, Far Cry 3/4, Hitman Absolution, Mafia 2, and the Deux Ex HR. For one thing, these games are an ass compared to their originals, and yes, even GTA V is a major letdown for me, the way they have chopped down the single-player gaming experience so they can sell the ONLINE, no matter whether people agree to it or not.

Its the overall gameplay, and good enjoyable replayability from variety of things to do that made GTA stand out from the rest of the open world games for me, and is one of the most important area for my assessment in playing their each new game and continue fir several hours, and months.

This time, again, I was disappointed. I even discounted the uninteresting story and the missing features, as well as their addition of ONLINE, but it still fell short by a big margin.

The graphics, the cutscenes and the overall details of the city are still superb, but even if these fell short, I'd still love the game if the gameplay was extraordinary.

When I first played GTA 2, I was hooked on to the concept and expected something quite interesting, but nothing extraordinary in terms of graphics, and details. It impressed me with the strong gameplay, and eventually made me fan of the series. From that day onwards, I've only expected improvements to the same kind of amazing experience each release, so calling these fans as stuck in nostalgia for something they are able to enjoy more than new releases is an absolute bullsh*t and nonsense IMO.

Why do you think the kickstarter Projects for Pillars of Eternity, Wasteland 2, etc were so successfully funded?

Because there's a crowd that always be a sucker for another dose of such games, that is impressive and very easy to get into with the atmosphere, the gameplay style, and the content makes a good impression on them to this day over fancy graphics, and empty long detailed maps like GTA V lacking great amount of depth into the variety of things available, list of things to do is short, and the gameplay nowhere near as satisfying to waste their precious time ( not everyone is so careless to not value their time spent ) as the amount of fun possible with the old games, and the majority of the characters are just not interesting at all, the city is boring to drive after certain days, weeks and even months as compared to GTA SA, irrespective of the good looks and details.

I tried rediscovering GTA V as much as possible, but so far I'm not enjoying it among many other reasons already discussed before.

Rockstar has changed over the years, but not for the better.

Therefore I only wish they try to keep a nice balance between a wider audience and the long time fans who made them to be so popular, and successful in the first place.

[RedDagger]

I've been a long time lurker here and as time goes on the worse the fan base gets. I hate to admit it but GTA has been over run by kids under 17 who first started playing GTA at SA,Stories, or even IV. I believe the series is going downhill and the fan base has a lot to do with it.

Starting off, this a problem almost anything has; as a series gets more popular, it gains more attention from those who are...less inclined to look at the series as the earlier fans did - the ones who may describe themselves as having at least an ounce of maturity, and a smattering of professionalism, when it comes to general opinions and discussion, appreciating the depth and finer points of the series. They say, anyway.

 

Basically, it pulls in all the people who like the pretty cars, explosions and guns. They generally aren't looking for the same thing as the older fans, but there's more of them, so...guess who gets priority.

 

...its still not the best in my opinion. like i said earlier, this forum and the internet is infested with kids whos first GTA was SA. They are the only ones who spread their opinions around and most of those opinions are purely based off nostalgia.

See, you said yourself that that's in your opinion. There's nothing wrong with people thinking it's the best, because that's how subjective ideas work.

 

Anyway, the entire bit I quoted applies to any game - it's infested with people whose first game was IV/V/III/VC etc. and with the huge popularity gained by V, there's probably a majority whose first was V, and that's the only one they've played.

All of them spread their opinion around, and it's not just based off of nostalgia - this just looks like thinly-veiled SA bashing. There's nothing SA specific here, it just seems you used SA because you don't think it deserves the praise it has. Oh well.

 

Apart from that, I agree with the other stuff. The GTA fanbase just ain't the same, and that brings Rockstar along with them...

[MrDeSanta]

I think that 2 GTA titles are responsible for puting a GTA franchise in the top of the games;

1. VC

2. SA

 

These two games were such a blast when they came out that even the people who didn`t like previous GTAs started to paying atention to it.

And after playing these two games and seeing what the real meaning of "open world game" is then GTA`s way to the top began.

 

And those 2 titles were so unforgetable that the gamers follow the GTA current and buy every next title in the hopes they would have as much fun as they had back then with VC and SA.

 

Of course the feeling will never be the same again but it can still surprise us.

 

In short; it mainly depends on the personal taste but 1 thing are for sure;

1.) Loyal hardcore GTA gamers will never turn their backs from GTA games, they will always buy every new title with hype, because they will never forget how good it was when they started the real GTA experience with VC and SA were.

Will they be disapointed? Hard to tell, it mainly depends on personal taste but the feeling will never be the same.

 

I`m far from being nostalgic or anything or but even i can admit that no GTA ever (including my favourite one- V) wont be able to recreate that unique blast we had with VC and SA back in the days. Because those days are gone.

[Kafonix]

I personally started with SA, that is an awesome game, continued with V and then finally bought EFLC.

Now, I like EFLC the best and V the least.

For me, the problem isn't the fanbase from SA times but the little kids that started GTA with V.

[MrDeSanta]

I personally started with SA, that is an awesome game, continued with V and then finally bought EFLC.

Now, I like EFLC the best and V the least.

For me, the problem isn't the fanbase from SA times but the little kids that started GTA with V.

I`m always asking myself whether these kids who`ve started with V have the same feelings than our generation (25+) had wen we started with 3D era.

Do they have the same unique feelings about GTA? Probably not but not because V wouldn`t be good game but mainly because they probably played plenty of open world games before V so they can`t apreciate it so much.

 

The generation who started with 3D era 10-12 years back had a huge advantage since there were very little open world games aside from GTA back then so that could be one reason.

[tranceking26]

I started from GTA 1 and have kept loyal to the series ever since. Every main GTA game that's come out I have enjoyed, even though I don't play video games as much now.

 

I didn't pick up LCS and VCS till a fair bit after they came out but they are still great additions to the series. I was pleased when they came out for PS2. There wasn't a SA Stories because they were developing IV (I think)

 

The series is not really going downhill, but the market has changed, and R* had to cater for casual gamers and youngsters too. It's why V was different in some ways.

Edited December 12, 2014 by drr26

[DaWiesel]

The more popular a franchise gets the more people will be let down with a new game in the series. It's normal, so is all the complaining towards V. However it get's a bit annoying when some people try to sell their opinion, which is actually as meaningless as my, as a fact and start saying the series is going downhill just because of one game in the series. I can't remember but I'm sure there were a lot of people saying the same thing when IV came out, yet the series is far away from going downhill. We can talk about it when sales of GTA VI are doing clearly worse than V, which to be honest I hardly believe will happen.

Edited December 12, 2014 by DaWiesel

[elscuberino]

 

I've been a long time lurker here and as time goes on the worse the fan base gets. I hate to admit it but GTA has been over run by kids under 17 who first started playing GTA at SA,Stories, or even IV. I believe the series is going downhill and the fan base has a lot to do with it.

Starting off, this a problem almost anything has; as a series gets more popular, it gains more attention from those who are...less inclined to look at the series as the earlier fans did - the ones who may describe themselves as having at least an ounce of maturity, and a smattering of professionalism, when it comes to general opinions and discussion, appreciating the depth and finer points of the series. They say, anyway.

 

Basically, it pulls in all the people who like the pretty cars, explosions and guns. They generally aren't looking for the same thing as the older fans, but there's more of them, so...guess who gets priority.

 

...its still not the best in my opinion. like i said earlier, this forum and the internet is infested with kids whos first GTA was SA. They are the only ones who spread their opinions around and most of those opinions are purely based off nostalgia.

See, you said yourself that that's in your opinion. There's nothing wrong with people thinking it's the best, because that's how subjective ideas work.

 

Anyway, the entire bit I quoted applies to any game - it's infested with people whose first game was IV/V/III/VC etc. and with the huge popularity gained by V, there's probably a majority whose first was V, and that's the only one they've played.

All of them spread their opinion around, and it's not just based off of nostalgia - this just looks like thinly-veiled SA bashing. There's nothing SA specific here, it just seems you used SA because you don't think it deserves the praise it has. Oh well.

 

Apart from that, I agree with the other stuff. The GTA fanbase just ain't the same, and that brings Rockstar along with them...

 

I have nothing against SA as a game. What i dont like is 90% of the internet being unable to look at SA without rose colored nostalgia glasses. It was a great game, easily one of the best in the series. but V could have been so much better if people didnt keep pressing for SA v2.0. IV Wasn't a bad game, it was just unfairly compared to SA. people just need to let it go.

Edited December 12, 2014 by elscuberino

[MrDeSanta]

The more popular a franchise gets the more people will be let down with a new game in the series. It's normal, so is all the complaining towards V. However it get's a bit annoying when some people try to sell their opinion, which is actually as meaningless as my, as a fact and start saying the series is going downhill just because of one game in the series. I can't remember but I'm sure there were a lot of people saying the same thing when IV came out, yet the series is far away from going downhill. We can talk about it when sales of GTA VI are doing clearly worse than V, which to be honest I hardly believe will happen.

I`ve been reading a lots of forums and reviews on GTA games since 2007 and i still remember what they had to say about IV when it came out. It was taking a huge amount of negativism, even worse than V.

They said the same as they do now, "going downhill, GTA franchise is getting worse and worse" etc.

And now they say the same for V while they are starting to say IV was the last good GTA- when actually said the same when IV came out that SA is the last good GTA. And the same will be when VI will come out...

And so long.

 

In short i think that people will never be as happy with future GTAs as they were with VC and SA. Not that those 2 games were any better than IV and V but simply because of it`s originality.

[woggleman]

I have a feeling we are going to go through this with every new GTA,