How rockstar is (cleverly) scamming us

[CrysisAverted]

You want a scam? College textbooks.

 

f*ck this boils my blood

"exclusive cheaper [your school edition] versions of textbooks that you can't find used and are rarer because "exclusive"

and f*cking professors selling you their textbooks that you often will never f*cking used

 

 

da f*ck

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anyways I'm surprised people still don't understand R* is a business and isn't your best friend willing to give you their kidney

Though I wish R* did more freebie like Beach Bum

Edited February 8, 2016 by CrysisAverted

[Arrows to Athens]

I fail to see the scam in this?

 

 

you know how damned boring the game would be if they gave us millions upon millions when we completed heists? yay! I owned everything? ...... hmmm what now? oh this game is boring now wah waah waaaaah

It wouldn't be boring for me, so that notion doesn't carry any weight.

[LSPDOfficerJohnson]

Rockstar is a company of greed. Everywhere you look there are examples of it. A great example is the small bank in paleto bay in story mode paying a ton of money, BUT THE LARGEST BANK IN LOS SANTOS IN ONLINE PAYS 1,250,000 ON HARD?!?!?! I believe that heists are rockstars fools gold. They tempt you with promise of big pay and money but really they're just a load of crap. During heists 90% of the time you either fail or someone quits. so first off, rockstar is scamming you because their heists don't pay nearly enough. My second point on how they are scamming you is by inflating the prices from story mode to online. In story mode you can see that most prices are cheaper than online. They are hoping that by inflating their prices that you will buy a quick shark card to get cash and afford their outrageous prices (10k for a shirt? Cmon man!) a third way I believe they are scamming us is by making the jobs pay less. They knew rooftop rumble and coveted (remember those) were making us rich and I'll bet my a$$ that shark card sales were at an all time low so they figured hey if we make it hard as heck to earn cash they will have to buy money and if they glitch we can ban them! This really dissapoints me because I always thought rockstar was above this micro transaction bs but I was wrong. Anyway I felt this was necessary because as the ill gotten gains part 2 approaches we all need to be wary that the prices are gonna be beyond expensive because rockstar will just feed us some "special luxury item bs" do you feel the same way about rockstar?

 

In order to make an intelligent argument, I need to break down each of your points:

 

1) While I also believe that R* is a company of greed as well, it is really Take Two who is pulling the strings. R* are just their reluctant underlings.

 

2) You are talking about two different heists; one is in SP and one is in MP (MP = GTA: O). The one in SP is supposed to be an expensive haul because you need to make funds to pay for the FIB or something. The Paleto Score is supposed to make you feel like you are walking away with a large haul but the irony of just about every heist (except for the Big Score) is that you walk away with a lot but are paid very little. With MP, the concept extends. The reason you don't get so much is because you split 1,250,000 4 different ways.

 

1,250,000 / 4 = 312,500

 

...but that's if it is split evenly at 25% and you don't lose any of the cash. Since the host, the heist organizer, doesn't get paid during the setup missions, he/she actually loses money until the final heist, which is why he/she skews the "split" unevenly, but this is fair whether you believe so or not. R* does not want you to get a lot of money, so you do not get more than 1,250,000, and this is for the obvious reason that gaining too much money too quickly will result in an unbalance. An unbalance will then distort the notion of actually participating in anything else but the one event that earns a player a large sum of money, and this is what R* tries to avoid. R* wants us to try everything MP has to offer and not just stick to one specific event. They also don't want us gaining too much too quickly or the game becomes too easy and they don't get a chance to encourage you to buy shark cards (yes; I went there. Deal with it.).

 

3) The reason players quit or fail is due to many variables that I can't even list all of them. A big variable that comes into play is lag. Lag is one of the main reasons for players disconnecting during heists and it's made worse by R*'s servers that handle the requests inefficiently. Another factor is player failure. You get this when you play with randoms. That is because there is a distinct lack of cooperation and teamwork. While you can argue that the heists do not require teamwork, it still is helpful. As a result of a lack of teamwork and cooperation, players are basically "lone wolves" and take on each task by themselves, and if you are playing on hard, you better bring brains to the filed rather than brawn. Those marksmanship AI don't care how much armor you have stocked up. They'll drain it in a few shots. Teamwork and cover are better methods.

 

4) I partially agree with you here. I do think that the prices are jacked up just to encourage you to buy shark cards, but, apparently I'm told, this is the design for most MMO games.

 

5) Back to my previous point here; R* does not want you fixated on one mission entirely. They want you to explore EVERYTHING. If one mission pays higher than others, by MP's design, you need money to fully enjoy MP. Therefore, by logic, players will stick to the missions that pay the most. R* decreases the payouts so that all others look equal again and not just on mission takes dominance over the others. It is not necessarily scamming at this point; it is game balancing.

 

6) You'd be foolish to believe that R* would be "beyond this microtransaction bs". This seems to be the model that most online games are taking, so it was apparent that R* would eventually take up this design too. Also, like I stated before, R* is under Take Two and it is Take Two that are really pulling the strings. The whole idea of GTA: O is that you are criminal that works his way up from the gutter to millions of dollars and expensive lifestyles. The theme of GTA: O is "from rags to riches". This is why everything is overpriced and why playing missions are so low on payout. R* wants you to feel like an accomplished criminal and that you have "made it in their virtual reality of Los Santos". The problem is that we, the players, are somewhat impatient and are used to the model that GTA: IV followed; GTA: Iv did not worry about transactions or money for that matter. Money was nearly a way to increase your rank and was considered a stat more than anything. Everything was given to us in a "sandbox-esqe" game design. Now, with GTA: O, R* has expanded on that and has changed up their Online formula much to the dissatisfaction of the players.

 

Why I feel the same way about R* is some of your arguments, I disagree with your other points and I have explained why.

 

TL;DR version:

1) Take Two is really the one pulling the strings and coming up with this "microtransaction bs model" that is GTA: O. R* are just their underlings.

 

2) Heists follow a theme of risking a lot for very little. This theme is present in both Story Mode and online. Even if you split 1,250,000 4 ways, you only get 312,500.

 

3) You aren't being scammed. Player failure and lag are two very big variables that come into play when introducing randoms into heists. This model lacks cooperation and teamwork, which are key components to completing heists efficiently.

 

4) I partially agree with you, but this apparently is the model for MMO-type games now.

 

5) R* wants you to explore GTA: O for everything it has and not be fixated on one particular mission (heists included), activity, or event. Decreasing payouts is not scamming but a form of game balancing.

 

6) R* and Take Two would eventually have taken up this MMO design to Online. Your goal is to become a criminal living a lavish lifestyle and earning millions. Missions have low payouts to make you feel more accomplished once you finally make over a million dollars. Also, items are expensive to give you that feeling even more. It's just the theme of the game. Players may find dissatisfaction in it due to being used to GTA: IV's MP model, but times have changed and this is what MP has become. We can choose to accept it or we can show our dissatisfaction for it, but either way, this is what we have now.

 

NOTE: If you actually read EVERYTHING I typed, kudos to you. I'm sorry but I type a lot due to years of practice in typing, debating, and essay writing.

Edited February 8, 2016 by LSPDOfficerJohnson