Is the Abundabce of Everything Killing GTA Online

[BarryRiley]

I recently switched back to single player for another play through and I was surprised at how much more fun and rewarding it is to Online, which got me thinking about why.

 

One of the greatest things about GTA SP is the feeling of vulnerability, that you won't always get away and you won't always win. There's a thrill in trying to escape in a battered car with both front wheels pointing in the wrong direction. Also, escaping on foot before jacking the nearest decent car you can find, only to have to abandon it down the road when all the tires disappear. I actually found that I discovered many buildings I'd never seen before and areas I'd never explored because I wasn't speeding past in a hypercar.

 

However, online has none of that thrill. Within a short amount of time of playing, everyone on the map owns an armoured car with bullet proof tyres and yet somehow no decrease in speed. Fighting drug dealers can be done with a VTOL jet you inexplicably get delivered to the roof of a hospital and a fully armoured Karuma means you're as close to invincible as you're ever going to be.

 

GTA online seems to have become a victim of its rapid excess. It's become a bloated showground where the only person not flying a fighter jet is the guy who started playing yesterday.

 

For me, the easy availability of everything that just shouldn't be easily available has shortened the potential lifespan of Online and made it somewhat flat and lifeless recently.

 

I understand that there have got to be rewards for performing jobs and grinding heists, but allowing players to have fighter jets delivered instantly and tanks readily available to pick up from your local police department has taken what was fun out of GTA. All the things I find most thrilling in single player exist because I don't have access to an unlimited array of weaponry and vehicles.

 

What do you think? Should R* have grounded the game more in terms of how easy it becomes to access game changing elements? Could they have slowed the rewards system so that the ultimate rewards are reserved for only the top 1%?

[DarkSavageDeathlyCloud]

Shhhht....soon youre gonna get people complaining about freedom in the game

[Coleco]

I guess it's a double-curse of a persistent online game containing microtransactions and how entitled so many gamers seem to act nowadays. Too many people demand everything for the bare minimum of effort - you've only got to look at how many people openly admit to exploiting and glitching to see that this is the case.

 

I completely agree on the vulnerability being part of the fun. Every GTA game follows a similar pattern with me. When I start, I have nothing. Dragging myself up from the gutter with just enough cash for a lowly firearm and having to be resourceful is great - when you get your first big payoff, the sense of reward is amazing. The possibilities to upgrade and expand your arsenal and, in recent games, changing your vehicles / clothes / properties has huge appeal - I can't wait for the next game session. Pretty soon though the rewards come thick and fast, I accumulate millions in the bank and I become lazy, buying my way out of trouble. That's usually when the boredom sets in. I have everything I need, the challenge is reduced, and the incentives to play are harder to find.

 

I still play a lot of GTAO but I find myself in a routine - i'm doing the same things such as selling cars and robbing stores, but with so much money I know I don't have to. The dozens of weapons I own always have full ammo, I always have 10 bulletproof vests on hand, and if I need to get to the other side of the map, an attack chopper is just a phonecall away. Nothing requires any effort now.

 

I've definitely got my money's worth out of this game though, and for the most part it's been great... but i'm starting to feel like i've seen and done everything there is to offer in GTAO.