Paradox of Cash Card Justifiers

[darkgreenmeme]

No, OP is beyond right.

R* has this idea that releasing things at an immediate crazy price is good. Which is stupid. Which I expect from R*.

Take the yachts. For the first week or two, seas were filled. Piracy protection. Vip stuff. It was entertaining. Now? Empty yachts at see. If everyone got a shot at it, more people may have stayed with it. But no. They made it this infinite grind.

Which means people use legit and nonlegit ways to get cash but lose their motivation and the servers drop down in size a bit until another update. Eveuntally, that scheme will hopefully bite R* in the ass.

You're talking like everyone should be able to afford everything. That's not the game I want to play. Players that enjoy playing this game and put their time into it are the ones that deserve to have that stuff, and if you don't have the attention span or time, you can buy shark cards and pay for the next DLC.

 

The whining of the self-entitled can get really old.

[Raco49]

 

No, OP is beyond right.

R* has this idea that releasing things at an immediate crazy price is good. Which is stupid. Which I expect from R*.

Take the yachts. For the first week or two, seas were filled. Piracy protection. Vip stuff. It was entertaining. Now? Empty yachts at see. If everyone got a shot at it, more people may have stayed with it. But no. They made it this infinite grind.

Which means people use legit and nonlegit ways to get cash but lose their motivation and the servers drop down in size a bit until another update. Eveuntally, that scheme will hopefully bite R* in the ass.

You're talking like everyone should be able to afford everything. That's not the game I want to play. Players that enjoy playing this game and put their time into it are the ones that deserve to have that stuff, and if you don't have the attention span or time, you can buy shark cards and pay for the next DLC.

 

The whining of the self-entitled can get really old.

 

I agree, i really like it how you need to put some time to get yourself stuff in the game, and it doesn't even take long to earn some money. The heists DLC made it so much easier to make money than ever before. Some people have no idea how hard it was to earn money, before the heists DLC came out.

[Eggobites90]

So what, play the same heists repeatedly? If you are touting heist payouts as justification of high prices, then you have to be ready to advocate grinding heists.

[BigJoe_1]

 

No, OP is beyond right.

R* has this idea that releasing things at an immediate crazy price is good. Which is stupid. Which I expect from R*.

Take the yachts. For the first week or two, seas were filled. Piracy protection. Vip stuff. It was entertaining. Now? Empty yachts at see. If everyone got a shot at it, more people may have stayed with it. But no. They made it this infinite grind.

Which means people use legit and nonlegit ways to get cash but lose their motivation and the servers drop down in size a bit until another update. Eveuntally, that scheme will hopefully bite R* in the ass.

You're talking like everyone should be able to afford everything. That's not the game I want to play. Players that enjoy playing this game and put their time into it are the ones that deserve to have that stuff, and if you don't have the attention span or time, you can buy shark cards and pay for the next DLC.

 

The whining of the self-entitled can get really old.

He's not saying that everyone should be able to afford everything easily, he's saying that while the yachts are obviously for those who put effort in, they're still too expensive, the amount of effort required would simply be too much and would be less of a gaming session and more of a work session.

 

Think of it this way. There are a lot of rich people in this world that got where they are by doing something revolutionary or just through plain genius, ie Bill Gates. He got there through putting in effort by using his mind and taking advantage of the tools he had access to.

 

R* tried to implement a similar thing but with very expensive items, and obviously GTA is extremely limited in terms of variety compared to the real world. However the amount they cost is just too much to acquire with just plain effort, earning $10m in GTA would take very long time regardless of who you do heists with (assuming that you've already completed the criminal mastermind challenge, which I have), while those who buy shark cards can just get it immediately, without putting the effort in.

 

Put it this way you're starting from scratch, but the scratch lasts so long that it just fizzles away or something like that.

 

This might not be the best comparison but it's the best I could come up with.

Edited January 8, 2016 by BigJoe_1

[Raco49]

So what, play the same heists repeatedly? If you are touting heist payouts as justification of high prices, then you have to be ready to advocate grinding heists.

You don't really need to to a bunch of heists to make alot of money, you can make with just one Pacific Standard like 300k, and it takes like 1 hour to do the whole heist. The heists are fun and very different, so i like doing them

Edited January 7, 2016 by Raca49

[darkgreenmeme]

So what, play the same heists repeatedly? If you are touting heist payouts as justification of high prices, then you have to be ready to advocate grinding heists.

Only if you have a dull, boring mind and rigid in thought. There are countless ways to make money in this game, and if you can't figure out how, I don't know what to tell you.

[Eggobites90]

As an addition to my OP, here is my summary:

 

I am not against the existence of shark cards, but the way they exist currently is not preferable.

 

R* releases content with in-game prices blatantly greater than what they would be without potential shark card sales motivating them.

 

Many people justify this inflation by saying that GTAO is inherently fun, so casually playing and even grinding for money is fun.

 

But

 

They also say that without these inflated prices, the game wouldn't be as fun because they could afford everything too quickly.

 

In other words, the carrot on the stick is necessary to enjoying what they claimed was a fun game period...clearly not the case.

 

If you consider these people to be a straw man, because you do not personally hold those two beliefs, then I am not talking about you. Those "straw men" are not so, because they do exist.

 

(I did not conduct a scientific study, but through my own observation, enough people have expressed these beliefs for me to reasonably conclude that they are not merely a vocal minority).

 

I think it's sad that the grind/shark card fest that has been created actually convinces people that it's what they want.

 

If you really love playing jobs for days on end, then you would still love it if you didn't HAVE TO DO IT FOR MONEY.

 

So what, play the same heists repeatedly? If you are touting heist payouts as justification of high prices, then you have to be ready to advocate grinding heists.

Only if you have a dull, boring mind and rigid in thought. There are countless ways to make money in this game, and if you can't figure out how, I don't know what to tell you.

But if you say that making money before heists was cumbersome (and items are only becoming more expensive), then playing jobs that pay less efficiently than heists is cumbersome...

 

Sure you can have fun doing other jobs, but the bottom line is you are going to have to wait even longer to afford items that way compared to grinding heists.

[Raco49]

As an addition to my OP, here is my summary:

 

I am not against the existence of shark cards, but the way they exist currently is not preferable.

 

R* releases content with in-game prices blatantly greater than what they would be without potential shark card sales motivating them.

 

Many people justify this inflation by saying that GTAO is inherently fun, so casually playing and even grinding for money is fun.

 

But

 

They also say that without these inflated prices, the game wouldn't be as fun because they could afford everything too quickly.

 

In other words, the carrot on the stick is necessary to enjoying what they claimed was a fun game period...clearly not the case.

 

If you consider these people to be a straw man, because you do not personally hold those two beliefs, then I am not talking about you. Those "straw men" are not so, because they do exist.

 

(I did not conduct a scientific study, but through my own observation, enough people have expressed these beliefs for me to reasonably conclude that they are not merely a vocal minority).

 

I think it's sad that the grind/shark card fest that has been created actually convinces people that it's what they want.

 

If you really love playing jobs for days on end, then you would still love it if you didn't HAVE TO DO IT FOR MONEY.

 

So what, play the same heists repeatedly? If you are touting heist payouts as justification of high prices, then you have to be ready to advocate grinding heists.

Only if you have a dull, boring mind and rigid in thought. There are countless ways to make money in this game, and if you can't figure out how, I don't know what to tell you.

But if you say that making money before heists was cumbersome (and items are only becoming more expensive), then playing jobs that pay less efficiently than heists is cumbersome...

 

Sure you can have fun doing other jobs, but the bottom line is you are going to have to wait even longer to afford items that way compared to grinding heists.

 

Then do heists and stop complaining.

[customkingpimp]

I would be willing to bet OP still lives with mom and dad.

[Fail_At_GTA]

If you play the game for fun, you'll enjoy it.

 

If you play the game and consider it a grind, you wont enjoy it.

 

Oh forgot a major point. You guys do know Rockstar is a business, right? The goal of a business is not to lose money, its to make money. Cash cards are there for those who don't have the time/don't want to earn money. They also allow for free updates. If cash cards didn't exist we would have paid DLC or just none at all. Nobody is forcing you to buy cash cards, I personally never will buy them because I play the game for fun, which earns money in the process.

Edited January 7, 2016 by Fail_At_GTA

[Skeve613]

There's a balance between giving things so fast that the novelty is expended too quickly, and being so stingy with things that there's not enough novelty.

 

I don't think GTAO really hits that sweet spot as far as pricing in-game stuff is concerned, although I'd also maintain that this is only true of some things and not of others, but I do think the pacing of new content has generally managed to stay pretty close to it.

[Eggobites90]

I love this game, but after playing literally every available job 5+ times, I am lying to myself if I say it's for anything but money.

 

I just want to play free roam with all the expensive items and race sometimes.

[darkgreenmeme]

But if you say that making money before heists was cumbersome (and items are only becoming more expensive), then playing jobs that pay less efficiently than heists is cumbersome...

Sure you can have fun doing other jobs, but the bottom line is you are going to have to wait even longer to afford items that way compared to grinding heists.

It sounds like everything is cumbersome, tedious and boring to play, time to move onto another game? Edited January 7, 2016 by darkgreenmeme

[Raco49]

Earn money, buy yourself a car, and you can do races in freeroam. Problem fixed

Edited January 7, 2016 by Raca49

[Semaj 2JZ♢]

I would be willing to bet OP still lives with mom and dad.

As is everyone talking chit about shark cards and what they think they know about business models. It's beyond obvious when reading the moronic thought processes these kids come up with. It's almost laughable...

[Shaytan]

Sorry to jump here again to talk of something left behind a few hours ago but only now I was able to visit the forums again. Kat365 kept defending Rockstar could make a lot more from this game, and he would pay to play if such improvements were made. I actually agree with this, but there's multiple reasons for this to happen: GTA Online is actually free, since you pay for the SP game. When released Rockstar probably wasn't expecting the success it had, that's why the early Online days lacked so much content - devs didn't focused on the Online mode during the development. After the huge success it had, Rockstar clearly changed their goals and focused instead on the Online mode, as they officially stated, and released many new content for it, but, and I have to agree, there are some features that really should be fixed by now (the servers and the cheaters on PC and last gen to be more exact). Plus, I also agree some content is not that good or it is indeed good but not well used in game (free roam events are an interesting feature and more than half of them are quite challenging and nice, but others like driving the biggest distance backwards without hitting anything, or slide the biggest distance after jumping from a car in movement are just dumb imo, plus the ridiculously high price of some things like the supercars, lowriders parts or yachts). But still, I don't think we can deny GTA Online is a great game, with lots of potential, but with some flaws.

 

Actually, during my participation on this thread, I came up with a different point of view about the high prices of things in-game: they aren't exactly meant to be a money-catching feature (in part they are, but not totally), but instead a, way to limit you to get it, it's supposed to be a way to make you just get them as you progress in game (wait, keep reading, don't just throw at me "and you just figured that out now?" comments). Problem is, it only focus on the in-game cash as a progression factor. I think it would be way more interesting if all those overpriced things had more reasonable prices, but only got unlocked after achieving certain criteria. For example:

 

To unlock supercars, you had to win a certain number of races, they would unlock progressively, and ultimately you would unlock the Progen T20;

 

Lowrider parts would unlock as you pass Lamar's lowriders missions, and it should have some extra events like the lowriders' rhythm minigame from San Andreas that would also unlock part categories;

 

Yachts are the ultimate show-off feature of the game, so in order to get them you had to do something really skill demonstrating like passing the criminal mastermind achievement.

 

What you guys think?

[darkgreenmeme]

if all those overpriced things had more reasonable prices, but only got unlocked after achieving certain criteria.

Dubsta 6x6 is a rank 100 unlock. The heist DLC vehicles require completing certain heist finales and setups to unlock. Performance mods are unlocked by race wins, but are now also unlocked by rank for the driving challenged.

[Eggobites90]

I think you are about to be burned in effigy by these guys

[Shaytan]

 

if all those overpriced things had more reasonable prices, but only got unlocked after achieving certain criteria.

Dubsta 6x6 is a rank 100 unlock. The heist DLC vehicles require completing certain heist finales and setups to unlock. Performance mods are unlocked by race wins, but are now also unlocked by rank for the driving challenged.

And doesn't that feel way more acceptable rather than charging arround a million dollars for the Dubsta 6x6 or making extremely high prices for the apartments to prevent you to host heists for some time? Now I think about it, at least for me, it would make way more sense if everything worked like that.

[darkgreenmeme]

 

 

if all those overpriced things had more reasonable prices, but only got unlocked after achieving certain criteria.

Dubsta 6x6 is a rank 100 unlock. The heist DLC vehicles require completing certain heist finales and setups to unlock. Performance mods are unlocked by race wins, but are now also unlocked by rank for the driving challenged.

And doesn't that feel way more acceptable rather than charging arround a million dollars for the Dubsta 6x6 or making extremely high prices for the apartments to prevent you to host heists for some time? Now I think about it, at least for me, it would make way more sense if everything worked like that.

If you're an unambitious scrub that doesn't know how to make money in this game, then you don't deserve it. I think both would be appropriate.

[TheKingChivas]

More than two years later and people are still crying about this crap? Guess what, it's not changing, so...

 

GET THE f*ck OVER IT!!!

[Eggobites90]

Just because this discussion won't spark change does not mean it isn't worth indulging in.

[HKM87]

OP, I ask you, what do you want to by ingame that you have to grind this much and not buy a shark card for?

[Eggobites90]

Is everything GTAO has to offer to much to want? I mean it's a video game, where the items and activities are what it consists of...

[scaldy78]

Is everything GTAO has to offer to much to want? I mean it's a video game, where the items and activities are what it consists of...

You can have everything for free.....it's just not gonna happen overnight.

[Eggobites90]

Playing the game at maximum money making efficiency, how many hours would you consider reasonable to afford every item?

[darkgreenmeme]

Playing the game at maximum money making efficiency, how many hours would you consider reasonable to afford every item?

 

Why the need to own everything?

[Eggobites90]

What percentage of all items would you consider reasonable to want?

Edited January 7, 2016 by Eggobites90

[HKM87]

No point in earning every thing in this game, the main issue is to choose what you really want. That's your problem.

 

I ONLY get what I really like and I have 22 Mil without modding or shark cards

[Eggobites90]

Sounds like fun...all this digital content that is only kept from you by limited digital currency...a few more zeros in a line of code and you could have all that R* put into this game.

 

But nope! You shall not enjoy it all for that would ruin the entire game...it's not fun unless you can't have it!