[GTAO] The Straw that Broke the Camel

[fw3]

Being nostalgically inclined, for a moment, I reflect back on the early days of GTA and what separated it from other games.

It indulged a very specific fantasy, shared by many, but without exceeding too cartoonishly into the realm of unbelievable.

However, if you'd never played GTA before and jumped into it for the first time, the take on the current content would be nothing short of awe!
 

• Personal yachts.

• Flying motorcycles & cars with rockets
• Personal blimps
• Nightclubs
• expansive, underground facilities
• The "Back to the Future" car
• Submergible Lamborghinis
• etc. etc.

There are clearly aspects of the game which many of us never expected - or imagined - would ever be part of the GTA world; yet, others of us are tickled like pickles to have in the game. 
Some folks are turned onto the idea of these elements being in the game, while other folks are just turned right off of the game taking a turn for the ridiculous.

But, for what it's worth – what will it take? What will it take to be introduced into the game for players to finally say, "enough is enough," to the point where players to turn away, stop playing, and find other things to do?

The obvious answer would be another game, like RDR2 or GTA6, but let's not count other games into the discussion.

TL;DR
What do you think could be introduced into the current GTAO that would be so over the top it would get a mass collective of players to say, "I'm done with this!" thus, breaking the proverbial camel's back?

As always, just curious as to thoughts and sincerely can't imagine it ever coming to this. Cheers!

[MaddenedGhost]

Charging people for DLC, like say you have to buy the "Gunrunning Update... Doomsday Heist update ..."

I feel like people won't accept nonsense like this, or at least they'll stop after seeing the amount of reskinned content that they've paid for.

 

I don't want to mention anything in the gameplay because people will always find workarounds for that ... no public sessions? yeah sure, even if people didn't find ways to get that, Rockstar's servers will deliver.

 

Just wanna point out one little thing, awesome work with your threads, keep it up!

Edited August 14, 2018 by The-Ghost

[septimoose]

Idk, I guess if they made something as ridiculous as a putting K/D ratio in a GTA game. Oh... how about a $10mil jet that does nothing special. Erm, I mean, what if they added a flying bike?! Or explosive ammo? A flying car... No, no, imagine if they then doubled down on a flying death bike. Or maybe a load of really expensive cars, but all of them are so slow it's never worth using them. Okay, let's forget about what they could PUT INTO THE GAME that would ruin it, let's think about what they could take away. Like, imagine if they randomly deleted loads of legit money from people's accounts and left them in the dark for weeks. 

 

Look, I'll be honest with you, I think we're past the point of no return. I don't think there's really anything Rockstar could put in now where it's so outrageous I'd be like "huh, never saw that one coming". 

 

It seems like Rockstar live by the motto "there are no bad ideas". There are some bad ideas, Rockstar. There are some bad ideas.

[Quinn_flower]

The lack of clothing.... Oh wait we are already there

 

 

then loot boxes no we did that as well

 

mirco...wait been there

 

oh paying for online if this the content we are going to get....

 

personally I would use the throw up pic fw3 to describe how I feel.

Edited August 14, 2018 by Quinn_flower

[kcole4001]

The camel's dead, now there's a hover bike.  

 

Seriously, paying for updates.

 

Paid DLC is a load of bullcrap and always has been.

Tease people, then release half a game then charge the suckers again and again for what they thought they'd be getting on day one is really just digital fraud.

But, people keep letting them get away with, so no one else to blame but the gamers that go along with it.

[Don Kotletti]

54 minutes ago, The-Ghost said:

Charging people for DLC, like say you have to buy the "Gunrunning Update... Doomsday Heist update ..."

 

54 minutes ago, The-Ghost said:

I don't want to mention anything in the gameplay because people will always find workarounds for that

My thoughts exactly! As long as I can make ingame currency actually ingame, I'm good.

 

For stuff being released that I don't like I have a very simple motto - "You don't want, You don't buy"

 

Considering all the modding happening out there I think features brought along by Rockstar are the least of my concerns really.

 

So I guess actual paywalls or the removal of Invite/Friend Only Seesions would be my final straw.

 

Cheerio @fw3 pretty busy creating all these interesting topics lately (as usual )  Good work

[Big Molio]

Giant Gundam Suits and Mecha-Godzilla

 

Actually, forget that, this is what GTAO needs...

[R3CON]

No I think we jumped the shark a long time ago and anyone who's still around is content with the game as it is. 

 

The flying rocket bike, explosive rounds, the thermal scope and research as a concept were the breaking points for me. But I'm still here today as are most people reading this who've since grown to accept and even utilize these features. The Deluxo, permanently off the radar Akula, Orbital Cannon and the f*ckery of Doomsday came next (invisible juggernauts, SkyNet via Cliffford, Russian nuclear subs, what even is this lol?) but by that point folks were used to the extremes and fantasy. It was game changing but not exactly surprising. 

 

Some will cite special vehicles like the Rocket Voltic and the jumping KITT-Ruiner 2000 with it's super lock-on missiles as the start of all this. But there was still the idea that these additions were one-off ideas rather than early signs of a new DLC strategy. The rise of cunning stunts and adversary modes at the expense of other content didn't help the situation though. Neither did public-only freeroam work, the dripfeed, session lag, the increasing frequency of cheap tactics like EWO, Ghost Org and passive popping, the sameness of businesses, the limited uses of our properties or the neglect to quality of life/PvE style gameplay. Then there's the ban waves and support issues. The playerbase has weathered a whole lot since the Heists update. 

 

But alot of us are still here tho. And that's the thing. 

 

If there was a time for people to leave I'd say it would've started sometime around the rise of Special Vehicles and the beginning of the crate grind and peaked sometime between Gunrunning and Doomsday. I do think the weak Spring launch of SASS and the "meh" reaction to the After Hours DLC turned some off too, but they'd be at the tail end of a long exodus. Plus the game is more or less five years old anyway, so that could be attributed to burnout more than anything. 

 

TLDR there's been too many straws to break the camel's back. If it hasn't happened by now, it probably won't no matter what Rockstar does. Aliens, wall-running, zombies, whatever. Literally anything is possible and people will continue playing. Sure the game has problems and Rockstar could be a better dev. But the sun will continue to shine brightly on GTA Online and Rockstar Games regardless of any of that. 

 

It's too big to fail. But it's been this way for a while. If today's players were going to leave in protest or from some sense of wrongdoing they would've left by now. If I was Rockstar I wouldn't even stress about it. 

Edited August 14, 2018 by R3CON

[Revrico]

43 minutes ago, kcole4001 said:

The camel's dead, now there's a hover bike.  

 

Seriously, paying for updates.

 

Paid DLC is a load of bullcrap and always has been.

Tease people, then release half a game then charge the suckers again and again for what they thought they'd be getting on day one is really just digital fraud.

But, people keep letting them get away with, so no one else to blame but the gamers that go along with it.

I don't know, I'd rather pay for quality DLC content than deal with the garbage that's been handed out for "free"

[Yellow Dog with Cone]

R* suddenly deciding to stop any and all ways to play solo public (disabling the ability to sell in one, requiring a minimum number of players with different crewtags, etc.) not because I use them regularly (which I do, mainly for crates, but most of the time I'm rolling with my crew) but because that would signify that R* is against players wanting to play their way, even if said way had to be archieved with exploits because R* never gave it a legit way.

 

That would be the day that not only GTAO would die for me, also R* as a whole.

[GTA-Biker]

I thought that R* putting all the mememobiles (flip car, Rocket Voltic, Kitt, Batmobile, flying bike, flying Deluxo, submarine car...) and military vehicles would make many players quit playing,at least in public session,because most of those vehicles are armed and commonly used by griefers,not to mention they made the game too different from what it used to be from 2013 to 2016.I also thought that many people would quit after R* introduced paywalls (stuff like having to buy the bunker to be able to buy the MOC to be able to get Mk2 guns and customize Gunrunning DLC vehicles),and locked the CEO stuff and MC businesses to public session and tried to force those who prefer the peace of invite only session to either switch to public or miss out on some new activities.

However,it seems lots of people still play the game after all that.I guess people will stop playing if R* either starts charging actual money for DLCs or shuts down GTA Online in favor of some other online game,probably GTA Online 2.

[III-Ari-III]

I don't think they could add anything that could break the game for thousands of ppl.. we just adapt to changes.. we can miss the old days tho.. or maybe we want more mayhem.. it will depend on your style of play.. can't please everyone. Tho rockstar sucks (0 communication with the fanbase) and their support service too (automatic replies disrespecting the customer), so in the end we keep playing because there is no other game exactly like this one.. if there were, for sure i wouldn't be here.. that could be applied in other cases where i could switch and play better, like: from Pes to FIFA, from Hearthstone to Faeria, etc.

 

I'm still waiting for that game that could replace this f*ckfest, either via gta 6 which will eventually come.. or via another company preferably (too bad saint's row which was the closest one to gta, got carried away in some other sh*ts that didn't worked out in the end).

 

I'm amazed that no other big game company can make a game like gta.. i mean there are copies of literally every game, every game but THIS ONE, and i DON'T KNOW WHY.

[IamCourtney]

At this point I don't think R* could do anything that'd cause me to walk away for good short of announcing a mandatory subscription fee... 

 

I can think of three scenarios outside of deliberate R* actions that would probably kill, or at least drastically reduce, my GTAO enthusiasm:

 

1. Widespread PC style mod menu activity on PS4. Honest public free roam chaos is ultimately what keeps me in the game, and to lose that would be to lose the soul of the experience. The odd God mode or teleport glitcher is annoying enough, running into that sort of sh*t and more on a regular basis could certainly kill the game for me

 

2. Major permanent progress loss. Some people enjoy climbing the ladder over and over; I am not one of those people. The first time is fun but once I get to the top I want to enjoy the fruits of my labor. If some error in the save system or a hypothetical malicious modder were to irrevocably set me back a long way, I'm not sure I'd be up for another climb.

 

3. Another game does the GTAO experience better. I love this game but I'll be first to admit it has a lot of flaws and things I might like to see done differently. When/if a game with a similar framework but different rules comes along, I could certainly see myself moving on for good if I liked the alternative more. ATM the only real possible contenders look to be RDR2 Online and maaaybe Fallout 76. I know The Benz has some nebulous thing in the works but too little is known to say.

[IceDree]

On 7/20/2018 at 3:37 PM, Voodoo-Hendrix said:

R* be like:

 

 

^^ sums it up perfectly.

[Verbal Soze]

If i'm honest this update is kinda like the final straw for me, i mean a flying bike in a nightclub dlc? Cmon man that's insulting...

 

They should've made a garage where we can mingle with other players showcasing our cars in clubs, a boathouse mansions etc, vice city/scarface vibes, that suits well with the nightclub theme, but the business is good tho, real good, but then again i can't find an excitement anymore from GTAO, i don't know man

[Spectre "2K"]

yeah i think Rockstar broke the GTA camel's back after import/export in terms of being over the top, but to somehow make it worse than that? probably pull a saints row and give you weapons that simply shouldn't exist in your reality 

[Guest Member2756931]

3 hours ago, The-Ghost said:

Charging people for DLC, like say you have to buy the "Gunrunning Update... Doomsday Heist update ..."

I feel like people won't accept nonsense like this, or at least they'll stop after seeing the amount of reskinned content that they've paid for.

Worked OK for Payday 2, their DLC sold OK but there are only really a few different jobs, then they all feel the same.

 

The reskinned content in GTA has never bothered me. The bunker is a good source of income and was fun to play supply and sale missions for a while. After Hours is a good source of income. Bikers I'd have happily paid for. FAFF and E&OC were new content that was fun to play and VIP work that come with them is a good source of income. Import/Export is a good source of income. A good source of income and new missions would be enough for me to buy it as DLC,

 

One man's opinion, I don't expect everyone to feel the same way however I doubt that paid DLC would have been a flop.

 

However I don't doubt that the free updates are what have made GTA Online last for 5 years.

[xwinkx_girlYakuza]

To be honest, the only reason that R* is getting away with pushing out all these cartoon toys and we still kinda can't help but buy them just to try it out is because at it base the gta world is created in a very realistic although parody like manner. It's like when we watch a fantasy movie. The settings must make sense in some way shape or form for us to take the story seriously or the movie wouldn't work. Almost like the fantasy needs to have some rhyme or reason for the fantasy to be believable. Same as gta because since the environment is so damn believable like the real world, everything else introduced after kinda gets forgiven because in our minds we wanna try it out "in the real world" to see how it works. Well done R*, well done!

[Lonely-Martin]

Sorry, lil' longer than expected, lol. TL:DR. That ship long sailed for me I think, lol. Great thread fw3, as this could be interesting to see just how far it could go for some. Plus this site is full of awesome ideas too.

 

I know you said not to consider new games, but we're that close to RDR2, and I really am still here until that takes me away, hopefully. Friends kept me too, and adding new guys from here certainly helped. Easily hit all my long term goals because of this forums too, while helping others. Awesome stuff. Genuinely surprised when looking back since DDH just how much I got back into this game. It's the players that did that. If that game wasn't so close, I'd certainly be shopping to add other games, no doubt about it.

 

I'm spent though really. Crates and the change to public only wore me down so much that by Gunrunning, I was already out and ready to have a year away completely before trying RDR2. DDH and the cars this last 6 months or so kept me, this club is pretty cool for me too. I find the racing to be varied fun too (And less stressful than GT sport's online mode amazingly, lol). Racing and other competitive modes are always a mixed bag, on call too. Now I'm rich, I don't care, I just like to chat and help.

 

Research!!! The less said, the cleaner this'll be. Shocking addition, IMO.

 

Bastard-vehicle-wise, it was that f*cking Ruiner 2k. Because of that, I've avoided the worst of the Oppressor, Cannon, Deluxo or whatever like a plague. Poisonous additions, especially with insurance/BS points racking up, and the passive pooping is just too pathetic to even think about.

 

Reading the first response, as I'd not considered it while reading your OP fw3, if paid DLC comes with how much of a grind and expensive it is to open content up. I'd go bloody mad, and that would push me completely away I feel. I only accept this game being so much a chore because I know I've had my money's worth and for me, it was free of RL costs. (Aside the PSN I'd have anyway). I know I'm a freeloader and a part of the gaming community that many developers, let alone R*/T2 just can't monetise, so I'm clearly part of what they consider dead wood or even a problem to solve, lol.

 

Knowing my twice bought copies are just not enough, is not enough, you know? That took much soul out of the joy I had once. (Recaptured in part because of this very forums and those I have gamed with. CMM's, elites, all sorts of fun bollocks too).

 

In terms of where I feel the peak of the game's freedom and creativity was. That's clearly heists and IGG, though IGG could be seen as a trigger for price rises etc. At the time, it felt like a lavise, rewarding DLC just for those that 'made it' on heisting, lol. (Yeah, if they patch solo publics, I'll ignore more game, lol).

 

Nope, RDR2 must show that R* have learned from the real sh*t show it became. Modders, cheaters, glitches, bad design completely even (Try a race, 'In The City' with catch-up - Good luck jumping if in the lead, lol - That sort of ridiculous additions). These poxy flags that make things feel so broken too. (My GTX is really pissed!). But not only are we seeing all that thrive, automated ban wipes making mistakes too.

 

Some real love/hate here, lol. This game has easily given me some of my very best, most rewarding gaming. But equally, and more as time went on, this game just wore me down to avoid much of it, and has seen RL incidents over a videogame happen that I just cannot shake. Won't go there, but I'll never be able to forget it.

 

Take today for example. The nightclub was good and gave me good vibes. But seeing I had to buy not only this truck for 6 new missions, I needed the drones. And the pay on the 2 jobs we need another for is less than when alone doing the other 4. It left me seeing and feeling the effects of 'the grind' or those cards again, and after helping a buddy try these missions, I was very underwhelmed that I just plodded some promos, sold a bit of cargo, the odd mission, and logged of a bit disappointed that all this new sh*t today just left me flat.

 

I'm on a break for a few days. Had a good spell, so not gonna do that a disservice and get that bad taste back, lol. Bit of hunting on RDR I think. 

 

Thanks fw3, this was a good rant, lol.

Edited August 15, 2018 by KWF1981
Lil' too quick, poor grammar,lol.

[fw3]

1 hour ago, xwinkx_girlYakuza said:

R* is getting away with pushing out all these cartoon toys and we still kinda can't help but buy them just to try it out is because at it base the gta world is created in a very realistic although parody like manner.

Interesting reply xwinkx_girlYakuza that makes me wonder if Rockstar may be using the GTAO platform as a model to test - and see what works and what doesn't - the possible landscape for GTA6?
What better way to figure out which direction to take your next launch of a franchise than to subtly feed possible options into the previous, active franchise. Hmm. Food for thought.

1 hour ago, KWF1981 said:

That ship long sailed for me I think, lol. Great thread fw3... Thanks fw3, this was a good rant, lol.

I snipped your reply and kept the compliments... thank you for those!

You make a lot of really, really good points which I wholeheartedly concur with. However, I have a feeling that my gaming days are behind me and that GTAV/O was my last great fling.

As an older guy heading toward retirement, kids in college, and too much to do in the real world, I just don't have the energy, interest, or availability to "grind" another game like I did with GTAO.
If RDR2 leverages any of the business methodologies from GTAO, then we'll all be spending endless hours trying to save the $3.5 million for the Arabian Charger, the genuine Saskatchewan seal-skin leather saddle, and the high-class, three-horse stable near the saloon to keep it in. If you want a straw floor, it'll cost you an extra $250,000. lol!!

But seriously, thanks for the thoughtful reply. I'm in line with your thinking and, of course, I hope that the early adopters of RDR2 find it a favorable way to spend time. If so, who knows... I may jump in and ride with the pack. Otherwise, if it's just more of the same microtransaction pay-to-play nonsense, then chances are I'll save my money for a tube of Icy Hot for my rheumatism! 

Cheers, KWF1981!

Edited August 15, 2018 by fw3

[xwinkx_girlYakuza]

1 minute ago, fw3 said:

Interesting reply xwinkx_girlYakuza that makes me wonder if Rockstar may be using the GTAO platform as a model to test - and see what works and what doesn't - the possible landscape for GTA6?
What better way to figure out which direction to take your next launch of a franchise than to subtly feed possible options into the previous, active franchise. Hmm. Food for thought.

Very likely indeed 

[BOOGIEMAN219]

I started playing December 2017, once I realized I was being killed by flying cars and bikes I was highly disappointed.  Its cool if I get killed by a jet/warthog/tank/ect you see those actually exist in the real world and I wanted/hoped for a realistic game as possible. I have since adapted to it but I still hope the next gta is as realistic as possible.

[Agent 14]

gta o feels more like a saint rows game every time they add more saint row esque vehicles. Who asked for an oppressor mk2?

 

Meanwhile people been begging for a single player dlc and rockstar has done jack sh*t. They're priorities are the f*cking shark cards and they don't even try to hide it. 

 

 

[Mach1bud]

What would make people leave in masses? If they stopped updates completely. That is the only thing. No amount of crazy vehicles or weapons or stupid decisions will make people leave, contrary, they will only drive the playerbase even higher.

 

For me personally however, it was this update. The clubs are great. The missions are decent. The Terrorbyte even looks like good fun. Those things are all secondary for me however, I need cars, and lots of them. Normal, 4 wheels, no weapons attached, vehicles. We got a grand total of 4 with this update, of which only two I actually like. 

 

I'll come back to GTA if the next update adds a significant amount of high quality vehicles and fixes the issues with the ones already released this year. I'll likely be on RDR2 by then though, so any return is likely going to be short lived. 

[CH14R1]

I’m on the edge since meeting other players became boring and nonsense and it’s got worse each update. If they ever patch the mtu/solo lobbies somehow I’d be gone for good.

[Rafae]

The straw? Well I would say the Ruiner 2K but that was simply an appetizer and not an entirely bad one per say. Gunrunning and everything that came with it is what really f*cked GTAO up. Smuggler's Run was the nail in the coffin and Doomsday seemed like the saving grace for GTAO in 2017, so much so that it felt out of place being released alongside the rest of the updates that year.

 

After Hours should have followed Smuggler's Run and DDH should have been the big summer update right before RDR2.

[Coranub]

If they added flying ufos players could buy thats when i would draw the line.

[Agent 14]

1 minute ago, Coranub said:

If they added flying ufos players could buy thats when i would draw the line.

I do want a ufo dlc rockstar should let us buy the black one that hovers above zancudo. Way better than most sh*t they've released imo.

[GR7]

I feel we've gone past the the wacky shark jumping phase to the we don't give a f*ck let's put in the bear minimum (After hours) or experiment for the next game phase (handling flags). Doomsday felt like the last big hurrah and now they're getting ready to move onto RDR which obviously won't reach the heights of GTAO but at this point they've probably earned enough from GTAO to fund a much more ambitious GTAO2 that will make them a few more boatloads of money.

 

One good thing about the success of GTAO is it pretty much guarantees the map in the next GTA is going to be f*cking huge and dense. You can see them running out of places to make interesting new content since I'm sure they didn't expect online to be this lucrative for so long. But with the knowledge for the next GTA that they can keep a paying playerbase for at least 4+ years I can see that influencing map design in a big way.

[Killer Whale]

For me, Rockstar's infatuation for fixing anything that can rob them of Shark Card money instead of fixing what was essential for the gameplay.

 

That, and the repetitive nature of the businesses. There's only so much one can grind the same resupply and selling missions in one day from a specific business.