Looking Back: GTA V's 8th Anniversary

[Spider-Vice]

Hi folks, we've put up an article on GTANet.com looking back on our own GTA V pre-release and launch memories, along with our say, 8 years on, about the story, characters, setting and more! Just like we did with one of our previous Q&A-style articles and our 7th anniversary topic, we'd like to look back with you all on your GTA V experiences!

 

On our end, we've had massively hyped announcement topics, frustration about information droughts and the delay, more hype about each marketing release (screenshots, trailers, store leaks like the LS viewfinders...), an Epsilon Program Twitter account, some good old GTANet Shenanigans like Where is the Blue?, topics upon topics of launch plans and midnight launch location lists, many spoilers and leaks, etc. etc. I link to a bunch in one of my responses so everyone can go back and remember, or just look back at how it was if they weren't around!

 

Please remember that this has nothing to do with E&E feedback and it's still GTA V's 8th anniversary whether you want it, or not, so please keep that discussion in the relevant pinned topic. You may of course mention it in your responses, if applicable, but keep actual discussion about it in the pinned topics. Thanks!

 

Clicky

 

What was your own launch experience? What were you doing, what are your memories?

 

Story Mode - Characters and Story, what did/do you think?

 

The map and setting, what did/do you think? Favourite areas if any?

 

The hyper-successful behemoth - GTA Online. What are your first memories, how do you think it evolved?

 

How did the community evolve over the years in your opinion? Kudos if you were around since pre-release!

[Ash_735]

8 Damn years! Back then I was with GTAGaming and actually gave out T-Shirts FOR Rockstar at the launch event! I still think I have a box of them hidden away somewhere in storage. Also shout out to @Jestic back when we datamined the accidental August PSN version and Rockstar kept telling fansites not to report on it AFTER I had already posted a breakdown of the Radio Stations.

[MaddenedGhost]

GTAV's launch was surreal in the forums, I remember all the spoiler shenanigans when the game got leaked, it was crazy.

I didn't get to play it at the release but I followed the hype ever since it was announced.

This game (and GTAO) was the reason I met some awesome people who later became amazing friends, it was there for me to escape into during some dark times in the past few years, no other game has ever impacted me this much.

What a beast GTAV is, happy anniversary and a massive shout out to Rockstar for their brilliant work creating one of the best games ever made.

 

 

To answer some of the questions in the OP:

 

1- Like I said, I sadly couldn't play at launch, but I was here for it on the forums and the hype was surreal.

 

2-GTAV's story, while not as complex as other entries in the franchise, has its moments for sure, I personally like it, it has some flaws, notably Franklin not having a more important role in the story, feels like his character could've been developed more, but overall the idea of having a trio, while new to the series at the time, was fun and it made it possible to have some cool missions such as Three's Company and Lamar Down.

 

3- it's been 8 years and I still admire how huge the map is in GTAV, it was way bigger than I expected before launch.

Sandy Shores is my favorite area, followed by Poleto Bay, there's a charm outside the city, the mission Nervous Ron comes to mind here, flying out from the Sandy Shores Airfield and through the Canyon was just so good, I remember completely forgetting that there was a buzzing city not that far from where this whole thing was taking place.

So good, so good...

 

Friends Reunited also had a similar effect, I remember enjoying the little trip under the rain, hearing Trevor and Wade's chat, it made that trip feel longer for some reason, like a long travel.

 

Despite me liking Michael the most out of the trio, I really enjoy spending time out in Blaine County.

 

4-GTAOnline... what can I say about this one? GTAOnline has something for everyone, I played it as a solo player for the better part of 2 years before getting into the whole crew playstyle, and that was enough to make me renew my love for the game, it made me appreciate the social aspect of it, joining crews and managing them has been a wonderful opportunity for me, a chance to meet some great people and have countless hours of laughs and good times, it is still one of my most played games, it has reached a point where it's the game that every one of my friends has and we can just hop into it, do the dumbest things and have a good laugh.

An undefeated giant after all these years, and I cannot wait to see what the future holds for it, especially with the next entry of the franchise.

Edited September 17, 2021 by The_Ghost

[BS_BlackScout]

I think the Story was pretty solid up until the Vangelico heist. Then it loses its tracks and becomes a joke of its own. 

 

Michael is quite good, as is Franklin, but Trevor is simply insufferable. To be honest, I don't like the game's tone or the gameplay mechanics that follow it. 

Overall, the least SP of any GTA game I've played. Which is a shame because I was really excited for the game a few years ago. 

But the incessant delays for the PC Version didn't make it any better. 

 

I found the map to be cool but somewhat disappointing. LS should've been a little bigger. 

Blaine County has some cool spots, but it's mostly a mountain freak fest that ends up being useless and inaccessible. 

Filler space solely for the purpose of filler.

 

GTAOnline was quite fun for a while but sometimes frustrating due to the grind. I think it has gotten better as of lately but it's still a grindy and assholey game at its essence. Micro transactions being the foundation will make sure Rockstar will design the game around making it motivate you to buy Shark Cards. Which I'll never ever purchase for my own sake. 

 

The community is a big yikes. There are some cool people who genuinely enjoy the game for what it is, some who tolerate it, some who hate it for every stinkin' cent. I mostly shy away from discussions on here because I know how heated they can get. People often have valid reasons but lack the communication and social skills to express them properly, making them appear as jerks who are completely wrong. Blown out of proportion emotional responses that aren't technically wrong at times but can go too far and make them completely unreasonable.

I certainly did not like to see what happened to E&E recently. Both Rockstar and the community failed to do their job. Rockstar communicated like ass (as usual) and the community just went nuts (aside from a couple individuals), so far as to threats and harassment being justified by many. 
Some people really live in delusional outrage land and think calling people slurs, names, or anything of the sort will get them what they want, when they want, and how they want, and I sincerely believe that's not how things work. 

Aside from the drama, it's complicated, but most large communities face similar issues, and it's not unique to GTA V, GTA, or anything else.

I played the game briefly on a friend's 360 when it first came out. My first impressions were positive, but having to wait so long to play the game worn the f out of me. I still believe I spent a significant amount of time enjoying the game (even if it was 80 percent GTAO), but yeah... I think it's about time we move on to VI. 

Edited September 17, 2021 by BlackScout
writing

[El Dorado]

main story as a whole is weak, but individual missions are fun

decent amount of things to do

 

but online is just sad

even since they started with the flying bikes and weaponized vehicles, and any boring looking car costing over a million to test how far they can push the milking it became a badly written joke about itself

the arguement about how modern triple A games takes a long time to be made is valid, but I bet anyone here that without online we would have a set release date for the next gta by now

[Alex106]

8 years, time flies!

 

1) I remember the last ½ / 2 weeks before launch that leaked gameplays started to happear and it felt like time never passed by. I consider it one of the "hardest" times alongside the info drought from the first trailer till the first two screenshots from July 2012.

Then there's September 16, around 5PM. I started reading that GameStop was breaking the day one. After 40 minutes or so, i read that my local one also broke it and i "rushed" to get my copy (i still have the receipt of both the preoder, from November 5 2012, and of that day!).

After coming back from the store and installing the game, i completed the first two missions and then i played in free roam. One thing i remember was driving south of the Marlowe Vineyards, i stole a brown Granger, drove till the Senora Desert's LSC and... i don't remember anything else of that day 

2) I enjoyed both the story (damn yoga mission though, lol) and characters, some more and some less. After purcashing it 3 times (PS3, PS4 and PC) and playing the story 4 times during the years, It's in my top 3 favorite GTA's, alongside GTA Vice City and GTA IV & EFLC.

3) I liked the map (but i will always miss the removed vegetation lol). I remember a day or two after launch, it was night in game and i was driving on Chumash when i saw a bunch of lights in the distance, thinking it was another town/city, but i was afraid of losing myself, so i did a u-turn and got back to LS. Only a few days later i found out it was Fort Zancudo

4) I don't have really that much to say about the online as i always preferred in SP (any game, not GTA specifically), but i remember being curious to try it out, especially after the official gameplay video, but i never ended up playing it. Around 2015 (before the PC version's release), i tried it a bit on PS3 (solo session) and then stopped playing. Last December, being PS Plus free, i tried it again on PS4 and i've got only one thing to say: damn phone calls and messages, Roman wasn't so annoying!

5) I wasn't around here during pre release (i only started following discussions after the E3 2014 annoucement), so i don't really have much to say before that time frame. As for the rest, i can pretty much agree with what BlackScout said.

Edited September 17, 2021 by Alex106

[Yoona]

Did Rockstar seriously just ignore the anniversary?

[lndex]

19 years old me waiting in a queue at my local ASDA for the midnight launch, the excitement was real!

 

Pulled a dirty all nighter and was knackered in the morning. You'll never get the same experience at a midnight launch now due to all digital downloads.

 

I'll probably give GTA V another download on PC at somepoint and give the story another run through. That being said i really want to jump back into IV's dark n gritty story.

Edited September 17, 2021 by DEADWOODZ

[marquuard]

3 minutes ago, Yoona said:

Did Rockstar seriously just ignore the anniversary?

I wonder why

[CynicalMexican]

4 hours ago, Spider-Vice said:

Hi folks, we've put up an article on GTANet.com looking back on our own GTA V pre-release and launch memories, along with our say, 8 years on, about the story, characters, setting and more! Just like we did with one of our previous Q&A-style articles and our 7th anniversary topic, we'd like to look back with you all on your GTA V experiences!

 

On our end, we've had massively hyped announcement topics, frustration about information droughts and the delay, more hype about each marketing release (screenshots, trailers, store leaks like the LS viewfinders...), an Epsilon Program Twitter account, some good old GTANet Shenanigans like Where is the Blue?, topics upon topics of launch plans and midnight launch location lists, many spoilers and leaks, etc. etc. I link to a bunch in one of my responses so everyone can go back and remember, or just look back at how it was if they weren't around!

 

Please remember that this has nothing to do with E&E feedback and it's still GTA V's 8th anniversary whether you want it, or not, so please keep that discussion in the relevant pinned topic. You may of course mention it in your responses, if applicable, but keep actual discussion about it in the pinned topics. Thanks!

 

Clicky

 

What was your own launch experience? What were you doing, what are your memories?

 

Story Mode - Characters and Story, what did/do you think?

 

The map and setting, what did/do you think? Favourite areas if any?

 

The hyper-successful behemoth - GTA Online. What are your first memories, how do you think it evolved?

 

How did the community evolve over the years in your opinion? Kudos if you were around since pre-release!

 

1) I still remember Launch Day like it was yesterday. At the time it was absolutely magical. GTA 5 looked so f*cking impressive and life like, and I had so much fun just driving around the map and exploring everything. All the detail and beauty in the game. I miss that first time experience.

 

2) I'm still ehh. It's 3 characters stretched around with such little story time. Tbh, had they released mission sets via free DLC, this would've made the story better. People would've been pissed, but still.

 

3) I used to love GTA 5's map but ehh it's not very interesting for me these days, outside LS there's not much to see. Mirror Park is my favorite area.

 

4) I never cared for GTA Online and never will. I think it's nothing but a coronavirus that sucks the life out of the series.

 

5) Everyone used to praise R* like it was the Catholic Church. That changed.

[GTAKid667]

Happy V Day!

 

I still remember the day that the logo was revealed in 2011, I could tell immediately that it was going to be a return to San Andreas although was later surprised to learn that it would be Los Santos specifically. I wasn't really very active online anywhere at the time but I remember sharing the excitement that a new game was coming with friends as we were all fans of the GTA series and a few of us were regularly playing GTA IV's Multiplayer around the time.

It wasn't until December 2012 that I started to regularly browse GTAForums, around a month after the release of Trailer 2, but I'm glad I was here throughout that last year of the pre-release (and the delay from "Spring 2013") because the excitement and energy around this place was simply unmatched. There were so many of us speculating what was going to be in this new game, from the simpler more realistic guesses to the more extreme wishes of some members, and I loved seeing the community come together as more information was revealed to piece together information by pulling apart the trailers and analysing every single comment Rockstar made. The Mapping Los Santos thread was incredible to follow throughout this time, I still remember Rockstar announcing the special editions of the game and seeing the community take the small section of map from the blueprint map advertised and use it to continue building out a map from there which ended up being near identical to what the map actually ended up being!

I was at school on the day the game released and I remember just being so excited about it all day, hoping that it'd have been delivered when I got home. I got back home that afternoon and there it was, the Collectors Edition I ordered, and what a feeling that was. I had a look to see if I took any pictures on the day but I guess I was too excited to get playing! The blueprint map went straight up on my wall where it remained for years until I moved out of that room, the PSN avatar changed to Michael which it still is today, and I sat down and started playing late into the night. It was a special few weeks playing through the story and experiencing everything for the first time.

Story Mode - Characters and Story, what did/do you think?
While I don't think it has the strongest story in the series, I still thought it was well written and really enjoyed it.

My only criticism is that it should have been longer, because I feel that the game wraps up a little too quickly at the end where the final mission could have been split into several, and the system of having multiple protagonists means that there was less time for building the development of each protagonist than there usually would and I think some more time with each of the three would have been beneficial for the story.

That said, I do think that having multiple protagonists worked well and I'd be happy to see it return in the future, preferably in a longer story which would be able to address those concerns. It was cool being able to switch between three very different people and I find myself having a slightly different style of play with each of them. Michael is my favourite of the three, but I liked them all.

The map and setting, what did/do you think? Favourite areas if any?
Rockstar always do such an incredible job with the locations of their games, and Los Santos is no exception. It's a beautiful looking city and I love the detail that goes into every area of the map. I've recently played through the game again and I'm still noticing little details that I've missed in years of playing. One of my earliest memories of exploring the map was calling up the Blimp to test it out and the views up there in the sky were definitely something!

I've also always been a fan of countryside locations in GTA, and was excited once I learned about Blaine County being in the game, particularly after not having a countryside since GTA San Andreas. There are definitely a few changes I'd make to Blaine County but it's a fun place to explore and the Alamo Sea in particular is great if you're looking for some nice views to take Snapmatics of. I've always particularly loved the small towns Rockstar include in their countrysides, and Paleto Bay is a particular favourite of mine in this game. I was glad that we can buy property up there in GTA Online as well!

The hyper-successful behemoth - GTA Online. What are your first memories, how do you think it evolved?
I think it was a good idea waiting a couple of weeks before launching GTA Online to give as many people the opportunity of experiencing the story as they could before jumping into it. It was a bit of a rough launch, waiting in the clouds a lot on the first day and having my character vanish after the first week. For a lot of people I think that the first impression it left wasn't particularly positive, but once I finally got into the game I thought it was a lot of fun and I personally prefer the idea more than previous multiplayer modes in the series. It's obvious that it's a completely new area for Rockstar though and there was plenty that could have been much improved. It quickly became obvious that the mission payouts weren't getting me those nice cars any time soon.

Over the years I've been on and off GTA Online. I'm not really into multiplayer in general, let alone one that at times has seemed grindy and best experienced with friends (who in my case were not many people and play on different platforms haha). More recently I've been getting back into it and I think the updates in the last few years have definitely started to touch on some needed areas of improvement. I like that we now have easier ways to make a lot of money solo without having to spend all weekend on it, and the Casino Wheel and Prize Ride Challenge provide an easy opportunity to get some things that may be useful for your character, particular if you're just starting out.

There are still a lot of things that annoy me, not being able to launch an Invite Only session from a public session being the kind of oversight you'd hope would be addressed in 8 years (unless I'm missing something obvious), and I'm sure we've all had the experience of being stuck in the clouds, but I'm hoping with the direction the last few updates have gone in that a "GTA Online 2" would be a major improvement from day 1, or that we'll see many more quality of life improvements to the existing GTA Online.

How did the community evolve over the years in your opinion? Kudos if you were around since pre-release!
I really think that there's so much which could be said about this, but above all else I'd say that despite the minority of people who seem to enjoy spending their days being outraged, there are a lot of really great people here on GTAForums and across the GTA community that I have had the pleasure of meeting over the last 8 years. These games really do bring us together and give us opportunities to meet people that we otherwise would never run into in life. It still amazes me that a lot of the people I talk to on a regular basis, who I have met through GTA, are based all around the world with completely different lives and experiences to what I have had, yet we connect because of this shared passion for the GTA series. I hope to see that continue through many more releases and can't wait to be a part of the forum and discussion when the next game is announced.

[Ash_735]

4 hours ago, Ash_735 said:

Back then I was with GTAGaming and actually gave out T-Shirts FOR Rockstar at the launch event! I still think I have a box of them hidden away somewhere in storage.

Found them!

 

 

 

[KGBeast]

I can't believe GTA has been dead for 8 years. 

[GhettoJesus]

I have never owned consoles (and I am pretty sure I never will) so when my mate told me that he got it pre-ordered I was super jealous and I couldn't wait for a PC release. Then I had to wait until 2015 for the PC release aaaaand my PC was pretty far from the requirements back then. I assembled a better PC somewhen in 2017, long after the PC release of the game, and I finally got to play it. Then came both the good and bad.

 

The story mode, in retrospect, is a disaster. During my first playthrough it was okay because I paid more attention to the missions than to the story and the characters. However some of the characters already irritated me, especially Trevor. Imagine just Franklin. Or just Michael. Or the both of them but for the love of God exclude Trevor from the game. I still maintain that Trevor is one of the worst if not the absolute worst written characters in any GTA game to date. In retrospect this game reaffirmed me that Dan Houser should not try to play the role of a good writer. Have cheap and sleazy stories like in the 3D era but do not try to take your job seriously.

 

As for the map, it's okayish. I agree with the complaints about the size and the road layout in the countryside but at the same time I enjoy driving around and offroading, it's pretty relaxing. Traffic AI is horrendous though. I really liked Vinewood itself, felt like a proper rich people's district. I also enjoyed the beach, especially Vespucci beach with the canals. I think there have been worse maps than GTA V's because it's pretty enjoyable at the end of the day, unlike some other games'. I prefer warm weather and palm trees to the cold and rain.

 

As for GTA Online, never played, heard it's a mess and it definitely killed the franchise and made it stop dead in its tracks.

Edited September 17, 2021 by GhettoJesus

[LeakyLine]

Good times! I was 14. Went to the midnight release at my local GameStop to pick up my pre-order with my mom. Ate some GTA V cake, mingled, and brought the game home to play it well until like, 7 AM. My mom even let me stay home from school that day. Was a lot more enjoyable back then.

 

Now I'm almost 23 and depressed. Hey Rockstar, can we get a new f*cking game now?

Edited September 17, 2021 by LeakyLine

[Quinn_flower]

 

Ah what a different time that was. I was in my 20's now 32 

 

I guess happy anniversary Even though we are still in los santos.

 

I still have my ps3 collectors still in the box.

 

I joined a crew back then call bad girls club and we were waiting for heist.  Before r* patched the police cars we were going to use those and the swat vans .

Quinn why didn't you get the jp version.

 

Because it's censored and the ui looks different like a bootleg gta clone.

 

Edited September 17, 2021 by Quinn_flower

[Goldn-Bayse]

"What was your own launch experience? What were you doing, what are your memories?"

I didn't get to play the game until I got home from school. I do remember leaving the game to install while I went to go eat and then I played for about an hour. One memory that I'll always remember is when I stole the ambulance helicopter from the hospital and flew around the edge of the map to take it all in. At the time it felt so big even with the helicopter. Aside from that I mostly focused on the story mode and managed to 100% about a month later

 

"Story Mode - Characters and Story, what did/do you think?"

I'm still not the biggest fan of the story and it did take me a few months to realize it was disappointing. but it's been 8 years, I'm not going to keep bringing up my issues with the story mode. Except for the satire because that sh*t is so overbearing compared to previous entries and I really hope they dial it back in GTA 6 and keep the satire mostly in the radio, billboards, etc.

 

"The map and setting, what did/do you think? Favourite areas if any?"

I still find the layout of the map a little weird and parts of it feel underutilized, at least in story mode (GTA Online has managed to use most locations at this point). But overall the map it beautiful and imo memorable. Maybe it's because of how much time I put into the game but no other non-R* open world game has a map that can be compared to it. My favourite areas have always been the Vespucci canals and Chumash. In general, I've always liked the south-west part of the map.

 

"The hyper-successful behemoth - GTA Online. What are your first memories, how do you think it evolved?"

My first memory with GTAO was joining my friend's session for the first time and hearing him yell for help on the mic as he is getting chased by the cops for stealing a Lazer. I start to drive towards him only to see him crash into Chumash beach. After he respawned, we took a selfie together. Here's hoping we can play again in the future. As for what I think about the game, I think it has a lot of flaws and my biggest problems with the game relate to the overall user experience design. That said I know why the game is immensely popular, despite all of it's issues, it still gives people a sandbox to mess around in.

 

Aside from that, does anybody else remember a magazine that was all about GTA V/the GTA series before V came out? It wasn't anything special, it just compiled screenshots and all the gameplay previews up to that point and had brief sections about the previous games. I remember getting it a few months before the game came out but I don't have it with me anymore.

 

[whywontyoulisten]

I remember being very cynical about the fact that it was necessary to place a banner on the artwork to explain that V = Five.

[NightmanCometh96]

Quote

What was your own launch experience? What were you doing, what are your memories?

I was a junior in high school when V originally came out; it was one thing on my mind during the first few weeks of the school year, there was never a time when I wasn't thinking about it in one way or another. On September 17, I remember going to my local GameStop to pick up my pre-ordered PS3 copy along with the GTA V special edition Pulse Elite headset (I loved the Bass Impact feature on these, it's a shame that the headset cracks so easily and can be uncomfortable to wear). Once I got home, I screwed around in IV for awhile, since I knew it would be the "last time" I'd be playing that game, at least for the time being. When I got around to actually starting V, I think I did the first few missions and drove around Los Santos for a bit. I remember just about everyone in school talking about the game during the first month or two after the launch, even people who didn't play video games that often; the game just had a massive presence in that way. As critical as I am of GTA V, I will never forget this "honeymoon period" of sorts in late summer/early Fall, 2013 (regarding the game itself and all of the excitement surrounding it).

 

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Story Mode - Characters and Story, what did/do you think?

At the time, while I believe I still preferred IV's narrative, I recall liking the story for the most part. Even to this day, I actually still enjoy the opening sections of the game up until the first heist. My one sore point was Trevor; even when I first saw his trailer, I knew he wouldn't be my cup of tea. I just found him irritating, especially after he comes to Los Santos and the game starts playing up the "funnier"/"random for the lolz" aspects of his character. I will give credit were credit is due, though: Steven Ogg's performance was fantastic. Trevor-rant aside, the honeymoon period ended not too long after I completed the campaign. The story has a lot of pacing issues, the final third of the game especially felt way too short; the game really needed more missions to further flesh out the characters, because you don't really have room to do that properly by spreading 69 missions across 3 protagonists, a good chunk of those being short heist prep errands that can take as little as 20 seconds to 2 minutes to complete (*Cough* buying masks/boiler suits *Cough*). I'm not really a fan of the tone, either. I completely understand that R* had to make the game more light hearted due to the general criticism surrounding IV, but I think they went a bit too far. I've already mentioned Trevor, but aside from that, the satire is so on-the-nose by that it just becomes obnoxious. I can't say I enjoy any characters, protagonist or otherwise: Michael is a hypocritical snake; his family is annoying; Trevor is, well, Trevor; Franklin is bland and comes across as an afterthought (compared to M and T); and a lot of the side characters are grating and/or one-dimensional stereotypes (which, depending on the character, only exacerbates the lack of subtlety with the satire I mentioned earlier).

 

Quote

The map and setting, what did/do you think? Favourite areas if any?

I think Los Santos itself is okay, as far as city design goes. I do wish it had some more ghettos, suburban areas and a smaller airport, though. The lack of interiors is also a sore point compared to IV. The rest of the map? Not really a fan. Having a desert/countryside, etc. is a welcome contrast to IV in concept, but I don't think it's executed very well in V. Far too many of the non-LS portions of the map are taken up by underutilized mountains. I also hate that the entire map is surrounded by what is essentially a giant circular road, which makes the design feel too "video gamey", if that makes sense. Too much attention was put into the underwater areas that could have been better spent on other areas throughout the game, at least relative to how often you actually go underwater.

 

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The hyper-successful behemoth - GTA Online. What are your first memories, how do you think it evolved?

GTAO started out as an interesting concept, but it has spiraled so far out of control in terms of monetization and "wackiness", that I've grown quite bitter towards it over the years. This is not at all helped by the constant attention it has and will likely always receive compared to SP (to the point of repurposing the story DLC for Online-exclusive content). I don't think I was able to create a character that saved properly until late October/early November 2013; the state of GTAO on the server side of things was absolutely abysmal during the first few weeks after launch (and it's arguably still in that state, if you take the horrendous loading times into account). That said, I do miss the days when you could earn a lot of money and RP through just Criminal Records, Down the Drain, and (later on) Rooftop Rumble. I used to dabble into it every now and then to see what each new patch added, but I stopped around the time the nightclub update was released. Looking back, I really wish GTAO did not take off the way it did. Sure, the financial stability gave R* time to develop RDR2 (which to be fair, sits next to GTA IV + EFLC as my favorite R* game), but on the other hand, we're essentially being asked to buy the second remaster of V within less than a decade. And it has almost certainly been one of the factors in R*/TakeTwo's increasingly blatant anti-modding stance over the past few years. But more than anything, by doubling down on the over-the-top stuff like the Opressor/Deluxo/etc., I feel like GTAO strays too far from what makes Grand Theft Auto what it is, and that it has lost its identity in the process. I doubt VI will ignore the wackier aspects due to how much money the flying bikes and whatnot bring in, but I hope future iterations of Online stay a bit more grounded for the first few years.

 

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How did the community evolve over the years in your opinion? Kudos if you were around since pre-release!

I've found that some people have become more openly critical of R* (although admittedly this pales in comparison to the amount of people still in the "R* can do no wrong" crowd and/or the more casual audience). This isn't necessarily due to V by itself, but I think a lot of it comes from the constant attention that Online receives compared to single player, in addition to things like the year+ long PC delays and R*/T2's anti-modding actions. I wasn't really around GTAF pre-release, but incidentally, I still have my Del Perro Pier Fly US keychain from pre-ordering the game in late 2012! In terms of the general GTA fanbase, though, I've noticed that the direction/tone that V (and especially GTAO) took the series in has given way to incredibly toxic IV vs. V debates, as well as arguments as to what the time period/setting/tone should be for future games.

Edited November 26, 2022 by NightmanCometh96

[MayoChiki]

2013 was 8 years ago

 

 

Just take me back...

[TheOriginalGunslinger]

I love reading everyone’s memories on here. Brings back a lot of nostalgia indeed. We’ll soon relive more nostalgic moments whenever the next installment drops. Until then... cheers.

Edited September 18, 2021 by TheOriginalGunslinger

[Lemoyne outlaw]

 

yay gta 5s 8 years old. time flies so quick. even red dead redemption 2 is getting old. and it feels so recent. i love gta 5. its a great game. but i think whenever gta 6 inevitably comes out. i wont be touching gta 5 for a year. the game has gotten stale. and with the whole e&e thing. it really killed some of my love for the game. i just wish we could say our goodbye and thanks. and move on to new stuff.

 

What was your own launch experience? What were you doing, what are your memories?

 

i remember watching the leaked footage before it came out. so excited to watch gameplay but at the same time super jealous of whoever played it. when i actually got to play the game i loved it. just taking in the city. playing a fun new story with all new content was awesome. i remember how much i loved flying planes and seeing the cool views. and i loved off roading in the desert. and just going on rampages in the interiors. i have so many memories. it was a special experience.

 

Story Mode - Characters and Story, what did/do you think?

 

i thought the story was good. now i know it got a lot of hate due to its more bright and lighthearted story and characters. especially coming from gta 4. and i will say that it did have room for improvement. it was much shorter than previous gta games. and having three protagonists was a cool idea. but it felt like we did not get enough time with each character individually.

 

The map and setting, what did/do you think? Favourite areas if any?

 

i do love los santos and blaine county. the desert is my favorite part. but the whole map has a lot of great locations. although i do feel like there were way too many huge mountains. and less countryside. i even loved north yankton. and i really wish they did a story dlc or expansion with it. i remember reading the north yankton thread on here when there were those fake leaks about it. i really hope they bring it back in a future game.

 

The hyper-successful behemoth - GTA Online. What are your first memories, how do you think it evolved?

 

i remember playing with my group of friends. and having a lot of fun with them. i also joined some crews. but i never had one that stuck for years. i dont even play with the original group of friends anymore. i loved how gta online was for the first couple years. but once the unrealistic stuff came in. i lost interest in it. i still play it and play the new dlcs. but it feels like when i do play it. the game feels so old and its just not the same as it once was. i know its mean to say but i just wish it would have died out. and then they could have given us new games. even red dead online. their newest game. gets less attention because gta has a bigger community. and makes more money.

 

How did the community evolve over the years in your opinion? Kudos if you were around since pre-release!

 

i feel like the community has not changed much. just the equipment they use. when online first started out. there were nice friendly people. and then there were jerks who killed you or trolled you for no reason. and its still the same way. a while back. i decided to play taxi driver. and drive around town in a nice car. and try to pick people up. and it was an interesting test. most people either ignored me or they got in the car and i took them wherever they wanted to go. but maybe 25 percent killed me. and some even tried to steal my car. even though i had it on passengers only. and sometimes they would blow it up. the truth is. there are plenty of good players out there. but there are plenty of jerks too. i also get a lot of hostility when talking to people on the mic. i just join the match and say hi. and i have had people insult me. and had people be racist towards me. calling me white boy or cracker. you just never know who you will meet. i have met some cool randoms that i had a lot of fun with.

[Spider-Vice]

Here's what GTAF looked like 8 years ago on the 12th September 2013, shortly before release.  Wasn't long until we were getting spammed left, right and centre with hype and all kinds of stuff (including spoilers...).

 

[blacklemon173]

9 hours ago, Yoona said:

Did Rockstar seriously just ignore the anniversary?

October 1st is coming up, the 8th anniversary of their favorite child.

[Yoona]

4 minutes ago, blacklemon173 said:

October 1st is coming up, the 8th anniversary of their favorite child.

I guess... but to be fair they at least retweeted few tweets talking about the Anniversary.

 

Nothing on Newswire though.

Edited September 18, 2021 by Yoona

[sefus]

Looking Back, GTA V's 15th Anniversary, still no GTA 6...

[Quinn_flower]

On 9/17/2021 at 8:26 PM, Spider-Vice said:

Here's what GTAF looked like 8 years ago on the 12th September 2013, shortly before release.  Wasn't long until we were getting spammed left, right and centre with hype and all kinds of stuff (including spoilers...).

 

nothing changed same ui 

 

only difference is colors and the side bar is hidden and more threads 

Edited September 19, 2021 by Quinn_flower

[Zello]

I remember waiting all day to go home so I could go to the store and buy it I was counting down every minute and hour. I was 17 years old and had an ID in 2013 which meant I could finally get all the M rated games that I wanted by myself. I ended up going to the K-Mart to buy it yes K-Mart back when they had a video game section I think they got rid of it shortly after 2013 one of the many reasons why K-mart is no longer here anymore.

Edited September 18, 2021 by Zello

[KatanaDV20]

I stood in line at midnight in my small town outside GAME (store) with my friend when it launched here in the UK. She was so excited I recall and we stood patiently. It was so much fun just waiting in line because we were amongst fellow gamers.

 

What was really fun was that the first person in line was a 67 year old guy. He came out holding up the GTA5 PS3 DVD and everyone hooted , clapped and cheered. He said "I'm going to be up all night shooting s*** up!" Turns out he is a gaming maniac. I wonder how hes doing now. I hope he is okay.

 

Another good memory is the local cop cars kept doing slow drive-bys of our huge line - which only added to the GTA atmosphere! 

 

I miss those days of physical game launches when you just connect with strangers and immediately you have a connection - gaming. All age groups were there from 20 to 70, single people, couples, people asking me to keep their spot and then  doing runs to the local burger joint around the corner. I really miss that. These days the online only launches are so boring. The pandemic of course has made all this worse. Its very lonely now. Its fun coming on this forum. 

 

 

Edited September 18, 2021 by KatanaDV20

[IceDree]

 

20 hours ago, Spider-Vice said:

What was your own launch experience? What were you doing, what are your memories?

 

I was excited, I was anxious, I was frustrated & I was furious ... furious  with the fury of a thousand suns (bit dramatic lol). I had a bad feeling I'll miss out on day one like I did with IV thanks to San Andreas' Hot Coffee saga (GTA got banned here).

 

I spent all morning looking at this mural.

 

 

Sony had exclusive rights on the digital version for like 3 months or so, so being on Xbox, I had to secure physical copy pronto, as I was leaving in the country for a while in 2 weeks and eBay & likes weren't gonna deliver it in time. My exact experience with GTA IV is repeating itself and I wasn't pleased to say the least.

 

I've spent the previous 2 nights driving from one shop to the other trying to secure a copy/an allocation to no avail. On the night of the 17th, I was returning home from the supermarket and I thought I stop by this shop one more time. I walked in, greeted him and I asked him again, he said Yes. I didn't believe him and thought he was trolling me. I told him to bring it, he did and I was like:

 

 

I got home, I opened the box and the sight of two discs brought some good memories (Metal Gear, Driver 2). It took well over 40 minutes to complete the installation, my Xbox 360 wasn't tip top & sounded like a jet engine.

 

I started the game right after midnight and the rest was history.

 

20 hours ago, Spider-Vice said:

Story Mode - Characters and Story, what did/do you think?

 

I found the story ok, it was different from the usual GTA revenge story and fueled entirely by greed. The way they designed the V was a dead giveaway to what motivated Franklin, Michael & Trevor.

 

 

I loved that it was full of action packed heists & infiltration missions, well, very primitive infiltration, but as Metal Gear - Splinter Cell fan, it tickled my fancy lol.

 

Spoiler

Pour one out for the homies, they're in videogame heaven now. Probably danking on Gabe lol.

 

 

Michael is my favorite character of the bunch & honestly, my second favorite GTA protagonist after Niko. He was the next level, what happens after guys like Tommy Vercetti leave that life behind and start a family. Obviously his short temper got the best of him and everything started falling apart. Kudos to Ned Luke, he nailed it.

 

Franklin was ok, I liked that he wanted to leave the gang life and make something of himself, kinda reminded me of Stringer Bell in somehow. I also liked that was he over his head sometimes, he wasn't a know-it-all handle everything professional & Michael looked out for him. Franklin simping for Tanisha was not cool though. Total buzz kill. Maybe if he got rid of that old yee-yee ass haircut he got, he'd get some bitches on his dick.

 

I disliked Trevor though, Nasty psychopathic muthaf*cka. Would it kill him to take a bath? I didn't like his attitude and I felt like they only brought him in to be the butt of jokes. I wanted to kill him so bad, but I needed his garage space lol.

 

20 hours ago, Spider-Vice said:

The map and setting, what did/do you think? Favourite areas if any?

 

The map is good, but not excellent. Its highly detailed and diverse, but felt kinda small despite it being the biggest GTA map to date. The 3 cities and the smaller towns gave San Andreas a sense of travel and distance, something V couldn't replicate.

 

If it was up to me, I would've ditched the ocean floor in favor of a smaller city up north & would've moved Paleto Bay to the area between west of Mount Joshua & North of Fort Zancudo. I probably would've made Grapeseed twice as big.

 

Paleto Bay is my current favorite part of the map and East Los Santos is my least favorite thanks to Finance & Felony.

 

20 hours ago, Spider-Vice said:

The hyper-successful behemoth - GTA Online. What are your first memories, how do you think it evolved?

I didn't care for GTAOnline at first, I'm not into online and multiplayer games. I grew up playing GTA, Need For Speed, Driver, Test Drive & Metal Gear. The "social" part of GTA didn't interest me & since all the DLCs came to SP as well, I had no reason to play it.

 

I didn't have an Xbox Gold subscription at the time, so I redeemed a code to get a couple of days to create my GTAO character (runner-up to Mister Los Santos 2017 by the way lol). On day one and that was it.

 

My next GTAO encounter was to get the Stimulus Package. I got the $500k, invested it in a condo at Del Perro Heights & an Enus Super Diamond. I played a few game modes here and there. And that was my entire experience with GTO in the Xbox 360. No Chradder, no Bounties and no Prostitutes.

 

I started taking online seriously once they cut off SP in the first E&E. I was level 21 back then, I'm 1605 today & I'm ashamed to admit it lol.

 

GTAO is a wild ride, it have its ups and downs, the pendulum swang violently with GTAO since 2017. We got some real sh*tty updates and some really good ones, I'll leave it to your imagination and judgement to decide which is which.

 

20 hours ago, Spider-Vice said:

How did the community evolve over the years in your opinion?

 

Like GTAO, The community have its ups and downs, I tip my hat off to the moderators for keeping the peace when R* didn't live up to our expectations to put it mildly. Moderating a forum is no easy task, especially a forum dedicated to a franchise with a very toxic playerbase. Much respect.

 

We've met a lot of people here over the past 8 years. Our love for this mess of a franchise created a sense of comradery for those of us remained active in the forums and even those left, but made a memorable long lasting impression, like our fluffy penguin @alkaline_ ui ui ui.

 

20 hours ago, Spider-Vice said:

Kudos if you were around since pre-release!

 

I was a member, but I wasn't active in the forums back then.