GTA V Online: A Year Without Heists?

[Something Amyss]

But I haven't gotten pissed about it myself because every month they keep some other sort of free compensation that up until very recently has been very cool. And I say free even though it's a transparent push for shark card sales with the inflated in game prices they have for the new stuff.

I disagree. The free content was an advertised portion of the game. That is, it's not so much free as it is a factored-in selling point. It's sort of like getting free crust with your pizza.

Also, inflating costs wouldn't be so bad if they didn't also slash rewards.

Really what gets me to keep playing it is the content creator; making stuff and playing other people's creations. There's a lot of jobs out there way cooler than the R* & the verified jobs. To me it's become like a whole nother game. So even if/when heists do come out(unless it comes with Heist Creator; why it might be taking so long), I'll probably be just as excited as I have gotten with any of the other updates.

I'm inclined to agree, but you also have to sort through a bunch of crap to find them. I've started to enjoy making races, though. I wish they had a parachuting option.

And to top it all off, the best way to lose large amounts of money is to play Grand Theft Auto Online like a Grand Theft Auto game. That is as open world sandbox mayhem. With hospital bills, ammo, armor, blown up personal vehicles, and phone call supports eating your money, a few hours of fun sandbox mayhem will cost you days of dull grinding to replace.

Yeah, it really does blow and I can't look at the game without attaching the costs of actually playing it. It's also annoying that most of the jobs are still money sinks.

So yeah, I have no doubt heists will not be any different.

Weapons are a f*cking joke, the auto aim is retarded, oh in theory it is a good idea for the console gaming but their are so many circumstances under which it either doesn't work, doesn't target the right thing or doesn't like the cover position so fails totally. Really I am in a shoot out with another player I hit the auto aim button and the game targets some random pedestrian who is running away from me because.... well I can't actually work out ANY reason it would do that.

Their auto-aim wouldn't be necessary if Rockstar could make decent controls. I know some level of aim assist will be necessary, but not quickscopeX100000 levels. Sadly, both are accepted in Rockstar games so they will continue to do it.

It also wouldn't be so bad if the most potent armour didn't get chewed off in a shot or two when doing jobs (can't speak for deathmatches, because I rarely play them) and while it might take you several shots to down one guy, they could kill you through walls.

Little has been more frustrating in this game than taking multiple headshots with the heavy sniper to kill one guy.

Disregarding cheating, that is. Because just in the course of playing the event I ended up stuck with a bunch of cheaters who won over and over because they could take six or sven missiles and not go down, teleport away from danger, and shoot you down without a line of sight or missile lock.

And they will continue to get away with it, because nobody's actually enforcing anything.

 

[Racecarlock]

Are you good at payday 2? I've got it... and I'm not very good. I have to spend most of the time hiding, and I've failed some relatively low level jobs. Maybe we could heist together.

I'd be happy to team up, got a few mates that play it as well. What timezone are you in?

Mountain time. Also, I'm on Xbox Live because the 360 was cheaper way back when and at some point I wanted to download demos on the thing.

 

[Sigmund Av Volsung]

Yeah.. Rockstar deserve some serious s**t for what they did with GTA Online.

As it stands, it's just a sandbox to f**k about in with random johnnies who may or may not try to kill you instantly upon catching sight of you.

No heists just make the whole thing rather crap, and it makes Rockstar a pack of liars. What has most likely happened is that the heists will be featured in the next gen/PC release later this year to try and boost sales for those copies(though the PC version will sell like hotcakes regardless), with the feature being a sort of "timed exclusive".

Either that, or they're just douchebags.

 

[GonzoGamer]

But I haven't gotten pissed about it myself because every month they keep some other sort of free compensation that up until very recently has been very cool. And I say free even though it's a transparent push for shark card sales with the inflated in game prices they have for the new stuff.

I disagree. The free content was an advertised portion of the game. That is, it's not so much free as it is a factored-in selling point. It's sort of like getting free crust with your pizza.

Also, inflating costs wouldn't be so bad if they didn't also slash rewards.

Really what gets me to keep playing it is the content creator; making stuff and playing other people's creations. There's a lot of jobs out there way cooler than the R* & the verified jobs. To me it's become like a whole nother game. So even if/when heists do come out(unless it comes with Heist Creator; why it might be taking so long), I'll probably be just as excited as I have gotten with any of the other updates.

I'm inclined to agree, but you also have to sort through a bunch of crap to find them. I've started to enjoy making races, though. I wish they had a parachuting option.

Parachuting creator would be cool but I really hope the next expansion to it is a PvE mode like Survival.
Browse the GTAF (content creator section - a good list, I recommend Sal's Moustache Ride http://gtaforums.com/topic/681615-ps3-approved-custom-races/ ) or join a creator crew and you wont have to root through so much trash. I've even friended people who made something I really liked to get invites to their other stuff.
And maybe that's why I never had any problem with money in the game either: I spend a lot of time playing different jobs rather than roaming around, burning ammo, and wrecking my car.

As for the free dlc; I think we've discussed this before. I do remember them saying that we would get updates and all the things that we've been getting but I honestly didn't think that we'd be getting new stuff every month and (maybe not recently but) many of the updates have been a lot more substantial than I expected too.

It's a lot different from GTA4's here are some new guns vehicles and missions now give us $20.

Disregarding cheating, that is. Because just in the course of playing the event I ended up stuck with a bunch of cheaters who won over and over because they could take six or sven missiles and not go down, teleport away from danger, and shoot you down without a line of sight or missile lock.

And they will continue to get away with it, because nobody's actually enforcing anything.

I've seen this too. They either had very fortunate lagging or they do something called lag-switching apparently. Did you report them? You can do it in the game from the player list in the pause menu. R* will actually do something about it if people report them.

 

[Ten Foot Bunny]

I've played on both, because I could get the PS3 version cheap and play with friends. I am inclined to enjoy games a lot more by virtue of playing with my friends, and I'm actually sort of glad they're still playing this instead of shifting back to the latest COD (which is what usually happens).

Publics aren't much better in PS3. Worse, because I'm lower level, I have fewer toys to defend myself with.

The one thing I've found that's better in the PS3 version is that you're less likely to have total freezes (where you need to reboot your console entirely) and lose progress. There may also be fewer cheaters, but I've mostly played with friends.

Also, pink arsenals rock.

Strange, I've never had much of a problem with freezing on the 360 version. Maybe once or twice in the many hours I spent online (which I only did for the achievements despite having almost no fun doing it).

Some friends of mine were on playing GTA tonight and so I joined up with them in a public lobby. I was reminded of why I haven't gone into a public lobby since March, after I died 22 times without getting a single kill (in three different sessions on three different nights). Sure enough, I went to where my friends were and instantly wound up someone's favorite target. He killed me seven times and I only actually SAW him once. I shot him in the head with a heavy sniper rifle and he didn't die, then he raised his own sniper rifle and one-shotted me.

So now that's 29 deaths in GTA Online without me getting a single kill. It infuriated me so much that I just quit and apologized to my friends since I'm NEVER going into a public lobby again. If they want me to play, it's co-op missions or nothing.

For the record, GTA Online is the one and only game in which I've done online multiplayer, so I think part of the problem is that I suck even more than the word "suck."

 

[Elijin]

I originally wasnt being too critical of heists taking their time to be released. But....now with the next gen re-release coming up, I suddenly find myself incredibly cynical, and feel rockstar withheld content which was a selling point from day 1, so the next gen consoles would ship with something we hadnt seen yet.

And to compound that issue, there is no indication anywhere of allowing a 10-20 dollar license transfer to move to those consoles. So full price for a game we already have, with content having been held hostage to provide some new content when it shelves.

Sure, we'll still get the heists finally, but the damage will be done, and my opinion soured (And from what I've read online, I was being reasonable in not getting cynical until this late in the race). Bonus points if they go the extra mile, ship heists on the next gen console, and then have 'issues' patching the existing game, so heists coincidentally end up next gen only for a month or two.

 

[AfrikaHot]

Played for a year....so, so disappointing. Me? level 377, nearly 40 races created and a couple of DMs. Matchmaking is the worst I have ever experienced, EVER. I don`t make them anymore. 1.15 messed it up more and 1.16 has made it nigh on unplayable cus of timing out/forever floating, Xbox is twice as bad as ps3, on Xbox the lag and drawing in times are absolutely unbelievable but that`s prob partly due to the Xbox being a pile of smelly stuff. Heists, could`ve told you all in Jan that was never happening. Its the best game ever for prob 1o mins of a 3-4 hour session but it is definitely the WORST online game overall I have ever played. Ill keep playing till I get Grid Autosport this week. When I get my next gen in a few months Cock* can go F*"K themselves. They`re money grabbing liars, *@*# ya DLC, like I wanna look cool losing races cus the screen freezes for up to 3 seconds a time during fast races and catch up is off! You serious, dudes? From a small independent fan orientated company to fat cat wankers, they should`ve understood what brought their company success and allowed them to have such a large fan base to sell to in the first place. I hate sell-outs.

 

[RJ 17]

Yeah, I had heard the rumors that they're just pushing heists back until the game's release on the new gen and that's what I've got my money on at this point. Of course, at this point I really don't give a damn about the game as I stopped playing it months ago. I won't deny that I was really looking forward to the heists, but after being strung along from "They'll be out eventually" to "Good news! They're coming this spring!" to "They'll be out in the summer!" I'm just all out of fucks to give at this point. Had they released it in a timely manner, I would likely still be playing the game. But the base gameplay of GTA:O just wasn't entertaining enough to merit continuing to play for it in hopes that heists will come out. There's really only three things to do in the game, and they get obscenely old obscenely fast. You can either faff about in Free Mode and spend your time dodging assholes with nothing better to do than murder everything in their sight with a tank. Grind out on the same missions over and over for RP and money. Or do some DM's or Races.

As for why no one seems to be making a big stink about that, I think that's a fair question. Apparently R* gets a free pass because everyone loved GTA V's single player so much. That's why no one cared that the highly touted online mode didn't come out until well after the game's release. That when said online mode finally did come out it was damn-near unplayable. And it's why the lapdogs are sitting their patiently, panting up to their masters in eager anticipation of a game mode that (imo) won't be coming out until the release of the game on the new gen...and god only knows when that'll be coming out.

http://thefusejoplin.com/2014/08/gta-5-pc-ps4-xbox-release-date-delays/

So yeah, I'm done with GTA 5 and GTA:O. The heist missions in the single player were a hell of a lot of fun...but I can't help but feel that - whenever they do actually come out for GTA:O - they won't be as fun. What happens when the get-away driver disconnects because a year in and R* still has connection issues?

 

[Something Amyss]

Parachuting creator would be cool but I really hope the next expansion to it is a PvE mode like Survival.

Actually, given the choice I think I'd prefer survival as well. I can't see them doing that, though. Considering how many times they've tweaked the official survivals to make them less survivable, I can't imagine them letting us just make our own which might be balanced or fun. Hell, since race creator, they've cut back on race rewards.

As for the free dlc; I think we've discussed this before. I do remember them saying that we would get updates and all the things that we've been getting but I honestly didn't think that we'd be getting new stuff every month and (maybe not recently but) many of the updates have been a lot more substantial than I expected too.

It's a lot different from GTA4's here are some new guns vehicles and missions now give us $20.

It's possible, though I don't remember discussing it on the Escapist specifically. However, they indicated near constant support, all of it free, and as such I expect nothing less than what they've been doing.

I've seen this too. They either had very fortunate lagging or they do something called lag-switching apparently. Did you report them? You can do it in the game from the player list in the pause menu. R* will actually do something about it if people report them.

The only time I've seen them ban someone reported is for cash cheats, which seems to be only because of their bottom line. Can't sell shark cards if people are giving away cash.

It didn't occur to me to report them in game, though, until after the last job ended and we didn't end up in the same lobby as them. Their in-game report system is really weak and as such I tend to simply forget about it.

Strange, I've never had much of a problem with freezing on the 360 version. Maybe once or twice in the many hours I spent online (which I only did for the achievements despite having almost no fun doing it).

Some friends of mine were on playing GTA tonight and so I joined up with them in a public lobby. I was reminded of why I haven't gone into a public lobby since March, after I died 22 times without getting a single kill (in three different sessions on three different nights). Sure enough, I went to where my friends were and instantly wound up someone's favorite target. He killed me seven times and I only actually SAW him once. I shot him in the head with a heavy sniper rifle and he didn't die, then he raised his own sniper rifle and one-shotted me.

So now that's 29 deaths in GTA Online without me getting a single kill. It infuriated me so much that I just quit and apologized to my friends since I'm NEVER going into a public lobby again. If they want me to play, it's co-op missions or nothing.

For the record, GTA Online is the one and only game in which I've done online multiplayer, so I think part of the problem is that I suck even more than the word "suck."

It could be partially skill, but I wager it's probably also just the game. Even with the screwing I got this weekend, I still have a KDR of about 1.6 (had to check) on XBL, and I find myself having trouble killing people more than often enough. While I suspect cheating is rampant, I also get a lot of lag issues (which I don't get on other online games), such that I can shoot an NPC in a mission in the head and he'll react by ducking out of the way like 30 minutes later.

I'll never pretend to be an awesome player, but most I can at least hold my own online. My COD KDRs have never been anything to write home about, but I stay positive (Even if sometimes only slightly). I think there's both a lot of cheaters on the game and a fair amount of lag or programming issues on Rockstar's side. But I could be totally wrong. Perhaps, for example, my ISP has decided specifically to throttle GTA traffic while letting other games through. >.>

I've had rather routine freezing on the 360 version, though, and three out of the four players I play most commonly with do too. I've also seen it pop up online. The PS3 version, I see less complaints about (might be a smaller player base, I don't know) and have only had it freeze up 2-3 times period (but I play it less).

 

[GonzoGamer]

Parachuting creator would be cool but I really hope the next expansion to it is a PvE mode like Survival.

Actually, given the choice I think I'd prefer survival as well. I can't see them doing that, though. Considering how many times they've tweaked the official survivals to make them less survivable, I can't imagine them letting us just make our own which might be balanced or fun. Hell, since race creator, they've cut back on race rewards.

As for the free dlc; I think we've discussed this before. I do remember them saying that we would get updates and all the things that we've been getting but I honestly didn't think that we'd be getting new stuff every month and (maybe not recently but) many of the updates have been a lot more substantial than I expected too.

It's a lot different from GTA4's here are some new guns vehicles and missions now give us $20.

It's possible, though I don't remember discussing it on the Escapist specifically. However, they indicated near constant support, all of it free, and as such I expect nothing less than what they've been doing.

I've seen this too. They either had very fortunate lagging or they do something called lag-switching apparently. Did you report them? You can do it in the game from the player list in the pause menu. R* will actually do something about it if people report them.

The only time I've seen them ban someone reported is for cash cheats, which seems to be only because of their bottom line. Can't sell shark cards if people are giving away cash.

It didn't occur to me to report them in game, though, until after the last job ended and we didn't end up in the same lobby as them. Their in-game report system is really weak and as such I tend to simply forget about it.

Strange, I've never had much of a problem with freezing on the 360 version. Maybe once or twice in the many hours I spent online (which I only did for the achievements despite having almost no fun doing it).

Some friends of mine were on playing GTA tonight and so I joined up with them in a public lobby. I was reminded of why I haven't gone into a public lobby since March, after I died 22 times without getting a single kill (in three different sessions on three different nights). Sure enough, I went to where my friends were and instantly wound up someone's favorite target. He killed me seven times and I only actually SAW him once. I shot him in the head with a heavy sniper rifle and he didn't die, then he raised his own sniper rifle and one-shotted me.

So now that's 29 deaths in GTA Online without me getting a single kill. It infuriated me so much that I just quit and apologized to my friends since I'm NEVER going into a public lobby again. If they want me to play, it's co-op missions or nothing.

For the record, GTA Online is the one and only game in which I've done online multiplayer, so I think part of the problem is that I suck even more than the word "suck."

It could be partially skill, but I wager it's probably also just the game. Even with the screwing I got this weekend, I still have a KDR of about 1.6 (had to check) on XBL, and I find myself having trouble killing people more than often enough. While I suspect cheating is rampant, I also get a lot of lag issues (which I don't get on other online games), such that I can shoot an NPC in a mission in the head and he'll react by ducking out of the way like 30 minutes later.

I'll never pretend to be an awesome player, but most I can at least hold my own online. My COD KDRs have never been anything to write home about, but I stay positive (Even if sometimes only slightly). I think there's both a lot of cheaters on the game and a fair amount of lag or programming issues on Rockstar's side. But I could be totally wrong. Perhaps, for example, my ISP has decided specifically to throttle GTA traffic while letting other games through. >.>

I've had rather routine freezing on the 360 version, though, and three out of the four players I play most commonly with do too. I've also seen it pop up online. The PS3 version, I see less complaints about (might be a smaller player base, I don't know) and have only had it freeze up 2-3 times period (but I play it less).

The problem is that the lobby matchup is almost completely random. When just tooling around I like to actually flip through the players on the tv. Sometimes I end up in a lobby where everyone is just trying to kill each other and unless I have friends/crew involved, I tend to ignore those riots. Then sometimes I end up in a lobby with people who are stunting, I'm a lot more likely to go meet up with them.

They also tweaked Survival so that you get $10K more when you finish. I think that balances the difficulty curve well. I would expect them to lower the payment for custom Survivals because yes, people would make some damn easy ones.

So yes, I remember them saying that we would be getting 'constant support/updates' but that can mean a lot of things and I expected a lot less than what they have been doing. First of all, I expected at least one or two of these updates to be just fixes and I thought the ones with new stuff would have maybe one vehicle and one weapon or a new hat, not all of those things in multitude every month. IOW, I expected all of the updates to be more like the updates we've been getting the past 2 months.

Regardless, I'm getting a hell of a lot more entertainment/playtime out of GTAO than I expected.

As for the reporting function, I don't see how they could possibly make it easier. You pause, select the player, and select the offense. I've only used it twice (that lag switching incident and some random smuk being really obnoxious over the mic during a job, why can't we mute during jobs?) but each time it was quick and easy. Also, I think they only ban cheaters like the ones you were dealing with, the ones who cheat money/rank just get the money/rank taken away. Though I'm sure they have screwed up that; punished those with legit resources and ignored cheaters.

 

[josemlopes]

Little has been more frustrating in this game than taking multiple headshots with the heavy sniper to kill one guy.

Funny you say that, in the mission editor leak (the editor Rockstar uses for the actual contact missions of the online, no idea if it will ever be released for the public although its very similar to the other editors but with more options) there is the option to change the HP of an NPC and at 300% it says that it will survive an headshot. I remember playing some missions where the enemies seemed like private military soldiers and they had more health then usual, I also usually snipe the guys I can at the start of the missions and vividly remember them not dying with an headshot.

Also, I dont know if many people do this but I find that I have an easier time aiming if I simply hold the right trigger at the middle for the character to aim but not shoot (basicly hip fire without actually firing the weapon to aim), for a very odd reason it seemes easier to me although it takes some time to get used to the fact that you have to be more carefull with your finger. It certainly helps to keep the character moving fast (very usefull against AI) and the aiming is also faster and snappier. I only use the left trigger for more accurate shots or situations where I can stand still.

 

[Laughing Man]

How on earth did you get to level 250 without noticing that catch-up is a toggle-able option?....

I think some clarity needs to be made, yes I am aware that catch up is a toggle-able option, I however do not host races I just join them and since the default option is ON it seems that 99 out of 100 of the races I run it is left ON but both the slip stream and catch up systems are broken. Slip stream does not kick in until both cars are at near full speed, it has no effect in any corners no matter what and it's area of effect is pathetic. Catch up punishes the player doing well rather than rewarding the guy who is slower, it is backwards to almost every other racing games catch up system and that means that the guy who runs a clean long race still ends up fighting it out with the dipshits that have been smashing in to each other since the start of the race, the system is so flawed that if you happen to get in to a race with no high speed, top gear sections catch up becomes utterly useless.

And they will continue to get away with it, because nobody's actually enforcing anything.

Yeah that's what annoys me, they have a report system in game but beyond using it their is no indicators anywhere that anything is being done about the cheats. The rumours I heard regarding Rockstars punishment of cheaters was back when the game was out and folk were glitching cash they clamped down on issue by releasing patches to fix it and then one day they decided monetary figure and anyone who had over that figure got their bank balance reset to it, irrespective of weather they had earned the cash fairly or not, dunno how legit that rumour was but the number of folk complaining about legit cash being reset was quite high.

I think the biggest issue of the gunplay is the Online even supports auto aim. It turned every fight in the story into a joke. Make it disabled on Online or turn off PVP.

No it's not the auto aim it's the core infrastructure behind the online. Peer to Peer connections and jumping from one console acting as host to another via Rockstar's pathetic matchmaking service means that you have no idea what the ping to your opponents is and their is no option to at least let you limit your connection stability. Auto aim lets you see how bad it is where as self aiming would at least hide it to a degree behind the wall of 'oh I must just not have aimed at my opponent very well, that's why I didn't kill him'

The thing is I still like the game, yeah I have a list of complaints as long as my, well... but I still keep coming back and to an extent Rockstar have fixed some stuff balanced some stuff and keep adding new stuff. a lot of folk are complaing that certain jobs in the latest update have had their rewards gimped but the rewards as a whole seem to have been evened out, missions that took ages and rewarded little now seem to give better rewards even mission failing now gives better rewards based on how long you have spent in the mission and how far you got. It now means folk are playing a range of missions rather than grinding Rooftop Rumble all the time.

 

[Something Amyss]

The problem is that the lobby matchup is almost completely random

Which is not at all what they claim.

They also tweaked Survival so that you get $10K more when you finish. I think that balances the difficulty curve well. I would expect them to lower the payment for custom Survivals because yes, people would make some damn easy ones.

I think it's more likely they would leave them out entirely.

I don't really care if they added a payout bonus, either. There are tons of activities I can do that are worth as much or more for the time put in. Fair play if you like it, but I still don't think it's a good case for them ever putting it in.

As for the reporting function, I don't see how they could possibly make it easier. You pause, select the player, and select the offense. I've only used it twice (that lag switching incident and some random smuk being really obnoxious over the mic during a job, why can't we mute during jobs?) but each time it was quick and easy. Also, I think they only ban cheaters like the ones you were dealing with, the ones who cheat money/rank just get the money/rank taken away. Though I'm sure they have screwed up that; punished those with legit resources and ignored cheaters.

If I can only access it when I'm in a game with someone, all they have to do is leave. Even having something as simple as a "recent players" list where one could condemn/commend/whatever would be more useful. I mean, seriously, I can do this on almost every other multiplayer game I own. I'm sorry it doesn't occur to me as I'm being shot at to stop playing the game (especially in a fighter jet), but for most games that's completely unnecessary.

Funny you say that, in the mission editor leak (the editor Rockstar uses for the actual contact missions of the online, no idea if it will ever be released for the public although its very similar to the other editors but with more options) there is the option to change the HP of an NPC and at 300% it says that it will survive an headshot. I remember playing some missions where the enemies seemed like private military soldiers and they had more health then usual, I also usually snipe the guys I can at the start of the missions and vividly remember them not dying with an headshot.

I can one shot Merryweather guys on hard. The problem is not consistent and I have no reason to believe it's specific to increased health. Unless, of course, health is completely randomly assigned or something. Hell, we've got some missions locked down to the point where we can clear them out almost entirely with two light snipers. If they didn't have a system of "spawn as you approach," we might be able to completely take them.

Also, I dont know if many people do this but I find that I have an easier time aiming if I simply hold the right trigger at the middle for the character to aim but not shoot (basicly hip fire without actually firing the weapon to aim), for a very odd reason it seemes easier to me although it takes some time to get used to the fact that you have to be more carefull with your finger. It certainly helps to keep the character moving fast (very usefull against AI) and the aiming is also faster and snappier. I only use the left trigger for more accurate shots or situations where I can stand still.

I wasn't aware you could do this with a sniper. I may have to try that.

 

[GonzoGamer]

If I can only access it when I'm in a game with someone, all they have to do is leave. Even having something as simple as a "recent players" list where one could condemn/commend/whatever would be more useful. I mean, seriously, I can do this on almost every other multiplayer game I own. I'm sorry it doesn't occur to me as I'm being shot at to stop playing the game (especially in a fighter jet), but for most games that's completely unnecessary.

The recent players thing is a good idea but it's worked for me so far. If someone's cheating god mode on you, there's not much you can do but report them.

And yes if you want to maximize your time/money earned, you can just spam Rooftop Rumble, Coveted, Hack and Dash, Mixed Up, or any of the other high pay low time contact missions but I like the Survival jobs. It may take a 15-20 mins to get that 30k but I have fun doing it. I just wish there were more jobs for that mode.