WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS TO US, ROCKSTAR?!

Since the launch of GTA Online in 2013, there have been numerous updates and improvements to the game that have set a specific direction for the game. However, as the years went by, one thing became noticeably evident that the game is not anything what it used to be at launch. An overwhelming amount of ridiculous cars, monotonous missions, unforgiving modders, and an absence of obvious features have eroded the overall experience for many players.

The most disappointing aspect is how Rockstar has neglected popular complaints from the player base throughout the years and kept releasing content that not many people got too excited about.  

Nonetheless, the fixes introduced in The Criminal Enterprises DLC did set the path in the right direction, but there are still a vast number of improvements that are needed to harvest the best content out of the game’s potential. 

This article talks about the 10 factors that are holding back GTA Online from earning the status of a beloved gaming title that it truly deserves.

10. Unstable Servers

Discouraging notifications

The servers in GTA Online, especially on PC, are notoriously bad. How bad you may ask? Imagine running a heist with random players that you painstakingly found after waiting a good hour. Suddenly, just when you’re about to reach the final stages of the mission, you receive a notification that one of the other players has left. In reality, it’s either you who clocked out or one of the other players did. At such moments, hammering your keyboard becomes inevitable. 

A major reason for this inconvenience is that GTA Online servers are peer-to-peer and not dedicated. If there were to be any network discrepancies, you will end up suffering unnecessarily. 

One might wonder, as big and rich of a developer Rockstar really is, why haven’t they invested in dedicated servers for one of the most played games of all time? Well, it’s just something we’ll probably be left to question.

9. Lack of a Speed Dialing Option

An obvious feature that's missing

The in-game cellphone is one of those features that has been underutilized all these years. While trying to get out of hairy situations by calling Lester to help you lose the cops or your Mechanic to deliver an armored vehicle ASAP, you are left at the mercy of endless scrolling through the phone to find the intended contact. Just when you find it, you probably get shot or run over by an aggravating NPC. 

A realistic solution to this common problem is to allow players to set a speed dial option on their cell phone’s number pad. This way, you’ll just have to dial one number and call the assigned contact immediately without the hassle of scrolling endlessly. By not having such a feature, imagine the time wasted that you would’ve otherwise enjoyed head-shotting the griefer who’s been getting on your nerves. 

8. Cars with No Character

Boring cars

Nowadays in GTA Online, the number of drivable vehicles is slightly north of 700. Just so you know, those are a lot of vehicles in a game that’s not just about cars anymore. An obvious setback that’s risen from this is that a ton of the vehicles have similar characteristics. Though this is not a game-breaking problem, it impacts the quality of cars that you can choose to drive around in. Eventually, the only reason you might choose one car over the other will be over looks and customizability.

Moreover, the cars that are slower in speed and acceleration don’t stand a chance of getting bought over ones that are fast, since they don’t have any solid reasons to be bought in the first place. That’s why, the braking, steering, and engine sounds need to be better-paid attention to by Rockstar, as the feel of driving a car can give it more character and heavily influence the justification for its purchase.   

7. Lack of Mission Dynamics

Missions that aren't fun

Whether it’s stealing equipment for your heist setups, robbing one of the many branches of Fleeca Bank, completing one of the MC contracts, or just sourcing booze for your Nightclub, all the missions feel the same! 

Either you have to find a key off a dead body, chase and neutralize an enemy, or follow an NPC to the infiltration point, you start to realize the pattern and begin acknowledging the lack of an interesting variety in all the missions. Sure, there’s a limit to how many scenarios one can assign to a mission, but lazily spawning NPCs at every spot of trouble and making you evade them just drains the fun out of the game.

Knowing that Rockstar releases only two major updates every year which introduce new content and missions, it only makes sense that the time available is enough to release something that’s more engaging. After all, the company that developed GTA Vice City, a classic masterpiece, in just nine months can surely come up with better content for an active modern title with an astoundingly large player base.

6. Overpowered NPC Enemies

What are they even made of?!

While fighting against NPCs in freemode missions, you’d think that it’ll be a piece of cake to take them out and get the job done. Well, that’s not really the case. In fact, NPCs can be sometimes even harder to fight than other players in the lobby. Many times, you’ll find yourself getting one-shotted even by taking some of the most protective vehicles to the gunfight. 

Imagine getting annihilated in your heavily equipped helicopter by an NPC that’s shooting you from the ground. Yeah, it’s very embarrassing.

Understandably, hostile NPCs have been kept buffed to preserve the challenging aspects of the game, but the extent to which they’re strong has the imminency to spoil the gaming experience. There needs to be a better balance. 

5. In-Game Inflation

Can't even save enough for a nice Yacht

In what world does an old Volkswagen Golf (BF Club) cost the same as a Mercedes AMG GT (Benefactor Schlagen)? Well, in the world of GTA Online it does. Sometimes, you keep wondering why some of the slowest and most boring vehicles are priced to the point where you’re rather better off stealing a random NPCs car to get around. 

It’s not just with cars you know, some of the lamest weapons in the game are priced so far beyond reason that you literally can’t come up with a solid excuse for their purchase. 

Seeing the price discrepancies between the original and DLC-released cars and content, it becomes obvious that Rockstar started leaning towards the sales of Shark Cards, so that players get easy access to buy more appealing stuff. 

Sadly, the solution to this problem is none other than grinding for hours and hours.

4. Overwhelmingly Bad Experience for New Players

Why did I even buy this game!?

If you’re new to GTA Online or planning to start playing it for the first time, it is highly suggested that you at least familiarize yourself with the game to a basic extent. Watch some YouTube videos and guides on how to get started, because once you step foot in Los Santos as a novice, you’re going to get flooded with phone calls and invites that are definitely going to give you a false perception of the game. 

Being left clueless and confusingly pursuing an activity that pays garbage is a recipe for spoiling your experience and forcing you to quit without even spending much time in the game.

Rockstar did introduce a criminal track-like concept in the re-release of the game for PS5 and it solved this problem to a degree, but the best solution is to get yourself updated with the timeline of all the DLCs released and the payouts for all the heists, so you won’t be left at the mercy of lame activities and would experience the events of the storyline in the correct order too.

3. Futuristic Nonsense

How can it even fly?!

We all remember the classic days of GTA when the modes of transportation were just limited to cars, bikes, aircraft, and boats. Then the concept of weaponized vehicles got mainstreamed in GTA Online, which was still fine. However, once The Doomsday Heist was released, things took a weird turn. The game has since been plagued with ridiculous flying bikes and cars. Who even asked for it?

The main problem that sprouted, as a result, is how unbalanced the game has become. You don’t even stand a fighting chance against some of the absurd vehicles that have become generic. 

Well, the damage has already been done, and the players have become accustomed to using these vehicles for grinding. Backtracking now would probably cause more harm than good. Perhaps nerfing the futuristic vehicles and providing better armor protection for the already existing cars would swing the balance in favor of the innocent players who just want to sell their cargo.

2. Despicable Payouts for Jobs and Races

Earn pennies for jobs worth millions

Activities, adversary modes, and races are endless in GTA Online, and a ton of them are actually really fun too. Sadly, they’re not as played as the heists or other common missions in the game. Once in a while, you’ll come across a group of friends who’ll be playing them for the sole reason of having a good time. Otherwise, you’ll be left waiting for someone to join you in the waiting lobby. The prime reason for this is the awful payouts of these activities.

Sure, the players do flock to these activities when Rockstar has double or triple payouts for a bunch of these jobs every week but is that really a sturdy way of retaining players to keep playing these jobs?

What’s needed is a decent increase in the base payouts for these jobs (at least on par with the payouts of some of the popular freemode missions), along with the continued double, triple, and quadruple money weeks, so players have more reason not get bored by endlessly running heists to make money. 

1. Modders and Griefers

Okay that is kinda creative

The number one reason why GTA Online has become unplayable, and borderline unsafe, for many, is the absence of checks and balances on players who’re lawlessly using mods. In addition, you also have to withstand wannabe tryhards and griefers whose lone objective of playing GTA Online is to provoke other players and ruin their gameplay in exchange for their pathetic gratification. 

Modders, in GTA Online, can: be invincible to damage, spawn ridiculous vehicles, teleport you across the map, cage you with props, keep killing you with explosions and water jets, boot you out of the game, and even get access to your location in real-time. Yes, all of this, and a lot more, without them having to face any repercussions. 

The best way to avoid them is playing the game in an invite-only session, but that too can be infiltrated by them if they really envy you. In reality, the ultimate fix is Rockstar doing something about this issue.

On the other hand, griefers have been an annoyance since the launch of the game. The most irritating aspect about them is that they have the liberty to easily destroy your vehicles in any sort of sell missions where you stand no chance of fighting against them. Then again, a remedy to this is to play in an invite-only session, but Rockstar could’ve at least given us faster and protected vehicles for such missions or made such mission settings more anonymous on the map, by default, so others won’t know.   

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