User blog:The Milkman/6 Things Rockstar Needs to Fix in GTA Online



"I love this game. I love that I can't respawn without paying money. I love that the cops are psychic. I love that I can't fight another player in a free roam without the entire police department coming after me. I love that I get penalized if someone is running me down with their car and I blow them up. What a wonderful, fun experience this game is online. I love that I can essentially pay REAL money to get ROCKSTAR MONEY that I lose every time someone kills me. I love that people with REAL money to spend can essentially buy the ability to be a troll. What a great game. So much fun."

- Ibrokeyou, Rockstar Social Club

Grand Theft Auto Online is a blast. It's by far one of the best multiplayer experiences in a long while, but despite it's massive potential, it's also one of the most frustrating. The online aspect of Grand Theft Auto V is quite large in scale, so I can understand a few hiccups here and there. However, the problems with this multiplayer mode goes beyond a few technical glitches and oversights, to the point wherein I begin wondering if half of it was built by the interns, and exactly how much thought was actually put into a lot of it.

Friendly Fire... Sometimes
This is a small, pesky thing, but it becomes more and more annoying, especially when you just want to play with friends. Several times now, I've ended up killing-or been killed by-my crew members. It's something that happens quite a lot in fact. Whenever you press the fire button on your controller next to an ally, you end up buffaloing them. Needless to say, this can get incredibly frustrating, especially when you play in closed sessions with friends and crew members a majority of the time. The odd thing is, when I try to to target them, I can't shoot my friends. So there's no friendly fire... unless you're really close to each other, and then it's a one-hit kill.

Jobs On Demand
In an effort to make sure no one gets too much money by playing the game, the "replay" option has been removed for jobs given by contacts. For players just starting out, this won't be too big of a deal. For anyone who wants to play a really fun mission, you're shit out of luck. You'll have to call a contact and hope for the best. Want to have fun playing a fun mission? Want to grind? Want to actually get better in the game? Too bad.

Spawn Me at the Mission Start
This is a very specific complaint, but it's annoying as all hell. Why aren't I transported to the missions start when starting a mission? If my job is on the other side of the map, why do I have to go on a road trip just to get there? Wouldn't it make more since to spawn me there, instead of making all the players kill themselves just to get there faster?

Different Crew Emblems
As a crew leader, this is frustrating. Why bother giving us an emblem gallery, when you can only use one emblem in your crew? Also, if you're in more than one crew, why can't we select a specific crew emblem from each crew?

The Bad Sport System
In theory, the "bad sport" system is a nice idea. It discourages people from well, being bad sports. Actions such as griefing and rage quitting result in being labelled a bad sport. Not being a bad sport means you occasionally get some money, but not a lot. However, as someone who plays mostly in closed sessions, this has gotten rather annoying. When my friend and I decided to play some tennis, we didn't realise how long it was going to be. After a few games, we decided on ending the game. To my surprise, I was warned about being a bad sport. What? It was a friendly match between friends, and we mutually agreed on doing something else. When I threw a grenade down and my friend jumped out of the car by accident, his car blew up. There was nothing I could do. It was an accident. However, the game doesn't know that.

The solution to this is simple: do the Dark Souls thing. If a player wrongs you, give the offended player the option to indict them. This is really no different, it just adds a step. In the example above, a prompt could have come up for my friend saying "another player just blew up your car", and then give them the option to report it as bad sportsmanship. If I'm in a closed session with only my friends, don't punish me because we're bored of playing tennis. If someone is trying to run me over, and I blow up their car, don't call me a bad sport. Simple stuff.

Glitches Galore
Goddamn I got glitches. I put a mask on, and my character goes bald, meaning there's essentially a ~$400 fee for putting on a mask. That's one part of the game I'll actively ignore, thank you. Whenever I log back in, my crew colour shirt reverts to white, and my crew emblem is gone. To make things more annoying, I have to go to a clothes shop to get it back. There are a lot of little glitches that can make the game a pain, sometimes moreso than the big problems.