GTA Online is flooding with new players, and it’s causing chaos – Polygon

According to Take Two Interactives latest investors call, GTA Online had broken records for player numbers in July 2019, and then broke that record again on a monthly basis from December 2019 through to March 2020. Rockstar has never ever validated the games specific player base or provided a ballpark figure, but Grand Theft Auto 5 has sold over 130 million copies, which offers it a massive potential population.

Its never been more tempting to get into Grand Theft Auto Online, and thats by design. In May, Rockstar flung open the gates to Los Santos by handing out Grand Theft Auto 5 on the Epic Games Store for a limited time, together with millions of in-game dollars just for logging in. Fans have developed on that hype through viral alien gang wars that motivate newbies to log in and select a side. However anybody who jumps in for the first time will be hit with a horrible truth: Veteran fans are abundant, mad jerks who can pay for tanks and orbital cannons.

The brand-new gamer circumstance just gets worse throughout endgame content, like the Diamond Casino Heist. Just as knowledgeable gamers attempt to manage the ideal fast heist for lots of money, their new buddy goes bumbling through the level, notifying guards and turning a smooth task into a shitshow.

In short, GTA Online veterans are used to having their sandbox a particular way, and now these sweet summer season kids are stomping right through the sand castles. And what takes place when 2 groups of fans have a dispute? Older gamers, who have actually been around since prior to the servers were even steady, have actually currently collected large in-game fortunes.

In numerous ways, this is a benefit– an online video game continuously requires fresh blood, lest the neighborhood wither away. As Ive recently found out from my time in the game, brand-new players who dont know how anything works tend to trigger problems in GTA Online. Ive heard comparable problems from more skilled gamers, who feel that newbies frequently break unspoken guidelines, like messing up into somebody elses escort freight so they fail their mission.

Image: Rockstar Games

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Nate is another GTA Online player whos discovered happiness in tormenting lower-ranked criminals, specifically since hes been playing for years.

These arent simple sniper rifles or armored lorries. Veteran gamers have possessions like orbital cannons that can strike from space, flying cars and trucks with lock-on missiles, sci-fi flying bikes with effective toolboxes, and impenetrable tanks. The APC, for circumstances, is a military-style piece of hardware (and among the weaker tanks in the game), and it can be bought for three million in-game dollars. Thats a hefty sum, and the prices just climb up for more effective designs.

GTA Online is very excellent at indulging ridiculous hijinks. I once spent a night babbling with laughter and utilizing a focused gravity gun to turn vehicles down the street at my friend, who was playing a terrible game of Frogger. It wasnt till after that I understood I had actually splashed a few low-level, weakly armored, innocent players just trying to check out the clothing store.

The tank was impenetrable by any weapon PJ owned, and even escaping to his sports vehicle didnt assist. “He could chase after down my vehicle, flatten it, then get to me just as I generated. It was like a child combating the Terminator.”

As Ive just recently discovered from my time in the video game, brand-new players who dont understand how anything works tend to cause issues in GTA Online. Long-time gamers have assets like orbital cannons that can strike from area, flying cars with lock-on missiles, sci-fi flying bikes with powerful toolboxes, and impenetrable tanks.” Its ruthless sometimes,” states PJ, a new GTA Online player who selected up the video game at the end of 2019, over Twitter. It wasnt up until after that I recognized I had splattered a couple of low-level, weakly armored, innocent players simply attempting to check out the clothes store.

” Its brutal in some cases,” states PJ, a new GTA Online player who chose up the game at the end of 2019, over Twitter. One time, I was just trying to get this high-end automobile, and this man with a tank simply kept rolling up and annihilating me.

GTA Online released in 2013, but the game is still going through growing pains. Its an excellent issue for Rockstar to have, and in time, these newbies will learn the methods of the game (or stop in favor of a less cut-throat gamer base.) In the meantime, though, its remarkable to see how Online is settling into the have-nots and haves.

Some brand-new players are floundering, sending out demands for individuals to join their break-in lobby that rarely go responded to. Who wants to have fun with someone who is clueless? Old gamers then periodically wipe them off the face of the Earth, either in reaction to a slight, or just to spite the brand-new folk filtering into the video game.

” I do not intentionally camp them because theyre low-level,” Nate told Polygon, “I just discover them regularly because they do not have arcades or bunkers to be in, or an Oppressor to stop a lock-on. If they mess up my shipment or try to begin shit, yeah, Ill release an orbital strike on them. Its a power relocation.”

Old gamers then sometimes wipe them off the face of the Earth, either in reaction to a slight, or just to spite the brand-new folk filtering into the video game.