The open world aspect is the most interesting bit about GTA Online. Same was true for Red Dead : Redemption. Just like Red Dead: Redemption, the open world gameplay feels extremely underdeveloped. It really seems to me to be little more than a regular-ass lobby in disguise. As a lobby, it isn't very efficient. There's little to do other than making either your own fun (granted - given the right set of people, the possiblities are endless), or holding up liquor stores. That and buying property.

Also - it's a grind. Everything's super-pricey, cash is on short supply. It feels like a straight-up free 2 play game. Anytime I tried to buy something out of my pricerange it prompts me to the cash shop. The player will have to grind for a lot of cash before he's getting to missions with proper payouts. I guess Take 2 hopes lots of folks buy-in into the more interesting bits of the game with a IRL-tenner or whatever it costs to buy an apartment with heist planning board.

Anyways - the missions aren't all too much fun to begin with. Repo-jobs and the likes. That alongside your average slew of deathmatch and minigame and racing options. There's really nothing to do in the open world outside of holding up liquor stores and stealing and selling cars (like once every couple of hours). There's no real sense of progression, or at least it's too slow and grindy. The rules of the world are less fun (get a wanted star everytime a cop sees you in a stolen vehicle).

Up to now, it hasn't been much fun. I'm not going to buy-in, and I'm not sure if I want to grind it out to the fun bits. I'd rather have them build a properly paced and directed online experience, rather than this odd free 2 play hybrid.

Yes, kinda? I'm trying to, but rockstar keeps deleting my characters.

Had fun with the couple hours I managed to play it, though.

Haven't played the online portion yet, but judging from responses at another thread I'm glad I didn't.

I voted no, purely because I am still stuck at the first race with a never-ending "Launching Session" screen.

I merged a helicopter with a car. I for a few brief moments was coptercar. Until that damn building cut me off.

Nope. My time with it has been limited to standing in the parking lot waiting for a session that never fucking launches.

I've been having a pretty good time with it.
For the first day or so I had trouble actually getting into jobs, would keep auto-failing if I were lucky to get as far as starting one.
Managed to preoccupy myself with and have plenty of fun just robbing liquor stores and gas stations.
I managed to play for several hours today completely devoid of technical issues, right up until a moment ago when I seemed to get stuck loading a job.
But those several hours were great. I'm pretty hooked.

I don't really know yet, I've played a little bit, stuck up some stores, seems to have a cool feature set. Hoping to get in there with some friends on the weekend to have some fun in that world, I see massive potential for fun in that.

I actually don't think it's that grindy. Property and some of the car mods can be expensive, but placing in races can net you around $5k a pop plus bets. Even if you're a terrible driver, as long as you can guess who's going to win a race after playing a few games with the same group you can still get a good chunk of change off bets. Hell, you can race solo time trial style and make a few thousand off of that. Deathmatches are good for money too.

As far as getting the guns go, play a few missions and as long as you're at the level a gun unlocks you can pick weapons of dead guys and keep them. That can save you upwards of $10k depending on the gun. Plus, after you do a few of the missions from the guys that call you, those start paying around $5k-$10k each. I think the cell phone missions are where the real money is going to end up coming from. I've already made about $80k total and I'm only level ten.

Edit: oh, and the timer for selling cars to LS customs resets every time you join a new lobby.

GTA Online is great with friends, and the race mode that has power-ups Mario Kart style is fuckin amazing. Then again, it took me forever to get going. Some of the game mode are really crazy and basically incomprehensible with all of the markers on the minimap, but I;m having a lot of fun. If I can get my friends to keep playing, I could totally get into GTA online for long long time.

I only get the same few early game missions, since I never host. Guess that's the problem for me. Never got a decent room going. Was always stuck to 2 player lobbies. At 1000$ a pop for these, I'm going nowhere fast.

Ask again in two weeks when more than half the players will presumably be able to actually play it.

Things seem to even out today. At least during off-peak hours it worked fine.

I *think* the way the missions work is either tied to level or how many jobs you do for the same person. After about 3-4 missions I started getting better jobs with bigger payouts.

Guess I'll just push forward solo, hate the lobby system as host. It takes forever to find people. At least for me.

If you're going solo, make sure you change the mission difficulty to easy. It doesn't change the payout that I've been able to notice and it makes a big difference.

I love it so far. It's hard to beat stealing a helicopter, loading it up with some friends, having them parachute down to stores to rob at the same time and then yelling "Get to the CHOPPER!!!" and flying away.

I played for several hours straight, and I liked it...a lot the whole time I was on. It is grindy in that - if you want stuff - you need money and the money is realistically doled out. Knock over a convenience store and you'll only get a few hundred bucks. But, I don't find that overly grindy...its just the money comes out as you would expect a game you will play hundred of hours online will be doled out. Its a long term online multiplayer game, if you are not coming in with a long view of needing to play a lot to get stuff...well, okay it might not be for you.

In CoD, you don't get all the guns, attachments, and perks in five hours; it takes time in an online game to gain levels, earn perks, and fit out your gear. And, show me the CoD where if you get tired you hit 'the club' for a lap dance?

I just wish there was an easier way to fill up games. The only jobs that ever seem to get filled are the 2-4 player co-op ones, but good luck getting a full game with an 8 or 16 player deathmatch.

Other than that I've been having a great time.

I can't get past the first race, so I don't know :(

First day playing I wasn't too impressed, technical issues aside. I just didn't understand how the lobby system worked and thought that every mission was basically a deathmatch in disguise. But last night I got the hang of it, managed to group up with some fellow Bombers, and it was a blast. Stayed up til 3am and I felt like I could've kept playing.

Have not enjoyed it much at all, seems like nothing to do, especially now that most of my friends have gotten away from online gaming. I don't want to race

No option for "I can get in yet because it's freaking broken?" I would vote for that option.

I voted no because it doesn't work.

I'm just getting into it now, so ill let you know later

I think if the game was open world madness, it would be awesomely broken (like the Just Cause 2 multiplayer mod). This would be worth the price of admission. But a 16-player limit makes me wonder why they even added an open world option. Deathmatch and such are fun, but other games do it better.

Seems cool. Jumping in on 3-4 star robberies is the most fun I've had with it and I'm hoping the missions themselves are more interesting later on, but I dunno, seems like some fun. Ain't nothing revolutionary but yeah, seems like fun

It's fun. I can see myself playing it a ton. Not a big fan of the microtransactions though. From what I've seen they have hiked up the prices for things so people have more incentive to pay real money for fake shit.

Plus it's a heaping mess for the most part.

Much like ARMA, I think it's best played with friends. I've been having a blast roaming around with a buddy robbing liquor stores and hunting down bounties (had a moment where our target killed my friend, who was piloting a chopper close to the ground...the chopper nosedived and the shooter got caught in the blades and got flung off into the distance in a spray of blood), but the little of it I've played solo hasn't been particularly gratifying.

I'm not sure.... Screwing around in the open world is fun. Getting a group of friends and hunting down other players is a lot a fun ( even though it's a pretty big dick move). I was under the impression the missions were actually story like and more focused on co op but the ones I saw seemed to just be deathmatch and such. Am I missing something on that front or is that what they really are? Overall it seems like it could be enjoyable to just screw around for no good reason and that's kinda it.

No,Shit doesn't work.

Edit : It's fixed ,Now i am enjoying it ! :)

Edit : Shit doesn't work.

Edit : it's fixed.

Edit: Shit doesn't work, character is gone again.

@sackmanjones: There are missions that you get via text message from various characters that are more than just deathmatch, which you unlock access to by levelling up. At level six, I've thus far gotten a couple repo jobs and some drug deal missions.

So, I just reach a point where I can call up merryweather security. Right now all I can do is callin ammo drops, but it looks like later on you can call in backup helicopters, boat and helicopter extractions, merc teams and air strikes. I'm suddenly super stoked about the online portion of this game now.

@max_mischi3f: From the small amount I was able to play I'm pretty excited too. I did a drug deal mission and it was incredible and super tense.

I was finally able to get past the first race last night. Once I finally got into the actual multiplayer part I was promptly killed by another player.

That sound like the best shit ever

You can do ''real missions'' (not the ones on the map) by calling your contacts. I got to steal a RV meth lab from the hillbillies in sandy shores for a $5000 reward. Those mission are kind of hard though. Match with near the max or max amount of players (4 usually), stay in cover, buy body armor, use healing items and you should be fine.

For a game called Grand Theft Auto, it's pretty odd that all the times I've been chased for driving a car that isn't mine seems to indicate they don't want me stealing cars. Add to that, I keep getting shot after I try to retrieve my car from the impound lot because someone decides to shoot me in the head and the police take it.

I spent 12K yesterday insuring a faster car to replace my old one. I logged in today, still had the old car and they'd taken the money anyway.

So, no, not really. I mean, where the fuck are the heists?

Ok, yeah. I'm really liking this.

The way they did the lobby thing is great, jumping from deathmatch, to a race, to a co-op mission is awesome.

It still seems kinda broken, but when it has worked it has been fun. There needs to be a mute all and some kind of invincibility for a few seconds when you spawn in. I got killed by the same player 5 times in a row just trying to turn on the safe mode. I wish there was less races and deathmatches... and too many times I have been told I am a bad sport for quitting out of broken missions and endless loading screens.

Every single time I'm in a room and try to start missions only one or two people join, the vast majority of people just like to drive around harassing each other.

I understand that the free roam PvP is what's appealing to some people, but I don't have any interest in running around being a dick. I'd prefer to play co-op PvE which I assume is possible with missions and heists. Between the stability issues, and being beaten, shot, run over or otherwise "griefed" by other players I've only been able to get as far as installing a tracker in my first car in two nights of play.

The stability issues are the real concern. Last night it said I was kicked from the session by the other players. Is that even possible? I guess it is if Rockstar worded the message that way. The second time I was kicked off due to server instability. After that I got a nice warning that if I continued to quit during Jobs I'd be labeled a Bad Sport and eventually I'd be grouped with other Bad Sports. Hey, I'm just trying to follow the tutorial. I don't recall even being told what a Job is yet, and besides that I didn't quit shit. You disconnected me, Rockstar!

Once it stabilizes and if I can find some like-minded people it might be worth sticking around. If all it turns out to be is open world douchebaggery I don't think it's for me.

Server woes aside playing with the GB community has made this more fun then expected.

It still isn't stable enough to judge. Though I think I will miss the dumb GTA4 free roam where everybody just drove about the airport for hours.

Once you get to level 8, you should get the "No Hay Branca" job from Gerald. It pays out 9000 dollars each time, so you can just keep replaying that.

Without friends, I haven't been having as much fun as I could be. Impossible to find people to fill out a lobby even for a 4 man job. I really don't know how most of this lobby/session invite stuff works. GB crew is full and All my friends are playing on 360, so I'm all by my lonesome getting ganked just trying to pair up with strangers to rob liquor stores.

I cannot stress this enough ... RockStar wants you to read. Once the game is working for you, there are three missions at the start - bing, bang, boom - the game steer you towards those very firmly. Before the 2nd & 3rd missions they put up 'walls of text'..okay, postage stamps of text... about how the game works, about the types of missions in the games, how to find them, how to accept them, and how to play them. That text explains the game's online missions, so don't ignore it...don't click past it. Yeah, the text is small...but it if you read it the game is easier to figure out.

If people are bothering you online, just switch servers...or instances... or shards or whatever it called in this game. You press Select[?] or Start[?] and there is an option to switch. Yup, it a pain in the ass, but in a game with 12-15 other players who are 'playing' you can get A LOT done in a few hours of play.

Also, buy bullets for your gat, son! Civilians shoot back and stick their nose in your business. The online rules of the world are different. Keeping a stolen car is different, spray it, or get chased again and again. Robbing is different too, in a simply robbery don't turn your back on anyone...don't let a civilian behind your back ...I guess that MANDATORY concealed carry law passed. Especially don't turn your back on a 'clerk' in a store when escaping with loot...they will gank you..and the cops will take your damn car. The online game punishes you for being dumb.

I can't stress this enough, the game will TELL you all of this, so read those postage stamps of text.

It's been quite enjoyable thus far, glitches aside, but I do tend to find myself in sessions with people who seem to only want to repeatedly kill me and only me, which makes me wish that dying was less costly. I think I'll just stick to sessions with other people in the GB crew from now on, and now that I've got a mic (albeit a cheap one that I've yet to test) things should get even more interesting.

We can swap friends. Mine are all playing on PS3.

I don't like that you need to yell into your headset to make the store clerks go faster but everyone in the game can hear you. Am I missing something? I robbed two convenience stores and just felt like an asshole because everyone has to hear me yelling at a npc. Is there a button I can press to them up?

The lobby stuff really doesn't work yet as intended. It's impossible to get a decent room going.

just shoot the merchandise around him. That freaks him out quite a bit.

I can't play it online, so I have no idea if I like it or not. I can get to the point where I am running around as my online dude, but it's always just me, and if I try to start a death match or anything it just sits there forever and never starts.