Sorry to those who are having issues connecting to GTA Online. I had a lot of server problems but i kept persisting in joining. I eventually got into the online.

So me and a couple of friends decided to rob some stores. At first it was a normal robbery we got $500 and decided to split it into 3 ways. It got really interesting when a friend found a helicopter around sandy shores. Knowing this we decided to rob 3 stores in succession. We had $1500 but also had 3 star wanted level. We drove and caused carnage for at least 15 minutes to get to shandy shores to reach the helicopter.

I had all of the money so i quickly jumped into the helicopter but i realized one of my friends was stuck in a road block and couldn't meet us at the helicopter. I took executive decision to leave him and make way to freedom. We eventually did and split the cash in half with my friend who made it with me in the helicopter.

This was not a mission it was a random store robbery and i couldn't believe how exciting it was. We were going to rob another store but the servers timed out.

I cannot wait to dive back in the online when the servers are some what stable. I will try to invite some people from the Giantbomb PS3 crew to a session. To those who have managed to play online have you had any good moments ?

Seems exciting, I just wish the servers were more stable so I could actually try it out as well.

I had an awesome moment as well. I just made a new character watched the cut scene And looked at a waiting for other players icon spin for an eternity. It really changed my life, put things in perspective. I really am a better person for it

What I experienced was pretty similar to what Jeff did on the current stream. So yeah, hasn't worked for me. Sounds like it could be awesome though. Can't wait for it to actually work.

I just want to troll people like you. People having fun with friends? Urgh. Run them over in helicopters I say.

All I did in GTA4 and that was fun

all this does is make me wish it was on pc. sloppy controls, loads like a bitch all the time... fails to enter "jobs".

How do I find others in the Giantbomb PS3 group?

That sounds really great. Makes me no longer want to wait for a next-gen version.

I'm in the PS3 Giant Bomb crew, I've been trying to connect all day and it hasn't worked once.

@robothamster: In the online section of the pause menu you can select between joining your crew in a lobby with random people or having a private lobby with the crew. Once it is stable we can experiment with it.

I messed with it for a little bit today. I don't know how I feel yet. I'd like to find some coop stuff and less tdm/races. But it's awesome that I have a giant bomb logo on my sick leather jacket! Also pro tip don't forget to transfer you cash into your bank account. I don't know how much cash drops when another player kills you, but I didn't want to be holding onto almost 20 grand on the streets. You get into your bank account via the Internet under money and services.

One of the first things to happen to me was I got mugged. Someone started a fight with me, I lost, and they took some of my cash and my sunglasses. Bastard. I learned later that I could just re-equip the glasses from my inventory, but the cash was gone. @jackel2072 gave good advice: keep most of your cash in the bank!

Then @ley_lines and I robbed a convenience store and that was a good time. I waited in the car outside the store until he showed up, and then we strolled in and 211'd the place. On the way out the clerk got a little frisky and nearly took me down as I was running out the door, but @ley_lines had my back and took him out first. He did a nice job losing the cops too, all calm, cool, and collected like. I just sat back and enjoyed the ride. After we lost the cops we split the cash. I had to log off after that, but first impressions are pretty good!

Giant Bomb was represented well, too. There were probably half a dozen or so duders online at once which was nice to see. I imagine that number will go up once the server issues are worked out and more people can get online.

I don't want give away the scene but when a player kills you in free roam and that cult thing plays I almost died laughing. Also can you have more then one crew at a time?

@dr_bocknstein: I believe that you can have up to 5(?) crews, but you have to toggle which one is your "Active" crew. I haven't confirmed this yet..

A small minor thing, drove by an Ammunation and noticed a dude was inside and his banged up ute was outside. Parked my personal car and jacked his, drove it down a block before bailing because it was to banged up, and ran back to my car to see the guy react to his missing car. I see him trying to jack my car, but is locked out to everyone but me, and I say to myself 'no one touches my car' and pumped him full of shots and took his gun and money.

Then I hop into my car and another guy rounds the corner and start shooting at me, so I drive off a little do a U-ie and tried to do a drive-by on him. He hops into a car and I chase after him and we start shooting at each other. We both make it on a highway and I shoot out 2 of his tyres and he spins out and crashes into the inside lane barrier and I speed off before he could retaliate in some way.

makes me so bummed that these servers issues are still a problem I really want to play more of this!

I personally can't wait for all the choice YouTube videos of people doing stupid and crazy shit. In fact I think the inclusion of emotive suicide is brilliant in this weird video game world context where you just respawn with no penalties; it should produce a lot of great moments.

Awesome, some of the most fun I've ever had in multiplayer was when 2 random dudes started to chase me in cop cars in GTA4. They chased me all over the city and eventually I let them 'arrest' me, before escaping and shooting them. Making my own fun!

I only managed to play for about 40 minutes so far, but the one and only person I saw slammed into my car and then drove off. Was still in the "tutorial" bit so I got a free repair and the tracking thing and stuff though. Definitely looking forward to running with friends, and I hope it doesn't just turn into DayZ "always deathmatch" mode.

I jacked a big rig, the driver started yelling at me and as I drove away, there are lights and sirens going off behind me as I'm being chased by 2 people who have jacked a police car. I start slamming into them, knocking them into cars and buildings as they start shooting at the cab of my truck. Finally one of them decided to shoot out the tire, on my trailer, which I now notice is a gas tank. The road we are on starts to curve, so I slam them into a building, take off and release the trailer at the turn, watch it slide sideways and block the road and then explodes, taking the 2 faux cops with it. Nothing but dumb luck kept me alive because all they had to do to kill me was shoot my trailer.

A little bit after that, Convoy came on the radio as I'm driving down a main street in downtown Los Santos in the same big rig. And I see a guy having a massive shootout with the cops blocking part of the road. So I decide to drive through 4 cop cars and his car, killing him and several cops and getting 3 stars in the process. I died shortly after that, I did learn it is rather hard to out run a police chopper in a damaged big rig.

I finally got on last night, and since I was on I didn't got to bed until 4 AM. All I can say is, it is worth the wait. I would all urge people that are frustrated to not watch quick looks or clips of other people playing. Just like the single player it is worth not ruining by seeing what it is without playing it yourself.

My advice for people is keep trying, wait a few days, but don't ruin it for yourselves by seeing clips of it being played. The story beginning of online blows away the start of the single player in my opinion. I'm super early, so I don't know, but I I think the online story might just be slightly more 'dramatic' and therefore slightly more interesting to a lot of players. Not to say it isn't funny, but the tone is more 'crime drama' instead of GTA lunacy. Like Beverly Hill Cop if Axel Folye were a thief

I played a hefty amount of the game yesterday. I did not however manage to have any of my characters save from yesterday so now I am stuck in this never ending loading screen, but those are the breaks. I can say that from what I have played the game is crazy amounts of fun. The basic store robberies are super fun, quick and easy for anyone to do, with the added stress of some other player possibly jacking the cash you just stole. I like the level progression from what I played to which was about level 7, the high er you get the more the game introduces to you in the form of jobs, more things to rob/steal, new activities and much more. I feel that the character creation is flawed but is still a cool concept, the delivery on said concept is a flat, flawed and doesn't really need to be there. Maybe if the heritage changes affected stats and the actual grandparents and what not had more detailed features and info it could work a bit better or just give it more reason to actually be part of the creation process. Robbing armored cars is fun and also takes some good planning, however the cooldown on the trucks is a bit wonky. I haven't seen much else, the other random activities like darts, golf and tennis are all there and play the same as the story mode (except with friends so not much to say about that). The voice feature are very funny but seem a bit novelty, and seem to me like they will wear out there welcome fast. The actual server set up is kind of weird to get used to, the fact that everyone is in the same voice chat is cool and you can change who can hear and speak to you by holding select, however the lack of group features seems strange, crews are obviously shown prominently on the map but not having the option to set up a small group within the open free roam takes a bit of getting used to. The feature is not there due to the fact that anyone in the game can rob, jack and/or kill any other player within that same server, so unless you pay for the passive mode feature (that costs $100 of in-game cash) then be on your toes and make sure to put your on-hand cash int he bank. Overall I love it and can;t wait till things are working properly so we can all experience this madness together. For anyone currently playing, DON'T STOP, lol.