TheBookNerd

Thanks for all of the responses. To answer some questions:

- Direct connect has been turned off between PS4 and Vita.

- I tried everything that Sony recommends. I even set the PS4 to open DMZ instead of just port forwarding.

- My home network was rated as 25 ping/15 down/1.5 up by SpeedTest. And I don't have a problem when connecting that way. PS4 is hard wired by LAN cable in to the modem, and I connect the Vita to home wifi. I can play in other rooms of the house just fine.

So yeah, I'm guessing that any outside connection I use just won't be fast enough. We are in a major metropolitan area with lots of cell traffic. So that idea is a bust, I suppose. I'm open to any suggestions, though. Thanks.

I'm connecting to different networks--public wifis, my cell phone's internet sharing feature, a mobile hotspot... On average I'm getting 6-7 Mbps down and 2-3 Mbps up. What do the speeds need to be?

I got a Vita for Christmas from my lovely wife for the sole purpose of Remote Play. It works fine on our home wife (AT&T U-Verse), to which both the PS4 and the Vita are connected.

However, outside of the home, when trying to play over the Internet, it almost always fails. I get the error message, "Could not connect to the PS4 system. The connection speed of this system might be too slow."

Any ideas or suggestions on how to fix this? Some things I've tried:
- Rebooting the Vita.
- Opening up my modem ports for the PS4 to allow any incoming traffic to access it.
- Rebooting my modem.

Thanks,
Book

Here is the full text of the email:

There is a new comment in article [Updated 10/11/13 3PM ET] Loss of GTA Online characters, rank, items, apartments, money.

• Rockstar Games
  

  Updated 3PM ET 10/11/13: Given some of the recent technical issues (http://www.rockstargames.com/newswire/article/51547/new-title-update-to-address-gta-online-game-progress-loss-and-ot.html) during these first days of GTA Online (http://www.rockstargames.com/newswire/article/51422/some-more-details-on-grand-theft-auto-online.html), and now that things are starting to look much smoother (touch wood!), we are planning to provide a special stimulus package for all who have played or will play Grand Theft Auto Online this month. We will be dropping a cool half a million GTA$ in the GTA Online bank accounts of all players this month, starting as early as next week. For more details about how when and how the money will be awarded, see: Grand Theft Auto Online: Half a Million GTA$ Stimulus Package this Month (http://www.rockstargames.com/newswire/article/51565/grand-theft-auto-online-half-a-million-gta-stimulus-package-this.html/#comments) For those asking about their lost characters or rank, those will not be able to be restored so we sincerely hope that this cash stimulus we’re giving out this month will help you get back on your feet or to make your new life in Los Santos & Blaine extra sweet.

Just received email from Rockstar Games confirming. Anyone else see this?

I really want to trick out my off-road truck. But to do that I have to win a bunch of off-road races. And I CANNOT, for the life of me, get anyone to accept invites to an off-road race. I played for maybe four hours last night. And I had to spend most of that time playing deathmatch because it was the only way to connect to people, earn RP, and make money. So how am I supposed to build the car that I want if I can't find anyone to join me in the races that I need to win to unlock the parts?

I could use some help (i.e. trading wins) in some offroad races. Lost my Rank 23 character, along with my off-road truck and all the upgrades. Now I can't get a single, random person to join me for an offroad race so that I can unlock all the goodies again.

If you care to trade wins in an offroad race, my 360 GT is The Book Nerd.

This is the first Rockstar game where I have played any online component for a significant amount of time And it was fun. I was looking forward to sharing it with my friends. For some reason, I became obsessed with decking out a vehicle that was befitting to my character. I had named my guy Trevor Jr., and he was decked out in flip-flops, blue jogging pants, a wife-beater, and a hockey mask. So naturally I wanted him driving a jacked-up heavy-duty pickup with all the trimmings... (Like I said, no explanation.) So THAT is what I was focused on unlocking. That was to be my reward, and that was my reason for playing the game. So I was investing all of my time into that stuff because, in the end, I wanted to be proud of my ostentatious pickup truck...

That said, everything else was secondary: my house, my clothes, my weapons... I needed that stuff but had no interest in spending the time to unlock it all. So I totally would have spent real money (maybe as much as twenty dollars) on unlocking a condo/garage, all the weapons I needed, and maybe some new sweat pants. Just so long as I could get back to building my truck...

But now... No thanks. If I put $20 in to that game's online system, who's to say it would be there tomorrow? Or that the things I purchased with it would still be there? So, in my mind, that is money that Rockstar has lost. I hope they weren't banking on GTA$ being a big cash cow. I think the problems with Online are going to end up costing them.

I know many of us probably did not plan to partake in the "GTA bucks" system that allows you to purchase in-game currency. But this question popped into my head this morning, after spending several hours last night reading angry--and, in some cases, violent--tweets and forums posts aimed at Rockstar. So I thought I would post it here and get your thoughts.

It is clear to me that Rockstar engineered the economy in GTA Online such that it encourages people to undertake microtransactions and buy the "cash cards" that grant in-game currency. Given the slow rate at which players accrue money (aside from spamming Violent Duct and partaking in similar explorts), how expensive it is simply to die, and how expensive many of the items are in the game, I think Rockstar was hoping that players would see GTA$ as a quick way to get the cars, homes and gear that they desperately want.

But with the horrendous performance of GTA Online and how widespread the issues with game save data and connectivity have been, I can't imagine that anyone would ever conduct a financial transaction through a Rockstar product any time soon. Even if they get all of the issues with GTA Online fixed and promise up and down that their system and servers are now entirely reliable, would anyone really trust them to securely process and retain our financial information as well as in-game currency? Would any of you still participate in microtransactions through GTA Online?

I am genuinely not "fishing" for an answer here. This is not a loaded question. I considered trying out the cash card system early on just to see how it works. But now I can't honestly foresee myself spending money or storing credits through their system. How do y'all feel?