How GTA Online lets you counteract jerks

Grand Theft Auto 5's online component is so open that your friends can take advantage of you, if you're not careful. So it's put tools in place to prevent that very thing.

3

Grand Theft Auto Online, the sprawling open world online component of GTA5, is all about hanging out with your friends and having a good time. It's so open, though, that your more unscrupulous buddies can take advantage of you, so Rockstar has put a few pieces in place to prevent that very thing.

In a hands-on, IGN notes that during a heist with a buddy, the passenger gets to decide the split of the take. If he tries to rip you off, though, he runs the distinct risk of getting shot and ending up with nothing.

As you might expect from a game named "grand theft auto," other players will be able to steal your cars, giving you a true taste of how all those random NPCs feel when you do it to them. Fortunately, though, you can mitigate this threat by insuring your cars, which presumably means they'll be automatically replaced if anything happens to them.

You'll also be at constant risk of losing whatever cash you have on you at the time. If you die, your wallet will just sit there with your body, available for any of your friends to snatch up. For that reason, it's important to make regular visits to the ATM and deposit any money you've recently scored from heists. You would think the bank would start to get suspicious.

Editor-In-Chief
From The Chatty
  • reply
    September 4, 2013 9:45 AM

    Steve Watts posted a new article, How GTA Online lets you counteract jerks.

    Grand Theft Auto 5's online component is so open that your friends can take advantage of you, if you're not careful. So it's put tools in place to prevent that very thing.

    • reply
      September 4, 2013 10:12 AM

      Sounds fun and thought out. Now, bring on the PC version.

    • reply
      September 4, 2013 10:24 AM

      Sounds really great, but have they released any information yet about how we connect to each other online? The article seems to indicate a sort of invite only co-op thing, but being that none of my friends game I'm kind of hoping for some sort of random "match-making" option here.

      • reply
        September 4, 2013 11:08 AM

        make more friends. Also SHACK is a gaming website with guys who like games...just an idea.

    • reply
      September 4, 2013 2:09 PM

      None of this seems particularly grief-proof.

      C4 on an ATM = lols
      Choose a low cut then shoot someone and pick up their wallet with their cut in it. Or just always choose a high cut, chances are you can shoot first.
      And car insurance? That sounds almost as fun as taking your fat brother bowling.

      The entire IGN article reads like an advertorial. Which it being on IGN means it is.

    • reply
      September 4, 2013 4:07 PM

      Having to manage a persistent character like this kind of sounds like a chore. Like real life. I don't want to live real life in a game. I just want to hop in and dick around with unlimited access to cool shit. Too bad that's exactly the opposite of what all modern "treadmill of arbitrary progress" game design is based around :(

Hello, Meet Lola