13 fixes to improve GTA Online
Mission Playlists, weapons loadouts and the indestructible volleyball net. How can we improve GTA Online?
I'm a little obsessive about Grand Theft Auto Online. I've just hit Rank 92 after 149 hours and 19 minutes. Real life has become an inconvenience.
Spending all that time in Los Santos I've come across a number of obstacles to maximum criminal efficiency. If a patch taking care of the following was released I'd sure appreciate it, Rockstar. Thanks!
Remember my weapon of choice
My old friend, the Bullpup.
We have out loadouts locked down. But every time we step into GTA Online we have to rearrange out weapon wheel because it doesn't remember preferences. If I'm packing the Combat Shotgun I'm not going to want the sawed-off to take priority.
We can't even arrange the weapons wheel in our own apartments either, for some reason. I get not arming a weapon at home - safety first - but we have to wait until we're outside. According to the data on Rockstar Social Club I've been holding my Bullpup for 16 hours, 46 minutes and 57 seconds in-game. You don't think I want that ready before I step outside my front door?
Quick cash deposits
Think this is a boring screen? Try interacting with it every day.
I'm all about making that loot but I want it in the bank quick-sharp. Using the mobile app takes an age. You have to pull out the phone -> open internet -> Money & Services -> Maze Bank -> deposit -> amount -> are you sure? -> done -> quit out the app. It's the drag of real life banking. Who thought simulating that was fun?
Just give us a quick deposit button that drops everything we're carrying into the account with one click on the home screen. No one deposits just some of the money they've carrying. No one uses the ATM. Speed and security is of the essence when dealing with my greenbacks, yo.
Speed up loading times
Matchmaking is getting a little better, but the loading times are a drag. Staring at a screen for a couple of minutes at a time when you quit out or finish a job is a real fun-vacuum. And it does that little tease where it looks like you're entering freeroam for a split second with the *dum, dum, dum* sound… and then it goes back to a load screen. What a pisser!
Fix the front door bug
My aspirational single-man bullshit collection.
When I start a job in my apartment the game places me in front of my man cave and not the front door. What the F, yo? I don't need to put my vinyl collection in alphabetical order, I need to be sticking up punks for mad cheddar.
Ignore Creator Jobs
The Quick Job option is great but can we filter it so it only launches into Rockstar Created and Verified Jobs? Because I really don't need to get sucked into one of those p**s-poor self-made jobs where the creator has rigged it so he can take advantage of a glitch-jump and slaughter everyone else on the map. It's not even fun for the person with the upper hand because everyone quits as soon as they realise it's s**t.
More weapon choice as a passenger
Can we use bigger weapons when we're riding shotgun in a car? I accept that it doesn't make sense to break out the Grenade Launcher or Combat MG in a confined space. But only allowing pistols, the minigun and explosives is too limiting. Allowing assault rifles would be a better balance. You can use them from the back of a van or sitting side-saddle in a chopper, so let us tool up in the whip.
More ink space
A fine figure of a man.
The problem with previewing tattoos is they appear on different areas of your arm so it looks like you can get an anchor on the bicep and a diamond on the elbow. In reality you can only have one tattoo per bodypart. Now we're looking at the game in high-def, can't we have multiple tattoos on our torso? I want to look like I've been in a Russian prison, not a hipster trying to make a fashion statement.
Mission playlists
All those lovely missions and we can't stack a bunch together?
We can only jump into one specific Mission from the Jobs bar, but once finished it's back to the random luck of Rockstar's 6 options menu.
Some of us team up online just to take on 4-player co-op Missions - it's one of the best parts of the game. I guess you can't put together a Missions Playlist to stop people grinding them for RP and cash, but that's really our decision. We can set Playlists for Last Team Standing, Deathmatch and Races, but Missions are off the menu. Missions are great, but having us quit out (hello again, tedious loading screen) select another job we want and then launch it is just stubborn design.
Favourites on the phone
We use it a lot in-game. A makeover would be nice.
Can we get a simple app on the phone that allows us to store 5 favourite Jobs for quick launch? It would be really great to have a classic Race, Mission and Deathmatch map on tap. Thanks.
Calm down AI drivers
Don't drive like a knobhead.
I thought it was just me to begin with. But when you're on a job there are certain AI drivers that seem to have a deathwish and swerve head-on into your vehicle. It usually happens during the part where you have to get away from the cops or have Merryweather on your six. These suspiciously suicidal civilians are surely only there to try and delay the challenge, but it's one of the most clumsily implemented design decisions in the game.
A little more personal space
I got a helicopter like a games designer in the 90s.
I love the enthusiasm of the Pegasus receptionist (I'll publish my fan fiction one day) and the way they drop my Buzzard within easy-ish reach. But is there any chance we could get some private space near our apartments for chopper and tank delivery? My apartment has a car park right behind it - spawning the Buzzard or Rhino there would be great. Or maybe give us a choice of spawning locations so we can choose the best one for the job we've just launched? I like to believe a military hardware supplier like Pegasus operates a more efficient system.
The indestructible volleyball net has to go
This volleyball net is a total prick.
You can smash a lot of Los Santos up, and Rockstar gives you the tools to do just that. Vehicles shower shrapnel when they explode, street lights crush cars, fences, gates and walls collapse when you barrell into them. But the volley ball nets on Vespucci Beach? Solid adamantium. Try it. Drive a car into one at high speed and you will be stopped dead.
A double RP weekend?
I know Rockstar has said that the first major update for GTA Online would be Heists, but a double RP weekend for the PS4 and Xbox One while we're waiting wouldn't be a bad idea. I need to get to Rank 100 before Christmas but tedious things like life get in my way.
I am basically Jimmy De Santa. Thanks for listening.