Yes, this is a child-like moan about not being restored fictional money.
First off, as Rockstar have explained, their $500,000 to everyone is a ‘stimulus’. So this means Rockstar are doing nothing about my in-game loss, or anyone’s loss for that matter. Instead, they’re giving everyone some cash regardless of their circumstances. This means you’ll be 500k better off, but so will EVERYONE who has played or will play the game this month (at time of writing). Exploited the game and already have $5,000,000 in the bank? Have another $500,000! Lost $1,000,000 hard-earned in-game dollars? Have $500,000! You’ve only lost $500,000 overall!
Those that think that they are actually getting this as compensation, I assure them they are not. They will be no better off than those unaffected by Rockstar’s complete fuck-up of an online launch. In fact, they will be just as worse off as they were before. Let’s look at the maths:
Me – lost 87k. Given 500k. Balance = 413k
Anyone who has lost NOTHING – lost 0k. Given 500k. Balance = 500k
Effectively, my stimulus is 413k. Theres is 500k. And I’m the one that has had the loss!
So… I’m not compensated? I’m clearly 87k down against anyone else in the game, so my loss still remains.
So… Someone like me who has experienced losses will still be $87,000 worse off than someone that starts playing in two weeks time.
Not only am I not compensated, but I’m STILL worse off than anyone that hasn’t had any problems.
With regard to Rockstar’s mention of economy, I would have to ask… what economy? This is not an MMORPG. I cannot buy from others, and I cannot sell to others. In addition, some people have exploited the game and gained $2,000,000 in an hour or so of gaming. In that time I made a significant loss due to my -$87,000. They speak of economy and giving 250k in two stages not to wreck it, but whatever economy it apparently has is surely already shot to shit within a week of launch?
I accept they can’t rectify individual issues, so I guess my gripe is with the abysmal launch of the online mode. Before anyone starts moaning that there will be issues at launch and blah blah blah, let me explain that I am not criticising the server-related issues. However, it appears there has been little thought as to how the game should behave when a loss of server connection occurs.
I am assuming it was the connection issues that have caused the many losses people have experienced. Allowing players to continue progress without being able to save immediately sounds alarming! Was this not considered? The many exploits in the game are glaringly obvious. If they really wanted to protect this non-existent economy, why not identify these during testing? This all smacks of a rushed launch without adequate testing time.
Rockstar have botched this online launch, where people are at end-game content after just hours of playing. So much for the long-term. Yes, more content will be coming, but by then I’ll have moved on. This is partly because I don’t believe the game can now become what it could have, and I feel that their handling of issues is somewhat illusionary.
Blammo! 