Grand Theft Auto Online Storms the World Today

By Marc Hollinshead,

After waiting so long to get our excited mitts on Grand Theft Auto V, having to wait another two weeks for GTA Online couldn't have been that bad, right? Well now that wait has paid off, as Rockstar have finally pushed that big red button and made it officially go live. With this, new details on the eagerly anticipated online portion of Grand Theft Auto V have surfaced so players can prepare themselves for this experience.

There is no additional charge to gain access to GTA Online. All that needs to be done is a simple Title Update upon loading your copy of Grand Theft Auto V. Once that is complete, you will have full access to the online mode and can jump straight in. To be able to do this, navigate to the fourth (bottom) slot of the game's character wheel and you should be good to go.

Rockstar have also been asked how the GTA Online storyline fits into that of Grand Theft Auto V's. They have confirmed that it takes place a few months before, so don't expect to see the trio of misfits gallivanting around the world on your travels.

Now with so much freedom and potential chaos that could be caused in this online world, Rockstar have made sure that players won't constantly have to pick themselves up financially after losing everything due to another player's reckless actions. With house party invitations, players can have a friendly get-together at their personal apartments without fear of seeing their home and vehicles go up in smoke. This has been designed specifically for that reason, so if you receive an invite to someone else's property, you will be unable to go Rambo-style on them and shoot up the place. Rockstar have also noted that if you own the same property as another player in any given lobby, you will be able to enter your own personal instance of that particular property whenever you wish. If you get an invite to another player's property of the same type, you will also be able to enter their own instance of the property. So, because of this, multiple instances of the same property can co-exist within a lobby.

There have been a number of concerns with how money in the game may cause unfair play, but Rockstar have made sure to alleviate those concerns. Through the use of certain mechanics, the option of purchasable in-game money for GTA Online will not automatically disrupt the overall playing field. All players will have to earn Reputation Points (RP) in order to gain access to purchasing better items. It will be impossible to simply start up GTA Online and buy your way to success from the get-go. You will earn that privilege and play to unlock access to those glamorous clothes, weapons and other such items. Rockstar do not want this experience to be a grind for anyone, either. The activities that players will be able to take part in such as robberies, races, holding up stores, etc have been designed to be constantly enjoyable so nothing will feel like a chore. However, to be able to have the best possible experience, Rockstar are calling out to you, the players, to help them with figuring out what issues are in the game so that they can iron them out as quickly as possible. They are promising to be diligent in their tweaking of GTA Online so that it can remain as balanced and as fair as possible.

GTA Online is going to be a long-term experience that will always be evolving and growing in the coming weeks, months, and beyond. Taking on jobs in the world of Los Santos and Blaine County will be a major part of this and so Rockstar will be regularly adding new jobs into the world so that the massive offering of jobs will be even larger. This coming Autumn, the Content Creator will release so that anyone can create their very own custom race and deathmatch jobs as they please. As mentioned before, the players are just as important as Rockstar when helping to develop this aspect of the game. Rockstar will be monitoring emails sent to GTAOnline@rockstargames.com as well as the Suggestion Box on the Social Club forums.

Obviously, to get started on GTA Online, you will have to make a character. The character creation system here is slightly different to what you might expect from other games like RPG's. Firstly, you will chose your gender. From there, you will have to pick a mother and father for your character and then decide which parent has genetic dominance over them, or whether you'd rather have it evenly matched. After that, you will chose between a set of lifestyle variables which will help to create your character's appearance and starting stats. This ranges from how much sleep he/she gets, the amount of partying they enjoy, how much honest work/illegal activity they partake in, and more. Basically, you could end up with anything from a glamorous Marilyn Monroe to someone who makes Gandalf look as smooth as a baby's bottom. Before you're happy with the final result, you can 'test' your character out in real time before putting them on that flight to Los Santos. If you're still not fully happy when they make their first steps in the world, there are still customising options such as haircuts and clothing accessories as well.

If you are a member of the famed Social Club, then you will get special access to unlockable vehicles and weapons, as well as Crew emblems, extra tools for user-created jobs, and more. Rockstar recommends that you join so that you can get as much out of GTA Online as you possibly can. Later in October, special Social Club events will also be taking place so that lucky winners can bag themselves even more rewards. Keep on checking back for whatever Rockstar has in store next.

GTA Online is out now and can be played via your own copy of your Grand Theft Auto V. Expect Rockstar to be vigilantly watching for any issues that arise in these first few days of its launch, because for something this vast and huge, bugs and hiccups are likely to be found.

We've got the full list of Grand Theft Auto V (Xbox 360) achievements - check the list for guides to unlocking them.

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Written by Marc Hollinshead

To summarize Marc in two words, it would be "Christian Gamer." You will usually find him getting stuck into story heavy action-adventure games, RPG's and the odd quirky title when he isn't raving about Dark Souls and Mass Effect. Outside the world of gaming, Marc attends and helps out in his church on a regular basis and has a not-so thrilling job in a supermarket.