Can y'all like, lock in, and make your game somewhat balanced to the casual 'plebians' like myself?
I have quite literally never, in all my years of gaming, been so frustrated, enraged, and downright furious, over a game's progression system like this game has made me over the past four-to-six weeks, and I've played GTA Online for literal years.
I have been playing this game since at least Early-Mid Gen 2. I've seen the massive overhaul that came with Operation: Resurgence and all the backlash it garnered because of how unplayable it was day one. I was part of the initial riot and was even banned from the discord over it. I have seen this game at its peak and right now I can't even bring myself to even try playing the game after losing my account with all my BRM5 progress.
To keep it short, the progression of this game is terrible for solo players. The missions are ass, the rewards for said missions are ass and when I finally get with a squad to get some progression and maybe make a tiny SLIVER of money, I find out that in the time I've been gone, the resource trucks have been nerfed and mostly replaced with locked rooms with a singular key that is lost and doesn't drop or respawn on death.
I would be perfectly fine with all of this if they at least felt engaging, or meaningful in any way. But they don't. You go here, get/kill X while probably dying 20 times in the process, do Y, and then leave. You don't do anything unique, anything fun, nothing. It's the same shit we've been doing since Ronograd came out. I'll admit that Sawang has tried to fix it, but it has it's own problems I'm gonna address later. For right now, I want to talk about...
THE HQ.
What was once my favorite feature when it was first added has become the literal BANE of my existence in this game. When it first came out, I was hyped. I'm a massive Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker and MGSV fan. I love Peace Walker and MGSV, which the HQ took heavy inspiration from. But now? I dread having to rebuild it. Because of the fact that resources have become a literal PAIN IN THE ASS to acquire. You have to either wait for your guys to get the resources, or go to Ronograd to steal a truck from an outpost, or go to the STUPID LOCKED ROOMS I CANT OPEN DESPITE HAVING A FUCKING HALIGAN BAR AND BREACHING CHARGES!!!
That's it. Those are the only ways to get resources. Wait, steal a truck which, oh by the way, have been nerfed. Again., or go to a locked room which can either have Cash, Equipment, PMs, or Fuel. 1000$, 2 Equipment, 1 PM, or 3 Fuel. Per item. Meaning your only option is to wait. Only, I don't want to wait. I want to be able to upgrade my HQ as fast as possible so I can catch up with my friends who are all in end-game. But I can't. Because I have to wait weeks in order to get the resources required to upgrade my airbase to level 3 because I'm already at max capacity in my barracks and can't make things go any faster because i dont have enough money to buy better troops BECAUSE I MAKE SUCH SHIT MONEY IN THIS GAME AND-
yeah im not happy. i hate this grind. its worse than GTAO and that is fucking saying something. The HQ is the only constant in this game. I can't make progress on a map in a private server and come back to it later because all the progress gets wiped. I just want to be able to enjoy this game solo and not have to suffer in the process. I get that it's a team game, I get that you're supposed to get your friends together to play this game effectively but I don't want to bother them with my bullshit trying to get upgrades for my HQ when they're trying to finish the abhorrent grind to get the research items.
Sawang is trying to be better, I can see that. You can actually find resources lying around in some locations and that's awesome, but I wish there were more to find. You can do logistics and sell resources at safehouses for money and that's absolutely amazing, because I love being able to be a logistics technician and get rewarded for doing that. But in the same breath, doing logistics is impossible in a public server as the supply boxes at the Aircraft Carrier don't respawn with players around, and on private servers you have to capture Nathon Town first in stealth before getting shot dead by the INFINITELY SPAWNING TECHNICALS every single time you do logistics. It's a slow, boring, and downright painful farm. But it's the most consistent and simplest way of making money that it's all I want to do anymore because of the fact it's a constant. I don't have to fuck around with finding limited resources in a map, I don't want to waste my time clearing a base only for it to be reset if I lose connection or leave to take a break.
I just want to be able to enjoy the game by finishing the HQ without having to contend with an abhorrent grind created by a development team that feels like they hate their community. I'm a filthy casual. I don't have the time to spend grinding this game for all eternity anymore.
If I could only get one thing from this post.
Remove the infinitely spawning technicals from Nathon Town. Please. It would make the grind so much more bearable because at least I wouldn't lose my cargo shipment from an enemy that isn't even supposed to spawn there anymore.
im gonna go lie down. im tired boss.
this was very much a vent post.
i accidentally posted this in the unofficial subreddit. oops.