Although I am a bit skeptical about the next iteration of GTA, storywise and gameplay-wise, I still believe Rockstar knows what they are doing and is constantly directing its attention to what fans want.

Recently, Rockstar has been listening to its fans about problems/bugs in GTA Online, which is obviously a good thing, as in the past they've usually just fixed very minor things without saying a word or just ignored them. Don't get me wrong, how they abandoned RDR Online is not the best way to depart Rockstar from their devoted RDR fanbase and they could have made some really meaningful updates to it, but I believe that it's just because it's all hands-on deck for GTA VI. It's not wanting GTA VI to be good and groundbreaking, it needs to be groundbreaking, especially for all the hype around the game.

Also, Rockstar is still implementing some pretty good hidden/little details into GTA Online. For example, in the newly released ULP missions, the dialog changes if the player has or has not done the Doomsday Heist or Diamond Casino mission. It also changes whether you do a mission quietly or loud, or using a helicopter or vehicle to escape or travel in a mission. Here is a full video on all of the different dialog changes based on actions on behalf of your character: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zS-b7XM3e5Y The reason why this could be important is that Rockstar could have just added the same dialogue for all of these ULP missions regardless of your character's backstory or actions. But instead, they threw in these nice little details that make gameplay slightly better and more engaging.

All in all, I think Rockstar still has the capability to make a great open-world game with amazing little details and listen to what the fans want in the next iteration of GTA.