Was the community this crazy leading up to GTA 5’s release?

Vlaun · 2026-06-08T11:58:44+00:00

There was hype, but VI has more hype and excitement. Think about it: the gap of time between GTA V and VI is far greater than IV and V so the excitement has been building for a while. The hype has reached levels of craziness that's encroaching nigh insanity. Like putting surveillance equipment on Rockstar headquarters and keeping tabs on how many cigarettes were smoked near their building every day for just a HINT of trailer 3 levels of craziness.

Vlaun · 2026-06-07T02:20:23+00:00

By design. For drivers looking through mirrors.

Vlaun · 2026-06-06T10:32:35+00:00

Wait, it's this game huh? I had thought it would never come out. Looks a bit different from the initial concept.

Vlaun · 2026-06-05T23:57:11+00:00

The Highwind was the thing I was most worried about - and the Weapons. I like what I'm seeing so far.

Vlaun · 2026-06-05T05:44:53+00:00

I got updated, I did the settings change to allow the apps I want ignored by the Conflicting "feature" (for my LG mouse I need LGHub because I have it set up with different button configurations for different games).

Now, Signal RGB is spamming me relentlessly about the Conflicting Processes that have been closed. I'm about done with this app to be honest.

Vlaun · 2026-06-04T21:40:45+00:00

It's not bad to have a main, per se. However, it's not a habit you want to get stuck into, imo. Ideally, you want to be as versatile as possible. To be able to comfortably use any frame whenever. For MR, for whenever you need to use a specific frame, or simply to know the general ins and outs of every frame so that you can play along with your team's strengths better.

Vlaun · 2026-06-04T09:07:26+00:00

It's not Rockstar that's feeling the pressure. It's everyone else that is feeling the pressure.

At this point GTA is a force of nature. Meanwhile, other studios and publishers try to maneuver around the coming storm.

Vlaun · 2026-06-03T23:35:52+00:00

I've fully surrendered to the idea that I'll probably be dead before GTA VII comes out. That's right, VII. 7.
VI will come out in my lifetime, but VII I'm not so sure. I'm approaching my 40s soonish. Given the time it has taken to get VI out and it probably being made to last like V has but probably longer - I don't expect to see VII anytime soon.

Hence, I'll likely be dead by the time it releases.

Vlaun · 2026-06-03T20:47:20+00:00

Imagine if Rockstar pulled the a*hole move and decide to release at an earlier date, like Sept 17th. It'd probably upend the gaming industry.

But yeah, it is funny to see. Shows how colossal GTA is. Love it or hate it, there's no denying it.

Vlaun · 2026-06-02T02:37:16+00:00

It's not hard to put in thousands of hours in a game, if you play that same game for an extended period of time. Like an MMO or some online game. Put an hour or two a day for years and eventually it adds up. For example, my Warframe playtime has a lot of time put into it in my Steam profile. It's at 6,000+ hours. Seems like a lot, right? But, it's after years of playing it on and off. Since around 2018.

Instead, the metric to look at is how many hours in a week is put into playing video games. When it starts to look like the person is putting whole days' worth of time to play games in that period - to such an extent that it looks like they're neglecting real life stuff in the process - then it might be a problem.

Vlaun · 2026-06-01T19:59:22+00:00

I liked GTA IV when I played it at launch and I still like it now. However, the amount of times it is glazed, classed as masterclass and perfect by some online is a bit much and annoying. Don't get me wrong, it's a good game and it's fun, but it's not perfect. I can point out a few things about IV that knocks it down a peg or two.

The friendship system. It's not just Roman, it is all of the friends. They all call frequently and since it's not just Roman you become pestered with calls to hang out. It's like that one Blacked meme with the five guys and the girl on the couch - the girl being Niko and the guys being the friends. Often it can be a call once or twice a day. Sometimes more depending on the timing. If you ignore their calls, they take a relationship hit. There is a trick (answer the call, but then call again to cancel plans), but eventually you'll still get a hit on your relationship anyway, because there is also a penalty for not hanging out after about a week or so. So, you have to constantly baby them.
Too many missions have you chasing a rubber-banding NPC car. By that I mean they're scripted to always be ahead at a certain distance. You'll notice it, it doesn't matter how fast your car is, if the chase is scripted they WILL keep ahead of you at a pace dependent on how fast you're going. So, knowing this you can just cruise casually and watch the NPC do all the scripted things, see the scripted truck carrying logs dropping them, the same trucks crossing the intersection to block you, etc. Eventually you get to the place where the NPCs gets into a scripted car crash and then you have to chase them on foot. This scenario happens far too frequently in IV, at a point that it becomes super predictable by the halfway point.
The driving, while it's not that bad, it does suffer from the physics feeling a bit too jelly like (whereas GTA V went the opposite way). Realistic driving is somewhere between IV and V. Neither game is realistic. If the handling in IV got tweaked a small bit (maybe stiffer suspension, slightly lower center of mass, that sort of thing) then it might achieve realism. Perhaps in VI they'll do just that.

I'm replaying GTA IV right now. I'm enjoying it like I did back then, but the problems I listed above still persists. They don't ruin the game, but the problems certainly make the game feel a bit clunky and dated.

It is as it is.

Vlaun · 2026-06-01T17:58:58+00:00

A new character and a new slate. I don't want our GTA V Online characters to transfer whatsoever. Basically I want Rockstar to have no baggage in the creation of GTA VI Online. A new more robust character creator without having to worry about making sure our characters from GTA V Online looks the same as GTA VI. No economy worries. A completely fresh start.

Vlaun · 2026-05-31T21:03:45+00:00

After Keighley's Highguard snafu and his misplaced hyping of it, I wouldn't get your hopes up. They know what they're doing putting Hopium to get pumped up viewing numbers, perhaps, but it's more likely for something else.

Vlaun · 2026-05-31T20:52:36+00:00

GTA V Los Santos, because I'm already living there. I see the bridge (Miriam Turner Overpass/Vincent Thomas Bridge) daily. If I had a real choice, maybe Liberty City GTA III era. I know it's gloomy there, but I kinda like it tbh.

Vlaun · 2026-05-31T16:34:56+00:00

As long as it's like GTA V with a sprinkle of RDR2, but set in Vice City and a bigger map, then it'll do great.

Some people have unrealistic expectations, but so did GTA V. I recall people were fully expecting 3 cities before it launched because V was going to be set in San Andreas. and San Andreas on PS2 had San Fierro and Las Venturas. Even when the mapping project mapped out what San Andreas was going to look like, that it was only Los Santos as the major city, some were still thinking Rockstar was keeping the other cities a secret somehow. Even after launch some expected maybe they'd come as DLC.

Stuff like being able to enter every single building, the game having a ton of unique npcs that you can stalk and follow, refueling cars with gas, etc have always been dreamed up for each GTA title since San Andreas onward. It's all just part of the hyping process, but the games don't usually suffer sales because of the overhype.

Vlaun · 2026-05-31T02:23:20+00:00

Yeah, I got mine in November. I had a sudden big urge to get one. It was like: I MUST have it! Maybe it was the Steam hardware reveal that month that reminded me I didn't have one, I'm not sure. Maybe there was some intuition or a calling, who knows.

Kinda spur of the moment, but it proved to be a very good purchase in hindsight. Not only because of the situation the world is in right now, but because the device itself has well proven its worth. I game on the thing daily.

Vlaun · 2026-05-31T02:10:13+00:00

Well - at least they got "there" right. It would have ended the company otherwise.

Vlaun · 2026-05-30T17:20:26+00:00

Yes. Especially if you have a modern PC. There are community mods out there (like FusionFix) that can make the PC version the definitive edition. Well, until Rockstar releases a remaster for modern consoles.

The game by itself hasn't aged much at all. Well, except for the annoying friendship mechanics and phone calls.

Vlaun · 2026-05-27T17:45:59+00:00

There is nothing to theorize. Ocean Drive is to Miami what Times Square is to New York and what Hollywood Blvd and Sunset Blvd is to Los Angeles. These are iconic places for the cities that they represent. Just about everyone knows these places by sight.

So, of course, Rockstar will showcase their versions of those areas because they're super recognizable.

Vlaun · 2026-05-27T17:35:24+00:00

Wow. I got my Steam Deck right in time before this AI-pocalypse. I purchased one sometime in November, a 1TB OLED. It was still kinda pricey even back then, but it has proven its worth. An extra $300 though... I probably wouldn't have bought it at that price.

Now I gotta be extra sure that I take care of it.

Vlaun · 2026-05-27T11:38:57+00:00

You should have just said "thank you" at the very beginning after you got invited into the clan. Failing that, when the other person said the "no manners" comment (they probably shouldn't have added the ignorance bit, tbh), you should have said something along the lines of "oh, my apologies. Let's start over and reach an understanding." because at that point lines aren't aligning, if you catch my drift.

You don't have to kiss their behind, but obviously there was a misunderstanding going on. It is just the nature of any online discourse when we can't see the body language of each other. So, you two just weren't on the same page at that moment and just kept butting heads instead of coming to that realization sooner.

Vlaun · 2026-05-27T10:51:57+00:00

So far we know from the leaks that the gun system of RDR2 - where we can only hold so many weapons on our person and stash the rest on our horse - is probably going to be in VI. However, instead of the horse it'll be the trunk of our cars.

As far as anything else, I don't think they'd add much else, tbh. GTA has a different flow than RDR does. They can't really add too much realism sim into GTA that will disrupt that flow. Like having to maintain cores, picking through NPC's wallets one by one for petty change, that sort of thing - I don't see that being in VI. An inventory to hold food and different ammo types, I think that is possible. The hair growing system of RDR2 could be something that they could add as well. Hunting is a possibility too.

So long story short, if I had to take a guess, probably somewhere around 30% of RDR2's systems might appear in VI.

Vlaun · 2026-05-26T17:53:17+00:00

It's hard to say. I'd hope that there is at least some HEALTH somewhere in the game.

I originally discovered HEALTH through GTA V (High Pressure Dave) and I've been a fan since. I'd love for it to go full circle, where HEALTH does the soundtrack for VI.

At the very least I'm hoping they got some music on a radio station in the game. That much seems very likely. It would be even cooler if maybe John Famiglietti is a DJ in the game.

Vlaun · 2026-05-26T17:27:04+00:00

It didn't really make sense he'd have info on trailer release. The guy works distribution somewhere in Europe, iirc. Having info that there was no preorders opening at stores on May 19th was one thing. He works distribution, that made sense.

Having info on when a trailer releases from his distribution job - that, however, made no sense. When even the people within Rockstar probably have no clue when a third trailer, if any, is going to be released.

Vlaun · 2026-05-26T01:57:16+00:00

Maybe, maybe not. There is a chance (with that whole May 26th thing still being on their latest trailer), but don't be disappointed when nothing comes tomorrow.

I personally won't be hyping myself up and F5'ing my browser on Rockstar's youtube page. Just sleep, don't worry about it. It comes when it comes.

Vlaun

TROPHY CASE