This article was written by TSA community member Kitch.
I cheated on GTA V. I created my own server and gave myself a huge cash boost. I reached level 263 by robbing just one store. I’m not ashamed to write this and I’m aware of the backlash this confession could create, but I think Rockstar have shot themselves in the foot by monetising GTA online and ended up hurting the online game.
I was level 65 before I stumbled across the GTA hack on YouTube, having spent many, many hours on GTA Online. But I had done virtually no missions or races up until that point, and most of my time playing GTA V is spent either leaping off buildings, jumping through the Vinewood sign or barrel rolling Titans. I just want to “play” about.
The thought of having to take part in a competitive deathmatch, CTF or Race puts me off GTA Online, but doing so is the only way to enjoy my pastime of achieving absolutely nothing. Titans aren’t cheap and the odds are stacked against you when it comes to stealing a Rhino tank, but sometimes you just need to try and land a tank on the wings of a flying Titan cargo plane.
The single player game lets you cheat as much as you like and you can spawn a Rhino, Titan or a number of guns whenever you wish. By doing so you disable the trophy system, turning it into a pure sandbox, but this option isn’t available online. Why can’t I host a game where missions and races are disabled, but planes, cars and guns are only a phone call away?
Instead of monetising the online cash, I feel that Rockstar should have given the option to buy a zero XP and zero cash earning lobby. I would have paid real money for that, but since it wasn’t available, I created my own. I used my hacked character in a friends only lobby and used the cash to buy stuff to break and mess around with.
When you create a boosted server you disable all the missions and races anyway, so the only thing you can do is play around. By doing this, who have I hurt?
I’ve enabled cheats for online use while not earning any trophies or XP. The cash has been used to buy vehicles that are then trashed but no missions or races have been completed. Instead of banning players like me they should be asking why we did what we did. I didn’t hack my character to get ahead or earn trophies, I hacked so I could play the game the way it was intended to be played, the same way the single player can be and the way that GTA IV could be played online.
A Rhino tank costs $750k online, while it costs £11.99 in real money for $1.25m online cash. There’s no possible way I can say a tank is worth a little under £6, and then you still have to deal with the retrieval costs when the wing landing stunt goes wrong.
I understand that Rockstar are a business and need to make money, but surely they could have charged for DLC and not have borrowed and applied methods from free to play games to your continued online play. The Beach Bum DLC could have been around £4, the creator stuff around £5 when it comes out of beta and the heists around the £7 mark.
Rockstar said that by keeping the DLC free they are keeping everyone playing, but by charging for in-game vehicles they are excluding those of us that just want to explore and test the extremes of the game mechanics rather than grind.
I abhor spawn campers and cheaters in games, but by creating a character that I can buy anything with have I really cheated? As I’ve said several time, I don’t play missions or races; I simply play a game the way I think it should be played – in a fun way that has no adverse affect on anyone else with me and to further the shenanigans we’re already enjoying.
Flightx
The thing about gta online for me was the fun I had playing around with a group of friends doing random stuff and just having fun.
I wasnt interested with the xp side at all just the odd bit of money here and there was enough to keep me happy. Well bullets and guns aren’t free.
For me yes I did cheat to get some money to buy a couple of cars and an apartment but that was it.
I do think that if rockstar had implemented the micro transactions earlier I would have dipped my hand in my pocket.
E8_BALL_
I never buy ammo anymore, a few waves on Survival takes care of that.
E8_BALL_
If the online stockmarket was working, the money glithed would have had even more negative impact.
Also, if R* want to offer $dlc to avoid grind, is it ok to say no, i’ll just mod instead. As gtao grows with new locations( growth stated by Leslie Benzies,) it will undoubtedly imo, need consumer funding to assist in ther ever growing simulated worlds running costs.
Kitch
But the costs aren’t a one off. You have to keep pouring in the cash. Buy a Titan. Roughly 500k. Crash it. Roughly 5k to recover.
When your just playing about you can rack up costs VERY quickly.
If I can spawn anything in single player why not online?
E8_BALL_
I can only assume, R* would expect exploits to surface, enabling people to keep & transfer unlocked content, into public rooms.
Devs, as we know often encourage & or condone mods. Look at Elder Scrolls, or Just Cause(when i bought JC2 I thought, if this had mp, it would be so much more fun.) What they arn’t fond of, is it spilling into public rooms & as ever, there’s the few, who will spoil it for all parties.
Wardy-77-
Don’t think i’ve used a cheat in a game since the late 80’s early 90’s,am a good lad me :D
colmshan1990
There is a fundamental flaw in your argument about what an online game should be.
You keep asking if you can do something offline, why can’t you do that thing online?
But online games have never worked like that.
You don’t get a story, you get free will instead. You don’t get this feature, you get that one. Sometimes even a different developer makes the multiplayer!
I’m no fan of GTAV, and haven’t even bothered to try GTA Online.
But while I understand your argument and what you’re saying, I fail to see how it’s relevant. Rockstar didn’t make the game you wanted to play? They didn’t make the game I wanted to play either, so I went and played something else instead.
bunimomike
Agree with this too, fella. Although, in GTA IV it was interesting that we could create a free-mode (invite only) and switch off the ‘Cops’ so we’d be left to our own (illegal) devices. Something we’ve wanted in this too but it’s a shame they haven’t thought about how a closed playground (read: crew only session) could be truly opened up for us to customise.
TSBonyman
I wish i’d hacked it. I gave up on the online game after the first handful of missions and i saw there were only DM and Races available. If it gives you value that you would otherwise have been denied and it doesn’t interfere with other’s enjoyment of the game then i think it’s fine.
Moonpie
I with Kitch on this one, as long as the person/people using a hack, exploit are doing so on a private server who is it affecting, I got my level 100 by grafting through races (and the 500K from R*) I enjoyed it but that was how I wanted to accomplish the goals and did so along side many like minded players (a few bad eggs along the way sadly).
Moonpie
*I’m with
bigchrissyc
Your a cheating scumbag Kitching. You should be beaten to death with copies of GTAV. But on a serious note, using a modded server to play with other like minded people isnt a problem for me. If these people then come into a ‘serious’ game just to smash people with tanks though it is extremely annoying. Before i stopped playing i got to lvl 78 and that was a grind, grind for me just isnt fun. Dont get me wrong ive had some awesome times, with people commenting on this, but with a low number of missions, little to no XP and low amounts of cash, missions eventually became annoying rather than entertaining. I dont particularly like racing so that wasnt an easy cash cow for me. I personally wouldnt use a modded server, but if people have a good time in one, then they can use one, id jut rather them not come into my game with a lvl 300 character though.
kmlh666
I don’t understand why you think its ok because you wanted this or you needed that. Everything seems to be about you. What gives you the right to change a game that was years in the making. As someone else said if it didn’t appeal to you then why did you buy it? If single player was so great and you could do what you wanted, why play online at all? You say you only bought a couple of cars ect. It took no time at all to earn the cash you would have needed, maybe a few days. Why do the majority of people want everything straight away. I bought the game because I wanted to play the game modes, the ability to buy things along the way is just an added bonus. The idea of grinding bores me. Yes I wanted faster cars and bigger guns but those came with time, time I enjoyed. Computer games have always been about progressing as the game gets more difficult, they are not designed to be easy and finished in an hour. Did you finish story mode? Would you have cheated to get to the final mission in single player just so you could say you have ‘completed the game’? Maybe next time you want to play with a group of like minded people, have a game of monopoly, all be the banked and all steal the banks cash. That would be great fun.
You sound like you are a spoilt little child who wants everything and cries if you don’t get it. It may only be a game but your type of behaviour is disgraceful and says a lot about the person you are. I wondered for a second if you might be sorry but then this ‘article’ shows that you need attention, however that comes.
You can try and justify your actions as much as you like but at the end of the day you are a cheater. You, along with the rest of your type ruined the game for a lot of people and you should be ashamed of yourself.
I had no intention of replying but it annoyed the hell out of me and as you can see by the lengthy reply.
kmlh666
and my last comment. It is easy to achieve what you want. Create a deathmatch, place spawn points all over the map, place weapons all over the map, place vehicles all over the map, turn traffic off. Set it for a long time or large number of kills. Hey presto, a room you were describing. Or do the same with a GTA race. Place a start and finish checkpoint (or more) in far ends off the map. Another way around YOUR issue without cheating. Bang and the dirt is gone.
freezebug2
Ah, you must be General Kitch of the Nigerian army with access to the late Nigerian head of state’s fortune of millions ready for shipping lol.
Nah, I don’t see any harm in what you’ve done if your intention was simply to lobby up with mates that are all aware of and happy with the lucrative stats that you’ve created for yourself.
On the other hand, if you did/could enter an online lobby of randomers that are unaware of the circumstances then you would be cheating…which you have no intention of doing anyway.
On a final note, not long ago most people used the Tomb Raider glitch to unlock the final online character rather than go down the grindfest from hell path!