Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Grand Theft Auto Online - Spotlight on Stimulus Package and GTA Online Properties

Players who have logged into Grand Theft Auto Online anytime from the initial Launch date until October 31, 2013, will be receiving a $500K "GTA Online Stimulus Package" in the form of GTA online currency (with two separate deposits of $250K) to offset what many may consider a "rocky" launch of the online component of the game, which was plagued with bugs, glitches, and lost/irrecoverable characters, vehicles and/or progress.

For those who are considering to buy Grand Theft Auto 5 and playing the online component, you better buy the game, login and/or create your online avatar by October 31, 2013 to qualify for this "Stimulus Package" and in my humble opinion I highly suggest that you do. I say this because most of the known ways floating around youtube where you can make ridiculous amount of money on GTAO fast has been patched by Rockstar in the last title update (GTA Online Title Update 1.04) such as: 

Resell Glitch - There was a glitch where you could resell the same vehicle over and over again in the Los Santos Customs garage which has been patched as of 1.04. It appears that players have found an alternate glitch that's working as of 1.04 but there are also rumors that player who have used any type of glitch will either be banned (less likely) or placed in the already controversial "bad sport" player pool (more likely) with the dunce cap and all for an unspecified amount of time, so if you plan to try any type of glitch or exploit just be aware of the potential repercussions.

Repeating Lucrative Jobs - Have either been patched or "nerfed" by Rockstar in the following ways:
  • Jobs in general are difficult to repeat the job post 1.04 after the first time you play it as the "Job Giver" has to either randomly call you or you can call the "Job Giver" but you are offered a "random job" from their Job List based on your characters level.
  • Certain mission objectives have been patched such as "Rooftop Rumble" where you have to retrieve a certain item, simply blowing up the item causes the mission to fail (instead of succeed causing a fairly easy victory prior to the patch).
  • Many if not all the lucrative job payouts have been nerfed to half the reward after you beat the job for the first time to encourage players to try different jobs/missions.
  • Popular "camping" spots that enabled solo players to reach the highest rewards in Survival (such as the covered rooftop in the Boneyard) have been removed.
It seems that Rockstar wants to make "grinding" for some of the highest end stuff, such as properties, purchasable super cars, aircraft, top tier upgrades etc. very difficult. Yes, the "Stimulus Package" will help considerably in buying some of the best properties, but if you are coming into GTA Online after the eligibility deadline for the Stimulus package, then you are going to be in for a very long grind, unless of course you are willing to pay real world cash for online currency via the yet to be announced/released "microtransaction" system. 

Although the "official" prices haven't been announced yet, the following transaction rates have been leaked (In U.K. Currency):
  • $100,000 Red Shark Cash Card - £1.99
  • $200,000 Tiger Shark Cash Card - £3.49
  • $500,000 Bull Shark Cash Card - £6.99
  • $1,250,000 Great White Shark Cash Card - £13.49
(via eurogamer.net)

Although there's a mixed reaction to microtransactions by gamers in general, such as truly earning epic in game rewards by participating in the "slow grind" vs spending "real life" money to get the same things but saving valuable time, Rockstar tried to make the system fair enough that your character has to reach certain level requirements in the game to unlock the ability to purchase certain "high level" items, so there will be no Level 0 "noobs" running around with RPGs and Miniguns purchased with "microtransaction" cash! 

On the other side of the coin however, grinding in-game to earn say, the million dollars to purchase the Truffade Adder (GTA's version of the Bugatti Veyron) could be a ridiculously long undertaking given all the patches and nerfs already in place. 

This could of course change when the online version Heists are released, but repeating the same matches and jobs over and over again just for the requisite money is going to be a long and slow process. For those interested in legitimately grinding missions for cash post 1.04 however, there are apparently some missions that still pay out fairly well.

The "top tier" penthouse multiplex style 10 car garage apartments on the other hand, ranges in price from $200 to $400K and vary only in the location and view and is perhaps one of the best ways to spend your Stimulus, "Real Life Purchased" and/or "difficultly earned/grinded" in-game cash.

The way properties work in GTA Online is as follows: 

  • You can browse the property listings by visiting the in-game browser your character's phone web browser or accessible computer under the Dynasty8.com in-game website.
  • You can only have one property at a time and they consist of either "Garage Only" or "Apartment and Garage" combinations.
  • If you have an existing property and are buying a new one, you will be credited half the price of your "existing" property as you purchase the new one.
  • There are 3 different tiers of "Garage Only" and "Apartment with Garage" properties.
  • The "lowest tier" garage holds 2 vehicles (a bicycle can be placed in lieu of a motorized vehicle) and ranges in price from $25K to $35K, have 13 separate locations, while the lowest tier apartment (with attached 2 car garage included) ranges in price from $80K to $115K and have 9 separate locations.
  • The "middle tier" garage holds 6 cars, 2 bicycles (on a wall rack) and ranges in price from $62.5K to $80K, have 8 separate locations, while the middle tier apartment (with attached 6 car garage included) ranges in price from $125K to $150K and also have 9 separate locations.
  • The "top tier" garage holds 10 cars and 3 bicycles on a wall rack (Although visually there appears to be 6 rack spaces on the wall there are only 4 slots in the garage menu and only 3 of the 4 bicycles appear on the wall for you t actually take thanks to an unfortunate glitch) The 10 car garage ranges in price from $105K to $200K and has 6 separate locations. The top tier apartment on the other hand (with attached 10 car garage included) ranges in price from $200K to $400K and also has 17 separate locations.
  • The appearance and functionality for the low, middle and top tier garages respectively are identical for the same tier, meaning purchasing there is no difference between the garages and apartment/garages within the same tier other than location, price.
  • Apartment "amenities" vary across the high/middle/low tiers such as watching TV (the higher the tier the nicer the TV), drinking beer/whiskey/wine/green juice, smoking a "weed" bong, taking a shower, changing in a closet/wardrobe and using the bed.
  • In the case of the top tier apartments, each property has it's own distinctive window view which has a "real time" view of the open world outside depending on the apartment purchased of course and it's own "heist planning room" which currently has no function but is presumably required to start heist missions once they are enabled.
  • You can "invite" other players in the same session to your apartment or garage or they can go to the "halo" at your entrance of the apartment or garage if they know where you reside to ring the doorbell and you can choose to buzz them in.

If you are one of the people that has come into the GTA Online too late to be eligible for the Stimulus package and prefers not to spend real money in a microtransaction to get quick in game cash, my suggestion would be to save up your in game currency and start off with the cheapest 2 car garage ($25K or free if you have the collector's edition content). 

IMHO the first garage should have been a "free" unlockable through the starting set missions since it serves such an important function in the game and maybe a better location low tier garage or the cheapest lower tier apartment should have been free with the collector's edition.

Since the lower and middle tier apartments serve minimal functionality at best, I suggest skipping them entirely, unless of course you are "role playing" a character that would live in such an apartment. Instead it may be better in terms of in-game economy to earn/purchase the cheapest of the 2 car ($25K), 6 car($62.5K) and 10 car garages($105K) instead as you can afford them respectively and then save your last purchase for the apartment with the 10 car garage.

Here is a quick list in order to help maximize your property expenditures, assuming you do not have the Collector's Edition (which makes the fires/cheapest garage available for free):

  • Start saving up $25K for the first and cheapest two car garage.
  • You can also optionally sign up for the Rockstar Social Club to have the ability to order and free "exclusive" Elegy H8 cars which cannot be ordered/retrieved unless you have your first garage and an empty garage spot to have it delivered to.
     
  • A newly delivered Elegy H8 also comes with a free tracker and free insurance so if you manage to get your Elegy destroyed you can either spend to get it restored via claim (useful if you chose to spend any upgrades on it) or replace the destroyed car entirely for free by simply order another car and replacing the destroyed one.
  • You also get a free tracker installed on any "non premium" car/motorcycle you are able to steal and place into your garage, so if you are into open world online mayhem a garage is a must have.
  • Save your next $50K ($62.5K - $12.5 credit for the previous property) to purchase the cheapest six car garage. You can also optionally purchase your first 2 bicycles as the six car garage has a 2 slot bike rack. Using bicycles to get around is also a great way to train/increase stamina for your character.
  • Save the next $73,750 ($105K - $31,250 credit from previous property) to purchase the cheapest ten car garage with the ability to rack and retrieve 3 separate bicycles. Although there is a fourth slot, the leftmost bicycle does not appear on the wall to be retrieved due to a yet to be resolved glitch.
  • When you are ready to purchase one of the top tier apartments you will have $52.5K of credit from the previous property to apply towards the $200K to $400K property.


Since this is presumably the last type property you are going to purchase you may want to plan accordingly to avoid the 50% loss on sell back because you don't like the location and/or view. If you want to see more, Holy Cowlick put up a video on YouTube showing all the apartments and views! 

Here are a few more details regarding the "Top Tier" 10 Car Garage Apartment:
  • Eclipse Tower has the most expensive units and has views of both downtown and the hills.
  • Weasel Tower is closer to the center of the city and has higher vantage points lending to spectacular views.
  • Del Perro Heights has the least expensive units with closer to the ground views to match.
  • There are also "Top Tier Unit" locations on 3 Alta St., 4 Integrity Way, Richards Majestic and Tinsel Towers, with varying prices, locations and views!
  • Also keep in mind that although you have your own separate apartment/garage instances, if you are playing an "open world" session you will still be sharing the entrances and garage door exits with other players leading to potentially crowded exits at the more popular "top tier" apartments so you may want to consider the all other locations not just the highest or lowest priced options of that tier. 
That should cover all the bases regarding purchasable properties hopefully this article was of help in choosing your own GTA Online property, if you like what you read or found any inconsistencies in the information I have relayed please leave me a comment so I can correct it and thank you for reading!