Rockstar The Enemy
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To quickly preface this post, I'm definitely not a fan of Rockstar or any other gaming company. On the contrary I think Rockstar are greedy and selfish and too stupid to realize that GTA5 modding actually promotes the franchise. I only purchased GTA5 because it was open world and because it could be modded well beyond my expectations. And just for the record I hate Steam, but at least I can revert.
What really makes me laugh are all the moronic comments that show up after an update inevitably breaks functionalities. That's when we start seeing the comments from posters claiming Rockstar is intentionally breaking the game.
Is this a Rockstar conspiracy to end modding aimed at completely alienating a huge segment of its fan and user base? After all, they did try to cease and desist OpenIV, right?
They did. But they desisted themselves when they witnessed the backlash and realized the financial consequences and damage to their reputation.
The truth is they could end modding easily with the proper modifications to the RAGE engine or by simply having the launcher or GTA5 abort when ScriptHookV.dll is detected. Similarly, they could legally shutdown all RP and FiveM servers, particularly the revenue generating ones that compete with GTAO. They could patch to end modding daily if needed, after each attempt of the community to restore modding,
They could also ensure Steam forces updates, updates after attempted reverts, but they haven't. Why don't they? That would end my GTA5 experience.
The truth once more is that they don't care about SP and even less about modders. The update issues are collateral damage, not intentional.
The first games were DOS based, many using OpenGL. Getting these games to work in 2022 can be a challenge without knowledge and modifications. A Microsoft conspiracy to obsolete all games? Nope, just changes and evolution with backwards compatibility just a pipedream, an afterthought.
Funniest part is that there seems to be an interesting correlation between the belief Rockstar is intentionally breaking modding and knowledge of modding.
The less a user understands modding, the more likely they are to blame Rockstar and the conspiracy theory.
As long as Steam continues to let me revert, I'll continue to enjoy GTA5 without falling through the map and without caring if scripthookv will be updated. Same for gameconfig.xml and packfile etc, no need to update. Could I miss out on some mods or content that need updated versions. Of course, but it hasn't happened yet and I can easily go from updated to reverted with most mods intact.
My popcorn is ready for next update. Let the soap opera begin.
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@JohnFromGWN For historical accuracy, it's not Rockstar who threatened to sue the OpenIV team, but Take2, aka Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. It was actually Rockstar who eventually called off the Take2 lawyer dogs a bit, in a statement which was tantamount to saying they really don't mind modding, but that incorporating material from other franchises (like Libery City) was taking it too far. (Which also made clear what had likely set off the Take2 lawyers)
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@meimeiriver Yes, you're absolutely right, but many users are unaware of T2 and prefer to focus their hate on R* - which is why the blame was substituted on poor R* once more.
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Truth to tell one can compare what's available via modding with the 'vanilla' offerings 'R' doles out. On the modding side, the gaming experience is so much deeper and richer whether in singleplayer or roleplay coop it's like comparing 'Lightspeed' to 'Mach 5'. 'R' makes a shitton of cash off of 'vanilla suckers' coughing up for sharkcards, they can keep dishing out the same old boring garbage with 'new paint' ad infinitum. Vanilla weenies will get 'excited' and be all about that. Whereas on the modded side, custom mansions, criminal lairs and even modest homes with 'special basements' along with all manner of vehichles and ped mods come out everyday. As John regularly points out, 'some are shit and some shine.' There's no way 'R' could compete with that (even though they have the money to) but they don't have need to. In an 'ideal' setup, 'R' would be more like 'Funcom' and embrace modding even to the point of eventually incorporating popular and practical mod elements into their games. 'R' doesn't have that kind of 'mind'...and again, they don't need to. On the brightside, think about how insanely more innovative the modding side of the house is compared to 'R'. Games been out since '13 and there's infinitely more and often 'better' content made by modders than anyone at 'R' thought about or their 'bean counters' would let them create. Best thing about 'modding' is 'adaptability'. 'R' throws their usual wrench into the system, modders work around it and keep going. Just goes to show, yeah you can make a shitload of money throwing weak content out while others 'working for free' run rings around anything you made....
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@iammistahwolf said in Rockstar The Enemy:
R' would be more like 'Funcom' and embrace modding even to the point of eventually incorporating popular and practical mod elements into their games.
An excellent example of that practice is Valve. Let's temporarily forgive them for HL3, L4D3, and that monstrosity called Steam because these are instances where they essentially completely ignored their users. I'll never understand or forgive them for HL3, never.
Instead we can focus on all the tools they provided such as the Source Filmmaker (TF2), map and level editors, and most of all the Source Development Kit (SDK).
The SDK allowed super talented individuals and teams to create incredible free DLC such as Minerva, and other mod extensions for CS, L4D and L4D2, HL2, TF2, etc. Not to mention GMOD.
Some of these mods, for example Coldstream, were actually incorporated into L4D2. And Adam Foster, the talented creator of the Minerva mod was hired by Valve.
Valve is such a strong supporter of mods and addons that you can subscribe to them for free directly from Steam.
Unfortunately Valve games tend to be linear and not Open World, vehicles are very limited, so they can't compare to GTA5 for sandboxing or free roam. Sadly GMOD is based on an old engine and although it can be a fun sandbox it pales in comparison to GTA5.
As for modding GTA5, both SP and FiveM offer limitless possibilities and endless gameplay or creating machinima movies.
As you mentioned there are many mods that still shine despite the current crop of peds. These new peds are not only of horrible quality, invariably poor textures, horrible hair, no facial animations, low or no relevance (Kazakhstan Milkmen - jk), and moving diametrically opposite to the game's lore.
Any human ped is OK in my book, but introducing peds of garbage quality with absolutely no reason to be in Los Santos is a good reason to stop checking the player section for new mods.
How many hairstyles and shoes does the MP shemale really need? And can’t people make their own tshirt mods? Even I can do that, Zmodeler not required.
Certainly doesn't give R* an argument to support mods, neither did QuantV. Both lessen the appeal of GTA5 for new to franchise users.