In some nice news Rockstar pays modder...

[CriticalGaming]

(Update) Rockstar pays modder $10,000 for fixing GTA Online's loading woes

Busted [Update: Rockstar has applied a new update to the PC edition of GTA Online which – according to reports...

www.destructoid.com

Rockstar has paid a modder who came up with a fix for GTA 5's long loading issues for online mods. They apparently paid the guy $10K for his fix essentially buying the mod file from him I guess.

While we can all collectively go, "Fuck you Rockstar the game is old as shit and you can't be bothered to fix a game that made you more money than god?" And we'd would be right to do so. Rockstar could also have been even scummier and taking that mod and worked it into the code unbeknownst to anyone to fix the game without giving the modder any credit.

At least this guy got paid for fixing the game unlike the modders who've fixed FromSoftware's games more than once and got fuck all for it.

So hey this is pretty cool.

 

[BrawlMan]

I'm happy for the modder, but Rockstar can still go fuck themselves. Does not make up for treating your developers like shit trying to live the "Rock Star Life", and the sexual harassment.

 

[Bedinsis]

Yeah, this is a good thing exclusively in my eyes.

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

If Bethesda had done this, they'd have ended up so far in debt that Microsoft could've picked them up for a song. (Specifically, "No Rain" by Blind Melon.)

 

[laggyteabag]

This is really cool, and it is nice to see the modder get rewarded... im just surprised that with Rockstar's staff, and Rockstar's resources, and with the amount on money that GTA Online rakes in, that they didn't manage fix this themselves at some point over the past 8 years, and had to rely on some random dude poking around in their code, in their spare time.

Surely with load times between 5-10 minutes, even on an SSD, this should have been a priority for someone at Rockstar.

 

[Xprimentyl]

This is really cool, and it is nice to see the modder get rewarded... im just surprised that with Rockstar's staff, and Rockstar's resources, and with the amount on money that GTA Online rakes in, that they didn't manage fix this themselves at some point over the past 8 years, and had to rely on some random dude poking around in their code, in their spare time.

Surely with load times between 5-10 minutes, even on an SSD, this should have been a priority for someone at Rockstar.

You'd like to think, but Rockstar Employees are too busy kicking the GTAVO can down the road to the next several generations, i.e.: when your stalled car is rolling downhill, fortunately in the direction you wanted to go in the first place, its busted taillight can wait.

But still, I guess it was decent of them to peel off a couple ones from their stack of BILLIONS for a helpful peasant. Ok, I couldn't mask that sarcasm as well as I'd intended. $10,000 is a pittance of GTAV's worth to Rockstar; what they've done is paid this guy off, not "rewarded" him. What they should have done is slap another couple of zeros on the $10K, offered him a job or maybe some stocks.

 

[laggyteabag]

You'd like to think, but Rockstar Employees are too busy kicking the GTAVO can down the road to the next several generations

Im still baffled that the first game that Sony showed off at their PS5 reveal event, was GTAV - aka, ushering in the future, with a then-7 year old game.

 

[Chimpzy]

I don't know, while it's nice he got something for his trouble, it kind of comes off as a very PR move, throwing the guy a pittance so Rockstar can look like the magnanimous good guy. Like, if they are so impressed with his work, why not hire him instead? Plenty other talented people who got their jobs by fixing someone's mess. Then again, this industry often seems almost universally run by assholes and the dude basically publicly showed up a developer widely considered top tier. Perhaps they're petty about it.

 

[happyninja42]

Im still baffled that the first game that Sony showed off at their PS5 reveal event, was GTAV - aka, ushering in the future, with a then-7 year old game.

I'm not, it's a massive cash cow for them, and declaring right up front, that the people addicted to GTA5 will continue to be able to play it on a new system, and thus keep feeding them microtransactions, is entirely a wise business model.

 

[CriticalGaming]

Im still baffled that the first game that Sony showed off at their PS5 reveal event, was GTAV - aka, ushering in the future, with a then-7 year old game.

Which BTW still isn't technically out on PS5.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

Props to the homebrew fix, but it still won’t get me to ever play GTA online. Really odd though that these load times must’ve been here since its release, and it was apparently never looked into officially by them. Also, they might want to see if they could apply the same fix for RDR2 Online.

 

[TheMysteriousGX]

Really hope this doesn't get normalized.

Like, don't get me wrong: I'm happy this person got paid, even if it's a pittance compared to actual work put in.

I just don't want game companies to realize relying on pushing out half-baked code and paying freelance modders a bounty on fixes that would pay significantly less than a staff position.

 

[Gergar12]

Lol Rockstar hates most modders, people trying to add stuff to their single-player like vehicles were getting cease, desist orders. It's was due to the fact that they wanted to promote GTA Online where they have all the best vehicles.

 

[Xprimentyl]

Really hope this doesn't get normalized.

Like, don't get me wrong: I'm happy this person got paid, even if it's a pittance compared to actual work put in.

I just don want game companies to realize rely on pushing out half-baked code and paying freelance modders a bounty on fixes that would pay significantly less than a staff position.

Well, you may have just spoken it into existence. To hell with nickel and dime microtransactions, let's release games in ALPHA states and allow the community to do the heavy lifting finishing them for what might amount to a percent of a percent of a percent of what it would cost us to actually offer the game in an optimal state! Gaming may have officially reached "Lego status:" give them the pieces and let them figure out the fun. What an apt analogy; I remember the awe of getting a new Lego set with a picture of a space ship on the box, and when I opened it up, what I actually had was hundreds of pieces; the space ship likely hours away with MY work filling that gap. Granted, I was one of those kids who loved the building process, but when I liken it to games we're paying full retail for only to have them patched, updated and worst case "Anthem'd" and completely scraped, it further strengthens my resolve that we should expect better for our gaming purchases.

 

[Agema]

Well, you may have just spoken it into existence. To hell with nickel and dime microtransactions, let's release games in ALPHA states and allow the community to do the heavy lifting finishing them for what might amount to a percent of a percent of a percent of what it would cost us to actually offer the game in an optimal state! Gaming may have officially reached "Lego status:"

We were basically already there.

For instance, companies have long since slashed their customer support to ribbons in favour of unpaid enthusiast amateurs on their support forums. It's the next logical step to take the fruits of enthusiastic modders' skills and expertise to fix problems in the code itself, and pay them a fraction of the sum they'd need to pay one of their own staff.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

Well, you may have just spoken it into existence. To hell with nickel and dime microtransactions, let's release games in ALPHA states and allow the community to do the heavy lifting finishing them for what might amount to a percent of a percent of a percent of what it would cost us to actually offer the game in an optimal state! Gaming may have officially reached "Lego status:" give them the pieces and let them figure out the fun. What an apt analogy; I remember the awe of getting a new Lego set with a picture of a space ship on the box, and when I opened it up, what I actually had was hundreds of pieces; the space ship likely hours away with MY work filling that gap. Granted, I was one of those kids who loved the building process, but when I liken it to games we're paying full retail for only to have them patched, updated and worst case "Anthem'd" and completely scraped, it further strengthens my resolve that we should expect better for our gaming purchases.

Well there is a such thing as going too far in that direction.