I've been playing on and off this year, but now I've a mind to actually do something with it. I was going to wait until my next video card to do anything more with GTA 5, but what I have is adequate.
I started mostly by playing solo, but this game does not reward that kind of behavior much, just a little bit in the beginning while you get started. I puttered about and soon hit a wall, so I've been reading guides on what I can do next. The first bit of advice is to own a fast car, and as my Personal Vehicle I've been riding a motorcycle. I haven't played a lot, but I never see anyone on motorcycles.
First, to sort out my living arrangements. I have a cheap unit on the east side that holds 2 cars, and another 2 car out in Blaine County. Highly recommended is Del Perro Heights apartment 20 for $205k, that comes with a 10 car garage. I've only got $467k, but I'll take it.
Game says Trade In Property:
Unit 124 Popular St. $12500
1932 Grapeseed Ave $13750
Empty
I thought I could only own 2 properties. Reading... most people agree 3 is the limit. I'll replace the 2 car garages if I ever have that many cars. My new place has a nice big clean white garage. I've been seeing that in screen caps and videos, so it is somewhat familiar. It has a TV, something I've spent very little time looking at in Story or Online mode. I can spectate other players! At least, ones that seem to be getting police attention.
I go upstairs, I am informed that I will respawn here, and I can wash away the blood here. There are shelves of ammo, but I can't interact with them. It would be nice to be able to hang up certain weapons and get them out of my inventory, and have a smaller loadout. But I think like in Story mode you can carry the entire gun shop with you at all times. There's green juice to drink (what does this do?) Nice wine fridge.
I can sing in the shower to earn RP. Might have to plug my microphone in later to try that. Maybe in a private instance. At least I can access my clothes now.
Cars under $90k are free for the taking, as they have no trackers installed. Above that price you have to buy. For my first car, I'll look for the Ocelot Jackal in Paleto Bay (north end of map). Doesn't take too long to get one, take it Los Santos Customs, get a Tracker on it. Buy Full Coverage. Does these mean it is now my Personal Vehicle, or just another personal vehicle? How many can I have?
Respray it Midnight Silver, add some armor. Not much more I can do, or afford if it was unlocked yet. Speaking of which, my bank account is much depleted. I need to start grind stealing and selling cars to Los Santos Customs. I can sell one per in-game day / real-time hour, and some cars are worth more than others.
Weird. Even though I'm in my own instance of my garage at Del Perro, I saw a brief glimpse of someone in here. I heard them first, making a squishy walking sound. Later, I got hit lightly by something and there's a flashlight and a hammer on the floor and some blood, presumably mine? Hacks? If so, its more weird than annoying.
Another strange thing, I fell through the floor, flailing about in empty space for a few minutes, then landed on a street, blocks away, unhurt. I think I'll exit this session and rejoin.
Anyway, time's a wasting. I need to find some Sentinels to sell. Supposedly yellow and purple are best, and they can be found in Tinsel.
Strange, everyone in this Online instance left. I've started a (private) instance before, but never been left in one.
Then when you do find people online, they tend to be the creepy people that follow you but don't speak.
I lost my bike in the water, didn't call in for a few days, and now its gone! What's the time limit!?
2016.10.09
As I'm slowly leveling up, grinding to make some money and buy better things, soloing and grouping, avoiding PvP when possible, I realize I'm mudding again. I gave that up, and MMORPGs before they even started, because I tend to lose my life in them. GTA 5 Online is in some ways more and less compelling than muds of old.
As I'm grinding Sentinels, I buy Tinsel Towers Apt 29 ($286k) to make it easier. I'll sell Unit 124 Popular Street, as I never seem to be on the east side of town anymore.
2016.10.11
I checked my stats, noticed driving was almost done, cool.
Enter a race, not enough room, quit.
Upon exit, my driving stat went to 100.
WTF.
2016.10.12
I've been grinding Sentinels for easy money, and joining races for easy reputation points (RP), but the past day I can't even connect to Online, it just hangs there for at least 10 minutes until I give up. I can see other people in my session chatting, but it just won't let me in.
Now I got an Error syncing cloud saves. Quit, restart Story Mode. At least I can get to the main menu. I won't waste much more time on this, I'll just try again later tonight or tomorrow if I can't get in. Something called 'Double $ and RP Stunt Races', I'll try that, see where that goes.
106p Play that for a while, good.
126p Going back to session. Once again, I see notifications of players leaving, texting.
128 p back in! Nice.
Visit Ammu-Nation to make sure full up on armor. Is there a way to just 'buy all ammo', like you can before just about any mission?
I join a mission I've never seen before, teams compete to collect 10 taxis. I play with a person who just wants to complete the mission for their daily.... something. He not only lets me finish the round, but helps me by bringing me taxis to claim as my own.
I see another mission that is team versus zombies. Sounds awesome, I'm in. I may have misread that - no zombies, its team deathmatch. No thanks.
My shooting skill is abysmal. Head over to an Ammu-Nation with range. I heard using minigun is the best one, because the game counts lead in the air. I play 4 rounds, and my skill moves up from about one and quarter bar to one and 40% bar. Not that bad for time spent, but boring.
Someone comes into the gun shop and shoots me - supposedly this is a no weapons zone. Hacks?
2016.10.14
I spend most of my time in Passive mode now, so nobody can really mess with me. When I want to participate in something, I just turn it off. PvP is more realistic, but its enough that other people are sharing the same world with me, I don't need altercations. Maybe GTA Online really isn't for me, but I want to see most of what it has to offer before I move on.
2016.10.15
I am increasingly concerned that my Rockstar Social Club name is my usual email name, as it shows up in the game. If I piss off some bored 14 year old script kiddie, I don't need them knowing my real name.
https://socialclub.rockstargames.com/
"No spaces, between 6-16 characters"
I wanted The Stainless Steel Rat, but that's too long.
2016.10.16
Back to Flight School to work on my non-existent flying skill. This is my weakest skill in all of GTA, so its tough going. Its the whole reason why I bought a modern day joystick in the first place, because I could not hack flying with the keyboard and mouse. It helps, but I still struggle with anything more advanced than just flying in a straight line.
I can only fly for so long before it gets frustrating and I need to break. Sometimes I can't break through the next wall and need to check out a video for advice. The RP and money are decent, so this would be a good place to start a new character. Even though I'm only halfway through the school, and only earning bronze, my flying skill is up to one bar (20%). If I spread the frustration level over several days I can do this. I may even learn to fly.
I love Survival, I join any that open.
Driving in the desert I find a red circle and check it out. It doesn't seem that any live players are involved - I try to stay away from people in general, but especially people who seem to be engaged in some mission. The red circle starts something called a Gang Attack, a sort of one man survival against 15 gang members. I like it, I hope to find more.
2016.10.18
This game can take a long time to load, though I do have an old system, and not even an SSD.
When you start the game from Steam it wants to know if you want Story or Online. If you pick Online, it is more convenient as all the loading happens without your intervention. But if anything gets stuck, you don't know when or where. Was logging into Social Club the problem? Or loading the GTA 5 engine in general? Or was it just the online part?
If you connect to Story mode first you get the main menu fairly quickly. If you try Double RP and $ Stunts you have to connect to Online and racing, and if you get stuck, again you don't know where.
So I usually take the boring path of loading to menu, loading Story mode, and at least at that point I'm as loaded up as I can be. Only then do I chose Online, and now I'll know how long it really takes to connect. This also has the added advantage of several more options, like starting in a solo instance. Not sure how to access those options any other way.
Maxed out Stealth (tip: while talking on phone (real life, not in game), go Passive, go Stealth mode, and just keep walking around the block).
Maxed out Stamina by just running whenever I thought to, run until health goes red, then forget about it again for a while.
Catching up on Lamar missions.
2016.10.20
My Tinsel garage is for Sentinel farming only, but my Del Perro is a mess, filled with odds and ends I've found on the street. I am not taking advantage of the whole Personal Vehicle concept, what with tracking and insurance and mods, and the convenience of delivery when I need it. I can have better vehicles, and I can have them brought to me, so why should I be scrounging for a ride from whatever comes down the street next. It makes more sense, role-playing, that my character, who is more into theft than violence, would choose the less attention getting option.
I drag some of the more offensive vehicles out of the garage, leave Passive Mode, and blow them. Grenade is easiest. I'm trying to narrow it down to one motorcycle, and maybe one sedan. As a loner, I really like the motorcycle best. I wonder what happened to my long gone first Personal Vehicle, some crappy motorcycle. I have the odd bagger in the garage, I don't much like those, too clunky; I think it was one of those. I have one Shitzu PCJ 600 that I'll make my primary vehicle. There are a bunch of decent looking motorcycles for sale under $100k, but I'll read up on them online later, before buying anything more.
I try to find Gang Attacks, they are like mini Survival missions and I can do them solo and quickly.
I get jumped sometimes. I usually stay in Passive Mode so I don't have to deal with anyone, but sometimes you need to leave it to more deeply interact with the world. Several times I have tried to participate in the current event, only to have someone blow up an event vehicle as I'm getting into it.
While in Gang Attack mode, I think I read that I'm not quite in non-passive mode, but not quite safe in my own private instance. While I'm fighting off a gang, I get attacked by a fellow player who drives into me and kills me. BTW - death means little more than an inconvenience here. Death only costs you a few moments, and some cash if you were carrying any, but you quickly learn to deposit your cash often. After the vehicular kill, the griefer tries to shoot me, and I shoot back, but we can't seem to damage each other. I don't know what's going on, but I suspect the other person is an inexperienced hacker, who got hold of some script, and doesn't know quite how to use it. I quit the game, and consider resuming Gang Attacks in a private session.
I can't help but think maybe this kind of game just isn't for me. But then I think that this game also has Crews, and Motorcycle Clubs, and other forms of grouping together against the world. I just need to work my way up to that point, which is what I'm trying to do. I still have a lot of skills to acquire, and some character development to do. I am just learning about all the different activities, and haven't even gotten to one of the staple activities, Heists, yet. I think it would suck for me to join random heists without even knowing how they work. But before even that, I want to max out my single player experience as much as possible. Most people probably don't do it this way, but then, maybe this game isn't for me.
2016.10.21
I've been hearing about Gerald missions for a while, time to try. First one is Hit 'Em Up, I'll try it on my own. I'm in my own private instance. Its nice and quiet in here. I see what people mean, that this is a good space to work on strength, by beating people up. The mission is interesting, but not too difficult to solo. I guess I need the solo guide to GTA 5 Online, but I'd probably have to write it.
I get more upgrades for my PCJ600, like more engine and armor, and bulletproof tires. Does the armor protect the driver? Wouldn't make much sense, but its a game. That could be the real showstopper to using motorcycles in the future, as it seems the use of a bulletproof Kuruma is probably common (in videos) for a reason.
2016.10.22
While viewing the ton of stats on the Social Club, I am reminded I never tried the iFruit app, and send it to my (real life) phone.
I wish I had started doing Gang Attacks at earlier levels, when the rewards would have meant more. At least right now I'm gaining Shooting skill and the RP is trickling in. It makes it more interesting to focus on one weapon at a time, and study how it works, and how it doesn't.
There's lots of good lessons in the gang attacks if you're not good at combat, like learning to take cover, pacing yourself and not rushing in, learning to use the quick menu to replace armor and health quickly.
Reading more about gang attacks, it seems triggering one can take you out of passive mode. I thought that's why when I was attacked that one time I couldn't die, it was because of hacking. It seems the mode itself gives you something like passive mode with other players, but then why did that attacker initially kill me with a car collision? Maybe I had stepped out of the gang attack radius. Its safer to do Gang Attacks in a private instance, but after spending so much time in public, it feels a little sad and empty to be alone.
I do Pier Pressure for Gerald. I use the freedom from police and other players to work on my Strength, by punching people as often as I can on the Del Perro pier. This isn't very appealing, and my Strength meter is moving slowly. I'm probably going to have to find another way.
The mission yields over 3k RP and $18k, which is surprisingly high for such a low level starter mission. Is it because of all the added punching?
I test out the Merryweather ammo drop. It just sits there beeping. Turns out you need to have a weapon equipped when you walk over it, that's the ammo you get. That actually kind of makes sense. I equip Molotov Cocktail because you can't buy it, and I only have 6. I don't get any more, but if I switch to a rifle, I get that ammo.
At random I get a message I am riding my new favorite motorcycle. What?
2016.10.23
Sentinel farming, I see a car appear out of thin air in the lane in front of me, and then a car appears right on top of me. I drive out from under it.
Doing Gerald missions, punching along the way. Not as easy as they first appear for one person. Shooting skill goes up to 80%.
A griefer was waiting for me after a Gang Attack, at least he was smart enough to know he couldn't hurt me during the attack. He attacked right after the mission was over, but I got back into Passive Mode before he could do any much damage. Two important lessons: Don't just focus on the gang attack, watch who's coming in from the periphery, and once again, maybe save Gang Attacks for a more private instance. All the noise seems to attract dumb attention.
Gerald mission Deal Breaker, reward 2434 RP, $12850. According to the wikia, it should have been 1340 RP $18360 on Hard. That's OK, I'd rather have more RP, but I'd even more rather know how it works. More wiki reading, I get more RP if working with a crew, but number of players is a factor also. Its not a bad deal soloing these, though I invariably have to spend $1k on new armor, and have to stock up at the convenience store.
Spending some time on the phone (Real-Life) is a good time to grind things, like flying, or swimming under water. Got Lung Capacity up to 20%.
Death Metal, $12850 2434, took a while.
2016.10.24
Singing in the shower gets you 20 RP. What, no achievement?
Gerald, Violent Duct, $18900, RP 3629, which is rather nice. And I did poorly, barely made it, and took a long time.
Gerald, No Hay Bronca, 1.5x (always set difficult to max), $18480 3510, long and arduous, but fun.
When I'm not doing Gerald, Gang Attack, or Sentinel farming, I try to remember to return to Flight School. Sometimes I can't make any more progress with the game pad, and go back to keyboard, and it seems to help. When I get stuck again, I'll go back to the pad.
I get bored of playing by myself, until the bickering of children (often times literally - and I know for sure because I hear their voices) drives me back to Invite Only sessions.
Gerald, Chumash and Grab, 2-4 players.... quit.
You're always seeing random missions on offer. You only have a few seconds to join, and either it will fill up, or in a few minutes the host will abandon or launch. I latch onto a mission I've never seen before. I stick with that crew, and we move along from mission to mission, including a bunch I don't even have access to yet. I'm mostly dead weight, as I don't even know what's going on most of the time (they skip the cut scenes). I stay on for quite a while, as the RP and money are good, and I'm learning new things. I'm the only one with a mic, even though everyone else is about 100 levels above me. Is this how people actually play this game? Why isn't almost everyone on a microphone?
2016.10.25
Gerald, War and Pieces, $15840 RP 3545 (but then later it says 3105 !?)
"grand theft auto v is offline"
More and more I am reminded of mudding days of old. Days when the server is down are just part of it, but one of the most agonizing (the worst is logging in to find your profile has been deleted or reset).
I check the "GTA Online Server Status" page, nothing is down.
Less than an hour later, its fine.
Passed my first Survival, in Sandy. I used the dumpster hiding spot, my partner stayed on the roof opposite. He only died once, me not at all. Surprisingly not that hard.
Leveled up to 38. Max health reached 20/100. Of all the skill gains and unlocks, this is hard won.
Gerald, Chumash and Grab, 2 players. I'll pass. New session, ask again, same mission.
2016.10.26
Gerald, Gassed Up, $13100 RP 2914, then in next screen RP 2504. Its still worth it, but what's going on? I should check my RP before I start the mission.
Ask for another mission (I thought there was a cooldown, but I guess not), get Chumash again.
I enter a random Gang Attack, but for extra challenge, I decide to pick one weapon and stick to it. It might as well be the most humble of guns, the Pistol. That definitely made it more interesting, especially when you get flanked and start to get desperate. I think this will be a good way to learn the guns better, while keeping Gang Attacks fresh (and cost-effective).
Gerald, Chumash and Grab. New session. Same. Let's try that Lamar mission again. Nobody joins, perhaps it is too low level a mission for a Wednesday night. I try Chumash, get matched with a someone in the teen levels, we finish the mission.
Gerald, No Hay Bronca, $18480 RP 4120, actual RP 3510. I like this mission. It has not only one, but two false endings. And I got to 100% Shooting skill.
2016.10.27
Death Metal, $12850 RP 2854, actual RP 2434.
I haven't been able to join a race in days. Mostly because there aren't as many, but of the few there are I can't seem to connect to for various reasons.
War and Pieces, $17820, 3804, actual 3494.
Finally joined a race. I missed the start, but I stayed on as a spectator, and after the next voting screen I could participate. Once you find a bunch of people, it easier to just stick with them.
Level 40. Max Health to 40/100.
Gerald, Death Metal, $12850, 2854. actual 2434. Consistent with last time.
Trevor, Romance Isn't Dead, didn't note the numbers, but nice.
Gerald, Deal Breaker, $12850 2874, 2434.
2016.10.28
Rockstar does promotions around the holidays, and they are also celebrating the three year anniversary of online. When logging into Steam, in the time I've had GTA 5, I notice these sometimes and log into to get the unlocks and rewards. That's why I have a fireworks rocket launcher, and some weird clothing unlocks.
Gerald, Deal Breaker, $14690 3221, actual 2781. A little more than last time, but I took out more enemies instead of running to the end.
Gerald, Death Metal, $12850 2654, 2434. Very interesting - the total RP in the mission is lower than last time I played this one, probably because I died once. Yet I got the same net reward of RP, despite dying once. I thought I was figuring out how mission rewards worked, but this makes me want to just look it up.
Gerald, Flood in the LS River, $14690 3031, 2781. Died once.
Finally, one million dollars in the bank. Not that it matters in game, as I've already acquired and spent two million dollars. But it feels like a milestone. It feels like I should buy something nice for my character.
My routine still consists of selling and stealing cars when convenient, but most of my current $ and RP income is from Gerald missions. The Gang Attacks are still fun, but they are not a good return on time spent. Right now solo-ing these missions is still a productive way to keep leveling up.
While talking on the phone (Real Life) got Lung Capacity up to 100%. Not that I think I'll ever need it, but its a stat. Got a helicopter (by calling Lester) and started flying around the world a few times, but it adds up very slowly. As boring as it is, I really need to go back to Flight School. Flying to 40/100.
Gerald, Violent Duct, $18900 3889, 3629.
Gerald, Pier Pressure, $16520 3539, 3129.
Gerald, Meth'd Up, $12890 2545 , 2445
Gerald, Deal Breaker, $9180 2039, 1739.
Gerald, Gassed Up, $9360 2189, 1789.
Gerald, No Hay Bronca, $18480 4110, 3510.
Gerald, Flood in the LS River, mission ended while I was sniping!? used grenades, failed again, why!?, $12850 2854, 2434.
Gerald, War and Pieces, $19800 4111, 3881.
Its repeating now. Tired, ending the chain.
2016.10.29
Working on strength. Beating up people is slow and... disturbing. I'll try the recommended Hole 6 in Golf. I don't think I can do this for long.
In a Gerald mission (no cops) I punch my way down the boardwalk, and all the way back, gets me up a level to 40/100 Strength. I can do this once every so often.
Later, going to bed... my saved outfits are gone.
2016.10.30
Everytime I enter a public session, I do so in the spirit of wanting to participate in the social aspect of the game. Usually within seconds I'm busy muting assholes, and thinking I should have just started an Invite Only Session.
Yep, my outfits are still gone. Just as I was starting to use that feature.
I try a Lester mission, only looking for one that is single player.
Crime Scenester. Going in shooting doesn't work. I can get a police car, but how do I get a uniform? Search... only by glitching, or something to do with Heists. Try to sneak around, get spotted, mission over. There are news vans parked around, but I don't think there's any reporter uniform that happens. Lester drops a hint, several ways in. Try ladder to roof, get into alley, sneak behind cops - and caught. OK, I give up, reading online.
OK, it looks like there is no subtle way to do this, its an all out assault. I let this mission scroll by on the next selection menu, but I'll try it again. Maybe with a bulletproof car.
Cool, now I can carry 4 backup armors.
I'm wearing one of the new Halloween movie t-shirts, but in the cut scene with Gerald my shirt is plain black.
Later, after logging out for a while, I come back to see a Steam message to remember this key, you need it to install the program. What? I connect to Story mode, then Online, as usual with no more strangeness.
Gerald, Dish the Dirt - new to me, its a level 45 mission, and fortunately for 1-4 players.
This time I'm going to check the numbers. Noting my Global RP is 386,910.
Start, Hard, solo. $18630 4161, 3721.
Global RP 391,538. So my RP went up by... 4628. Way more than either the stated first or second numbers. Didn't expect that.
I want to try out some these new Lost vs. Damned modes, before they might go away for Halloween. So far I've spectated two and bailed before I had a chance to join in.
Ron, Crank Up the Volume. Hard, solo. $19800, 4181. 3881.
Global RP 396658-391538=5120. I guess I should just stop investigating and enjoy the bonus.
2016.10.31
Contact Mission, Lester, Cops Capacity. Time expired. Tough mission for one person, but I think I could do it.
Visit the L on the map, Lester. Watch cut scene showcasing Lester's social skills. Is this how heists start?
Yep, call from Lester, go to my heist room in my apartment to get started. My owned apartments are now green on the map. Not interested just yet, especially not to be a heist leader, not until I've got some practice, and maybe researched it a bit. I still have to get rid of these stupid Lamar missions.
I try Lowrider Envy again (the Lamar mision I'm stuck ON), and get stuck with moron without a mic or even the ability to type. I quit after 4 tries.
Rank up to 48, get Max Health 40/100.
2016.11.01
If Gerald gives me a 2 player mission, I'll take a Simeon (or other) mission, finish it, and on the next mission menu there's usually a Gerald mission or two.
2016.11.02
According to the wiki (gta.wikia.com), in GTA 5 Online, including the most recent DLC, the Bikers Update, there are 47 different motorcycles. It would be nice to see list of all of them, with prices, and maybe some note on their salient features (top speed, second best handling, etc.). There's something like this on IGN, but it only has the 18 original bikes of Online, not all the updates.
Before I get to ahead of myself, even though I'm up to $1.5M, I'm not interested in any bike that costs in the six figures (let alone 7) until I've bought and tried some of the much cheaper bikes, that are still a great upgrade from what I've been finding on the street.
For lack of a better plan, I'll try motorcycles in order of price. I guess I technically have to start with the Faggio at $5,000. This is surprisingly pleasant for slow cruising, and its almost quiet. Its a lot like the bike, but without the advantages of being even quieter, and and being able to hop. Not even keeping it, sell it for $3,000.
Next up is the Maibatsu Sanchez, which I already have in the Grapeseed garage for offroading. But what's this Sanchez 2 that's for sale? Is it what I already have, and the name just doesn't show up when I sit on it? I'll buy one, its only $8k. Yeah, even though I bought a "2" it doesn't say it in the name when I sit on it. I'll keep this one and sell the old one I "found" in the desert.
2016.11.03
Upgrade the engine on the Sanchez, I can climb to the top of a mountain straight up at crazy speed. Great bike, but it feels a little unstable, in that it seems really easy to fall off compared to other bikes.
Level 50, get call from Lamar on how to commission a mugger. Buy the MG. Why is it in the SMG slot, wouldn't it go under heavy weapons?
Next bike to try is Shitzu Vader. Since I've already been using the superior Shitzu PCJ 600 for almost the first 50 levels, I think I can skip it. And now moving past the PCJ 600 is the Dinka Akuma. I buy one in black, respray it in Wine Red, primary and secondary. Most of the engine upgrades aren't needed, because it already has max acceleration (can you go faster than 5 bars?). Bulletproof tires. Armor 60%. Sport Brakes. Xenon Lights. Not sure why I'm spending all this money upgrading a bike I've never tried. I gues I'm just so impressed with its top speed.
I am now a bit scared of this beast. This is what breakneck speed must be named after. Also, I feel like if I fall off I'll probably die. I love it.
2016.11.04
Riding the Akuma I grazed something I'm pretty sure wouldn't have knocked me off on the Pegassi Ruffian, and lost half my armor. But the speed is still intoxicating.
I'm at $1.6M, I think I can afford the Homing Launcher now.
I've been beating my head against a few missions, when I realized I'm always playing missions on Hard, for 1.5x bonus. Some of these missions are meant for 4 players and I'm not even sure what I'm supposed to be doing sometimes. Play on Easy, figure out the best way to survive the mission, then ramp up.
Turn off sirens with the horn key... of course.
I reach level 52, and get the Level 50 achievement (I don't think I've seen that before), and get notice that I've reached 40/100 health (I have seen that before). I don't think I've seen any actual health stats anywhere, just the percent bar that's always on the screen.
Punch my way all the way down Malibu Beach and back (and a little bit more) to 60/100 Strength.
My graphics are a lot more glitchy lately. I'm starting to wonder if the Akuma is so fast, its having to load more areas faster than I've ever had to before, and I'm hitting my GPU's limit.
Starting to branch out from Gerald missions, sometimes call Lester, Martin, or Ron.
2016.11.05
I try to read /r/gtaonline (reddit) with some frequency, picking up whatever tips and news I can. A lot of it is for more advanced players, like the finer points of CEO work, or expensive cars. I learn of and subscribe to /r/pceo/, a group dedicated to players doing CEO work while leaving each other alone, or even helping each other. That sounds like just what I'm looking for, but I'm not quite ready yet. I want to figure out how things works before I jump in, to prevent the frustration of myself and others.
Watched a youtube video, "Does it Matter What You Wear in GTA 5?", where they test and dispel the myth that wearing heavy utility clothing somehow helps with armor (though it does work in heists). They do affirm that wearing the bulletproof helmet does help with headshots.
2016.11.06
Bunch of vehicles on sale 30%. Nothing I need, but poring over the recommendations learned me a thing or two. There are a lot of crap vehicles out there.
Now that's ominous, another alert, but this time "Rockstar Game Services have corrected your GTA Dollars by $250000". There's a difference between being awarded something, and being corrected.
And just to keep it weird, I can't seem to get in it, it just says "Joining GTA Online" with the gold circle spinning. Its been at least 15 minutes, more like 20. As usual, I load the game as fully as possible before joining, going into Story mode, then entering an Invite Only session. I want to quit GTA and restart, but I also wanted to make sure my $250k is in the bank. While floating over LA, waiting, the sun is setting and I can see the shadows lengthening on the ground.
Log into Social Club in a (real world) browser, my account says $2M, so it seems I am properly credited. Quit, disconnecting... if it can do that gracefully, it could have timed out sooner. Ten minutes later, still disconnecting - I guess not. Now I can force quit. I was just going to connect for a few minutes, but now I'm out of time. I'll just try once more, this time choosing Online right from the start, see what happens.
While waiting, I go through the social club site some more, find lots of stats. I'll have to talk about that more later, right now there are a bunch of groups fighting in the street. Time to check out the spectate function on the TV. I want to learn what all these group activities are, and how to best do them.
I thought I would have been kicked at the 15 minute mark, but as I do other things and pass by the monitor, I see its still running hours later. If the person I'm watching quits, it just goes to another person. Most of what I see teaches me nothing. Its mostly violence and boredom. People driving, shooting, running, or sitting in the barber chair. Only very occasionally does something noteworthy happen. I guess this is just stuff happening in the common world, not things people are doing in private instances. It makes a nice screensaver though.
2016.11.07
Its starting to get a little boring grinding contact missions. I'm going to have to change something soon.
Grinding away at missions, not for the money, but I want the Level 60 unlocks of Grenade Launcher and being able to carry more armor. I should get another bump of hit points too.
I've been doing some flying, and some flight school. Boredom and frustration. Not sure whether to stick with keyboard or gamepad, keep alternating. Don't know if that helps or hurts.
The openly rumored Tron bike is finally out. You can buy it after playing a a round of Deadline (light race? from Tron). Reading the years of web pages and forum posts about GTA Online incline me towards unlocking and acquiring things that might not even interest me at the time, because you never know when something might get pulled, and if you already own it, you probably get to keep it. But I don't have a fortune for the bike, or even the much cheaper glowing suit.
2016.11.11
Level 60. Finally, the Grenade Launcher. What - no suppressor?
I can carry one more armor, nice. Next increase at level 75.
I would buy a Clubhouse right now, but I can't think of a name yet. Also, what do I need 10 more bike slots for?
I was going to sell my PCJ600, but decided to look it up first. Ones with a PCJ675 on it, with a single headlight, are rare? Should I care about this? I guess I'm going to have a collection of bikes after all.
Got Strength up to 100/100.
2016.11.13
Working on flying. I can't seem to fly a helicopter without the gamepad, and I can't seem to fly a plane without the keyboard.
2016.11.14
I log in every day, and I don't even know why.
Oh yeah, I'm addicted to video games, especially anything with RPG aspects.
2016.11.17
I log in sometimes, do some flying, get Flying up to 60/100.
I put away the insanely fast Dinka Akuma and go to the next bike in the list to test: Pegassi Ruffian. I got one off the street a while ago, I'll try it again now. From what I've read, I'm pretty sure the Bati will be my final bike, but I'm still working through the list anyway.
At my level (~60) I only have access to about 3/4 of the vehicle upgrades, but that still means a lot of upgrades for the Ruffian. Acceleration is near max (though I've read that the numbers can go off the visible scale - not sure). Its fast like the Akuma, but different, and to know that difference is why I'm doing this.
Its past time to move forward. I need to move forward on either the CEO or MC track. Starting a motorcycle club, even if I'm the only member ever, feels more true to my character, than the older business of VIP, CEO, and warehouse sales. But this is not really an RPG, and I'm going to try both.
Maybe I should just do Heists first.
I have to try something new today, I'll at least try going into VIP mode. Hit M, Securoserv, VIP, get notice that I can't be in Passive Mode as a VIP. There's an orange circle around me on the Securoserv VIP menu. Interesting clothing styles available. I can't request a Luxury Helicopter, since I don't own an office. I can request an assortment of vehicles, including a Buzzard for $25k, which would be free if I bought one from Pegasus ($?).
I try VIP Work Headhunter. A little tough on a bike, but reasonably fun. Have to wait 10 minutes now to try another. Hostile Takeover, choose Altruist Camp. I like that one too. I took too long driving, summoned a Buzzard. I could get used to this. Side bonus: a Gang Attack started right after. Asset Recovery, choose Sandy Shores. Wow, that was a lot of work for $5k. Interesting though. Sightseer, fun but wish I didn't leave my helicopter behind. I thought VIP expired after 4 hours (in game)... maybe its 4 hours real life.
2016.11.18
I read that if you go into Story mode, select weapons on your wheel, quick save, then go into Online, that will be your default wheel there. Well, the wheel looks right, but when I press the corresponding number to call up that weapon, I just get the first weapon in that slot. Oh well.
Later, it seems sometimes when I go to a weapon it does use the default. I have no idea.
2016.11.20
Reading about people getting banned for cheating, but Rockstar won't say what they did, or even let them appeal. Accounts are getting reset, losing all progress and money. Makes me want to not even log in anymore. That's not likely, but it is a good reminder to play to increase knowledge and skill, not to grind for meaningless virtual wealth.
I've been reading the history of updates and promotions, and it seems like as the Biker promo comes to an end, and the holiday season approaches, that something new should be coming up soon. At the very least I should wait until the next interval before I make any big purchase.
My Sentinel garage is near empty. Go out from midnight til 4, get 6 more (2 blue 4 yellow). Do I really need to do this any more? I've got almost $3M.
Time to go shopping. I've changed my hair style so many times I get an award. I'm still nowhere near buying even every category of clothing. Some items I can't even see yet because I haven't yet bought and worn a dependent item.
2016.11.23
Still reading on /r/gtaonline/ about random bannings, makes me really not want to leave my Invite Only session.
Still trying to get Gold at Flight School, currently stuck on parachute mission.
2016.11.24
Nothing really interesting seems to be going on yet, either online or in sales.
The other day I was thinking about old GTA games of the past and how NPC drivers would suddenly swerve in front of you, and how nice it is that they don't do that anymore, and drive more like people normally do in real life (i.e. mostly predictably). Today an NPC car violently swerved into with such suddenness that I wondered if I had accidentally joined a public session and this was a human.
Time to try the next motorcycle in the list: Dinka Double-T. Buy the usual upgrades, carbon panels look nice on this one, but obscures any different color I might want to paint it. I like its speed and acceleration, but handling feels a bit off, like the bike is too long to make tight turns.
2016.11.29
On the reddits there's still lots of talk about unfair bans, which only makes me keep to Invite Only Sessions all the more. Not that I have been playing much, but I've been watching the Rockstar sites and the GTA reddits, hoping for some interesting DLC and sales. I'm more interested in in-game sales than any real world Black Friday sales, even Steam sales.
It hasn't been announced yet, but it looks like exactly what I have been waiting for is on sale now. I'm so glad I listened to the advice of those who said to never buy anything full price, always wait for it to be on sale. I've had $3M burning a hole in my pocket for a while, which sounds like a lot buy not really. Now I can really stretch it.
So choice, I highly recommend you pick one up.
Decor: skip
Personnel: female
Organization Name: Fait Accompli, Font 8 (its closest to the font on the album cover)
Gun Locker: regularly $520k, read its not that useful, but for $260k I'll try it.
Safe: no.
Accommodation: I don't think I need this.
Bought, for $760k. And I still have $1.4M in the bank.
I love the table map, wish I could look at it closer, or interact with it. Couldn't find the gun locker at first, but it makes sense that its hidden. Three ways to exit: vehicle, by foot on ground, by foot to roof. Exit via vehicle, costs $3k to leave by Buzzard (the only vehicle option I've unlocked). I'll try it. Nice animation, I get the controls back while in the air. Its convenient that I can just fly back near the roof, and hit a button to land and go back inside. Exit to roof on foot is a bit more sluggish, we'll see how often I come this way.
I think about buying decor or accommodations, but the way I've been playing this character and game so far is minimalist, start with the smallest and cheapest stuff first, see everything, try everything. I'll stick with plain until I have money to burn, or the next big sale.
I have a seat at my desk, only to find that I need "Join a public session to access the SecuroServ network." Not looking forward to that, but its inevitable if I'm every going to start moving crates.
2016.11.30
It feels like VIP work is good practice for CEO crate business, and yet another way to really get to know that map. I appreciate any excuse too see more parts of this world that I haven't discovered yet.
Flying skill to 80%.
2016.12.01
Level 70. Unlocked Rhino Tank? Whatever.
2016.12.02
Create a new reddit user name to join r/gtacartel. Apply to GTA Cartel on their wordpress site. Join Discord with my Social Club username. Open up my privacy settings. Not sure about using Discord app - I think it was cited as a source of bans. Who knows? Now we wait.
I feel like there's no end to the practice I need with the Buzzard, but its OK, as I'm enjoying it. Best purchase I ever made in this game.
Back on the ground, I'm getting a bit tired of the Double-T's handling. Next on the bike to-do list is the Principe Nemesis. First impression is good, nice speed and acceleration. Not sure about the handling yet, but its better than the Double-T.
While driving around, come across a weird airplane glitch.
2016.12.04
Get invite in Social Club to join the GTA Cartel Friendly crew; Accept Invite.
2016.12.07
Not much time to play at all lately. Will try to log in occasionally to at least do some VIP missions in Buzzard to hopefully maintain and even extend what little flying skill I'm gaining.
More crashing lately? Or it just seems that way. When I started GTA 5 tonight it started in Windows mode, which it normally doesn't. Then it crashed hard soon after I went to Online. Shutdown computer, restart.
Same error again: Close programs to prevent information loss. Your computer is low on memory. Save your files and close these programs: GTA V.
Then another error:
subprocess.exe Application Error
The exception Breakpoint.
A breakpoint has been reached.
Since the only thing that has changed recently is adding of a Samsung SSD, I'm not surprised to find other people in the same situation. Seems like Max Reliability instead of Max Performance is the issue.
More specifically:
Change Virtual Memory to System managed size.
Crashes again. Check again - oh, need to click Set, not OK. Paging file goes from 200 to 6146.
2016.12.10
Finally, I have some time to join a public session, buy a warehouse, and try crate business. Going to start with a single small warehouse, see how I like it. I can always buy more and bigger, and sell what I have for half back. Everything I read says large warehouse is more profitable, and working two warehouses at once is more profitable. But I make this small concession to role playing, to start simply and work my way up.
Go Story mode. Online -> Join Crew Members... wait... Not even a few minutes, I'm in a session with 4 people, only one other is of crew SAFE. First steps, go Passive, sell a Sentinel out of the garage. Though there's hardly anyone here, I want to start cautiously, make sure no hacking going on, or I'm moving on to another session.
Register as CEO. Sit at desk. I get the message to join a public session to access the SecuroServ network. But I am in a public session, as there are 2 other people still in this session. Is it because I just went CEO in my office? Exit to roof and come back, same thing. Research.... some people note this problem after they join crew sessions.
859pm
Try again to join crew session. Takes not even a minute, in a new session, but there's only one other SAFE member here, out of 18 players. Maybe I can still try this. Sit at desk, same message. Alright, this time just Join New Session.
Next server has 23 players. I am immediately greeted with the sounds of gunfire and explosions, something I haven't heard on connecting in a long while. Perhaps I can make it alive the several blocks I need to travel from my apartment to my office. Purchasing accommodations at the office (so I can spawn there) is looking like a better idea to me now.
I make it alive to my office. Finally I can access the desktop computer. Now I can buy a warehouse. I have $2M. The White Widow Garage in La Puerta, somewhat near my office, for $360k seems like a good choice, and I like the name.
I'll try it again, Join Crew Members. 23 players, I'm the only SAFE. Another. 5 players, 1 SAFE, 3 other crews. This will do. Shit, again with the "Join a public session to access the SecuroServ network." Shit. What is this, a bug?
Again try Join Crew Members.
21 players, 9 of them SAFE! This is more like it. But can I buy crates already. Another blockage, need to join a public session. Calling it a night.
2016.12.11
Hopefully my inability to buy crates in crew sessions is an error that will be fixed, not a feature. Nobody on /gtaonline or the gtacartel Discord channels seems to be discussing it, so hopefully it is an isolated incident.
1240p
I try loading Crew Session <2>. Still not sure of the best way to enter. I appear to be a in a session by myself. Is there a way to tell if you are in private or public?
My crew rank keeps going up. It seems like the original ranking up system, but starting from zero with your crew.
OK, my desk doesn't think this is a public session. I set my spawn location from Tinsel Towers 29 to Del Perro Heights 20, so I don't have to commute so far to work. Maybe I should buy accommodations in the office after all, especially if I'm going to have to keep reloading.
Let's load Join Crew Members. A session with 5 people, 2 crew and 2 random. Sit at desk, need to join a public session. WTF is going on. Research... OK this may be a thing. Joining crew sessions can, or does, makes the server think you are in private session. It may or may not be a bug. I have to become friends with people, and join that way? There is some talk like this in the Discord group, so I clearly don't get it yet.
Let's try going to story mode, then back to Online using only the ALT button. I'm in a session with 8 randoms, but at least I can buy crates now. I have completed one collection. How do I sell it? I know you make more money by selling a full warehouse, but I'm curious.
To the warehouse. I can sell my lone crate for $10k. I'm supposed to get in a nearby truck, and drive it somewhere. Cool, made $16k.
I do a Ron mission, Base Invaders. Somewhat fun, I try a tank for the first time. It seems similar to previous GTA tanks.
2016.12.12
Reading, new DLC should be coming tomorrow. I'm just getting started in crate business - how will the new CEO car business change things?
Let's see what Join Crew Members does today - will I be able to buy crates?
Joining another session takes about a minute. There's only 1 other SAFE on, and 3 randoms. But they seem to be chatting, so its probably OK.
Not a public session.
Join New Session, get 26 randoms.
I need to figure this out.
908p
Go to Discord, GTA Cartel, #session_active. A user is 'hosting an unofficial'. So what am I supposed to do? Send a friend request in Rockstar Social Club, then when in game, try to join friend session? Sending request, see what happens.
2016.12.13
Got the new DLC, 1.5 GB on Steam. Reading about the update... you can change your appearance for $100k!? Why so cheap? The new cars and car business are of no great interest to me, but changing appearance might be.
955p
Using Discord, find people talking in session_active, send them friend invites, Load up GTA single player, Join Friends. Get message unable to find a compatible session, so joining new. In the new session, it tells me I have 2 friends playing in other sessions. Look under Friends, select name, Join Game.
Says it has different targeting mode, do I want to change. OK, let's try it. Not sure I understand the different targeting modes. I just use the mouse, and take aim, I've never been interesting in any kind of auto targeting.
In a session now with a mix of SAFE and PTFM crew; never heard of 'em.
Register as CEO, sit at desk, I can buy!
In addition to Special Cargo, there is now Vehicle Cargo and Special Vehicle Work.
Cool - I'm finally ready to play Online. And, I've got to go. But I think I see the way forward now.
1130p
Buy a crate for $2k. Shoot some NPCs, take truck. Take back to warehouse, $10k value.
Suddenly I'm in the session by myself, everyone appears to have left simultaneously. Can I still move cargo? Go back to warehouse, click Sell for $10k. Once again, drive the MTL Brickade to a place. Sold for $19k.
Let's try 2 crates, for $8k. Leave building via Buzzard (-$500). Go to crash site. I heard you can pick up crates from the water, using the helicopter; its surprisingly easy. The cops don't go aggro til pickup, but I'm already on my way out. Special Cargo value $22k. Let's sell it. I can't sell for another 10 minutes. This must be the cooldown I read about, and why people have multiple warehouses.
Cooldown on buying more crates. Which is why people do VIP work between crates. I'm seeing more and more why people run 3 crates at a time, and fill warehouses before selling, and use large warehouses. But I'm still getting used to it.
2016.12.16
Been looking forward to some Online time.
In Solo my Settings -> Gamepad -> Targeting Mode is Free Aim.
Go Online, its Free Aim but grayed out, can't reach it.
Join friends (in SAFE), told my targetting mode will be changed.
In friends session, my targeting mode is now Assisted Aim - Partial.
The significance of this I'll sort out later, just noting it for now.
If I buy 2 crates does that mean 2 runs? Not sure.
Have 4 crates in warehouse. Buy 2. Yep, collect 2. At least I can use motorcycle to get crates!
Got 8 crates now. Isn't that the max for doing a sale that only involves one trip? Time to sell. Sell 8 crates for $112k. My first water sale!
I'm flying to the port when I hear a target lock. I didn't mean to, but I jump out of the helicopter right over the street. Somehow I deploy parachute and survive.
Tug is slow, destination not far. Money at $1.4M. Not really looking to buy anything right now, but I want to learn crate business.
Now its starting to get a little challenging. Tried to use Trackify to find lost crates, couldn't get the hang of it in time. Next mission tried to catch an armored car and blew it up, along with the crates.
This is handy. While sitting down in my office to buy crates I can use the keyboard arrow keys to move amongst selectable items, and hit enter to select. This could save a lot of time with slow mousing.
Filled my small warehouse (16/16), time to sell. Sell for $240k. Now my bank is at $1.5M. In the time it took to make that small profit, I could have made more money, but at least I'm getting the hang of it now. I know its more profitable to sell large warehouses, with VIP missions interspersed, but not I'm not ready for that yet.
My once pristine office is now cluttered with contraband and cash.
2016.12.18
Who know how long this GTA Cartel will last. Its really come together recently, but I know how ephemeral social interactions are, let alone internet social interactions. I need to enjoy all I can with this group before its gone.
I do my usual segmented, modular startup: Start Steam, load GTA5 in Story mode, switch to Online Invite Only mode, then start looking for friends to join in both online and on the Discord channel. Start joining sessions. If there's too many non SAFE, I see what other sessions are going on, eventually settling on a session that is more SAFE than not. Ideally it would be a packed session, but then you have the tradeoff of limited CEO slots.
I join a friend session, find a player named GTACARTEL. I guess this is a dummy account for crew members to focus on joining - it must be the official session. Can I friend 'it'? OK, got a request pending.
2016.12.20
Cool, my office has a Christmas tree in the lobby. Snow is only days away.
I put Festive Loop 3 horn on my Akuma, Loop 2 (Deck the Halls) on the Nemesis.
I friend request gtacartel again. That would make sense if that user is what I think it is, a dummy target for people to join in with. But someone probably still needs to steer it for votekicking, and other actions.
2016.12.23
Lost all my outfits again.
Can't join by crew or friends, keeps me stuck in loading screen.
Finally in a session. Fill up my small warehouse. Sell it. Plane mission, two planes. Fly the first plane, drop all the cargo. Second plane, no map markers show up. Can't sell. Quit in disgust. How much more frustrating would this be if it was a large warehouse, worth millions? Still frustrating.
2016.12.24
OK, that's weird, I log in today expecting to find my warehouse empty, or at least half empty. But its 88% full. Like I never bought those last 2 crates yesterday and tried to sell them. Some people complained recently about trouble saving, maybe Rockstar servers are overwhelmed. I'm already tired of the snow, and the tired of the server congestion - ready for the holidays to be over.
2016.12.25
Did some MC work, or rather, I tried to help other crew members with their MC work. I really need to read up on how to be a better associate.
2016.12.30
I've been away so long it stopped snowing and started snowing again.
My warehouse is full. I'm able to sell it, even though its a plane mission in the snow (though not a hard one). Some non SAFE are hanging out near one of the planes I need, I ask them to leave it alone, and strangely enough they do. Even more strangely, he comes back with a a buddy in another plane, and they both crash land next to me, obviously on purpose. Weird shit like this is sometimes why you play this game.
Time to fill the warehouse again.
2016.12.31
Its nice to play early morning. You tend to get more dedicated and serious players.
2017.01.01
I've never tried luxury helicopter pickup. Cool, I get free champagne - its a good day for it.
2017.01.02
There is still snow.
Bizarre. I tried to join a SAFE session, and wound up in a Heist lobby. I quit out of there fast. Found myself standing in the street, in an empty session. Check CEO terminal... its not a public session.
Try to join on another player, full session. I enter queue, and do VIP missions while I wait.
I keep getting Saving failed message - is there any point to doing anything now?
I ask around, you can hit ALT+F4, and say no, don't quit, and it will force a save.
2017.01.04
No more snow, I can bike in peace.
Level 80! I get the Combat MG.
The main session (the one with GTACARTEL player in it) is good, but the other session got hit with modders dropping money on people. You really don't want get banned, especially after going through all this trouble to play legitimately.
2017.01.07
Moved 10 pages of text from scratch to the blog page. Added screenshots. Wondered how much better they would look with a better graphics card. And if my character got plastic surgery.
2017.01.10
Sold all the Sentinels from my Tinsel Towers garage; I hope I'm done with that. Guess I'll move my few cars there (all I have is the standard free Elegy RH8 and a Jackal I got off the streets),
2017.01.11
Added a "What I Learned" section to the end of the scratch file. I've always wondered what to do with random bits of information I accumulate over playing a game that I want to record somewhere, but I don't want to make into any kind of formal document. It also makes it more personal to my experience with the game, as opposed to some public general-purpose FAQ.
Next bike to try on the list is the LCC Hexer from SSA. It looks so ungainly, but is surprisingly comfortable to drive.
2017.01.12
There's a 25% sale on warehouses for a few more days. Its easy to argue that if you're doing crate work two warehouses make sense, and that large is the most profitable, so what point is there in even getting a medium warehouse? It seems more role-play like to work my way up from small to medium, but if I'm going to end up with a large anyway, it be could a lot of money spent on something that I will never even look at again. A medium warehouse is about a million, and a large is two to three million. I'd have to fill and sell the medium several times to justify its cost.
What do I even need all this money for anyway, I don't care much about buying fancy toys. I just want to play all the game has to offer. I've tried crate missions now, and I can see how one can grind it for money. I could spend that money moving on to the next thing, like buying an Import/Export garage.
2017.01.13
I think the right compromise is getting a medium warehouse. If I can fill and sell that a few times and not get bored of it, maybe I can go for the large, or decide to move on from crates.
Derriere Lingerie Backlot regularly $902,000, on sale for $676,500. I think I'll go scout it in the buzzard first, to be sure its easily accessible by air. Its a little cramped, but it works, and I love the proximity to my office, even better than my small office. Deposit cash on hand... current total is $2.3M. Make purchase... now have $1.6M. Time for my first crate run with it - and its a nice experience.
I'm trying to volunteer for as many CEO and MC associate invites as I can reasonably do, just for the experience of it. Nobody seems to be issuing invites to regular crate collection work, only to doing sales, and even then its mostly I/E and the odd MC sale. But that's part of the point of a safe session; you can sell crates by yourself.
I was in a nice session with a few other crew members, then I left for some reason and came back, and now I can't get back into a crew session. A bunch of people are also complaining about this on Discord and online (when you are floating in the clouds, waiting to join, you can see and participate in that sessions' chat sometimes immediately, even though you haven't joined game play yet). I've left it waiting for at least 5 minutes, restarted GTA, left it waiting for another 5 minutes, restarted Windows, still floating over the city. I usually start the game Solo -> switch to online Invite Only -> then go to Friends. I'll try straight to Online... that works but I'm with randoms. Find a friend to join on... it works quickly!
Later I join on a single player, he drops out. I start advertising my session on Discord, added about 7 people to my friends list. Nice little session, everyone quietly working on their own business.
I start doing single crates only, alternating between warehouses. Because these missions are fairly easy, I'm trying to stick to using the current test bike to actually have time to try it out, instead of being in a helicopter all the time (and not testing bikes).
Join 'official' session (the one with GTACARTEL player in it). same minute, I'm in.
2017.01.14
Doing single crates, alternating between warehouses, testing the Hexer. I'm getting used to the noise of all the data coming in from the chat, the notifications in the botttom left, the non stop phone calls, keeping an eye on the Discord chat on the laptop, etc.
2017.01.16
2017.01.17
I'm surprised how OK the Hexer is, but it doesn't add anything new to my stable. Selling it, moving on.
Finally we come to the annointed one, the bike most people say is the best. Purchase Pegassi Bati 801 in white. I'll armor it up, upgrade the brakes, spray it all Ice White, bulletproof tires, but I'll skip the engine upgrades for now, want to see how it does without. First impression: even if its not the best, its in the top 3.
Reading up on today's new update. Another fast car I don't care about. Another deathmatch mode I don't care about. And a few discounts on some items, and some bonuses on some work. What are Biker Clubhouse Contracts? Reading up on a current MC faq, I find this business is even buggier than I've been hearing. Makes me glad I'm putting it off until later; now I I'll wait to hear about bug fixes first.
2016.01.19
Still picking up single crates, sometimes with bike, sometimes helicopter. I remind myself to always be pushing myself while driving either, to increase skill (real, not in game). I need to practice on a variety of vehicles before heisting, so moving crates is a good multipurpose activity.
Finally, a special item, sell it immediately. I actually kind of like driving the Brickade. Nice, after delivery, then have to fight to defend it. Filled up small warehouse.
2017.01.10
Sold all the Sentinels from my Tinsel Towers garage; I hope I'm done with that. Guess I'll move my few cars there (all I have is the standard free Elegy RH8 and a Jackal I got off the streets),
2017.01.11
Added a "What I Learned" section to the end of the scratch file. I've always wondered what to do with random bits of information I accumulate over playing a game that I want to record somewhere, but I don't want to make into any kind of formal document. It also makes it more personal to my experience with the game, as opposed to some public general-purpose FAQ.
Next bike to try on the list is the LCC Hexer from SSA. It looks so ungainly, but is surprisingly comfortable to drive.
2017.01.12
There's a 25% sale on warehouses for a few more days. Its easy to argue that if you're doing crate work two warehouses make sense, and that large is the most profitable, so what point is there in even getting a medium warehouse? It seems more role-play like to work my way up from small to medium, but if I'm going to end up with a large anyway, it be could a lot of money spent on something that I will never even look at again. A medium warehouse is about a million, and a large is two to three million. I'd have to fill and sell the medium several times to justify its cost.
What do I even need all this money for anyway, I don't care much about buying fancy toys. I just want to play all the game has to offer. I've tried crate missions now, and I can see how one can grind it for money. I could spend that money moving on to the next thing, like buying an Import/Export garage.
2017.01.13
I think the right compromise is getting a medium warehouse. If I can fill and sell that a few times and not get bored of it, maybe I can go for the large, or decide to move on from crates.
Derriere Lingerie Backlot regularly $902,000, on sale for $676,500. I think I'll go scout it in the buzzard first, to be sure its easily accessible by air. Its a little cramped, but it works, and I love the proximity to my office, even better than my small office. Deposit cash on hand... current total is $2.3M. Make purchase... now have $1.6M. Time for my first crate run with it - and its a nice experience.
I'm trying to volunteer for as many CEO and MC associate invites as I can reasonably do, just for the experience of it. Nobody seems to be issuing invites to regular crate collection work, only to doing sales, and even then its mostly I/E and the odd MC sale. But that's part of the point of a safe session; you can sell crates by yourself.
I was in a nice session with a few other crew members, then I left for some reason and came back, and now I can't get back into a crew session. A bunch of people are also complaining about this on Discord and online (when you are floating in the clouds, waiting to join, you can see and participate in that sessions' chat sometimes immediately, even though you haven't joined game play yet). I've left it waiting for at least 5 minutes, restarted GTA, left it waiting for another 5 minutes, restarted Windows, still floating over the city. I usually start the game Solo -> switch to online Invite Only -> then go to Friends. I'll try straight to Online... that works but I'm with randoms. Find a friend to join on... it works quickly!
Later I join on a single player, he drops out. I start advertising my session on Discord, added about 7 people to my friends list. Nice little session, everyone quietly working on their own business.
I start doing single crates only, alternating between warehouses. Because these missions are fairly easy, I'm trying to stick to using the current test bike to actually have time to try it out, instead of being in a helicopter all the time (and not testing bikes).
Join 'official' session (the one with GTACARTEL player in it). same minute, I'm in.
2017.01.14
Doing single crates, alternating between warehouses, testing the Hexer. I'm getting used to the noise of all the data coming in from the chat, the notifications in the botttom left, the non stop phone calls, keeping an eye on the Discord chat on the laptop, etc.
2017.01.16
2017.01.17
I'm surprised how OK the Hexer is, but it doesn't add anything new to my stable. Selling it, moving on.
Finally we come to the annointed one, the bike most people say is the best. Purchase Pegassi Bati 801 in white. I'll armor it up, upgrade the brakes, spray it all Ice White, bulletproof tires, but I'll skip the engine upgrades for now, want to see how it does without. First impression: even if its not the best, its in the top 3.
Reading up on today's new update. Another fast car I don't care about. Another deathmatch mode I don't care about. And a few discounts on some items, and some bonuses on some work. What are Biker Clubhouse Contracts? Reading up on a current MC faq, I find this business is even buggier than I've been hearing. Makes me glad I'm putting it off until later; now I I'll wait to hear about bug fixes first.
2016.01.19
Still picking up single crates, sometimes with bike, sometimes helicopter. I remind myself to always be pushing myself while driving either, to increase skill (real, not in game). I need to practice on a variety of vehicles before heisting, so moving crates is a good multipurpose activity.
Finally, a special item, sell it immediately. I actually kind of like driving the Brickade. Nice, after delivery, then have to fight to defend it. Filled up small warehouse.
2017.01.20
Sell small warehouse. The crowded lobby bonus is only... $10k?
2017.01.21
Buy upgrades for Bati. I can't even unlock yet all the upgrades, and already I'm thinking this must be the ultimate bike. And yet I'll go a little further on my try list, especially while it's so cheap, and I want an excuse to do single crate retrievals with a bike. Next up: Nagasaki Carbon RS from Legendary Motorsports for $40k.
First impressions are that it's plenty fast and responsive. I like how it feels substantial, like there's some real weight there. I didn't even know I was missing that on the Bati, but now that I've tried this, I remember the Bati feeling a little light. The only trouble with the Carbon is that it is a little sluggish to turn (is this what's meant by "having a long wheel base"). So I may hold onto it for a while, but it doesn't beat the Bati. I may have to completely reverse what I just said. I started doing wheelies with the Carbon and quickly flipped head it over. The Bati never did that on me.
Sold the Carbon; shortest time I ever owned a bike. Next up is the Dinka Enduro from SSS for $48k. Looks like an off road bike. I drive right up to the Vinewood sign, then over. Fly off bike a few times, die a few times; good clean fun. While it is nice to drive around the wilderness going almost anywhere I please, what does this bike offer that I don't already have with the lowest offroad bike, the Sanchez? The internet says the Sanchez is better in every way; I agree. Sold.
Western Rat Bike - is this some kind of lifestyle statement? I like the post-apocalyptic stylings, and I don't mind the noise or rust, but it's not very quick, and it doesn't handle well. Lots of really different customizations available at the mod shop, but this is a bike you only keep for aesthetic reasons. Sold.
Next up in the motorcycle list is the Pegassi Faggio Mod. As I work my way down the list bike prices are now over 50k, and because I only get half back to sell them, I can no longer just buy first and then decide; now its research first to stop hemorrhaging money. Especially since next up is a tiny scooter that's mostly a novelty. I'm researching to find if there's any point to getting this thing at all. It seems like there's a little bit of fun and novelty factor, but not much.
Maibatsu Manchez. An off roader. Internet says its prettier than the Sanchez, but not functionally better. It has the unique feature of being able to wheelie at walking speed (why?). Sounds like it's fun to stunt with, but not too practical. I don't want to just let the internet decide for me, but I think the advice is clear.
Moving on, skipping the low end quads. Dinka Thrust. Seems to be a 'touring bike' not a 'streetfighter bike' (whatever this means), seeming to indicate that its fast, but doesn't turn well. When searching for this you find nothing but high praise for the Akuma and Bati in comparison. I agree with those who say turning is more important that top speed, because there is hardly any situation where you will be going straight long enough for top speed to ever matter. So, skipping this one.
The wikia says the Shitzu Hakuchou has a "long wheelbase", and thus not great handling. I've been hearing about this one for a while, and it just looks cool. I need to see this one for myself. I've never driven to Los Santos Customs so quickly before; might as well mod it, I think I'll keep this one for a bit. Spray it Ice White.
Finally filled up my medium warehouse, time to sell. 3 cargo trucks. Had to use trackify. Made $900k!
Level 90. I can carry 7 armors, and I can buy the Heavy Sniper rifle. So I do.
2017.01.22
I have about $2.7M right now, a paltry sum in GTA Online. It would be enough to buy a fashionable car, or start a new business, so it's not nothing. I was starting to go through it rather quickly after trying out a lot of bikes, and increasing my wardrobe, so it was nice to make a big sale. Time to slowly start filling the warehouse again, while continuing to test vehicles.
I really like being able to hide weapons in the gun locker, but there is at least one pistol that doesn't show up in the list. It may be a bug; I follow the advice of dropping the weapon (Combat Pistol) using F10 (first you have to equip it). Go to store and re-purchase it. Go to locker and find that Combat Pistol is now on the list of pistols I can hide. Nice, that's been bothering me.
Passing by the subway stairs, I can't recall ever taking a ride on it, not even in single player. I ride one stop from Del Perro over to Portola Drive, and I think I'm done with this now.
The Hakuchou makes me feel like stunting more often. It's fun to catch an incline and jump over traffic, but it has a learning curve. I'm going through a lot of body armor.
2017.01.23
Watched some heist videos.
The new workflow: for medium warehouse buy 3 crates, probably end up using buzzard, for single warehouse buy 1 crate using current test vehicle, volunteer for sales when possible, try to remember to fly an airplane every day, usually on the way out.
In the warehouse, purchase Delivery Truck upgrade Bulletproof Tires for $95k, Delivery Planes Armor Upgrade for $190k, Delivery Boat Speed Upgrade $170k.
2017.01.25
2017.01.27
I like the Hakuchou and I'm keeping it, but on to the next test vehicle. Next in list is LCC Innovation. I'm not fond of the hubless chain drive, even though I don't think it means anything in game. Reading around, it seems mediocre. Next: Nagasaki BF400, an obvious off roader. Nothing outright seems to indicate this is better than the Sanchez overall, but in some ways it sounds better, so I buy it to try it. Ride the Sanchez first (need to start moving my off-roaders to the desert anyway) to get in the offroading frame of mind, then try the BF400. Its a great jumper, I'll have to hold on to this for a while. The current workflow doesn't really include offroad testing, so I'll play with it when I'm on vacation.
2017.01.29
I got $2M, and two full warehouses to sell. Sell small for $240k, delivery method is 2 trucks. Get $300k.
Sell medium for $735k, delivery method is titan, fly under the rader and make drops. Halfway through I crash the titan into a radio tower and land without exploding, but in such a position that it will never get off the ground again. Exit game without saving - will I be reset with only a loss of 3 crates? This is what I've been hearing but I don't think I ever really tested it. Rejoin - yes, only lost 3 crates. Buy 3 crates. Sell, deliver via trucks - I prefer trucks. Make $896k.
Bank account at $3.2M.
Making a mill is nice, but to what end? Just to keep trying vehicles? To get into another business? I'll keep testing vehicles, but I'm not buying any new business unless its on sale. We'll see what the next content release brings, which should happen in a few days (usually Tuesdays).
2016.01.30
(It's 2/1 and I didn't write anything here - did I just play and not take note of anything? Maybe I shouldn't be playing, then.)
2016.02.01
Bunch of new things on Rockstar newswire today, the usual mix of some bonuses, some double reward modes, some sales, and a few game changes. The only one relevant to me is 25% off Vehicle Warehouses. I have to get around to looking into that business.
I haven't been to Flight School in a long time; I wonder if I have improved. A little bit, but hardly enough to advance in Shooting Range. I'm a little dissapointed, because I've spent so much time in the buzzard, but I've been relying on auto-targeting rockets, and never use the machine gun or manual rockets. What's really sad is that I'm still flying like its a brick. I've got a long way to go before I can even finish flight school, let alone get good at flying. Good reality check.
2017.02.03
As crew continues to grow quickly, overall quality of members continues to decrease. But people are being helpful, and I try to contribute sometimes too.
2017.02.04
Trying this work flow: wake at office, drive to flight school, stop to reload armor on the way. Finally got past Shooting Range. I find it rude that just because I crashed in the simulator I lose armor in the 'real' world.
2017.02.05
Back to vehicle testing: motorcycles. Western Wolfsbane, another chopper, not interested, skip. Western Zombie Bobber: same. Choppers seem to be more about aesthetics than utility. Western Nightblade: better than most choppers, but still skip. LCC Avarus: another chopper, skip. This evaluation process is made easy by their being a wikia page and an appreciation page for every bike. Western Gargoyle: finally something different, seems to be an off roader. Seems to be what it looks like: a chopper made into an off roader. Seems like people really enjoy it; I'll try one.
I've been keeping off roaders out in the desert, but I've outgrown my 2 slot garage in Grapeseed. Time to sell that garage and buy a 10 slot. Dynasty8 page, select Blaine County; I'll take 870 Route 68 Approach, a 6 slot garage for only $65,000 (no country 10 slots?). Trade in 1932 Grapeseed Ave for $13750; the game doesn't say anything, but my 2 cars from there are transferred over. Purchase Western Gargoyle for $120k (regular, not vintage), deliver to my desert garage. I'll drive over there on my Sanchez, maybe I'll even notice enough difference to compare. Upgrade Brakes (4), Transmission (4), Bulletproof Tires.
Time to test drive. Look, a red circle with no green checkmark on it - a Gang Attack I haven't done yet! Much like practicing flying skill every day, its probably a good idea to fight NPCs every day. So, the bike is a good climber, and I seem to really stick to it on all kinds of jumps, but sometimes I don't. Not sure what the rules are. Or if there are any. I'll keep this, for now.
2017.02.06
Time is passing but I'm not making real progress. There is additional time pressure in that everything gets ruined or nerfed over time, in some way. Some people are always bent on finding ways to take advantage of any little aspect of the game, and when Rockstar catches on they tend to just get rid of it. You can't take any feature for granted, it could dissapear at any time. All the more reason to try everything, unlock everything, experience everything before it dissapears. And then maybe, I can start to disappear from this game. I don't need mudding back in my life.
The first heist, Fleeca, sounds really easy, even without quality teammates. I shouldn't have much to lose trying it out with randoms. So how do I join someone who wants to start Fleeca? Not sure. Let's try phone -> Play Quick Job -> Heist -> either Join On Call or Join Lobby Direct. Read some... apparently no way to join a specific heist, or segment of a heist. Let's try Join On Call... I get Fleeca! The other person is the host, splitting the take 60/40 according to the white board. Watching the cut scene... curious that the other player is not immediately ending it. They are level 23, maybe its their first run of Fleeca? The missions starts, and I realize this is the finale, not the setup. Do I still get my unlocks? Even if not, at least its practice.
Its not difficult at all, as expected. Get some awards (Can't Touch This), missed Elite Challenge by a mile, got my first time bonus, unlocked Kuruma, and Kuruma (Armored), and two more awards (Head for Heists, Can't Touch This - oh, already notified), and the Can't Touch This T-shirt Clothing Unlock. That first Can't Touch This was the Steam award, the second one was in game... I think. In any case, I've tried heisting and I've finally unlocked one of the most important vehicles in the game.
Call up SSA, order a Karin Kuruma (Armored) for $525k. Maybe it will go on sale some time, but its too important not to have. Or so everyone says. I'll take one in white. It is not unpleasant to drive. Upgrade Brakes (4) 35k, Engine (4) 33.5k, truck horn 1.5k (just because), respray in Frost White primary and secondary ~1k, Suspension (4) 4.4k, Transmission (4) 40k. So its more like $638k car.
I sell the Ocelot Jackal that's been gathering dust in my Tinsel garage.
2017.02.07
Reading ahead about further Heist unlocks, there is nothing else I need. I would like an explosion proof truck (HVY Insurgent) but they are really expensive and I would need to make some money first anyway. So back to business.
The new business is Import Export, and at least there's a small sale of 25% off Vehicle Warehouses. I have $2.3M. La Mesa Vehicle Warehouse regularly, $1.5M, currently $1.125M, sold. Now I have $1.2M, and I'm feeling poor. Time to work.
Seems right to pick up cars using my new Kuruma. Good call on this run, as there are cops all over the target car, and its nice to be (mostly) bulletproof. Quick call to Lester then get it back to the warehouse. It is of class Standard. Next, more cops, and a Top Range class car. Let's see what selling is like. It seems like selling to Private, Showroom, or Specialist Dealer is like Easy, Normal, or Hard, with commensurate rewards. Specialist all the way. I've done this drop off drive a bunch of times for others, now it is for myself. Get 80k. I'm way out by the vineyard (I love this place), might as well fly back instead of drive.
Off to source another car, calling up the Kuruma again. It is good to get back into cars, as my skills have really atrophied from riding nothing but bikes and flying helis for so long. As an added bonus, I'm getting to drive a lot of different cars, including really expensive cars I would not normally have access to.
Trying out this workflow: buy 3 crates, source a car. It's a nice feeling to take a job and step out your door and there's your Buzzard and Kuruma sitting right there, as your assistant is calling to let you know the nature of the job is, and you can pick the right tool for the job.
$1.17M in the bank. Medium warehouse full, but I can't sell on a nearly empty server, I want that bonus when session is crowded.
Later that day, I go to join a friend session, and find for the first time ever there are no friends in the list. That seems a little hard to believe, maybe something is down. Social Club seems slow to respond. There are several people I friended that are seemingly playing single player, which seems unlikely. I'll try Join Crew Members. This works very well, I'm now in session with GTACARTEL and one other person I know.
2017.02.08
Today I can see friends in the list, but their profiles aren't filling in, like Social Club is working now but slower. Get timed out twice, third time I join a small session. It looks like most of the day is for small sessions and filling up on product, and the evening is the time to get into a full session and do sales.
Before I can really think workflow, I should fill up the Vehicle Warehouse. Sourcing missions are more difficult than I thought they would be. NPCs hit hard, lots of cop activitiy, and I have a learning curve to climb on fast cars and the cargobob. It makes grinding crates seem placid. I wasn't even bored of crates yet, and now I have a lot more to throw in the mix.
I'm trying to navigate as much as possible by looking where I'm going, not at the GPS that's always in the corner. When you're in a frantic race, you can't really take your eyes off the road, so it would be good to learn the map. There's a lot of map to learn, but I'm already learning to find my way back to my warehouse with hardly a glance down.
In the warehouse I have 5 Standard, 5 Mid, 5 Top Range. I think I'm supposed to let it get to 10 each Standard and Mid, then only sell & source Top. I'm going to keep collecting and see what happens.
Why is regular pistol in my inventory again in Freemode? Back to the gun safe. As suspected, its already hidden, and I know what to try. Show it. Go outside, drop it. Buy it. Back to safe, hide it. Outside to test, its good. Annoying bug, but at least there's a fix. I guess I should be careful not to pick up dropped enemy pistols, but in the midst of a fight it can be hard to avoid sometimes. Time to go clothes shopping.
2017.02.10
in the Vehicle Warehouse I have 10 standard, 8 mid, 8 top.
$1.14M, 26 in lobby, all slots taken. sell med for 735k. sold for
$2.05m
10 standard, 9 mid, 8 top.
10, 9, 9.
10, 9, 10.
10, 9, 11.
2017.02.12
10, 10, 11.
If what I've been reading is right, a Top should be next, and should max out my garage.
10, 10, 12.
I can still source - isn't the limit 32? I get a standard. Reading.. I'm supposed to sell when I have 12 top, otherwise I get garbage cars.
Go to another session to sell. No slots, start helping sales, get tired. Some other night.
2017.02.13
Instead of waiting around to sell 4 at a time, why don't I just sell 1 at a time, until I can and/or want to sell in bulk. Interleaving these small sales with sourcing cars and gathering crates might be good.
Join Crew seems to get me into session with GTACARTEL. As long as I'm here, might as well try to do a group sale. Its easy to get people to hire, after you do a sale or two for them.
Later...
10 Standard, 10 Mid, 8 Top. Try to sell, can't, there's a timer running, 35 minutes to go. Why? I did my sale a real time hour or two ago.
Get 3 crates. Source vehicle, get a Top.
Meanwhile, hit level 100. I can buy an RPG, vehicle armor up to 100%.
The sell counter is back to zero, sell a top. Crates. Source, top.
More later...
My favorite vehicle, and my favorite purchase by far, is my Buzzard. I still fly like a kook, but I am improving. And I enjoy every second my skids are off the ground.
Head down to Ammunation, get my Rocket Launcher and 20 rockets.
Hard to stay in a safe (SAFE) session for long, too many randoms (i.e. non SAFE) and pointies (crew names with a pointy tag, known for high populations, and lots of griefers) dropping in.
2017.02.14
Holidays are often observed in GTA Online land. There are some obligatory Valentines themed PvP matches, some clothes, a car sale, and a "25% bonus GTA$ on all Biker Business Sales and Special Cargo Deliveries through the 27th". Its not nothing.
2017.02.15
2017.02.16
A tiny drama on the gtacartel discord. So many names now, and always new ones coming in. Is there any point in keeping track.
$2.37M. Sell unique special cargo, $2.69M - these are like free money.
My medium warehouse is full. In official session, 23 players, it doesn't get much better than this. Sell 42 crates for $918,750. Sells for 1.1M! Now have $3.8M in the bank.
2017.02.17
2017.02.18
Checking my friends list every day for pointy crew tags. Occasionally spot check non SAFE for illicit friends, delete. I should probably just warn them and wait, and then maybe report. Not sure if it's worth the trouble.
Instead of my usual stepped loading, I load the game directly to Online, out of curiosity. Will it try and match me with friends or crew? Nope, total shit show, full of pointies. I try to get out quickly, before a modder even knows I'm there.
2017.02.19
Time to go face shopping - and at $100k what a bargain. I find a guide, and some other suggestions, but ultimately it's just me playing with the variables.
Buy new clothes. Keeping with more natural colors, greens and browns. I soon realize I have no idea about how fashion and style work; no wonder I stuck to gray everything. Baker Street is on the radio, and I do a lap of Los Santos on my Hakuchou. Everything's going to be alright.
2017.02.21
A mid range? Bring it home, check inv; 10 Standard, 11 Mid, 12 Top. Maybe I gathered too many top. Sell a top. Another standard? Now I have 11 Standard, 11 Mid, 11 Top. Maybe it just likes symmetry. Can't sell for another 8 minutes, do crates. Sell top.
Source, get another medium. Clearly I'm doing something wrong. Blow it up, back to warehouse, 11 S, 11 M, 8 T.
Get into a sale wave of moving cars, sell 3 Top.
2017.02.24
There's 11 S, 11 M, and 7 T in my warehouse. I can't sell for 18 minutes!? Why am I on cooldown, I haven't played in days. Source, top. Weird, I did exit to ground to get to my motorcycle, instead of being placed just outside the front door, I get placed near the gun shop around the corner. I was just there, but this never happened before.
Source, top, sell.
Source, top. Cargobob. Start over. Top.
2017.02.25
Level 105, I can buy 8 armor now!
2017.02.26
Join a friend, he leaves, in solo session. Feels too quiet in here.
2017.03.03
Haven't logged in in a while. An update came and went, just some stunt races. A new update, something called gunrunning coming up. Interesting. I need to 'catch up' with this game before that happens - specifically heists.
Money $4.25M. Sell medium, 24 online, 3 trucks - my favorite delivery method. Make ~900k, money $5.1M.
2017.03.04
2017.03.08
When you stay away from the mud, MMORPG, insert addiction here, etc. for a while and come back, sometimes you can see how sad and small it actually is. Why do I play this game where there is hardly anything to do, there are no real rewards, and I'm barely communicating with my fellow humans, and through a muffled pipe at that. Shouldn't this be enough warning to uninstall and walk away? But I already feel the call of my helicopter and motorcycles, who want to be driven again. And maybe I am also feeling the call of what this kind of game can become some day. A better world. A world I can live in.
2017.03.10
Quickly reading through the gtacartel discord. The culture continues to evolve, seems to be skewing younger. Its getting tiresome to keep up.
2017.03.15
Somehow my color scheme is now blue and gold, so I paint my Bati thusly.
And that's all I have time for.
2017.03.16
I get an Eyefind message that some supercar is for sale (don't care), but in one of the loading screens I see the Shitzu Hakuchou Drag is also for sale, 50% off. For a million no way, but maybe for half a mil? Reading... fast, good acceleration, but not so good handling. It does seem interesting, but for for .5M when I only have 5M right now, I can't really afford it, not when there might be some good things on the horizon. Especially since it sounds like the much cheaper Bati and Akuma seem to cover most situations.
2017.03.18
A brief visit, lots of trouble keeping randoms out of sessions. Some other time.
2017.03.21
Switch from Advanced Rifle to Special Carbine. I missed it. I don't care if the Advanced looks cooler.
2017.03.24
I don't think about this game so much. The weather is getting better outside, and there's too much to do. But late at night, when there's nothing else to do...
Move some cars. Have $6M banked, saving up for next DLC.
2017.04.06
I check the gtacartel discord more often. More rules, less of the open spirit of the early days. All organizations go through this life cycle, but the golden days of freedom and camaraderie were very short. I don't play so much, so its hard to be certain, but just looking at the constant management changes and new rules seems to indicate an organization midway through its life. The schism should come sometime this year.
2017.04.08
The gtacartel Discord keeps getting more authoritarian (and sometimes meaner) as the rules get tighter. As they must, the larger the group population gets.
2017.04.19
I have to log in more often. Just because I'm not playing right now doesn't mean I won't want to later, and I don't want to get dropped by the crew for not logging enough hours (or however they calculate it).
Rockstar is currently offering a bonus on contact missions, and there's a bunch I never did. I used to find some of these missions frustrating and very expensive in ammo and armor costs. From the armored Kuruma they are now almost too easy. I start doing all the single-playerable missions that don't have a green check mark yet.
2017.04.21
2017.04.26
Enjoying working my way through the contact missions. The current bonus on contact missions has people talking about it on the reddit group, so I've been hearing about contact missions that aren't listed anymore, but are still available if you get a link to it, and add it from your Social Club pages. I've got at least one, looking out for more.
There are several pages of contact missions in Esc -> Online -> Play Job -> Rockstar Created -> Missions. I've checked off A - F, less the missions that require more than one player.
2017.04.27
Wow, warehouses are half off. I kind of always wanted a large. Its never going to be cheaper... can't decide now, I'll put a note on my calendar.
2017.04.28
Esc -> Settings -> Saving and Startup -> Landing Page : change from Off to On.
Why wasn't I using this? Oh yeah, I can only go to random online session, can't start a solo session or join directly on crew and friends. Changed it back.
2017.04.30
Have $7M. Last day of warehouse sale. West Vinewood Backlot is regularly, $2.1M, currently for sale at $1.06M. Purchased.
Now have $5.97M.
What about the HVY Insurgent? Regularly $897k, for sale at $673k. Would be even cheaper with trade discount ($506k), but I didn't do the Humane Labs heist yet. I'm not sure why I even want this so much, I just like the looks of it. What the heck, its not that expensive. Just like that, now I have $5.3M. I guess I don't get to pick out a color?
2017.05.01
The sale actually ends late tonight, or early tomorrow, but I'm glad I got those purchases done well ahead of the end. Maybe I can still sell a warehouse at the 25% bonus.
Deposit cash. Bank = $5.4M.
Buy last crate to fill small warehouse. Only 19 players online, but better to sell now and get the bonus than risk not getting it later, and maybe not even any more players on line then, population has been light lately.
Small warehouse. Full with 16 crates. Sell for $300k. Damn, its Cuban 800s, two runs of 10 drops. And there are enemy helis. Its not that hard to outrun them and they are only using small arms. +$351k. OK, not a lot of bonus, but I'll take it.
Bank = $5.75M
Medium warehouse, full, 42 crates, sell for $918,750.
Nice - MTL Brickades. I like driving these. +$1.04M
Bank = $6.79M
Last night's purchases are paid for. Now I have three empty warehouses to fill.
Looking back at the numbers, I guess I missed the 25% sale bonus. Still, money in the bank.
Time to refill armor, and get some new clothes.
2017.05.05
Awarded $425k (GTA "tax refund"). Bank = $7.20M.
I play a race by myself. Does this count as an actual win? I don't care about the wins, except some purchases are unlocked by wins.
Up to M in the big list of Contact Missions.
A tiny drama on the gtacartel discord. So many names now, and always new ones coming in. Is there any point in keeping track.
$2.37M. Sell unique special cargo, $2.69M - these are like free money.
My medium warehouse is full. In official session, 23 players, it doesn't get much better than this. Sell 42 crates for $918,750. Sells for 1.1M! Now have $3.8M in the bank.
2017.02.17
2017.02.18
Checking my friends list every day for pointy crew tags. Occasionally spot check non SAFE for illicit friends, delete. I should probably just warn them and wait, and then maybe report. Not sure if it's worth the trouble.
Instead of my usual stepped loading, I load the game directly to Online, out of curiosity. Will it try and match me with friends or crew? Nope, total shit show, full of pointies. I try to get out quickly, before a modder even knows I'm there.
2017.02.19
Time to go face shopping - and at $100k what a bargain. I find a guide, and some other suggestions, but ultimately it's just me playing with the variables.
Buy new clothes. Keeping with more natural colors, greens and browns. I soon realize I have no idea about how fashion and style work; no wonder I stuck to gray everything. Baker Street is on the radio, and I do a lap of Los Santos on my Hakuchou. Everything's going to be alright.
2017.02.21
A mid range? Bring it home, check inv; 10 Standard, 11 Mid, 12 Top. Maybe I gathered too many top. Sell a top. Another standard? Now I have 11 Standard, 11 Mid, 11 Top. Maybe it just likes symmetry. Can't sell for another 8 minutes, do crates. Sell top.
Source, get another medium. Clearly I'm doing something wrong. Blow it up, back to warehouse, 11 S, 11 M, 8 T.
Get into a sale wave of moving cars, sell 3 Top.
2017.02.24
There's 11 S, 11 M, and 7 T in my warehouse. I can't sell for 18 minutes!? Why am I on cooldown, I haven't played in days. Source, top. Weird, I did exit to ground to get to my motorcycle, instead of being placed just outside the front door, I get placed near the gun shop around the corner. I was just there, but this never happened before.
Source, top, sell.
Source, top. Cargobob. Start over. Top.
2017.02.25
Level 105, I can buy 8 armor now!
2017.02.26
Join a friend, he leaves, in solo session. Feels too quiet in here.
2017.03.03
Haven't logged in in a while. An update came and went, just some stunt races. A new update, something called gunrunning coming up. Interesting. I need to 'catch up' with this game before that happens - specifically heists.
Money $4.25M. Sell medium, 24 online, 3 trucks - my favorite delivery method. Make ~900k, money $5.1M.
2017.03.04
2017.03.08
When you stay away from the mud, MMORPG, insert addiction here, etc. for a while and come back, sometimes you can see how sad and small it actually is. Why do I play this game where there is hardly anything to do, there are no real rewards, and I'm barely communicating with my fellow humans, and through a muffled pipe at that. Shouldn't this be enough warning to uninstall and walk away? But I already feel the call of my helicopter and motorcycles, who want to be driven again. And maybe I am also feeling the call of what this kind of game can become some day. A better world. A world I can live in.
2017.03.10
Quickly reading through the gtacartel discord. The culture continues to evolve, seems to be skewing younger. Its getting tiresome to keep up.
2017.03.15
Somehow my color scheme is now blue and gold, so I paint my Bati thusly.
And that's all I have time for.
2017.03.16
I get an Eyefind message that some supercar is for sale (don't care), but in one of the loading screens I see the Shitzu Hakuchou Drag is also for sale, 50% off. For a million no way, but maybe for half a mil? Reading... fast, good acceleration, but not so good handling. It does seem interesting, but for for .5M when I only have 5M right now, I can't really afford it, not when there might be some good things on the horizon. Especially since it sounds like the much cheaper Bati and Akuma seem to cover most situations.
2017.03.18
A brief visit, lots of trouble keeping randoms out of sessions. Some other time.
2017.03.21
Switch from Advanced Rifle to Special Carbine. I missed it. I don't care if the Advanced looks cooler.
2017.03.24
I don't think about this game so much. The weather is getting better outside, and there's too much to do. But late at night, when there's nothing else to do...
Move some cars. Have $6M banked, saving up for next DLC.
2017.04.06
I check the gtacartel discord more often. More rules, less of the open spirit of the early days. All organizations go through this life cycle, but the golden days of freedom and camaraderie were very short. I don't play so much, so its hard to be certain, but just looking at the constant management changes and new rules seems to indicate an organization midway through its life. The schism should come sometime this year.
2017.04.08
The gtacartel Discord keeps getting more authoritarian (and sometimes meaner) as the rules get tighter. As they must, the larger the group population gets.
2017.04.19
I have to log in more often. Just because I'm not playing right now doesn't mean I won't want to later, and I don't want to get dropped by the crew for not logging enough hours (or however they calculate it).
Rockstar is currently offering a bonus on contact missions, and there's a bunch I never did. I used to find some of these missions frustrating and very expensive in ammo and armor costs. From the armored Kuruma they are now almost too easy. I start doing all the single-playerable missions that don't have a green check mark yet.
2017.04.21
2017.04.26
Enjoying working my way through the contact missions. The current bonus on contact missions has people talking about it on the reddit group, so I've been hearing about contact missions that aren't listed anymore, but are still available if you get a link to it, and add it from your Social Club pages. I've got at least one, looking out for more.
There are several pages of contact missions in Esc -> Online -> Play Job -> Rockstar Created -> Missions. I've checked off A - F, less the missions that require more than one player.
2017.04.27
Wow, warehouses are half off. I kind of always wanted a large. Its never going to be cheaper... can't decide now, I'll put a note on my calendar.
2017.04.28
Esc -> Settings -> Saving and Startup -> Landing Page : change from Off to On.
Why wasn't I using this? Oh yeah, I can only go to random online session, can't start a solo session or join directly on crew and friends. Changed it back.
2017.04.30
Have $7M. Last day of warehouse sale. West Vinewood Backlot is regularly, $2.1M, currently for sale at $1.06M. Purchased.
Now have $5.97M.
What about the HVY Insurgent? Regularly $897k, for sale at $673k. Would be even cheaper with trade discount ($506k), but I didn't do the Humane Labs heist yet. I'm not sure why I even want this so much, I just like the looks of it. What the heck, its not that expensive. Just like that, now I have $5.3M. I guess I don't get to pick out a color?
2017.05.01
The sale actually ends late tonight, or early tomorrow, but I'm glad I got those purchases done well ahead of the end. Maybe I can still sell a warehouse at the 25% bonus.
Deposit cash. Bank = $5.4M.
Buy last crate to fill small warehouse. Only 19 players online, but better to sell now and get the bonus than risk not getting it later, and maybe not even any more players on line then, population has been light lately.
Small warehouse. Full with 16 crates. Sell for $300k. Damn, its Cuban 800s, two runs of 10 drops. And there are enemy helis. Its not that hard to outrun them and they are only using small arms. +$351k. OK, not a lot of bonus, but I'll take it.
Bank = $5.75M
Medium warehouse, full, 42 crates, sell for $918,750.
Nice - MTL Brickades. I like driving these. +$1.04M
Bank = $6.79M
Last night's purchases are paid for. Now I have three empty warehouses to fill.
Looking back at the numbers, I guess I missed the 25% sale bonus. Still, money in the bank.
Time to refill armor, and get some new clothes.
2017.05.05
Awarded $425k (GTA "tax refund"). Bank = $7.20M.
I play a race by myself. Does this count as an actual win? I don't care about the wins, except some purchases are unlocked by wins.
Up to M in the big list of Contact Missions.
scratch GTA5 Online -> blog
2017.05.08
More drama in GTACARTEL. Official public session gets raided constantly by randoms and spoofers, and the list of banned names and crews continues to grow. I'm checking my friends list every time to make sure one of my 'friends' hasn't gone rogue, as it might get me in trouble. I will drop all friends who are not in SAFE. That would seem like a good policy to enforce crew wide but I guess a lot of people have old crew loyalties to maintain.
Trim 67 friends down to 55, now all SAFE.
Tried to go online, got message about services unavailable - never seen that before. Try again, OK. For a few minutes, then my secretary disappears, then I disappear, then I get disconnected. Try again, same disconnect.
I still have my old face on my profile. I can't even stay connected long enough to take a selfie to update it. Some other time.
2017.05.09
Trying again today.
1122a try to start an Invite Only session
1123a spawn in Maze Bank West in bedroom. wait.
1125a get mesg i will be kicked for idling in 13 minutes. so, i can go at least 2 minutes online before disconnect. already much better than yesterday.
1129a join a friend.
1135a connection stable. can relax a little now
Time for a new self-portrait. Take selfie in front of company sign. Pause menu (ESC), Gallery. Bunch of old stuff in here, delete most. Upload. Not great, but better than what I have. Trying to add a border, to square the picture (instead of default rectangle) doesn't help - the avatar uploader crops the pic anyway.
2017.05.11
Why am I logging in every day? So as not to get dropped from the crew. But I can't stay connected for long. Some other time.
2017.05.16
More news on Rockstar Newswire, but not the big one yet. Do a quick tour of gathering crates and a sports car, fly the helicopter briefly, ride the motorcycle. Just checking in.
2017.05.24
Game crashed, got message you have been logged out because you are logged in elsewhere, then got message I'm not logged into Social Club.
Restart game, auto logs in to Social Club OK. Rejoin official session. OK for a little while, happens again.
.302p I'll try Invite Only. Do some VIP Work, barely start, then low memory crash.
Time to do some research, this problem seems to have come out of nowhere.
Check Virtual Memory, C: is set to System managed, OK (that was a previous fix that worked).
appwiz.cpl, can only Uninstall, no Change, so can't Repair
Steam, settings, Verify Integrity, Validated
update Nvidia drivers for GeForce GTX 460
375.63 [2016.10.23] -> 382.33 [2017.05.22]
And I forgot to check the simplest thing first: low disk space. Under 1 GB somehow.
Clearing up a few GB seems to let me play longer, but then I still get logged off of Social Club.
Try again.
.601p lasted long enough to finish a round of Sightseer.
.619 got some memory error popups, was able to keep playing until .625 when it froze.
Clear more disk space? Looking back at when I first got the SSD and started messing around with the page file, it was happiest at a minimum of 6 GB and right now I'm only give it 3 GB.
2017.05.30
Solved disk space problem, page file back up to 6 GB.
Load into Invite Only. Do some VIP Work, actually finish a round of Headhunter. Seems settled.
2017.05.31
I got a message yesterday that the Cargobob is on sale, I think it was a targeted ad, not system wide. Only $626k, down from $1.7M, I'll never get a better offer. Camo or Jetsam colored? Quick research reveals no difference between the two, other than the visual, and maybe the military one is noisier. I'll take a Cargobob Jetsam for $698k. Bank is down to $6.7M.
2017.06.02
2017.06.05
Level 120, finally unlocked the Minigun. It uses its own kind of ammo, might as well max out and buy 9999 rounds. I can also carry another armor. There's almost nothing left to level unlock now except a tenth armor at level 135. I bought a bunch of the heists equipment that is unlocked now (like the Rebreather and Gas Mask), even though I haven't done any heists yet but the first.
Now the game is doing something else unusual, freezing for a few seconds, all sound stops, but it comes back. Sometimes isolated, sometimes several in a row.
2017.06.13
Gunrunning update is out; ~2.5 GB update on Steam.
GTA Cartel has moved to another site. I have to re-apply to the group?
"ICYMI, we had a relaunch yesterday and we require members to reapply out our brand new website at https://www.gtacartel.net/."
Go there, login, Sign in through Reddit, Allow.
"Hey there! You seem to be new here. Submit a Join Request here if you want to join us."
Click it, checkboxes, check all my friends on socialclub are SAFE, check /crews/friends, submit.
2017.06.14
Receive email from u/GTACartelBot "Your join request has been accepted". Seems like a generic message, I was already in.
Login to socialclub.rockstargames.com, I'm still in /gta_cartel_friendly.
Check friends list, one friend keeps going into ADMR and back to SAFE, but it seems to be what's called an 'allied crew', officially.
On to discordapp.com, GTA Cartel, I can see all the text channels again (missing some yesterday).
Reading the pinned message on #announcements again, the new site allows you to see sessions, and who's in them. This could be very handy for quickly joining small work sessions.
The new Riot session (PvP) is antithetical to the brand, but I guess it was inevitable as the group continues to grow in size and sophistication.
OK, time to log in and see all the new unlocks.
That's good, and anti-cheating message.
And, virtually no new messages. I would have thought there'd be an avalanche of them.
Step outside, and there's a bunch.
I get a call from Agent 14.
Off to Ponsonby's. Lot of new cargo pants (not bad), sport shorts (no thanks), overalls (what? why?), cuts and vests, jackets, gunrunning t-shirts, some ugly shirts, service shirts?, sleeveless hoodies (why), crops, utility tops (not bad). Some new tactical boots, trainers - can never be too many shoes. No new glasses?
This store has no hats. Off to Suburban. I like the boonies, and utility caps. Some new masks (ugly, like all masks).
Six friends online; before the update there was easily none or just 1 or two. And that's all I have time for.
2017.06.16
There's a lot of reading and checking to do before you can even start to play; took over half an hour to catch up. Looks like gunrunning is not that profitable, but all the new toys are fun. Its early yet.
7 friends online.
Only 2 minutes to get from SP to Invite Only.
Current warm-up = still playing solo-able Rockstar Jobs, missions.
The game hasn't been freezing yet today, but it did soon after I got in a helicopter.
I'm out of unplayed single person missions.
Move on to official, help a lot of selling, no one doing gunrunning missions yet. Surprising.
Go to smaller servers, help more selling. A little underwhelming.
2017.06.18
2017.06.23
2017.06.30
Haven't played in while (almost a week!). As usual after a big update, it is followed by little updates and sales. Some yachts are on sale, Docktease 25% off; it's time to reload the fireworks launcher.
There are some targeted sales, like the Besra. It would be nice to have easy access to a jet, but this one is unarmed.
Connect to Invite Only. Got the t-shirt unlocks. No targeted sales.
Is this holiday the only time I can buy a musket? Why not take it, I should be able to hide it in Free Roam using my weapons locker. But it's this kind of thinking why I need a locker in the first place.
Take my Insurgent to Los Santos Customs. I thought there were holiday colors and horns? I guess it depends on the vehicle.
Join a community session. Help with sales. Do OK with MC sales, I/E sales, but on gunrunning sale I am driving the dune buggy too slow. Before the clock runs out, one of us gets dropped, and then the CEO quits to save the rest of the cargo. Hopefully he only lost a small amount. I need to work on my driving.
Later that night...
That was embarrassing, earlier today, when I got stuck on an MC sale because I didn't know to exit the vehicle and run up the stairs to drop off the product. That I haven't done heists yet is even more embarrassing, but that will take a lot more study.
Time to research best practices, adding info to the appendix below... It doesn't seem like there's much to do with a clubhouse unless you also buy a business. I think I'll wait for the next sale.
2017.07.01
That was lame. Last night I just helped people with sales and did some grinding. What is the point of making money in this game if not to use it for fun, learning, or both. The small amount I have wouldn't be enough to get started in Gunrunning, but it is more than enough to try out MC (even without a sale right now), and Heists don't require much money at all.
Go online to Maze Bank Foreclosures, select Clubhouses, enjoy all the realty descriptions. The song on the radio is Fidlar - Cocaine. Purchase Sandy Shores Clubhouse for $210k. Keep everything default. Club name: Doppelganger, Font 8. That mural bothers me... I'll take the Route 68 eagle instead. $296,500.
Head over to my new place on my Western Gargoyle. Right across from the gun shop, how convenient. I meet Mouth, hear his intro. Meet the bartender, Sindy. There's only one drink here. Find my room with bed, dresser, and desk. Can't use laptop in Invite Only. Set my respawn to here. Find a small session.
Access The Open Road. Meet Long John Teabag. More fun realty options to read. Hold off for now. Head over to meeting room. Access Clubhouse Contracts. Two of the three require more club members than just me, so I'll try Gunrunning (not to be confused with...). I have to drive 5 miles, and I can't insta-summon my Buzzard. That was an easy but time consuming $20k.
Back to the Clubhouse. Drink a lot. Throw up in toilet. That's enough learning for one night. Disband MC. Why do I have all these weapons still... become CEO, still weapons... Go to inventory, and Disable Custom Weapon Loadout is grayed out, tells me to go to my office or clubhouse to customize. Am I going to have to do this everytime I switch to MC unless I buy a gun safe in my clubhouse too?
Do some grinding, not much, just enough to remember how it goes. Off to official session. I forgot I left my spawn at clubhouse. I spawn there, but I am still a CEO. I guess it makes sense I can still come and go even if I'm not being president (just like office).
I sell a collection, hopefully it was worth it to them, it probably wasn't for me. Now I have to retrieve some low end cars before I can back to moving high end.
2017.07.02
Reading some more about MC businesses, especially the once favored cocaine, and it seems that after Gunrunning update its not so good any more. I've gotten enough of a taste for it, so I think I'll hold off on MC businesses until the next sale. Especially when I still have Heists to do. By the time I get through that, Gunrunning should be well known in the community, and maybe that will eventually go on sale. Right now, it sounds very expensive for the return, while Import/Export of cars is the most profitable for time spent. But its not just about the money, its also about the new content.
Source vehicle, get an Omnis, Mid Range. In the warehouse, i have 9 Standard, 8 Mid, 9 Top. Source, top. 9/8/10. Source, Mid, 9/9/10.
Later... there was a purge today in the cartel of members who haven't re-applied, so now a bunch of my 'friends' no longer belong to the crew. This is a good opportunity for me to weed out friends who haven't played in a while.
Source, mid. Don't I have 10? Must be a duplicate. I should have checked last time before leaving warehouse. I have 9 Standard, 10 Mid, 10 Top. Source, get Top. 9/10/11. Source, Standard (10/10/11).
2017.07.04
The cartel keeps kicking inactives who haven't signed in for a while; I remove about a dozen 'friends'.
Source, Top. Oops, may have have dropped it because typing in chat. More control problems, I can run (left shift) or do character action (caps lock). Key bindings seem same. Shut down, restart from scratch.
OK, help with sales. Source, top, 10/10/12. time to sell.
2017.07.07
I don't grind, but I help others with sales. That's my compromise for not finishing what is undone in Online.
2017.07.16
I missed my helicopter, and my bike; its good to drive them sometimes.
I get a targeted sale, 25% off biker businesses. Are 50% sales a thing of the past?
2017.07.21 1125pm
Join official / GTACARTEL session. 19 players. Help others sell. Later... don't recall the rest.
2017.07.23
2017.07.26
2017.07.27
More named community sessions exist now (and even have discord channels), and as usual are more stable and more populated than official.
2017.07.29
2017.08.04
Needing some way to fight the boredom (yeah, I know, so why keep playing) so I switch to first person mode. Its more fun than I thought, keeping it simple with crate grinding.
Finally, I can see the odometer.
2017.08.29
This is the longest I've gone this year without logging in. I've been reading the reddit groups sometimes, and even the discord, but I haven't actually felt like playing. Gunrunning was a disappointment, but now Smuggler's Run is out, with a new emphasis on air. This reminds me that I wanted a Hydra once, and to at least learn more jet flying. Good a time as any to check back in. I also don't want to get kicked out of my crew for not playing enough - not that they are doing that, but I want to maintain awareness.
2017.09.03
I don't play often anymore, but the procedure is still log into Rockstar Games Social Club, and delete anybody who is not in crew SAFE. I'm down to 25 friends from a high of around ~50.
Its strange to delete friends who were some of the first people you friended in the crew. Usually you can read #announcements or otherwise search the discord and find out why they left. Lately not so much. Not sure why some people are just unceremoniously unpersoned (kicked).
2017.09.06
110 units in my large warehouse, ready to move whenever i find a full server.
2017.09.13
2017.09.22
Catch up on news. Don't play.
2017.10.04
Check friends list, check Newswire, check r/gtaonline/, check Discord. Not really anything new or interesting. Log in just to keep my 'last played' recent. I join a cartel session, one of the named ones, and I'm the only one there. Check the discord log for that group, and the recent scrollback is days long; when its busy the recents scroll back only a few hours. Even the official session is empty.
I drive the bike, fly the helicopter, sell a fast car. Time to go.
2017.10.28
2017.11.06
I thinked I missed out on whatever Halloween specials there were.
2017.11.23
My GTA Dollars have been "corrected" by $400k. Bank = $8,799,227.
2017.11.30
The Lazer is now available. I think that's the last of the aircraft releases. The Hunter was kind of interesting, but I really don't need it. The microlight be fun to get, and its cheap.
2017.12.07
Wow. The Doomsday Heist. Unexpected. The trailer hints at so much cool stuff, more than even optimistic people on the forums could hope for. Jetpack, flying cars, underwater vehicles, new characters, more heists, Mt. Chiliad conspiracy. This makes me want to get back into (getting started on) heisting.
A lot of the hardware that has been introduced in the past few updates makes a lot more sense now.
2017.12.09
2017.12.12
The new DLC, Doomsday, is out and already seems well received. I expect the empty servers to fill up for at least a little while.
New notification for weapons, but I don't see any. Some new clothes, the tactical jackets are OK.
2017.12.23
Haven't even thought of the game since the update, but now there's all the usual holiday activity of snow, new unlocks, new vehicles, and most interesting of all a treasure hunt which yields a new weapon.
2017.12.24
Some free stuff... fireworks launcher?
2017.12.25
More free stuff, free purchase of a Albany Hermes, more fireworks, whole bunch of ammo and supplies.
2017.12.31
Corrected $535,000. Money now = 9,674,675.
2018.01.12
Ultralight, regularly $665k (buy it now), on sale for $498,750. Is it worth it?
Checking videos... first person view looks awesome.
Oh crap... do I need to buy a hangar first? Yes.
Cheapest hangar is $1.2M at the airport, $2M to get one in Fort Zancudo (grants no-star entry).
It actually does add up to something I want, but I'll wait for the next sale on hangars.
2018.01.14
2018.01.24
2018.02.09
Checking in. Unlocked a t-shirt.
2018.02.22
2018.03.02
Got my 'tax refund', and I'm over $10M. Feeling like I've passed some arbitrary limit, I now need to purchase something. And I need to keep growing and learning or leave. So I'll buy an MC business. From The Open Road, purchase Cocaine Lockup in Alamo Sea for $975k. Go check it out. Empty, needs to be started. Laptop, log in, Set Up. An easy drive. I have 0 Product, and 5 Supplies. The supplies bar goes from full 5 to slightly lower - is it working? There's no staff in here. Oops, crash... event log... no indication. Disturbing.
Get back in. Re-connect to session #terminalbunny.
Supplies are now down to half, but there's no stock. Go to business, Resupply, Steal Supplies. Visit Humane Labs. I can only hold 1 supply, take it back, get call from LJT. At least there are now staff working in the warehouse. This is kind of interesting. Its new to me.
I'll try a Clubhouse Contract. It's like a new contact mission. Somewhat interesting, but only $9k. I couldn't even do the other two contracts, because I am the only one in my club.
Supplies going down, still no stock.
Switch to CEO, sell a car, source a car, try to cargobob it. Get killed a lot, ruin car, abandon car.
2018.03.13
When there is a date with no text (see above for many examples) it is me starting a session that I never quite get to, or a session where nothing really of note happens. Sometimes I'm just catching up on reading the reddit gtaonline group, or the cartel discord, and find I've run out of time to actually play.
I get a call from LJT that Coke needs supply. Using clubhouse laptop it just says Stock Value $20k. Walking into Cocaine Lockup, I have half a bar of Product, one bar of Supplies. Time to Steal Supplies. I've never tried the knocking other people off their bike attack before, it's kinda fun. Supply only moves up a quarter bar? I can see why the standard advice is just to buy it, but for now its a novelty for me.
Next supply steal is a little tougher, more fighting before and after. This time supply bar moves up 2.5. Product still at a half (value still $20k). Restock Super Heavy Armor, restock snacks. Source a car, sell a car.
2018.03.16
Product is at 1 bar, $40k. I can and do Sell Stock. Blaine County for 40k, or Los Santos for 60k, I'll take that.
Long drive over the mountains. I get the police sting, have to fight my way out. Another drive, not so long. Lot of time spent for 60k, but there's some novelty.
Later, my business status is suspended, I didn't do that. It still had some supply, I thought it was continuing to work. Throwing stickies at armored cars all over the map, that's a lot of work for a mere 2 bars of supply.
Grind crates. Sell small warehouse. Tugboat.
2018.03.19
2018.03.23
Just about to connect, going through the checklist, see announcement that there's a lot of errant bans being issued tonight. I'll wait.
2018.03.28
Still a ban wave, though there have been some un-bans. Maybe I need different game. Or a book.
2018.04.01
I miss it. Even though I wasn't playing much, there's something nice about just flying around once in a while.
2018.04.04
It looks like the ban wave has ebbed, so was it an error on Rockstar's part, or just another patch that nailed another batch of modders? Rockstar seems to have reversed some bans - something they claim they never do - so maybe it was some of both. Rockstar will never say, so I'll wait a little longer, let the smoke clear a little more.
2018.04.10
It's Tuesday, time to check Rockstar Newswire. Bonus if you're Gunrunning, something I haven't really looked into. Some Bunkers are on sale. Nothing much else of note. Interesting, coming soon is a mode where you drive a police car. Also coming is the Sea Sparrow Chopper, something I remember fondly from Vice City. I'm going to need a personal hangar? Hopefully they will go on sale again soon. I'm not looking to grind any more, just unlocking anything that's interesting to do.
On r/gtaonline no one is talking about bans at all. Time to check in. Seems fine.
There are some Bunkers on sale for around 50% off, and MOC is about 30% off. I think I'll at least get a Bunker, if for no other reason than if I want to get into it later I already have it (I regret not getting hangar when half off, yacht when nearly half off, etc.). The MOC seems to be mostly about weapon upgrades, which I don't care much about right now (and it's not a great sale).
2018.04.11
Reading about which Bunker to get, down to either Chumash or Farmhouse.
2018.04.13
Farmhouse seems to edge out Chumash.
$9.97M in the bank. Farmhouse Bunker, Buy From $1,187,500.
Bunker Style: default
Personal Quarters: why bother
Shooting Range: increases carry limit by 5, unlocks some minor clothing, maybe later
Gun Locker: already have one as CEO
Transportation: i hear walking/running is fine
Bank now at $8.78M. Go to Bunker. Watch cut scene. Do I want to buy a MOC? I don't really care about upgrading guns right now, and the sale is only 30%, so not really.
Its cavernous down here. Between the feeling of abandoned ruin and the big gear door to get in here it feels like Fallout.
Need to get into public session to do anything more.
Register as CEO, sit down at laptop. Set up. Get supplies to bunker. Go to the laptop.
Resupply. Full now, don't need to.
Research. Doesn't seem like I can do any right now. Need MOC?
Manage Staff. Assigning staff to research still doesn't allow me to unlock or research anything.
Buy Upgrades. Equipment Upgrade ($1.1M on sale for $.8M), Staff Upgrade ($598k on sale for $418k), Security Upgrade ($351k -> $245k). I'll take all three. Bank now at $7.31M.
I have a bar of Cocaine stock. Sell it. Resupply. Back to Bunker. There's a tiny bit of Stock to sell, but it sells for $147k (does that include the current bonus?). It's a Phantom Wedge. That was a nice easy sale. I can see why people are grinding this like crazy during the bonus.
2018.04.18
Nothing good for sale. Thinking about the Oppressor, but the sale is meager (and targeted). And I'd have to buy a MOC, which are not on sale, and do a multiplayer unlocking mission to get the trade price. A lot of work for a vehicle which I think adds a little too much whimsy to an increasingly surreal game. I'll get it when it falls into my lap with sales; for now I don't even get a targeted email anyway.
Level 135, one of the last big leveling milestones, as I can now carry 10 Super Heavy Armor.
2018.04.20
I was all set to buy Weed business because of the 4/20 half off sale, but /r/gtaonline/ talked me out of it with constant complaints of how its not profitable, and even the missions aren't fun. I kind of knew it wasn't profitable but was willing to go along if there was any possible fun to it, but seemingly not. So many people are negative on it I think I'll just accept the consensus.
Looks like the Cartel has been purging, 4 Social Club friends are no longer SAFE. Deleted.
2018.04.24
Hangars are on sale, I've been looking forward to this for several months.
A lot of people say it doesn't pay very well, it's like grinding crates but with more work for less money, I'm just interested in new content and functionality. I've been wanting to try out the ultralight, and I'm interested in the small helicopter, the Havok (available on SecuroServ!). Maybe I can try these during hangar missions before having to actually buy one. It might be interesting to use the Havok sometimes instead of the Buzzard while grinding, and it might be interesting to explore making a personal vehicle out of a Pegasus Buzzard and seeing what I can customize.
It will be nice to go over Fort Zancudo without getting stars. Speaking of Zancudo, which hangar to buy? The middle one is right out [$3.2M -> $1.95M], but its not clear whether to get the cheapest one [3497 $2M -> $1.25M] or the medium price one [3499 $2.6M -> $1.59M].
2018.04.25
3499 it is. Got $7.8M banked. Join on #terminalbunny. Maybe I could do some of this in Invite Only, but why not do the whole experience right the first time. And that session is overrun with pointies, at least one IGN. Flee to the safety of single-player, back to Invite Only. Maybe I will start the buying procedure here in Invite Only, then join an open session... I find someone to join in #sockotter.
Purchase Fort Zancudo Hangar 3499 for $1,590,000.
Hangar Style, Lighting, Floor Graphics, Office Furniture, Living Quarters: default
None of those were on sale, and I don't need them.
Workshop: on sale from $1,150,000 to $690,000. Checked.
Buy $2,280,000 (bank now at $5.5M).
Register as CEO. Request Personal Vehicle, I could fly but I want to do a drive in test of my new clearance. I'm also curious what my personal vehicle is currently set to. It's the Bati, they got it right.
The cut scene, and Ron, are enjoyable as always, but its nice when its over and its just me standing in my new hangar, with the quiet hum of machinery in the background. It's empty in here, except for the free Cuban 800. I can move vehicles around just like a garage. This place is cavernous. On the upper decks I find a parachute, and sniper rifle. I stand on the rifle, it gets removed, and respawns every few seconds. Is it reloading my ammo?
So how do unlocks for Trade Price work? Do I have to do particular missions to unlock vehicles (like in I/E Warehouse), or just a quantity?
I look on the Elitas Travel site for the two vehicles I want. The Ultralight, regularly 665k (500k trade) is now 399k (300k trade). The Havok, regularly $2.3M (trade $1.7M), is discounted to $1.3M ($1M trade). To get the trade price, it says only that I must complete 12 Air-Freight Steal missions as VIP, CEO, or MC (only need 3 for the Ultralight).
I try the laptop, Access Denied, I must first do a Set Up. An easy flight. I don't like Ron continuously mentioning this being a computer simulation. Once in a while a sly wink at the camera can be interesting, constant lampshading is not.
Apparently I already have 3 stock. Selling stock completes a mission? OK, I've got Steals Complete at 1, Sales Complete at 0. Let's sell just 1 stock. Another Mogul. 5 deliveries!? And I get 4 stars!? I'm being chased by two dedicated helicopters, in addition to the police. I've got one engine smoke before delivery of my first, and both dead soon after. Plane going down, I bail, only made $20k. Still, that was kind of interesting. Are some products more or less dangerous?
Good thing, it seems like you can destroy the delivery vehicle, get the cargo out unharmed, and use whatever vehicle you like. Even though I botched it, I now have Sales Complete at 1.
Next sale uses a stunt plane, I get 2 out of 5, simply because of bad flying.
Sales Completed 2. Sell, Counterfeit, skylift a shipping container. No opposition, easy but slow. Bonus to return it within timer. OK, that was a different kind of interesting.
Sales Complete now = 3. Source, get stunt plane fly under bridges. That goes poorly. I'm really bad at high speed planes.
While I'm doing this, I should tend to my passive income sources, especially after this financial hit, got to keep the money rolling.
2018.04.26
I call up a Pegasus Buzzard and add it to may hangar, because you can never have too many Buzzards. Now I can call CEO, Pegasus, and Hangar. And this one I can paint.
Source, Narcotic, escort Titan - finally a success. Steals Completed = 2.
Source, Chemicals, destroy Merryweather fighters with provided Nokata. I'll try Buzzard. That was a lot of work for 1 cargo. I barely made it home. Ron calls after every mission - this time he tells me something has been unlocked at Elitas. There's the Ultralight for $300k. I'll take it.
My Pegasus Buzzard is not in the hangar. It got shot down during the last source. How do I get it back? Mors Insurance? Just put another one in there? What about hangar specific aircraft if I lose them?
Not buying any upgrades for now. I can see already that the carbon prop upgrade will be needed, this little engine is kind of noisy.
2018.04.28
It looks like purchased hangar vehicles respawn, but found vehicles do not. But I can call Mors and have it restored for free? OK.
2018.04.30
Haven't put any time in, don't have a lot of aircraft steal missions to unlock Havok. Should I get it anyway? Probably.
Only 5 Steals Completed. I do one, get the Hunter, its rather nice but it takes half an hour. Even if they're all this fun and easy, its going to take a few hours I don't have and the sale ends tonight. The difference is only 300k, still saving $1M, so I'll just get it now. My bank is now at $4.2M.
2018.05.07
Haven't had a chance to play in days. I miss the desert.
2018.05.08
I'm curious what's new on Newswire. OK a login bonus, that happens. Its cumulative, for every day logged in this week. A new t-shirt and cap. Big sales on most properties, even yachts. 50% off is a good sale, but everyone says yachts are mostly useless.
2018.05.09
Better to login mid day, as I might forget some nights.
2018.05.10
2018.05.12
Oh well, missed a day, won't be getting max payout.
Got a warehouse raid, as I was thinking of quitting, so I just quit when I should have just changed sessions. How much did I lose?
Maybe nothing. West Vinewood is still at 110/111, Derriere is at 26/42, White Widow is empty. As far as I can remember, that's what it was, and what it is.
Next time warehouses go on sale I should pick up another large. It's a nice asset to have at the ready next time there's a sale bonus.
Spent some time on a yacht, looked around.
2018.05.13
Back at $5M. Still thinking about yacht. It was nice to hang out there, but not that nice. I wish there was more you could do with it.
I like tending to the Coke business more than I would have thought; looking forward to next sale on MC business and upgrades.
2018.05.14
2018.05.15
This week biker sales are 2x, but sadly MC equipment is not on sale.
40% off on the Hydra is kind of interesting, always wanted one, but I'm mediocre at flying.
What do I need to do to get the trade price? Oh, its like the third heist, not going to happen soon. If I want it now, I have to pay $2.3M?
Reading up about it, its considered obsolete by some, timeless by others. A lot of the complaint is lack of PvP performance, while its various utilities (speed, ease of access from hangar or Pegasus, ease of landing) are still valid.
2018.05.16
2018.05.18
Congratulations you have been awarded $1,150,000.
Bank now at $6.3M. Now I know what I must do.
Attempt to connect to gtacartel session, hangs for long time, finally have to quit game entirely.
At least I didn't lose my bonus money. Join terminalbunny.
Phone, Warstock, Mammoth Hydra, Buy It Now $2,394,000. Bank now at $3.9M.
Go pick one up at airport, fly it to my hanger, its all going so smoothly, then get I run into by one of the scripted military Lazers that keeps taking off. Oh well, spawn another. Into hanger. Modify... well, at least I can paint it. The important thing is I can spawn it quickly.
Wow, its so much faster for getting around than Buzzard. Bit of a learning curve on landing where I want to.
Bunch of people stuck in blackscreen today, after I deliver a sourced vehicle, waiting.... 1142... 1145 it took 3 minutes then suddenly I'm in warehouse.
2018.05.22
Servers have been down for a day or so, seem to be coming back up. I remember resupplying business, but I have no stock or supplies.
2018.05.24
Newswire updated, lots of stuff on sale, yachts again at 50%, Sea Sparrow 30%.
2018.05.26
Oh yeah, haven't yet put a Cargobob in my hangar.
Repaint the fleet something different but cheap... Sienna Brown.
2018.05.29
Tuesday, what's new... Contact Missions!? Wow. Not my favorite contact (Madrazo), but he makes more sense than a lot of the low end (but fun) mission providers.
The Oppressor is 25% off. It's one of the last big ticket items on my must have list. I have the money.
In order to modify it (missiles!) I'll need a MOC. It can keep waiting for the right sale.
Bunker Renovations 40% off, a few other odds and ends.
2018.06.04
Last day of Oppressor sale. Full price $3.5M, Trade price $2.6M. Sale Full $2.6M Sale Trade $1.9M.
I have $5M... and now I have $2.3M.
First impression: This is fun.
2018.06.05
What's new this Tuesday... small money giveaway, Shotaro on sale (have to complete a round of Deadline first). Blazer Aqua on sale, I'll get that eventually because its interesting, for almost $1M, not now.
2018.06.06
The Oppressor is clunky as a bike, but when you engage the turbo you forget all about that. I'm not even talking about taking flight, just being able to rocket through mostly straight roads feels like such an advantage. When I learn how to start hopping it will be a whole new level. And yet, it feels like a little something is lost. I need a little realism to keep my mind in the game and this hurts that.
2018.06.08
I put all the bikes in the clubhouse: Oppressor, Akuma, Nemesis, Sanchez, Ruffian, Bati 801, Hakuchou, Gargoyle, BF400, Double-T, PCJ 600 - out of space. Something has to go...
Now my 870 Route 68 garage is empty.
2018.06.09
2018.06.11
2018.06.15
Coke doesn't pay the way I'm doing it (stealing instead of buying, no upgrades), but especially when I steal and it doesn't even increase my supplies. Is this a bug? Stealing again... and now I have two bars. I was going to shut it down, but I guess I'll keep it.
All my Special Cargo warehouses are full (less a crate, to prevent theft). There was a 2x crate bonus not that long ago, so now I don't want to sell crates until the next one. Next time there's a sale on warehouses I'll get another large. Maybe Xero Gas, its the cheapest and on the west side near the office.
Bunker stock 161k, sell far for $241.5k, get HVY Insurgent pickup, receive $243k.
2018.06.18
Got free GTA$250k for logging in 6/5-6/11. Bank = $3.5M
2018.06.19
I've been looking forward to see what's new on Tuesday mornings for some time. Nothing stands out today, but 2x on Lamar missions means it's a good week to try and knock something off the to do list.
2018.06.22
2018.06.25
The rumors were true, the next update is going to be a nightclub update (and they announced it on a Monday, not Tuesday). Log in for free cash, OK.
2018.06.26
It's Tuesday - what's for sale? Biker businesses and special cargo warehouses. Running low on money, might have grind. Double money from special cargo - yes! time to unload my warehouses. Wow, bonuses to most business right now. It would be even nicer to time it with a large cartel lobby for even more bonus.
2018.06.27
I keep checking the discord to see if there's a nice full lobby to sell in (so I can get the max High Demand Bonus), but population never gets over 10. There is a nearly full lobby in #community, but its not an official cartel lobby, just a friendly one. I've always avoided it because of that, but I want that bonus. Maybe later.
2018.06.30
Bonus time going fast, must sell soon. Rumors of people getting banned for sudden windfall, when it was just them selling off warehouses during bonus week, hopefully that's not true.
Getting ready to join a community session, and Discord is down. Verified on Reddit and Twitter. This has never happened before, wonder what got them.
Good, outage didn't last too long. Just long enough to buy biker supplies, and sell bunker supplies. Filling warehouses (only need 1 for each)....
WTF. Delivered crate, got message:
"Transaction failed because inventory or price data is invalid. Please reboot the game to refresh the game catalog and try again."
Tap Z like I constantly do, there's a non SAFE in the lobby now. Coincidence?
Search that string, seems like an old error, with various causes and solutions. I'm not reading that now. Reboot computer.
Reconnect. Get cargo, seems OK now. Fill up other 2 warehouses, OK.
Use community screenshots to find someone in same crew, join Moebius_. Only 17 people, but it will do.
Sell small warehouse, White Widow for $480k. Two Brickades, sells for $574k.
Sell medium warehouse Derrier for $1.47M. I get the Titan. That was rough. Sold for $1.7M.
Lobby down to 16 people, 5 CEOS (not sure which gives more bonus). I'd rather max out, but I'd rather not miss out, and there's only two days left, let's go for the big warehouse sale, West Vinewood Backlot for $4.4M. Sold for $5.1M.
Bank now at $11.3M. Nice.
Start refilling. Get a message for a rare cargo opportunity; haven't got on in a while.
Purchase Special Item for $27k to store at White Widow. The plan is to have 2 large warehouses running, and keep a small for special items. Store a Large Diamond, value $270k.
I have $5M... and now I have $2.3M.
First impression: This is fun.
2018.06.05
What's new this Tuesday... small money giveaway, Shotaro on sale (have to complete a round of Deadline first). Blazer Aqua on sale, I'll get that eventually because its interesting, for almost $1M, not now.
2018.06.06
The Oppressor is clunky as a bike, but when you engage the turbo you forget all about that. I'm not even talking about taking flight, just being able to rocket through mostly straight roads feels like such an advantage. When I learn how to start hopping it will be a whole new level. And yet, it feels like a little something is lost. I need a little realism to keep my mind in the game and this hurts that.
2018.06.08
I put all the bikes in the clubhouse: Oppressor, Akuma, Nemesis, Sanchez, Ruffian, Bati 801, Hakuchou, Gargoyle, BF400, Double-T, PCJ 600 - out of space. Something has to go...
Now my 870 Route 68 garage is empty.
2018.06.09
2018.06.11
2018.06.15
Coke doesn't pay the way I'm doing it (stealing instead of buying, no upgrades), but especially when I steal and it doesn't even increase my supplies. Is this a bug? Stealing again... and now I have two bars. I was going to shut it down, but I guess I'll keep it.
All my Special Cargo warehouses are full (less a crate, to prevent theft). There was a 2x crate bonus not that long ago, so now I don't want to sell crates until the next one. Next time there's a sale on warehouses I'll get another large. Maybe Xero Gas, its the cheapest and on the west side near the office.
Bunker stock 161k, sell far for $241.5k, get HVY Insurgent pickup, receive $243k.
2018.06.18
Got free GTA$250k for logging in 6/5-6/11. Bank = $3.5M
2018.06.19
I've been looking forward to see what's new on Tuesday mornings for some time. Nothing stands out today, but 2x on Lamar missions means it's a good week to try and knock something off the to do list.
2018.06.22
2018.06.25
The rumors were true, the next update is going to be a nightclub update (and they announced it on a Monday, not Tuesday). Log in for free cash, OK.
2018.06.26
It's Tuesday - what's for sale? Biker businesses and special cargo warehouses. Running low on money, might have grind. Double money from special cargo - yes! time to unload my warehouses. Wow, bonuses to most business right now. It would be even nicer to time it with a large cartel lobby for even more bonus.
2018.06.27
I keep checking the discord to see if there's a nice full lobby to sell in (so I can get the max High Demand Bonus), but population never gets over 10. There is a nearly full lobby in #community, but its not an official cartel lobby, just a friendly one. I've always avoided it because of that, but I want that bonus. Maybe later.
2018.06.30
Bonus time going fast, must sell soon. Rumors of people getting banned for sudden windfall, when it was just them selling off warehouses during bonus week, hopefully that's not true.
Getting ready to join a community session, and Discord is down. Verified on Reddit and Twitter. This has never happened before, wonder what got them.
Good, outage didn't last too long. Just long enough to buy biker supplies, and sell bunker supplies. Filling warehouses (only need 1 for each)....
WTF. Delivered crate, got message:
"Transaction failed because inventory or price data is invalid. Please reboot the game to refresh the game catalog and try again."
Tap Z like I constantly do, there's a non SAFE in the lobby now. Coincidence?
Search that string, seems like an old error, with various causes and solutions. I'm not reading that now. Reboot computer.
Reconnect. Get cargo, seems OK now. Fill up other 2 warehouses, OK.
Use community screenshots to find someone in same crew, join Moebius_. Only 17 people, but it will do.
Sell small warehouse, White Widow for $480k. Two Brickades, sells for $574k.
Sell medium warehouse Derrier for $1.47M. I get the Titan. That was rough. Sold for $1.7M.
Lobby down to 16 people, 5 CEOS (not sure which gives more bonus). I'd rather max out, but I'd rather not miss out, and there's only two days left, let's go for the big warehouse sale, West Vinewood Backlot for $4.4M. Sold for $5.1M.
Bank now at $11.3M. Nice.
Start refilling. Get a message for a rare cargo opportunity; haven't got on in a while.
Purchase Special Item for $27k to store at White Widow. The plan is to have 2 large warehouses running, and keep a small for special items. Store a Large Diamond, value $270k.
2018.07.02
Sale week almost over, time to get anything done I can with the time left. I don't have time to fill up a large warehouse now, let alone two, but I still want that second large so I can fill it up and have it ready for the next bonus week.
I'm not replacing any warehouses, I've always loved White Widow and it will serve as a place to hold rare cargo, and I like Derriere so I can do some occasional crate runs without having to mess with holding the large ones for sales.
There are 8 large warehouses, I already have the West Vinewood one. Time to consolidate my notes on which to buy.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Darnell Bros Warehouse $3.5M ++-
second furthest north, somewhat central
good landing spot for helicopter
easy highway access
maybe same distance to office as Xero but expensive
Xero Gas Factory $2.3M -+
southwest corner
same or better distance to office than Darnell and cheaper
Logistics Depot $2.6M +-
third furthest north, somewhat central
good landing spot for helicopter
easy highway access
West Vinewood Backlot $2.1M +- (have)
furthest north, central
difficult to land heli (poles) but it can work
vehicle spawns at a distance
Wholesale Furniture $1.9M -+
southeast corner
a bit far from office
Bilgeco Warehouse $2.8M --
all the way south in the airport
Walker & Sons Warehouse $3M --
all the way south central
Cypress Warehouses $3.2M --
all the way in the southeast corner
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Xero or Darnell? Both seem about the same distance to the office. Darnell just seems better.
Join #gtacartel. Was there a modder in here? Don't need this. Quit without saving. Join #terminalbunny.
Purchase Darnell Bros Warehouse, regularly 3.5M, for $1.75M. I now have $10M in the bank.
Time to test it out, order 3 crates. Fly back to office. I like this, it's nice.
Off to a community session, 29 players good, no CEO/MC slots open bad. Sell White Widow Special Item $270k. Is that what I'm supposed to get? No lobby bonus? Asking in sessions, reading.... apparently no high demand bonus for special items. Oh well, learned something.
Too crowded, back to #gtacartel.
Now the other business, off to Sandy Shores Clubhouse. Open Road, Buy Business, Meth... Grand Senora Desert for $455k. Bank at $9.9M. Nothing happening, step outside. Guess I'll just go there. OK, now we're getting somewhere. Set Up. Retrieve truck. Supplies are at 5 bars. Equipment Upgrade costs $1.1M, Staff Upgrade #331k, Security Upgrade $513k; no discount, so it can wait. I'm just trying this out.
Time for some off-roading then out of here.
2018.07.03
New this week, Independence Day celebration, of course. Maybe I can finally get the beer hat.
Wow, 2x Special Cargo and Bikers continues. Maybe I can flip my two warehouses.
MOC and Avenger on sale for 30%, still too steep. I don't need weapon and Oppressor upgrades right now.
I had set respawn to my apartment - it feels so odd being here, it is familiar but I haven't been here in what feels like years (must be months). I don't even remember these views, they're not all that great. I see the Lombank building from here, wonder what the view is from up there. I step outside, it doesn't feel like I've lived here, and yet I have.
You can set spawn location to Random. Why not. Orange Wireframe Bodysuit. Why not.
I put some crates in some warehouses. No beer hat; not available.
2018.07.05
Join Invite Only Awarded 300k. Random spawn: Grapeseed, Seaview Rd, near Trevor's hangar.
Join #terminalbunny. Random spawn: West Vinewood, next to the Epsilon Building.
2018.07.10
Another $100k, another wireframe unlock (pink).
2018.07.13
Beth's Dog Grooming, diagonally across from Sandy Shores clubhouse, never noticed that before.
2018.07.16
Maybe no update tomorrow.
2018.07.17.
No DLC yet; more cash, blue wireframe.
2018.07.20
2018.07.25
After Hours DLC is out.
Purchase Del Perro Nightclub because it seems nice enough, and it's the closest one to the rest of my properties.
Style = default
Light Rig = default
Nightclub Name = for old times sake, why not Maisonette - and I already have the t-shirt
{it would have been nice to name it myself in my usual way... maybe Forgotten Sanity}
Storage = huh? is this for the business or for car storage? I'll leave it default for now.
Dancers = default
Dry Ice = that's kind of expensive. maybe I'll wait.
Buy $1,678,500 (bank = $9.3M).
I normally wait until the inevitable sale, but the FOMO got me, and it costs barely anything to get started. I've paid more for vehicles I don't even use.
I've read it costs up to $5M to get fully set up. Don't know if I'm going for that now.
Setup time. Lots of dialogue, always appreciate new content.
This place is cavernous, learning my way around.
I like the unfinished industrial chic, but I guess it will all change once I finish setups.
The two named characters aren't doing anything, can't interact much. Guess it's time to go to the terminal.
Set Up: Staff. Easy, more dialogue, nice.
Set Up: Equipment. Steal the very tall skull truck. Interesting low clearance issues, didn't realize there's so many bridges, that's different.
Now, pick up DJ Solomon. Long plane chase.
OK, that's a lot of cutscene, bit too much Lazlow.
The dancing mini-game is back! Do I miss this, or do I not remember how frustrating it was?
I've been reading about teleportation juice, time for my first Macbeth Whisky Shot. I wake up still in the club, but in the basement.
Popularity is at 5 bars - how to maintain that?
Check terminal. OK, there's a bit more to this than it seems.
Watching DJ view... I like this.
Teleport juice to... El Burro Heights, trainyard.
2018.07.26
Lots of bugs being reported on the reddit group. Mostly minor, except for the flying out over the water can cause spontaneous wasted. I don't see any reason to stop playing, but I won't be doing any water deliveries.
2018.07.27
Award $350k, that's nice.
I spawn at my club, dancing; not a bad way to start the game I don't remember setting this. But I also didn't change my caps-lock action to dancing, and the game did that as well (set it back to smoking).
I'm starting to like this Solomon guy's music.
Do I want to buy the business aspects of the club yet? Maybe. I go down to B1 - I already have one technician, I just need to assign him? Assign him to Cargo and Shipments. I can hire 4 more techs; I would need to buy one more business to have all 5 assigned to something, it seems. Wow, the equipment upgrade is $1.4M.
Macbeth... wake up in the club's bed.
I like this club, walking around in it, liking this update even though there's not much to it.
Macbeth... oh, not good, head in toilet.
I lost half a bar of popularity.
Sell some cars, help other people with sales, take some money from the wall safe, back at $10M.
Popularity lost a whole bar, promote. Place posters, nice now that's a easy enjoyable mission. Too bad it doesn't pay.
Change hair to Long Bob, Color 30 (gray) Highlights 34 (dark pink).
Get award Hairy Encounters RP+800
2018.07.30
On the newswire, a new video from Solomun made using GTA 5... its beautiful. The music is not bad either.
2018.08.01
A new DJ - a new radio station! That's pretty big. And you can buy a blimp now?
More cash more t-shirt. Lots of real estate and improvements -25%... I would really like to upgrade biker business, was kind of waiting for -50% but it's been a long time.
In other news... the founder of the Cartel has been removed for breaking the most sacred rule of thou shalt not PvP, and on a live stream no less (even worse a highly public Rockstar sponsored one). I know, it's a small hiccup in a small sandbox, but it's almost unbelievably scandalous within context.
Oh, it's just renovations, not business upgrades. Nevermind.
2018.08.06
I get the text from Maude. Do one bounty. I like these, but sadly there's no new voice acting from Maude, just text.
Go to Legendary site, order free Ubermacht Revolter.
Go to Warstock, order free HVY Nightshark.
2018.08.10
Maude 2, 3.
2018.08.20
Got the Stone Hatchet.
Hire another Warehouse Technician, seems cheap, $141k. Next tech is only $184k, why not. Next tech, $240k. The next tech is 312k, but I don't have any more business to assign him to. From what I've read, weed and docs no good, cash ok.
2018.08.23
I was somewhat interested in the new Terrorbyte and Oppressor Mk II, but since I have barely learned how to fly my original Oppressor I was in no hurry. But it sounds like the Terrorbyte is fun and useful (six new jobs, steal/resupply from anywhere, drone station!?), and can upgrade the old Oppressor, so it might make more sense than buying a MOC or Facility + Avenger.
Since I don't have that much time in on the first Oppressor, maybe I should try the second one - I might actually be better at it.
2018.08.25
Equip Stone Hatchet, start Job Pier Pressure. Got the cash bonus right away. No Trevor rampage mode, disappoint.
2018.08.27
2018.09.08
It's another login everyday to get money week. I can barely muster the interest.
Nightclub popularity at 3/5. Hire second DJ. About to start... and network disconnect.
Start invite only... and my character puking in toilet. Makes nothing but sense. I'm out the money. Oh good, I can still Collect, so it looks like money not lost.
Nice little mission. Popularity back at 5/5. Tale of Us.. Music is OK, but seems more like driving music than for dancing.
2018.09.09
Getting back in the groove - who doesn't want free money? I have noticed over time that while almost anything and everything goes on sale, the upgrades rarely do, so I should take advantage of the Nightclub upgrade discount.
2018.09.10
Since I load into Invite Only to start, and I have spawn set to Nightclub, I try the Macbeth Whiskey Shot often.
Got $10.8M. Purchase Equipment Upgrade for $1M (down from 1.4), Staff Upgrade for $300k (down from 500), Security Upgrade for $500k (down from 700). Bank now at $9M.
Now all I need is for MC business to go on sale, and I can get the two other techs working.
2018.09.14
GTA trouble syncing important catalog data with the server.
Second try ok.
Got notification of reward; bank at $9.5M.
2018.09.18
Biker Businesses - 40% off, time to acquire, test, and shut down - these are for the benefit of the Nightclub. I'm not actually running biker businesses again until I can afford upgrades.
Spent so much time reading I didn't actually get to log in today.
2018.09.19
Red Dead Online announced. I wonder how it will affect GTA Online, or if it will ever come to PC. I don't think RDR2 has even been announced for PC yet.
Reading about Nightclub Business, it seems I only need Coke, Meth (got those) and Cash (need); Forged and Weed offer the lowest NC income. I didn't buy any extra floors in the Nightclub, not sure if I need to accumulate stock or if I can sell small (like Bunker, but for different reason).
Bank at $9.4M. Buy Counterfeit Cash Factory, Grand Senora Desert, $507k (down from 845k). Bank at $8.9M.
Back at the Nightclub, I see the wall I'm up against already. Pharma is already maxed out at 4/4, no more room for expansion. $395k for an extra floor? I'll take it. Hmm, dancers for $213k, why not. I'll still pass on the dry ice until a sale. Better to spend that same money on the last tech for $312k.
It still might make sense to buy the other two MC business, just so I can diversify my NC products. No rush.
2018.09.21
Some no save errors, rejoin, OK.
My bunker has been at $140k and a little bit of stock for a while now - why isn't it advancing?
2018.09.25
It's Tuesday again, already. Reading Newswire, as soon as I see the word "unlocks" I know I will be logging in, if only for a few minutes.
Cartel requires screenshot of /crews/friends... done. Channel gone, seems to be accepted.
2018.09.30
2018.10.01
There's talk of Social Club servers being slow or down. When I try to start up I get an Activate message, as if I'm just activating my code for the first time. Should I even try this? Check, Please Wait... unknown error. OK, try later.
2018.10.02
No useful (to me) sales or discounts today. Two t-shirt unlocks, yawn (not that I'm not going to log in and get them, and probably wear them).
No wonder the Social Club didn't work yesterday, they redesigned at least the web site.
Start game, Steam goes through first time setup of Social Club (probably just a mislabeled update).
For a few seconds nothing happens, then it starts normally.
I spawn at Nightclub (as expected), but why puking in a toilet? I didn't leave last time while drinking.
2018.10.08
2018.10.09
New cars, yawn. New wireframe unlock, some more cash giveaways.
Below 80% popularity, time to switch DJs. Unlock #3.
2018.10.16
2x Gunrunning, and yachts on sale.
2018.10.19
Got my free $300k.
Gunrunning stock of $280k sell for 420k... I get dune buggy. F THAT. Quit. Restart.
That took 5 minutes just to get back to Invite Only. Next time try switch session. Apparently quitting works because stock now at a still respectable $266k.
Sell stock for $399k. Get monster truck, nice. Sell, buy supplies.
Sell Cash. After 10 minutes, thinking this is a lot of work for $35k. And then I get a message that transaction failed. And then Lester calls to tell me it went OK. Don't remember my balance, so who knows.
Restart.
Bank = $8,819,940.
Back to Cash, no Product, no Supplies. Steal.
Meth, sell, +38k. $8,859,572
2018.10.21
2018.10.23
Today's sale: nothing good.
Check that all MC business supplied or has product; will ignore until next sale.
2018.10.30
Nothing.
2018.11.06
Another Tuesday, nothing good. Well, maybe:
35% off MC Clubhouses and Businesses, including business upgrades
2018.11.10
Danced for 7 minutes, got a big xp reward, where's my Coordination award notice?
One of my nightclub techs is idle, time to buy Forgeries. Grapeseed location regularly 650k, now 422k.
Didn't get Coordination award in game, but can see it in social club now that I've logged out.
Reading about Nightclub Business, it seems I only need Coke, Meth (got those) and Cash (need); Forged and Weed offer the lowest NC income. I didn't buy any extra floors in the Nightclub, not sure if I need to accumulate stock or if I can sell small (like Bunker, but for different reason).
Bank at $9.4M. Buy Counterfeit Cash Factory, Grand Senora Desert, $507k (down from 845k). Bank at $8.9M.
Back at the Nightclub, I see the wall I'm up against already. Pharma is already maxed out at 4/4, no more room for expansion. $395k for an extra floor? I'll take it. Hmm, dancers for $213k, why not. I'll still pass on the dry ice until a sale. Better to spend that same money on the last tech for $312k.
It still might make sense to buy the other two MC business, just so I can diversify my NC products. No rush.
2018.09.21
Some no save errors, rejoin, OK.
My bunker has been at $140k and a little bit of stock for a while now - why isn't it advancing?
2018.09.25
It's Tuesday again, already. Reading Newswire, as soon as I see the word "unlocks" I know I will be logging in, if only for a few minutes.
Cartel requires screenshot of /crews/friends... done. Channel gone, seems to be accepted.
2018.09.30
2018.10.01
There's talk of Social Club servers being slow or down. When I try to start up I get an Activate message, as if I'm just activating my code for the first time. Should I even try this? Check, Please Wait... unknown error. OK, try later.
2018.10.02
No useful (to me) sales or discounts today. Two t-shirt unlocks, yawn (not that I'm not going to log in and get them, and probably wear them).
No wonder the Social Club didn't work yesterday, they redesigned at least the web site.
Start game, Steam goes through first time setup of Social Club (probably just a mislabeled update).
For a few seconds nothing happens, then it starts normally.
I spawn at Nightclub (as expected), but why puking in a toilet? I didn't leave last time while drinking.
2018.10.08
2018.10.09
New cars, yawn. New wireframe unlock, some more cash giveaways.
Below 80% popularity, time to switch DJs. Unlock #3.
2018.10.16
2x Gunrunning, and yachts on sale.
2018.10.19
Got my free $300k.
Gunrunning stock of $280k sell for 420k... I get dune buggy. F THAT. Quit. Restart.
That took 5 minutes just to get back to Invite Only. Next time try switch session. Apparently quitting works because stock now at a still respectable $266k.
Sell stock for $399k. Get monster truck, nice. Sell, buy supplies.
Sell Cash. After 10 minutes, thinking this is a lot of work for $35k. And then I get a message that transaction failed. And then Lester calls to tell me it went OK. Don't remember my balance, so who knows.
Restart.
Bank = $8,819,940.
Back to Cash, no Product, no Supplies. Steal.
Meth, sell, +38k. $8,859,572
2018.10.21
2018.10.23
Today's sale: nothing good.
Check that all MC business supplied or has product; will ignore until next sale.
2018.10.30
Nothing.
2018.11.06
Another Tuesday, nothing good. Well, maybe:
35% off MC Clubhouses and Businesses, including business upgrades
2018.11.10
Danced for 7 minutes, got a big xp reward, where's my Coordination award notice?
One of my nightclub techs is idle, time to buy Forgeries. Grapeseed location regularly 650k, now 422k.
Didn't get Coordination award in game, but can see it in social club now that I've logged out.
2018.11.12
Might as well get Weed too, if just for completion.
$8,507,222.
Not much to choose from, get the one in San Chianski Mountain Range, regularly $715k, now $464k.
$8,042,472.
Sandy Shores business are spread out, but I wouldn't want to set up shop anywhere else.
Setup.
Keep all MC business stocked up, but not selling, not until I can afford a round of equipment upgrades.
2018.11.15
Refilled the I/E garage to 10/10/12. What happens if I source now?
I get a Standard. Well, I just won't pick it up.
2018.11.20
Big cash giveaway, have to log in every day this week.
Terrorbyte finally on sale (Benefactor Terrorbyte – 40% off, Terrorbyte Modifications – 40% off), and nightclub warehouse (Nightclub Warehouse Storage Facilities – 40% off).
I could add more storage levels for about 250k each (and that's 40% off)... or I could just sell more often. I think I'll just sell more often for now.
$8,396,754.
Sell all goods $427,000. -42700 to Tony, +434259 for me (must be other player bonus).
$8,831,013.
Bunker, resupply -75k.
$8,756,013.
Sell 140k of stock for 210k. +228,900
$8,984,913.
2018.11.21
Popularity running low, time to book the last DJ, The Black Madonna. Nice little mission, unlock a t-shirt. Awards still not showing up on social club, though.
Been rethinking Nightclub renovations. I'll take the cheapest light rig for 88k (not on sale but who cares at this price). I'll take another level of storage facility ($414k -> $248k). I want the Dry Ice but it can wait for a sale.
$8,542,613
Terrorbyte down from $1.3M to $825k.
Interior Tint: Utility (default)
Interior Decal: Classical (default)
Turret Station: no
Drone Station: 489k (ouch, but that's down from 815k)
Weapon Workshop: you can't get all the bunker upgrades but you can get some, and for only 147k why not
Specialized Workshop: i don't have the Oppressor Mark II yet, and I won't for a while until it's on sale, but I'll need this shop, and it's only 297k, so might as well.
Final bill: $1,758,000.
Only $6,784,613 in the bank now. I need to start making some money! First, time to try new toy.
Use the touchscreen. I can steal supplies - too bad I can't buy supplies for bunker. For vehicle cargo and special cargo I need to be in CEO mode, makes sense.
As CEO, select shipment size 3, pick name of warehouse - a bit annoying since I can't see what's in there like I can from office, but it sure is convenient to start from anywhere.
Now to try Client Jobs. Nice, 4 out of 6 can be done solo.
Robbery in Progress: foil a heist, fun (cooldown over 20 min!)
Data Sweep: scavenger hunt, not as fun, doesn't pay great either (34k)
Targeted Data:
Diamond Shopping:
All my weapons are out, as if I didn't have an armory. I think this happened last time I bought a property.
Enable Custom Weapon Loadout is grayed out. Back to office, in the gun safe everything is set to Show, hiding most...
2018.11.22
Just checking in.
2018.11.23
Targeted Data: flying controls frustrating, rules of game unclear. I'll read up on this one and try again later.
Diamond Shopping: more drone flying. why would they make the controls for the drone anything different than the helicopter?
Checking out the gun workshop, looks like there are 12 guns that can be Upgraded; the only one I use is Special Carbine. I'll have to look into it before I commit to some change that might not be better.
2018.11.24
2018.11.25
2018.11.26
Weird bug: no music in the club, making all the other sounds creepy.
Weed sale, it's the awful one I heard where you can't control your vehicle.
2018.11.27
No good sales this week.
2018.12.18
I don't think about the game often, but I still feel the pull of the Tuesday morning news check. T-shirt unlocks... yeah, I can log in for 5 minutes.
Fill out crew survey.
https://support.rockstargames.com/articles/360013468874/GTAV-Title-Update-1-46-Notes-PS4-Xbox-One-PC
New Macbeth locations? New drone controls for PC? Interested.
I forgot about the last cash giveaway, got $1.25M.
The new Arena DLC is not of much interest, but at least there's some new clothing.
2018.12.25
Lots of free stuff and double rewards this Christmas, but nothing really new. The minor loot is doled out over many daily logins, I don't know if I can keep that up even if they're giving away free money.
2018.12.26
How quickly one falls back into old routines. At least there are more players around now during the holiday.
2018.12.27
2018.12.28
Free Buzzard is an impressive giveaway for new players. I've got my eye on the Oppressor Mark II. Especially now that I'm back to $10M, my self-imposed rule is that I should spend.
2018.12.29
2018.12.30
...and another sweater...
2018.12.31
Checked in at least long enough to get my free Insurgent Pick-Up. Can't put it in a garage until I buy some other DLC, its just in Pegasus for now.
2019.01.01
I try to only buy vehicles and renovations when 50% off, but I'll get the Personal Quarters for Bunker because too often when switching servers it would be nice to spawn there, instead of having to travel, and it's only 265k. Of course, that messed up my custom weapon loadout. Back to the office to sort it out.
2019.01.02
On my phone I set a timer to 44:00, to remind me to change sessions before the fees come due. I start a second timer 2:20:00 to let me know when the Bunker supply has turned into stock.
Still don't know what it takes to get the Clubber award; it's still at 1/4. I got one of the 4 DJs from 'of 30' to 'of 60' but it doesn't change anything. Maybe I have to get all 4 DJs to 'of 60', but then how did I already have 1/4. It makes no sense.
2019.01.05
2019.01.08
I was going to buy an Oppressor Mark 2 and use it fill up my two large warehouses, and take advantage of the 2x bonus to justify buying it at full (unlocked) price, but I just wasn't motivated enough.
Checking the weekly Tuesday update, if Warehouses are still 2x... nope, nothing good. There are two new weapons now, the Hellbringer and Widowmaker, which came out of nowhere as there are rarely new weapons (most recent was the Atomizer, which is useful enough to include in my loadout). There are a whole bunch of things that are around 30% off, but for that little a discount I'm not even reading what they are.
In all likelihood, see you next Tuesday.
2019.01.14
I wake in underwear, and my xmas outfit is deleted.
2019.01.21
2019.01.22
Another t-shirt and 2x on crates and 1.5x on cars. Glad now I didn't sell my half full warehouses.
No Oppressor Mk II on sale, but it's supposedly good for grinding, and I'm $2M over my baseline of $10M, so...
2019.01.29
So much for deciding, I never logged in again since. In fact, I don't think I even logged in to get the t-shirt.
What's new today... some RC cars and races, a cash giveaway ($250k/weekend for 4 weeks) that might be difficult to remember, some Arena discounts, some 30% off vehicles. Basically, not much reason to play.
2019.02.05
No change on Newswire. Haven't been even logging in to claim free $.
2019.02.10
Remember to log in for weekend $. Is that the MK II on sale?
2019.02.11
Buying Opressor Mk II for $2M so I can stop thinking about it.
It's in the Terrorbyte, now how do I work on it? How do I deploy it?
Took it out for a spin, loved it within seconds. I could see this becoming a favorite vehicle.
2019.02.14
No goodies Tuesday, anything for Valentine's Day? Just a car t-shirt.
2019.02.15
2019.02.16
Moved some crates with Mk II and Terrorbyte, it seems faster and easier.
2019.02.21
Another super car, another t-shirt.
2019.03.11
Some free money, maybe a t-shirt, couldn't find it.
2019.03.14
It's Bikers Week. Any discount on business upgrades? Everything but. I need upgrades just to make MC business barely worth it. Oh well, at least there's two t-shirts.
Shotaro (Tron bike) is 40% off, I should at least play Deadline and get the unlock.
Uh oh.
"Alert
Unable to retrieve character inventory data from Rockstar game servers."
Looks like an old error, hopefully I can just wait it out.
2019.03.16
"Alert
The GTA Online session is having trouble syncing important catalog data with the server."
I wasn't expecting a different weird error. If it matters, when I launched from Steam it asked me for my Social Club credentials again, which is rare.
2019.03.17
And another error, but I think it saved.
2019.03.23
2019.03.28
Yet another t-shirt.
2019.04.10
a new hat, and bunker x2
$11.4M. Busy server, sell stock for 420k, +525k. $11.8M
2019.04.14
t-shirt
2019.04.17
Kifflom at last. I no longer have to drink another Macbeth Whiskey
2019.04.26
t-shirt, special cargo
No need to drink, but still trying to get some dance awards.
Got We Believe up to 30/60, but After Hours is still only 6/8.
2019.04.30
2019.05.03
Triple cash on Survival - that's different.
Biker Business Upgrades 40% off - I've been waiting for this for a long time, it's why I haven't been even using my MC businesses (that and they are not as solo friendly as other businesses), because un-upgraded business produce too inefficiently to be profitable.
Bank $11.9M
Cocaine Lockup.
Equipment Upgrade 935 -> 561
Staff Upgrade 390 -> 234
Security Upgrade 570 -> 342
Bank $10.7M
Meth Lab
Equipment 1.1 -> 660
Staff 331 -> 198
Security 513 -> 307
Bank $9.7M
Cash
Equipment 880 -> 528
Staff 237 -> 163
Security 456 -> 273
Bank $8.7M
2019.05.09
So much for taking advantage of biking bonus, after all those upgrades I didn't came back.
Gunrunning 2x, nice. A new cap, at least its not another t-shirt.
2019.05.12
2019.05.12
Make some sales, get back to $10M.
2019.05.21
t-shirt
2019.05.24
woah, 2 t-shirts this week. and a bunch of stuff on sale.
2019.05.28
Took advantage of some upgrade discounts, nothing big, just a Gun Locker for the Bunker, Living Quarters for the Hangar. Nothing further to do on the Terrorbyte. MOC is on sale, but I'm not over $10M, and I don't need it.
2019.06.02
Four t-shirts in one update.
Nightclub renovations 30% off, I'll buy the Dry Ice for $241k (down from $345k). Effectively free, because there's a one-time $250k bonus for making a Nightclub sale this week.
2019.06.06
Finally the long joked about convenience store robbery bonus is here. And more t-shirts, which I unlock because that's my compulsion, but the shirts themselves are not compelling and I'm not wearing new ones anymore.
Dance to Solomun set, got 30/60, $15k bonus. Every award is green now, Afterhours still shows 6/8. Still not sure how this works, it might be time to stop caring.
2019.06.10
The Casino rumors must be real, if the map is changing. It seems too dull to be a joke or fakememe, so I have to assume it's true, especially since the map is changing around the casino.
2019.06.14
It is confirmed, Casino is coming. Just as I was thinking of playing something else.
2019.06.19
2019.06.21
2019.06.28
a new hoodie this time, no good bonuses
2019.07.03
Guess I can start using up my fireworks.
2019.07.04
Almost everything gives a bonus, almost everything is on sale!
But who cares about all that, I can finally get the beer hat.
2019.07.07
2019.07.19
Saw new casino trailer.
Link Social Club with Twitch Prime to get free Master Penthouse (and $1.25M). There's only an hour left in the day, but it's worth a try.
https://twitch.amazon.com/prime
Sign in as me. Activate Twitch Prime. Twitch login... I don't have one... thought it was part of Amazon Prime?
Create new Twitch account. Odd, my usual name is not available, can't seem to reset. Use Social name. Link accounts.
On twitch.amazon.com, under GTA, Claim now.
Become a Twitch Prime member to claim.
Try Prime.
Twitch Prime Loot wants to access your account.
{I don't like linking accounts, but I don't see much downside, and I plan to cancel before the free trial ends}
Authorize.
{"status":500,"message":"hystrix: timeout"}
...nice.
Trying:
https://socialclub.rockstargames.com/rewards/twitchprime
Seems to have worked. Set Twitch visibility to Friends & Crews.
It seems like Amazon Prime should give Twitch Prime, but then there's a 30-day free trial then $12.99 button. Again, I'll cancel. It seems to have gone in a circle, I'm back to the Claim now button. I'll just have to assume I did what I could.
2019.07.24
Casino is out, the real world has been a distraction. Based on previous bugs after a rollout, it might not be bad to keep hanging back and see if there's anything terrible going on from the forums.
Oh crap, it's after midnight, it seems I had to log in on day one to get the free penthouse.
Updating Steam, I'll see what I can get.
On /r/gtaonline/, it's time to check out the The Diamond Casino & Resort FAQ Megathread.
Of course, someone has already mapped out the collectibles.
Best penthouse = "Design Your Own", the others are too locked in.
As far as I can tell, this is just a quality of life update, there's no money generation. I'm OK with that.
I like the in-game trailer. When I finally join Invite Only, I am placed right outside the casino.
I was just going to run by the front door to my Mk II, but it puts me inside and starts the intro. OK.
I go the Cashier and collect my free 1000 chips. It makes nothing but sense that they start a new currency to handle the whole casino money problem.
Regarding the penthouse, my Buy Now price is $1.5M. Which is nothing really, I'm fine with that. But what about my free or discount stuff?
I think I'll get the basic membership so I can spin the wheel.
2019.07.27
Supposedly the free Penthouse is still being delivered over the next week or so. Even better, if you buy it now with cash you will get a refund later. I'm going to get it either way so there's no need to wait.
Spin the wheel, get $30k. I have $12.8M in the bank, and 6,000 chips. Go to cashier, collect free 1000 visitor chips.
Get email about penthouse, follow link, select Design Your Own for $1.5M.
Adding the Lounge Area adds $400k. I'll pass for now, I can get it later, or some weeks from now when it will inevitably be on sale. The only add on that makes sense is the office (another 200k), the rest only seem like fun if you have other players visiting.
I can buy room decorations at the clothing store.
Take elevator to Penthouse, watch cutscene, presumably set up now to start some missions.
I can order champagne, and it's just added to my inventory? That's different.
Exit to roof, just a helipad.
Exit to roof terrace, nice but nothing much to do.
2019.07.28
2019.07.29
Spin wheel, get money. Spin one armed bandits, lose chips.
Sell bunker, nightclub. Back to clubhouse, why is Coke shut down and empty? Set it up, its now fully supplied. Hmm, can I do this on purpose? After selling, just shut it down then reopen it and get full supplies?
Reading... it looks like you can't just shut it down yourself, it has to be raided to the point of shutdown, which I think I allowed once by cancelling what I thought was just another LJT call.
2019.07.31
The new DLC is nice but nothing revolutionary, and it doesn't suddenly make the game a big thing in my gaming life again. I want to do the story missions before the hype dies down and nobody is playing them anymore. I want to do the scavenger hunt, even though the rewards are tiny I like collecting. And I feel compelled to spin that free wheel everyday, or I'm somehow missing out on free stuff. I don't even want the car, I guess I could sell it. I wonder if it disappears from the circle if I win it?
Checking Twitch Prime, I'm already signed in, click Twitch Accounts, there is a button to Unlink Account with my Rockstar named account. Under Twitch Prime offers, click on the GTA one, now I'm not signed in, and there's a Claim now button. Click that, popup, click Claim now, Become a Twitch Prime member to claim, click Sign in, new page:
https://id.twitch.tv/oauth2/...
"Twitch Prime Loot wants to access your account" mentions my Rockstar name again, click Authorize. And I'm kicked back to the page where I can Claim now, but at least I'm signed in this time.
Why not, click Claim now again... another popup:
"Enter the next level: Account Linking" and a button "Link accounts to use loot".
In hopes that I can disconnect all this later, click it...
And now on a rockstar page, I have green check marks for: sign in to social club, link your twitch account, link your gaming account. Click view, get page Successfully claim.
I think I did all this already. I should probably just delete the above.
Connect.. still no sign of rewards. $11.9M in bank.
2019.08.01
Still no bonus at login.
The podium car changed to another car I don't want, but I'll still spin the wheel every day I can.
Was there supposed to be a tshirt unlock? And why is so much stuff different in the Casino store - are they actually adding and removing items? Seems so.
2019.08.04
Bonus!
I think it said only 250k, but my bank is at $13.8M, so I think I got the full casino rebate. And I don't think I even need to cancel Twitch, because its included with Prime
2019.08.05
2019.08.07
Over $14M now... not sure what I'm working towards.
Got up to 60 with one DJ, now its marked Complete. After Hours still at 6/8.
2019.08.08
Twitch Prime bonuses... if you signed up before 8/5 you get 85% off Yachts! We'll see if I'm getting the discount...
2019.08.09
Long ago I looked up which yacht to buy, but shelved it. This thread convinced me to get a Pisces:
https://www.reddit.com/r/gtaonline/comments/6keviw/new_discounts_30th_of_june/
* awning on upper deck (protects during Piracy Prevention)
* different awning allows better access moving around the boat
* less boats means less rent?
* unique Swift Deluxe color (and better than Super Volito)
* better speedboat (Speeder)
* extended front deck acts like extra landing spot
Originally $7M, it is currently $1.05M. It's practically free!
Gold fitting for an extra 750k? I don't think so. Besides, I like chrome.
Green lighting looks a bit sickly, I'll pay a few dollars (315k) for blue.
Color scheme, default is fine.
Flag = UK {this is the most role-playing my character has done since creation}
Name = Hell Above Water
2019.08.10
can't connect to social club?
2019.08.11
2019.08.12
Owning a yacht doesn't give you boat access. Buying a Dinghy, now I finally have that icon lit up.
Supposedly owning a Dinghy let's you summon it in the water while CEO. What does that look like?
As expected, floating in water, boat appears. Neat.
2019.08.14
Last time I was on I was bored and checking out when Prison Break setup flashed by. I only ever did the first heist and its on my checklist so why not try it. Of course you can't expect much from randoms, and we never finished the first setup, but at least I finally tried it.
I still haven't even finished the Lamar missions, let alone heists (or Doomsday heists, etc.)
Spin the wheel, get 10k chips, play tables games, lose, play slots, win 120k chips.
Play the first casino mission. Not bad, game never connects me with other player to next round. Oh well.
2019.08.15
Found some more randos playing Prison Break, did first and second.
Accomplishments: Decorated (30 Platinum) and Be Prepared (completed a Heist Setup mission); haven't had one of these in 2.5 years.
Awards: For Hire (100 RP), Lucky Lucky (800 RP).
2019.08.18
2019.08.20
85% off the Ruiner, I could get it for 648k/861k. I know I don't need it but do I want it?
2019.08.22
I don't want to have to think about it, so I just bought it.
2019.08.23
2019.08.25
awarded 250k
2019.08.26
Pfister Neon on (Twitch Prime) sale. I kind of like it and I've been wanting an electric car. Regularly $1.5M on sale for $375k, I might as well. The Reaper is on a similar sale, but I'm not interested in race cars.
2019.08.28
2019.09.02
New this week:
Double pay on Gunrunning, Special Cargo.
Thruster (jetpack) 40% off, Coil Cyclone (electric supercar) 40% off; maybe and maybe.
40% off Bunker and Hanger renovations, maybe time for range in bunker.
Twitch reward Akula 75% off, another maybe. When something so expensive is 75% I am forced to evaluate something I normally would ignore.
And a tshirt.
In order to buy a Thruster I need a Facility and to complete the Doomsday Scenario Finale.
In order to buy an Akula I need a Facility, and to complete the Setup as leader.
I don't think I'm getting either of these now.
I'll get the Bunker renovation Shooting Range in White, regularly 845k, now 422k.
2019.09.04
I let another week go by without grinding double sales. There's just nothing I really want to buy. I can already feel the boredom settling back in. Must focus on the unfinished parts of the game. And maybe one last GPU upgrade for this computer, and then maybe one last playthrough of single player.
2019.09.13
2019.09.17
2019.09.20
So now Rockstar has a game launcher too.
2019.09.25
2019.09.27
New Survivals, that's interesting.
Hang out for a while, nobody is running one.
2019.10.05
Got $1M on login, don't even remember what was the promotion. Twitch Prime again?
2019.10.08
2019.10.09
2019.10.16
2019.10.29
Some good bonuses have come and gone, but I don't need the money.
But I'll still login for a new tshirt I'll only ever wear that week.
2019.10.30
Purchase Facility Grand Senora for $1M.
Add ons: I was going to skip Orbital Cannon but what the heck, Security Room, Lounge, Sleeping Quarters. Get everything, $1.9M.
This place is huge.
Avenger, down from $3.4M to $1.7M.
Upgrades don't seem to be on sale, so skip.
The Savage is on deep Twitch discount, down from $2.5M to a mere $389k. How do you say no to that.
2019.11.05
2019.11.09
Coil Cyclone on deep discount from Twitch Prime promo. I'll take one.
Nice acceleration.
2019.11.20
Almost forgot to log in this week... 11:50 PM... 11:56 PM I'm in.
MOC still on sale.
I've been waiting for this to be on sale for a while, but I keep missing the occasional sale.
I have no idea what I'm doing. Command, Living, Weapon, Weapon & Vehicle, what?
Reading... seems like Command, Weapon & Vehicle is best practice. Colors: white/white.
Avenger renovations. Gun Turret, Vehicle Workshop, Weapon Workshop, all for $700k on sale. Do I need it? It seems not, but I'll just take it now and think about it later.
I'm down to $10M. I still have too much money.
Terrorbyte is already fully loaded.
Add Custom Bike Shop to clubhouse.
2019.11.28
Thanksgiving. Anything special for the holiday?
Biker 2x, Nightclub 2x, Heists 2x, lots of businesses and residences on discount, vehicles too.
I think I have almost everything I want.
2019.12.09
New casino heist coming.
TerminalBunny based server is closed. A little end of an era, that's been my go to for a long time.
2019.12.11
A new radio station, that's almost as rare as new heists.
Twitch Prime members get a free Arcade property in Paleto Bay.
Maybe I can try this DLC out right away, instead of the usual wait for a sale.
Grotti Itali GTO ($393,000 = 80% off)
I got the Sport Suspensions as someone recommend to avoid spinouts, and might as well get the Sports Transmission too.
2019.12.18
All this exciting newness and I haven't even logged in this week.
I got a rebate of $1.5M, but I don't even recall for what.
I got an Award for Coordinated (dance 5 minutes), which is odd since I did that long ago, and again the same for Can't Touch This.
Finished dancing to Tale of Us, got Award Afterlight.
2019.12.22
Complete SAFE survey.
Snowing.
Go meet Lester in Mirror Park. Cutscene plays, with snow in background.
Arcades now visible in Maze Bank Property Map.
Pixel Pete's - Paleto Bay is marked FREE. Why not. I usually wait a few months for the inevitable half off sale, but I can always buy the location I really want. I just have to remember not to invest too much in this location, since it doesn't transfer.
2019.12.24
Logged in briefly to get whatever unlocks.
This year I'm not annoyed by snow, as my Oppressor Mk 2 is unaffected.
2019.12.25
Logging in again to get whatever freebies and unlocks.
2019.12.30
2019.12.31
Unlocked something.
2020.01.01
Another unlocked something.
Turned off my HUD for the first time. Feels weird, I like it.
Feel like doing some scavenger hunts. I get the usual text from Hardcore Comic Store.
Need a guide. Using:
https://www.reddit.com/r/gtaonline/comments/d16lv0/action_figures_map_with_descriptions/
I like that there's some kind of in game tracking, under the interaction menu under Collectibles.
This couldn't get much faster with a guide and an Oppressor Mk II. I get into some gang attacks, but it breaks up what little monotony there is.
session 1 1-15
session 2 16-23 (interrupted at 15min)
session 3 24-41
session 4 42-66
session 5 67-83
session 6 84-100.
Go to comic stores, get unlocks.
The reward is lame but I like having an in-game excuse to travel the map, remember places I've been, and maybe even see something new.
2020.01.03
2020.01.17
2020.01.23
2020.01.30
Money giveaway; I can log in for that.
2020.02.06
Got free money. Here again for more free money.
2020.02.11
2020.02.14
tshirt. finish arcade setup.
2020.03.03
nothing happening
2020.03.11
tshirts.
2020.03.18
bonus $1M. now have $13.7M.
2020.03.27
hat, livery unlocks
2020.04.09
finished After Hours / Dixon. start Black Madonna.
later, after Thursday weekly content release: do 10 objectives to get $1M.
01 do a resupply 02 wheelie ten seconds, nobody doing Stunt races
2020.04.10
03 play shooting range at a bunker, 04 use bull shark testosterone, last steam standing? no thanks.
2020.04.12
05 visit casino 06 set self as looking for work
2020.04.13
07 vip work 08 shooting range
Bank is at $13,795,836.
Tried to sell Nightclub $465k, finished, seemed to award me money, but money did not increase, Tony never calls, can't enter buildings. Been driving around a while, pretty sure already saved. Quit.
2020.04.14
09 dance at nightclub 10 modify bike in clubhouse.
Nice, it lets me know right away ; no need to wait or wonder, got the cash and the hat (I'm more interested in the hat)
Looks like I didn't lose my Nightclub inventory. A rare 17 crew members in one place, try sale again.
Success, got all the right notifications right away.
Bunker is ready for resupply and sale.
2020.04.16
new content: smoking jacket? also weed bonus. and luxor, luxor deluxe 80% off.
2020.04.19
Got my $500k. Luxor only $325k... I'll take it.
2020.04.23
Let's see what's new today... six new contact missions from Gerald! Wow, that came out of nowhere. This is exactly the kind of content drip that we should be getting all along, not just bonuses and tshirts. Even if I don't like the new missions (and I'm sure they'll be OK), I'm happy.
2020.04.29
Haven't had a chance to even try out the new stuff yet. Quick login just to see what's up.
2020.04.30
crates x2! and 811 on sale.
2020.05.01
can't access Beasts of the Cartel. getting tired of not having a server friend, so request add to CheddarMouse.
2020.05.06
Warehouse x2 ends tomorrow. So close, must try to fill and sell... not that I need the money for anything. I just want to empty these warehouses.
Purchase 811.
2020.05.06
Accepted by CheddarMouse; good, that will ease connecting.
12 people on; a good time to sell warehouses.
Filling up the last 10% of each warehouse....
darn, saving failed. may have lost some recently sourced crates. at least this didn't happen (yet) during sale.
waited a while, restart. try to connect to Invite Only, get message: The Rockstar game services are unavailable right now. Please return to Grand Theft Auto V and try again later.
535p retry, spinning orange circle... two minutes later join Invite Only. join Cheddar...
549p back in Cheddar, that didn't take that long. others are having similar problems.
checking warehouse stock. West Vinewood: 95%, Darnell Bros 96%. wasn't keeping track but i don't think i lost anything
BTW, this is the first time in a while i've kept a separate machine next to gaming machine, instead of alt-tabbing back out to same machine browser. this way i take a lot more notes, but i don't know if this verbosity has any lasting value.
sometimes save failed, sometimes save successful. it will have to do.
DB 110/111. WV 97%, buy 3, full. session timer almost out, wouldn't want to have to pay rent on anything during a sale. hop sessions. restart the clock.
bank = $15,732,236.
back to West Vinewood. 111/111. Sell for $4,440,000.
go to LSIA. oh no. its the Titan, ok, at least its not those 3 little planes, i would quit and try again.
nice and easy, 10 drops, no altitude restrictions.
bank = $20,483,036.
Darnell Bros 99%, buy one.
pickup up some gangster money, bank = $20,481,036.
stock = 111/111. sell for $4,440,000.
Brickades, yes! easy, nice short runs.
bank = $25,276,236
hey, my bunker is full. hop sessions. maybe I should wait until tomorrow, but i'm here and the session is half full, may as well reset the bunker. +$231k
bank = $25,432,236
that was productive. but there's nothing i want to buy. maybe tomorrow's weekly update will bring something new. set respawn back to Nightclub.
2020.05.15
bunker x2.
might as well do something to run out the clock; how about another scavenger hunt.
https://gta.fandom.com/wiki/Playing_Cards
session1 01-03. switch.
session2 04-11.
(these sessions are not very productive, because i'm taking the time to do some sightseeing)
session3 12-24
session4 25 {modder, switch}
session5 26-30
that's enough for one day. i dont want to burn it out. more Gerald "Last Play" missions.
2020.05.21
wandered away, back. new content? no. but another round of do 10 dailies for $1M. kind of fun and easy, why not.
01 look for MC work 02 source Air-Freight Cargo, freezes on confirm... lots of complaining online about the influx of new players since a recent free offer from Epic
hangar renovations on sale, do some minor changes.
02 done
2020.05.22
today's dailies? 03 mod at Bennies
Gerald mission: Last Play.
2020.05.23
contact mission 04 contact mission; not Gerald, too long an easy one, done. 05 bribe cops then cause havoc, ok. forgot it was not just a Lester ability but a CEO service. 06 ride fairground ride. ferris wheel takes 5 minutes, roller coaster takes 1. i don't think i've ever done either. easy. why did my health bar just blink like it increased the max? weird.
2020,05,24
07 visit casino.
2020.05.25
Steam very slow. It is a holiday.
08 use Bull Shark. 09 use bunker range.
2020.05.26
10 deploy parachute near ground, ok. Daily Objectives Event Complete!
Akula on sale. $1.8M buy it now. Do I really need a radar blank vehicle? Not really. But I have too much money. Sold.
final Gerald mission: Last Play - Make Ends Meat. Not bad. Kind of easy with Kuruma.
2020.06.24
I haven't played for a month; I thought I only missed a week or two.
The crew seems to be rebooting again; time to re-register.
Login gift: 200k? Bank at $25M.
Office renovation discount; finally getting a safe.
What was the point; floor still littered with cash.
Maybe that's why I never bought it before.
2020.07.08
It's been a bit. Still haven't re-registered.
Gift 200k. Bank 25M.
2020.07.23
Haven't played in so long.
Crew lost more officers; reboot delayed.
Steam showing my key again, saying I'll need to enter it. I think this is an old bug.
Reward $200k. I think there were more; missed them. Whatever.
I've never done any Gunrunning research, maybe now is the time. There are 15 people on. Does that change anything? I switch to research, buy supplies, sell stock. And exit to dune buggy and a server split. No thanks. Quit, no save. Restart.
Lost a little stock. Manage staff = research, ok. Buy supplies? unknown. Try it again: shipment already on way, ok. Sell stock $ 199,500. Insurgent, great.16 players. +235.
2020.08.15
Some new yacht missions came out? And I can play them solo. Time to come back for a bit.
2020.08.27
Didn't actually log in last time. Try a new yacht mission.
2020.10.19
Haven't played in so long. Crew reorganizing? Missed deadline for something, I think.
Everyone needs to reapply to SAFE.
https://www.safe-crew.net/
Allow access with reddit account. Apply. Give Social Club username.
2020.11.06
Haven't checked in for a while.
I'm on the yacht, might as well play a yacht mission. That was OK.
Wander. Gang attack. A rare crash.
2020.11.18
Finally something new coming to GTA. Don't know what yet.
Not in crew anymore, I guess they finally culled the non re appliers.
Time to re apply. Not sure why I didn't finish last time, maybe was using wrong reddit.
Login in GTA reddit.
Check Social Club. It's disturbing to see that I was kicked (3 weeks ago!), and I'm not in any crews. Only 2 SAFE friends left, time to dump the rest.
https://www.safe-crew.net/
Allow access with reddit account. Apply. Privacy visible. etc. done. Time to wait.
2020.11.23
Login to Social Club, glad to see my invite is waiting there.
I'm back in SAFE, and in plenty of time for the just announced update next month.
Most interesting thing about it I've heard so far is it will be playable solo.
2020.11.26
Black Friday sales; nothing much of interest.
2020.12.14
2020.12.20
Some free stuff for playing the new heist, not sure if I'm still eligible.
Another $1M, or the same $1M? For Dec x-x.
The Kosatka submarine now available from Warstock.
Go to Twitch; "Twitch Prime is now Prime Gaming". Claim now. Link to Social Club.
2020.12.25
Prime Gaming +$200k. Did I get the free sonar?
My first bunker research kicked in. Time to check on that. Supplies half full, no stock.
Checking unlocks... Anti-Aircraft Trailer.
Buy supplies for $45k. Why not, as long as I'm here.
MC businesses are stocked up, not selling in snow.
On yacht, go to B (the captain). Can't talk to him other than to move the ship. Call on phone? No. Oh, here's this blue circle. Press E to play A Superyacht Life - All Hands. The Tula s neat, but I'm going to need to note the controls before trying this again.
2020.12.28
i guess its snowing thru new year
tried a solo survival, got killed by boredom.
2021.01.07
2021.03.23
wait... what?
i've been checking weekly sometimes. not usually interesting. here's something:
Twitch Prime Bonus: 80% off Western Company Seabreeze (GTA$ 226,100 / 170,000)
buy now, think about it later. trade price for air freight missions - not happening. gladly pay the 226k. Delivering to hangar...
I thought the Sea Sparrow was also on sale... do I already have it? To the hangar.
I try it out, accidentally bail out in the air. Way out of practice.
Back to the Seabreeze. Armor 50k, Countermeasures non, Engine 4 33k, Handling Race 35k, Respray Primary Classic Sienna Brown 1k, Secondary .5, Weapons none.
OK, that's fun to fly.
No sparrow here; that's one to wait for.
2021.04.30
Oops - shot one of the signal jammers (Santa Monica ferris wheel) during VIP Work (flying practice). Don't want to start that yet. Quit without saving, does it work? Where is that recorded... nowhere it seems. And I don't get target lock on the ferris wheel anymore.
Bonus this week on bunker. Switch from research to manufacturing, do I lose research gained? Apparently not, nice.
2021.05.02
Doing basic things, relearning. Sell nightclub, +445k, bank 28M.
M -> Inventory -> Collectibles. Playing Cards = 30/54 (and Signal Jammers = 1/50).
31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 i've never seen the large chess board before. so many things you learn on collectible hunts. switch session.
38, 39, 40, 41,
Feels like it must be time to sell bunker, yep. value $224. resupply. sell $336k. Get $386k w/ 16 players online. I was wrong about bonus week; switch bunker back to research.
2021.05.07
Back to cards [ https://gta.fandom.com/wiki/Playing_Cards ].
42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, renew session.
49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54 done.
Unlocked Oufits:Special -> The High Roller.
and some cards in a room i haven't even purchased access to yet.
Bunker research done. Buy more supplies. Supposedly fast research this week? I've also read that for only $2.5M you can fast track all the research. That's really not that much money; there are some vehicles that cost around that, I think.
Fast track. Get .50 cal for HVY Insurgent Pick-Up Custom. Do I even own one of those?
Supplies are half off. I'll just go back to research, for now. Might start fast tracking later.
Grinding some crates, just to remember what it's like, get notice of research complete. Back to bunker, buy more supplies.
2021.05.09
Got Online running on the laptop. Sadly, it looks as good or better than the old desktop. At least the desktop is still smoother.
Starting a sheet on inventory (long overdue).
2021.05.15
2021.05.19
There used to be a bug where you'd drive your vehicle out of a garage and you'd lose some upgrades. Even worse, it would show in the workshop that you still had the upgrade, but people (supposedly) proved that the vehicle had lost some speed upgrade or another. I stopped driving out of garages after that, but I haven't heard of the bug in some time - was it fixed? was it just a rumor?
Searching the reddit group, this bug was reported at the casino garage a year ago. At least it seems to go away if vehicle is respawned (i.e. its not permanent?). Looks like the older bug was fixed (a long time ago!). I don't park at the casino, so I should be OK to drive out of anywhere else.
Dune FAV Buy It Now $791k, store it at 870 Route 68 Approach.
2021.05.21
Time to start using my asset spreadsheet. Working on clubhouse.
PCJ my first vehicle. always keep. paint it white, and every bike i'm keeping. I can put a custom license plate on: OMHHPOO8. It this something you can assign from the app? Oh, I can remove the plate entirely, that's unusual. Colors Primary & Secondary Classic, Frost White.
Akuma sold (57k)
Nemesis ok but don't need. sold (34k)
Sanchez best off-road. keep. Frost White.
Ruffian not that great at anything? sold.
Bati 801 fastest bike. always keep. Frost White.
Hakuchou no need, sold. (81k)
Gargoyle weird climber, interesting, keep. some livery.
BF400 fast dirtbike. interesting, use it more. some livery.
Double-T no use. sold (35k)
I can store the Oppressor 1 and 2 in the clubhouse. Any reason to, or not? It might be nice to have all the bikes in one place.
I think the Mark 2 kind of belongs in the Terrorbyte, as it can not be modded in Clubhouse, only in "Specialized Vehicle Workshop", so back to there.
Mark 1 can only be modded in a MOC or Avenger. I can still leave it in the clubhouse; it does have wheels, afterall (unlike the Mark 2).
2021.05.24
Military vehicles to Del Perro Hts, civilian vehicles to Tinsel Towers.
Why is there a Voodoo in my garage. Sold for $550. What even is that, the price of 5 sodas?
2021.05.26
Never got around to starting Cayo Perico and getting the Panther. Hope I don't regret that later; maybe just lost out on some easy money.
Making sure I'm not missing any sales...
40% off Vapid Festival Bus. $1.3M discounted to 831k. what can i actually do with this. i wonder if it plays your custom station to other players. Pegasus vehicle. I have to choose from one of eight liveries. That's a deal breaker right there. And the savings isn't that much. Skip.
40% off Blimp. 895k discounted to 537k. Also a Pegasus vehicle, also with only a few liveries. I'm OK with my club livery, so why not.
30% off All Nightclubs Renovations. That's not great, but it's a change. Style change from 1 -> 2, 157k. Light rig, might as well try #4, lasers. Nightclub storage, level 4 $304k. That should be enough of a margin, no need for #5. I'll add some garage storage, ~100k. Buy $766,850. First impression, I like it.
Lost connection, did the above take? Reload, another time out. Just as well I'm not trying Cayo Perico for the first time tonight.
From browser, rockstargames.com can't be reached. Hmm.
Not much later, I'm back in. Might as well buy storage level 5. There goes another 320k.
2021.05.30
Spending some time in the bunker, getting research done and working on target practice. My scores are abysmal.
2021.06.02
Only thing on sale that's interesting is: 60% off Maxwell Vagrant (GTA$ 885,600)
I'll try it. Sent to desert garage.
2021.06.03
Going through today's sales... bunch of race cars, who cares. Some real estate for sale.
2021.07.02
+100k for some promotion. Bank is $27.1M.
Kosatka 25% off. I was hoping for more, but I think this means there won't be a better discount any time soon.
Going to The Music Locker. Got the story, got the contact. Now I can buy Kosatka from warstock. Hey, the music is not bad down here.
Warstock site. Kosatka reduced from 2.2M to 1.65M. Time to risk some spoilers on upgrades. Sonar only good for treasure hunting? Skip.
Guided missile seems only usable against other players? Skip. Weapons Workshop? Have several, skip. Moon pool vehicles. Sparrow strongly recommended, $1.3M. Avisa is not advised, better to get Toreador submarine sonar car. Total $3M.
Oh, I get a scuba outfit with that.
Go to sub, listen to intro. Now I can plan or setup.
Time to reset to avoid rent. Spawn is already set to Kosatka. You can spawn here without buying a bedroom.
I did that first heist with a rando, just so I could buy a Kuruma. I haven't heisted since. At all. Now I can heist by myself.
Get out of bed. I can load up on free snacks. Wander around sub. Why are the exit and telephone signs in english. Rockstar is usually really good about this.
Get in Sparrow. exit or modify. Missiles for 240k, yes.
Exit. Fly around
Get message from Tom Connors. While I'm looking it up it expires. Take Sparrow to hanger - not allowed to enter.
This heli is white. Reload session. Paint it black.
Start mission. Go to airport. go to party, exit party, sneak past guards. I try the 'easy' method of using the shore to swim around guards. This takes forever. I find a boat / willing to risk this taking forever and might not even work.
finally some dry land
lots of sneaking
climb tower
play minigame
sneak to dock
scope secondary targets
i can scope more, or leave.
game says i can only carry so much, i've probably spotted more than i can carry, i might as well leave, see how this works.
i find an aerial drop spot.
enough. go home.
reload. back to bridge. intel complete. another day.
2021.07.03
back to planning table. prep equipment phase can now be initiated.
2021.07.09
On load in I see a message: complete an Export Request for Simeon to get Sunset Tint Oversize Shades. Is that a new item? I'll take one, especially if the task is so simple.
Got a Tom Connors mission. Boring, but I get a tshirt unlock.
Delivery made to Simeon.
Stats -> Awards -> Vehicle -> The Exporter goes from 13/15 to 14/15.
2021.07.15
New DLC coming out next Tuesday.
Meanwhile, playing before that offers 2 unlocks: log in for a tshirt, Impromptu Race for a jacket
2021.07.16
It's Los Santos Tuners. Mostly yawn, but any new stuff is welcome.
Whatever happened to the Sunset shades? Oh, within 72 hours of 7/15. Waiting.
Same with the login unlock; not until 72 hours of 7/23. Not sure if I can do Impromptu Race, but I can sell a vehicle to Customs for the third unlock... done. Maybe I can find a race in the crew this weekend.
Time to finish something that's been lingering for a long time:
https://socialclub.rockstargames.com/games/gtav/pc/career/awards/after_hours
Black Madonna, 56/60
...ok so that's done.
Collectibles -> Signal Jammers
https://gta.fandom.com/wiki/Signal_Jammers
starting from 1...15 session switch (didn't run out of time - just fell off a roof onto a lower roof, too far from Mk II)
15...32 enough for today
2021.07.20
Los Santos Tuners is out [ https://old.reddit.com/r/gtaonline/comments/oo2zk3/official_los_santos_tuners_dlc_information_and/ ]. Lots of new little things - nothing too crazy, but it's nice to have new content.
2021.07.23
My to do list grows with every update. Need to finish... signal jammers.
33...34 some distractions (need to empty nightclub warehouse)
Oh, learned something new about nightclub. Now that i've expanded it, need a Pounder Custom to do a delivery. Ah, this comes into play when you have more than 181 units to sell - something to remember for next time. I qualify for the discount on Warstock, only 241k, stored in nightclub - why not.
Pounder delivered, 15 players, time to sell, sell all $964k, bank $23.86M. That wasn't too bad, bank $24.82M, but it was extra (driving?). Maybe next time sell before 181.
35...50 done.
2021.07.31
in Bunker, trying Fast-track Research: $90,000. A livery. Supplies level still at half, next fast track $225k. I'll leave it alone for now, maybe do some idling.
Reading about AFK methods nerfed by recent patch. Let's try this idle test: load into Invite only, spawn in Bunker, do not go MC/CEO, go to security cams, watch. set timer for 45m. Do I get kicked at 13m? Come back in ~43m, security cam still on. Check Pause Menu -> Info -> Notifications, nothing unusual. This method is good for short sessions (<45m); still need to do longer test using a mission to see if you can go past 45m and still avoid rent.
2021.08.27
It's been a little bit. Login to story... new content? I thought the recent summer update was all online.
None of the recent item unlocks seem to have happened. Go to clothing store. There's Blue Tint Oversize Shades, where's the orange?
Where's Kosatka on map? Don't see; not in map destinations. Set as respawn. Start MC, use Planning Screen.
Prep, Approach Vehicles. choose Plane: Velum. Lengthy but easy mission.
Equipment, Safe Code. I did that messy, but OK. Took a while, switch session, back to Invite Only.
Equipment, Demo. House combat is always fun, but time consuming. And it took a lot of armor. New session
Prep, Equipment, Fingerprint Cloner.
weapons, Crack Shot. done. session went long, bills start coming in. switch.
optional prep work. prep, weapon, suppressors, 5k? sure.
prep, disruption, eliminate arms dealers.
2021.09.02
There's been some sort of collectible going on I've been missing. No notification in game... it's a Daily Collectible, you have to find it. Or look it up. Approach the spot, no notifications, just a subtle bit of wreckage, a box, and a faint tinkly wind chime noise which no one could reasonably expect to stumble upon randomly once a day. Outfit Scraps 1/7.
2021.09.03
Outfit Scraps 2/7
Back to Cayo. Hire support crew? Seems cheap, get everything.
2021.09.04
Outfit Scraps 3/7.
It's not much, but it gets me to log in every day.
2021.09.05
Outfit Scraps 4/7.
2021.09.06
Outfit Scraps 5/7.
2021.09.07
Outfit Scraps 6/7.
Whatever happened to free Los Santos Customs Tee and other items? Not in Unlocks. I did get the LS Customs Coveralls.
2021.09.09
Outfit Scraps 7/7. Clothing Unlock The Frontier Outfit.
Do I need a musket or marksman's pistol to complete the look?
2021.09.10
I've been getting the message that Cayo is ready to run. I've avoided spoilers, so I have no idea how it's going to go. Start. Can't hit Continue. Oh, I need to actually pick something for each selection. Drone errored out. Now I can select Continue.
Things go bad quickly. I try to set an explosive on a gate and walk away. The game keeps looping me back around to the gate and its camera and I get spotted. After fighting non stop respawning enemies for a while I die twice and it ends.
Quick Restart or Continue? Good, looks like I can try again. Alright, back to power station to try and take out cc.
Again, I place the explosive, but I can't walk away. Walking away turns me right around and back to the gate. I try to walk away as far as I can and detonate, but the alarm is triggered. Was I standing there too long and got spotted by the camera? I think I can risk looking up what's up with these explosives. Quick search shows explosives the wrong way to go. Seems obvious now, but I thought maybe they were 'quiet' explosives - they are not. Maybe bolt cutters will work, I spotted those.
While waiting for mission to fail again I look around and quickly fill my loot bag, yielding only half a M. Maybe there's something better further down the road? It's a long run to get the bolt cutters, but I get them. And then get quickly spotted.
Another try. Can I use a jeep? Yes. It helps get you close. Get cutters, get caught again walking out immediately by a jeep that shows up quickly. Restart. This time I get caught in the jeep on the way there.
Looks like blow torch better than bolt cutters, but I don't have that option now. Restart. Watch the fast moving jeeps more carefully. Run in, get cutters, run out. Jeep back to hanger. Run to power station. Cut lock, barely make it inside before camera turns. Now I can try and disable the control tower. Done, guard seems to notice me, but just warns me.
On to compound. There must be better ways to do this, but for now I'll walk. I find the original party site. Quiet and empty, but there is a jeep. Walking is kind of boring... And guard tower. Can I snipe guard? Sniper Rifle has Advanced Scope and Suppressor... one shot gets it done. This could be handy. And then I get spotted by a sudden jeep.
I need to make mistakes faster, and learn things sooner. Time to experiment closer to the beginning. Sniping who I can... a worker spots me and runs away. Will he trigger the alarm? I let him go. Seems OK. I wonder if I could snipe a jeep driver - that might be difficult. I wonder what guards do if they discover a body? What if I'm nowhere near the area - can it happen long after I've left an area - do bodies disappear?
I try a jeep driver, get him on the first try. Snipe my way to the bolt cutters, so much easier. I find some guard clothes that I didn't discover earlier but can still be found randomly. Supposed to help fool regular guards a little bit, if you don't get close. The cameras are white now instead of red - did that happen right away because of guard uniform? Probably. I wonder if the hangar guards will see me differently now.
Uniform plus jeep lets me drive through checkpoint quickly. Am I supposed to steal the Supply Truck? While I running around enjoying sniping I miss a shot. This is getting to be a lot to start over.
Since I'm back at the beginning, how about testing stealth knife. Works pretty good. Shot a guard near a camera and it got picked up. Have to watch out for that.
Another restart, this time the body was found by a patrolling jeep. Maybe I should prioritize those - they do seem to have some stopping places I could probably reliably snipe them,.
Wow my quickest fail yet - I bumped into a guard on my way to weapons bag, and I triggered. This might be a record.
First guard tower, wait at the fork. Nothing coming... step forward little jeep comes right away. This might be trigger point. Jeep stops at the fork. Nice. Later, second jeep coming right at me. Miss first shot, returns fire, get him second shot. NIce, alarm not triggered. Keep finding uniform at same place - definitely turns the cameras white. So it makes no sense that a few minutes later a body is found by a video camera. Makes no sense at all.
This time, instead of killing everyone near the bolt cutters, I just sniped the tower, drove close, ran in to grab it, and ran out. I want to try taking out the cameras as quick as possible, then hopefully get no more camera alerts again. Making progress, get spotted in woods at side of road.
This is getting unfun. I just want to start over with a different setup. Quit. Don't know what that does to my 'progress'.
2021.10.22
Another free 100k.
Spawn in bunker. Get message from Pavel that heist is ready to go - I guess I can still do it, and I guess I'm stuck with my same crappy setup.
Tshirt unlock.
Change to public session to buy bunker supplies.
Crew sessions being griefed by cheater.
2021.10.27
Penthouse upgrades 30% off, Lounge 400k now 280k, ok.
That was mildly amusing.
2021.11.10
Before Thursday, what needs doing... some sales, a tshirt... nothing, really.
Besra 70% off, seems interesting; buy now think about it later. I went to the hangar to see if I had it already, didn't think to check Pegasus. Maybe I already had this... whatever.
2021.11.13
Bunker research is 2x; now is a good time to idle as much as possible. Explosive Rounds unlocked - sounds useful. I'll look into Mk II weapons and different loadouts later.
In Nightclub, the bathroom door and the one across from it look different.
Total Stock 159/360, $857,500. Only 5 other people on, but may as well sell it.
As I'm about to be credited for the sale, Coke gets raided. "Transaction pending" stays in the corner, even after I settle the raid. Did I get credited for my sale? Current money is $25,900,921 + $194,361. Fortunately I'm constantly taking screenshots, go back to before sale... $25,082,869. OK, +818,052 then, but it was weird.
Hair change: Ponytail, Color 22, Highlights 6.
2021.11.15
With all this idling I forgot about the Nightclub filling up; time to empty it out.
$25,496,917. Sell all goods $830,000. +$769,410. New balance $26,266,327.
That should help offset all these supplies I'm buying.
I used to keep Nightclub popularity high - don't care anymore.
2021.11.16
Game disconnected while idling; no longer able to save. Popup message that something was unlocked - check screenshots.
Where are my screenshots? Oh yeah, they aren't automatically uploaded anywhere. So now I have screenshots on two Windows machines.
Now another message that SAVING FAILED. There was some maintenance last night, guess it's not sorted out yet. Disconnect for now.
The research was SMG Mk II Heavy Barrel... ok, I have it.
Looking at screenshots I see one of the times where I didn't switch sessions fast enough and the rent was paid:
mechanic 450
property utility 3950
assistant 300
nightclub 1900
penthouse 600
arcade 500
kosatka 150
Unless something scrolled off before I saw it, that's only $7,850. In this game at my stage that's almost nothing. There are plenty of ways to make that up quickly, or just spend a little time grinding and collect the money later. I don't need to set a timer to switch sessions before 48 minutes anymore. I think I just got into this habit from early days and never really saw the charges any more.
The only timer I need worry about is how long does it take to use up a full stocked bar of bunker supplies.
2021.11.18
Bunker research bonus week is over, but I got a few. I think I can make more of a habit of this and finish it, but I'll have to switch sessions or the expense might add up - or not, even if I left it running overnight I'd only be out ~64k. Reading more about it, there's not much for me to actually use here, but I want it to be done with so I can sort out advanced weapons and move on.
It's another Heist focused week, this time Casino. I really need to finish Cayo before another special comes up that I can't participate in. Meanwhile, I realize there are some Casino missions (Ms Baker jobs) that I can do solo.
2021.11.19
Done with Bunker research. If there was a message I didn't see it - but the bunker laptop says there's nothing more to research.
2021.11.25
It's Cayo + Panther week, time to attack that again. 35% off Kosatka upgrades.
40% off yacht renovations, 2x superyacht missions.
Nightclub full; nobody really on Thanksgiving night. Beasts crew groups nearly empty; better to empty out storage than let it fill up
Come across some NPCs with something in their trunk?
Sessions later I'm on the yacht - what stopped me from finishing these solo missions last time? Enter the blue corona, A Superyacht Life. Mission All Hands. Oh yeah, weird controls. Thank goodness for quick restart. Weird aircraft, flies like a plane, picks up water, goes VTOL then controls like a heli, so you can bomb with water. Interesting but glad it's done. Why does mission put me back on land instead of boat? Back to boat, back to B, back to corona.
A Superyacht Life - Icebreaker. This is more like it. Rooftop fighting in multiple dimensions is kind of fun - so much fun I forget why I'm here. Oh yeah, destroy these rooftop targets. They have reinforcements, and air support. That was fun, but not I'd like to do it again fun.
A Superyacht Life - Bon Voyage. Defense mission - like it.
A Superyacht Life - D-Day. That sounds promising. Drive a Kraken, assault enemy yacht, sounds good. But the enemy boss died before I even got far into the boat. Oh well. Still kind of fun.
Get the call, got the outfit. The missions are now available in Jobs, not that I ever need to replay. It's too bad the Jobs list is not sorted in any useful way.
2021.12.01
Week is over and I didn't do anything but the yacht missions. I can still cash in on the sales.
Kosatka, change color from default to all black, add Sonar Station 780k (down from 1.2M), don't need missiles, Weapon Workshop $227k.
Renovate $1,056,250.
Ooops, missed out on the Toreador sale, it was only during Black Friday. Oh well.
2021.12.20
Huge update came out last week - 5.1 GB. I better log in if any weekly promo.
Finish updates login, get some clothing unlocks, get call from Lamar about the new Business opportunity.
2021.12.25
Some minor clothing and livery unlocks, and the usual holiday stuff (armor, snacks, fireworks), and of course snow.
Gallivanter Baller ST free this week. Get now; figure out if want it later.
Nightclub renovation discount, upgrade a few things.
Need to empty bunker. Inventory got to 175k, and I pull 2 dune buggies. New session. Inventory back down to 170k.
Now low enough? Now I get 2 insurgent pick ups. Switch session again.
Inventory down to 160k. again the multiple vehicles warning. Get 2 marshalls.
Inventory down to 150k. again with the dune fav.
140k. Sell for $294k. Still 2 vehicles.
Forget it. I'll wait for the snow to go away.
Let's try Cayo again - should be no snow there.
My game keeps freezing up - not sure if network related, or my old machine.
Reading some guides, getting advice. I would much rather go stealth than forceful; and I missed some important steps.
Save scuba to an outfit slot; that's useful.
So I never found the drainage tunnel, that's why the stealth approach hasn't been an option yet.
Back to Kosatka. Now I can get the cutting torch. Nice little mission, done.
Let's change the approach vehicle from Velum to Kosatka.
Another nice little mission. Too bad there isn't more fighting on submarine, and less swimming away from helicopters.
You don't preselect heist options now - they are selected when you start mission.
2022.01.01
new (to me) category Glow Glasses, contains Blue Glow Shades. I do not like them.
same for Glow Necklaces, Party Glow Necklace.
Who knows, maybe it could all work together with the glow shoes into some kind of rave outfit.
THere's a new glitch, can't source a single crate - so I can't finish loading a warehouse that i keep at full minus one (to help prevents riads)
Reading /gtaonline... Terrorbyte still works for some. Works for me. But I pull air drop. Switch session.
Instead of losing 3 crates, I only lost 1 crate? I switched to single player, I thought that saves the game. Buy another crate, sell. Why do I get 2 trucks for 16 crates? I don't remember this, but it's been a while. Not a problem.
2022.01.15
GPU failed. All my spare cards are older than GTA 5! At least I can login on a laptop to keep up with any unlocks and giveaways.
2022.01.26
Week is almost over; last chance at sales.
I never did CEO Special Vehicle Work because all the missions require more than 1 player. But now some items are on sale, so I'll check that out.
Into the Vehicle Warehouse, down to the Underground Garage. I thought so - I already have a Ruiner 2000. I don't remember when; probably a previous sale.
How to summon Underground vehicles? Not the mechanic.
Looks like Interaction Menu -> Vehicles -> Request Special Vehicle.
60% off Wastelander, But It Now $263,340. Done.
50% off Blazer Aqua, Buy It Now $877,800. Done.
Armored Boxville and Brigade are on sale, but only 40% off; at $1M each they're not that interesting.
2022.01.27
New sales. 50% off Stryder - when did a trike come out? Might be fun (I don't think I ended up getting it).
2022.02.04
Installed new video card GT 1030 4mb, allow default settings. Sadly, no obvious improvement. Maybe better draw distances, but that's about it. Maybe it can be tweaked.
2022.02.09
Casino Work bonus. Trying those in Invite Only. Start MC, call Ms. Baker. Not available? Try as CEO. Still not.
Request Work (and Limousine Service and Car Service) are grayed out. Says "Ms. Baker is not currently offering any jobs.". Doesn't work in Casino. Outside it works.
Undisclosed Cargo. Nice and easy.
Pass by a gold G on the map - what is a a currently active Gerald mission? Other players in session... quit.
Bargaining Chips. Kind of long, but its nice to be back on a motorcycle, going to places I haven't been in a while, and beating people up.
Best Laid Plans. Busting up a heist crew - that's fun. I like the meta of it.
Severance. The bike rider seems indestructible. But his helicopter is not.
2022.02.26
Trying taxi, oops only $50 in my pocket, driver calls cops on arrival.
Clear out bunker, buy more supply.
Bonus is long over, but trying more Casino Work: Lost In Transit, When the Chips are Down, High Rollin',
... caught an MC bust. Interesting one, have to do a mini hit and collect from a motel - more fun than usual.
back to it... Bargaining Chips {a repeat, long}. Severance {you can use rockets!}. Judgment Call {a little stealth infiltration}. Safe Bet {vehicle escort mission - i wish there were more of these}. Undisclosed Cargo {deliver car to scrap}.
Sell Nightclub. Not used to popularity being zero. Try switch DJs, barely gained a blip. Do a promo, gain almost 1.5. Too much effort, it's a like an MC mission in slowness and boredom.
High Rollin' {again, at least it's a different pickup.. another Gruppe 6 truck pulls out as i do. weird. same drive slow mission - not fun}.
2022.02.27
Severance {again}. While waiting do Headhunter, practice heli. Recovery Time {repeat? i know i've had to bust a car out of impound before. this time i didn't die!}.
2022.03.02
Sale ending. Must get... Sea Sparrow, on sale from 1.8M down to 1.1.
2022.03.15
consoles got a big graphics upgrade. we'll see what happens on pc (nothing).
2022.04.06
It’s been a little bit. Consoles got an update, Windows no. There's a new subscription; seems worthless.
Unlock all white square shades.
2022.04.13
minor sales. change clubhouse to Furniture Option B for 80% off, office to Power Broker Polished. yeah.
I'll take a Comet Safari at 50% off. 25M - 355k = still have $25M. Sent to the 870 Route 68 'desert' garage.
2022.05.26
Checking in late Wednesday; didn't miss anything this week.
2022.08.24
I think another DLC came out? New weapon coming soon, M-16.
Connect on laptop. Recent Updates; The Criminal Enterprises, Now Available. On Jul 26.
Some other new things like Luxury Autos Showroom. Buried Stashes? Test Drive?
And a lot more cars and races not to care about.
Hitting F10 / prt scr - no feedback. Whats happening? Oh, F12.
Got a call from Agent whats-his-name saying maybe something new; realized i was in a public session, exited.
Load into Invite Only.
Message about new opportunities at Nightclub
Get call from Agent ULP.
Clothing unlock white stripe sliders, and something about new ruiner
Turn on radio getting message about heat and gas prices. Beat the heat with weazel news.
Get call from Malc about a bike job. Sale?
New weapons are available at ammunation.
Do i need to do something to get the headphone unlock? Some ceo or mc work? Go office, looks different - oh yeah, there was a sale on redecoration.
1 crate to white widow. Sell. Yeah that did it.
Screenshot is actually FN+F12.
2022.09.21
Installed new card: GT 730.
Settings -> Graphics. Tab Run Benchmark Tests.
Shows FPS ~30. Exit.
Graphics: Video Memory 1884 / 2047 MB
Dx11
Can turn up pop density and distance scaling with no memory cost, pop variety does.
Off to an Invite Only session.
Spawn in Bunker. Excess parts have been loaded into the Duneloader - new work? New weapons?
Clothing unlocks, eCola.
Agent ULP calls.
Drive around, everything seems smooth enough. Can’t really tell if any improvements but its been so long, who knows. It works at least as well as it used to.
Get call from Tony at Nightclub, Marcel will be in contact.
Get call from Yohan (Nightclub basement). Callable. What kind of work? I know - I’ve missed a lot of updates.
Exiting… strange error when I move it switches to windows… it may be the keyboard.
2022.12.25
I've been gone a really long time, but I had a good excuse.
Trying to catch up on the reddit group and some Youtube videos. There's the usual Christmas bonus, but I don't want a reindeer hat or a candy cane melee weapon. The Die Hard event is cool, but I don't want the WM29 pistol. Nothing for sale, and I don't like playing with snow on the map. Might as well catch up on news, and wait a little bit to log in.
2023.01.07
Finally got access to my gaming computer; Steam updating.
2023.01.08
Load in to Invite Only. Message in my Bunker that there are excess parts for delivery to Ammunation.
message from English Bob to promote NIghtclub.
Call from Ron; auto answered. So, Trevor took off? What year is it (in relation to the story)? "They've taken over Trevor's old place at Ace Liquor"
First thing, deposit all cash so I don't have to get mugged to get the current xmas mask.
The bunker excess weapon parts seems like an old part of the game - why is it appearing to me now?
Go outside - should get even more messages. Really... nothing?
OK, after a few minutes.. LS Car Meet. Junk Energy Skydives. Luxury Autos. That's it.
Go Nightclub. New things to do? VIP missions to increase club popularity.
2023.01.13
Snow's over. There's a randomly appearing Gun Van now, and you can buy the Railgun. Nothing much else going on this week.
Today's gun van location is ... https://gtaweb.eu/gtao-map/ls/2 ... way out northwest between Zancudo and the next bridge.
Not sure if I'll even leave Invite Only, but might as well add myself to whitelist for CheddarMouse.
Got my railgun, and 20 rounds. FOMO over.
Found a dead body on beach, seems to have something to do with Cayo update. You can collect a Metal Detector. Do I pick it up now? Save it for later? DOesn't matter?
Equipment unlocked, Metal Detector. Buried Stashes. Supposedly reward is small amount of cash, not really worth doing.
Map too busy. Map Blip Options, Hide all. Except Stores, that's useful.
While driving, get first message from Lupe about warehouse service. Do a Nightclub VIP job. Switch to Cheddar. Spawn in bunker, get that bug I've heard of, where NPCs will yell.
Deliver excess weapon parts. Can't defend myself, die. Sell, $50k. Well, at least it got rid of that.
Do a warehouse mission. There's Lupe.
Bunker too full. Sell $420. Two insurgents, switch.
Sell $399. Two Marshalls. I can do this all day, switch.
Sell $378k, dune buggies. Switch. I think the Bunker staff yell because they spawn mid air.
Sell $357k, insurgents again.
Sell $336k. Phantom Wedge - finally! Make... $336k.
There's a mysterious small amunt of supplies. It keeps reappearing, and its annoying because I want to keep to the one vehicle limit. Wait it out, resupply -75k. More excess parts to sell, get rid of that. Delivery on other side of map, can i cargobob it? Yes!
Join crew members - none found; sad.
Back to Nightclub - is that actually fog? You can run in clubs now? Great.
Sell some nightclub stock, $301k, make $298k.
2023.02.15
Arcades finally on sale, but only 35%. I guess it's not going to get any better soon.
Which one to get? Probably Insert Coin in Rockford Hills which is near all my other businesses and homes.
Was $2.3M, now $1.5M, add some decoration and bedroom, $1.6M.
Buy some arcade games.
Master Control Terminal, down from 1.7M to 1.1M; purchased. Drone? I don't think I need it.
MCT looks cool.
interaction Menu -> Arcade Management -> Arcade Games... populate whole arcade with machines, even if they are all the same machine - saw this tip to maximize revenue. Might as well since I should be here more often.
2023.03.08
Can't be bothered to play, but I will come back for a sale: Agency 40% off.
Location? Vespucci Canals office is diagonally across from Nightclub, and down the street from office.
Was $2.1M, now $1.2M. Change wallpaper, add Armory. No discount on Accommodation or Vehicle Workshop, but I'll take it anyway. Total price $3M. Watch cutscene.Explore. Lie in bed next to Chop. See Imani, but can't interact with her. Visit armory; I like the different take on the store, even if it doesn't make sense to have one.
Back to office, sit at desk, login to Agency Network. Security Contracts now, VIP Contract later.
Try out Vehicle Recovery; tedious.
There's a cooldown before I can do another contract, but i don't see it.
Visit garage. See list of Imani tech vehicles; I have none, maybe later.
Look at garage management. THere's 20 slots, and apparently an SUV and a motorcycle come with the place. aybe they are Franklin's?
Exit to street, get call from Franklin about vip client. Meet at the F.
2023.03.16
I missed a sale because of hackers.
I try to only buy things when they are on sale, and I've been waiting for Autoshops to be on sale for the better part of a year, so it was nice to finally see it come up. I put it off until late in the week, and then a new hacker plague appeared on the PC side, kind of like the one from not too long ago where you get messages even in Invite Only, and even Story mode! Don't want to risk getting my account modified and banned (as supposedly happened to some people). So, I had to miss the sale.
Not too sad, I've still got Agency to play with. And when I'm done with that, I can afford to buy Autoshops at full price if I really want to. There's also the current Acid business, and something about street deals. I've got enough toys to play with for now.
2023.05.13
No sales, just checking in. Why is everything so sluggish - did I set the graphics too high?
And why am I wearing red pajamas?
Join Crew Members, land in Cheddar Mouse - wow it's full, 14 players! (-2 for cheddar and me)
Sell Nightclub. Franklin wants to meet at golf club for VIP; I think I was waiting for that?
Visit Agency, Security Contracts, let's try some more of that.
2023.05.24
Auto Shops on sale again, but I didn't join in early enough in the week to get any of the good bonuses.
Go to Maze Bank Foreclosures, it's not there... ok, have to get email first to car meet.
Meet Mimi and Hal, get intro. Meet Sessante and whoever. Told can join car meet and/or get auto shop.
Membership costs $50k, but I can get that later. OK, Foreclosure now has Auto Shops for sale - which one?
Burton is furthest north, closest to my other businesses, La Mesa is somewhat near casino, after that it's all in the south.
After some reading, there doesn't seem to be any strong consensus on which is best. Actually there's something to be said for spreading them out. For now, I'll just go with Burton, originally $1.8M down to $1.2M. Staff doesn't seem worth it. Personal quarters are always worth it. Car lift seems not so useful, and buggy for some. LS Car Meet Membership yes. Total $1.7M.
I finally get to see for myself why Sessanta and KDJ are so universally annoying.
I wander around, find myself in MC club house - now there are legit ways to make money here doing repairs and opening up the dive bar - is this an add on from Autoshops, or has it been there for months? Customizing and delivering a bike is still more interesting than MC work.
2023.05.28
Try my first payphone hit; not bad. Agency jobs are nice, but the autoshop repair delivery seems for more beginner players.
2023.06.02
Summer DLC coming out in a few; looks good.
This week bonus on Agency VIP mission.
2023.06.03
If I haven't mentioned - there are some quality of life improvements (ove the past months?) that I really like: lower daily rents, and increased activities in Invite Only. Now I can solo play even more easily and effectively, but I still enjoy playing in crew sessions. Alone together.
2023.06.04
Why am I playing so much lately? I don't know; feels like a rediscovery.
2023.06.07
Last day to do 2X GTA$ an RP: The Contract: Dr. Dre The Data Leaks Missions.
Invite Only. Wait for Franklin call. Go to the F. golf carts. heli in, steal, brief fight, heli out. Waiting, waiting, ok have to leave building, then call comes, then go back. raid club. steal boat, raid yacht, take a pic. raid casino. done with that - and that seems to be a third of it. none of this is all that crazy, but it's time consuming.
next third. easy hack and security. follow limo. go to lawyer's... oops flew over house and alerted guards, and then killed lawyer - back to base. Someting thing weird about the fcontrols, doesn't want to click start. Through combination of mouse, arrow kick, and maybe mouse click or enter, finally hit select the mission and hit start. And again triggered, trying anway, OK, got lawyer. Enter party, cause a ruckus, target escapes due to the magic of cutscene. Getting away in a helicopter, no problem I have many air vehicles... and I can't access any of them. Can't even enter hangar. Target gets to superyacht. I have to resort to a personal watercraft. Another yacht fight, ok, but then there's endless helicopters. After a while I get bored and deal with the bullets and get back to shore. Fortunately I came in a Kuruma.
Final third. Revisiting some classics in the old neighborhood. Oops, accidentally blew up lowrider; redo. Shooutout in the studio. Now I'm trapped there. That was only 4 minutes, what were people complaining about. Is that it? Get $100k, another minor achievement. Now to get johnny. I show up in kuruma, only to be placed on foot nearby - that's just bad writing. At least when it's over I can summon karuma again, but the next place it also doesn't help. The hangar fight is not bad, and then it's over. The little victory drive over to the last scene is nice. And then I get $2M. For that amount, this was worth it.
2023.06.09
2023.06.21
Haven't even connected since the mercenaries dlc came out - there's a bunch of bugs, some of which can cause loss of vehicle, insurance, who knows. This is why I always check the reddit group first. I keep checking back. No need to connect until I hear it's been fixed.
2023.08.17
I check the weekly announcement on reddit usually, but I don't play.
2023.10.06
It's been a little while; time to at least check in.
Call from Charlie at the hangar; the Los Santos Angels?
Start doing routine activities, like crates - why is Lupe calling me instead of secretary? Water mission, long and tedious; I hate swimming in this game.
I have an injured finger and it's really messing with my game. Try again later.
2023.10.27
What's this about Halloween weather? I missed it last year.
Things started to get grainy, then sky turned yellow, some interesting storms. I like it, but my GPU doesn't.
Saw a UFO over the Vinewood sign, then I heard a zap and my Mk II glitched. Bug? Feature? UFO disappeared, got control back soon after.
I see a pumpkin. I like collecting, but the rewards for UFO and pumpkin don't seem worth it. Maybe if I got the glow in the dark hat, but that doesn't seem to be a thing this year.
I missed some new clothes; nothing great. Also the weird fog make all the colors wrong. Have to try these on later.
Get a call from Franklin. Something about revisiting the studio but I need to bring another player?
See a red dot nearby outside clothing store. This is new to me. Some kind of mini game where you can collect and return some stolen cash.
2023.11.03
Halloween nonsense over. 2x Short Trips, Security Contracts; time to build up to the 201 count for max payout. Connect - and there are stoll masks and tshirts. Phone call from Charlie Reed from hangar, oh yeah, purchase Avenger upgrade for some recent dlc...Mercenaries?
Security Contracts, Contracts Complete = 10.
Looking at Short Trips under Missions, they are 2 player only. sad.
Find a flair, leads to Smuggler Cache. Interesting but I lose the trail.
Wow - 9 people on Cheddar. Time to sell whatever is in inventory.
Why did I just now get a media stick at my Agency desk? Under Inventory Media Player I now can choose between Dr. Dre and None. Oh that's interesting, I can turn off radio stations (how long has that been there).
2023.11.08
So much for Agency, barely logged in this week. And that's still more than usual. Contracts complete = 14.
Something official about GTA 6 announced. My next computer will probably be 2 years old by the time its out for PC.
