Yes, GTA 5 Online is currently free and that’s pretty great. However, cheaters are now a big drawback. Our editor Patrick Freese has experienced this firsthand.
What’s new? Since Thursday, May 14, GTA 5 and its online mode are available for free on Epic Games.
This is great because many new players can now dive into this sophisticated online world and theoretically play together with all their friends.
The big downside is that it makes it very easy for cheaters to find their way into the multiplayer. And as I have experienced myself, they are not always just generous.
Just let me play
What’s the problem? In GTA Online, modders can be nice and do funny things. They rain money on other players or spawn fast supercars, tanks, and more, to race through the online world. But this “niceness” is quite rare.
Modders and cheaters have been a sour experience for me since I started playing GTA Online. However, since the game became free, these encounters have increased.
I often meet players who change the weather with their mod menus (suddenly it’s snowing), spawn things like giant planes on the streets, or just kill all players in a session at once. And it’s just annoying.
Another example: After I got kicked from a heist yesterday due to server issues, I landed in a new online session. Suddenly, my screen showed “Player XX has invited you to their apartment”. Without being able to refuse, I suddenly found myself in a player’s apartment, which I had to automatically leave again after about a tenth of a second because that player kicked me out.
I found out that the player had invited the whole server to his apartment this way, and everyone simultaneously left the house and stood together outside the door. It didn’t take long for someone to think: Ha, now I’ll throw a bomb. And boom: 15 players dead at once. I was actually on my way to the time trial at the casino to quickly collect 100,000 GTA dollars.
Suddenly the lights went out: Another encounter with a modder resulted in me having to leave the session with no alternative, where I finally met with a group of friends after many failed attempts. The reason was that a modder turned off the lights. Suddenly everything was just black. The only thing that worked was the chat. And players were busy complaining about what a stupid action it was.
Together with 3 friends, we had to search for another free session where we all had space. With the current server problems, that is not so easy.
As an alternative, you usually only have the option to leave the session and hope that there are no modders in a new session. In solo sessions, I earn less money. When selling goods, you receive a money bonus when more opponents are in a lobby.
Player Encounters with Hackers and Giant Robots
What’s happening: Many players share their experiences with hackers/cheaters/modders on reddit and other social platforms.
Reddit user impunto posted a screenshot of a giant transformer and wrote “I guess no one cares about getting banned anymore.”
We have already seen a ridiculously large giant transformer in GTA Online.
In this example from reddit user TheMageLord, all players in a lobby were put in cages and then blown up into the air.
Right now, it is truly not easy for players to play properly in an online session.
If you encounter God mode hackers in GTA Online, then drive them crazy with this weapon. The blaster pushes the hackers around and you can annoy them with it. However, if they stand in front of you with the shown giant transformers, you usually can only leave the session to escape them.
Have you also had more encounters with cheaters in GTA Online in recent days? Share your experiences here on MeinMMO in the comments.
