Is GTA Online The Start of A New World Order?

GTA Online Good Sports, Bad Sports Feature A Question On Morality

By Maya Mayfield
7th October 2013

Don't Be A #BadSport Play #GTAOnline Responsibly Dummy

We are sure as most fans of the GTA series already know. Wreaking havoc in the world of GTA is all part of what makes the game so devilishly fun to play. We don't know about you, but one of the first thing we love to do when a new GTA game drops on our lap, is to raise our wanted levels and see how long we can outlast the cops. This guilty pleasure to do what you want, when you want and how you want  is one of the secret ingredients that made Rockstar's mega buster title a global success.
So we were very intrigued when we discovered the, Bad Sports feature on Rockstar's GTA Online.

For those who don't know Bad Sports is a feature on GTA Online that ostracises naughty gamers from the larger GTA Online community.  Players who demonstrate bad behaviour, like dropping from jobs, or consistently perpetrating unsanctioned chaos will be quickly labeled as Bad Sports and relegated to a part of the GTA online community where we think most of the people that upload and view weird Youtube videos probably hang out. Yikes!

So how do you become a Bad Sport on GTA Online?
Gamers who go around blowing up other players cars with sticky bombs, being sore losers quitting the game in the middle of online matches are quickly on their way to being labelled bad sports. Those gamers are put on a time out, they can no longer interact with other law abiding gamers and are forced to wear a dunce cap for everyone else to recognise.

We think Rockstars GTA Online, 'Bad Sports' feature is a great idea. We can certainly understand their reasons for doing it, and as funny as it may first appear to be labeled a bad sport, it did leave us with a lot of questions to consider about the future of online gaming and the adverse consequences your actions in the world of fantasy can affect how you appear across other social media platforms. As great as it is to wreak mayhem and havoc against computer generated AI's, we think Rockstar are wary of putting the crazier anarchists among us in the same online universe as other responsible gamers. (If you call killing people and robbing banks responsible.)

There really is so much to discover in the GTA Online universe, and we began to wonder is this Rockstars introduction to a new world order in the realm of online gaming?

Think about this for a second. Imagine an online gaming universe where you can actually live the type of life most people dream about. A life that only a few truly get to experience.

One of the things that drew gamers into the GTA series was the rags to riches stories we experienced with the characters of each game. You start with a player with $0 dollars and by the end of the game, you have several mansions, a couple of sport cars, clothes, girlfriends, and more virtual money than you care to spend. "The  real American dream."  Rockstar's GTA 5 online world goes much further than this and the evidence is only fully realised when you play online.

There are a ton of things to do and secret locations to discover. Players can explore mountains, oceans,  and wildlife. They can hop on a bike and go on trail, or jump on a plane and go parachuting. Gamers can join social clubs, play golf, and even do yoga. Your experience in the world of GTA Online is designed to be unique and different to the next player, and Rockstar certainly want to allow for that diversity.

We think this new Bad Sports idea by Rockstar as simple and as ingenious as it may first appear to be, may in fact be a start to something far more sinister. People play video games to escape reality, but what if the choices you make in these games start to affect other media's you maybe be associated with outside the realm of that game. A world where not playing by the rules gets you noticed and judged by the larger community, a world where your actions may in fact be monitored and linked to your online social status.

What if being a bad sports on future games like GTA online start to affect your facebook, twitter, and google status?

As crazy as this may sound, it might not be so far fetched. We already live in a society so heavily dependant on social media. It's a know fact that companies tend to search their candidates online social media pages as part of their decision process.

This is only food for thought, but a crucial thought none the less as we head into the future of gaming, where the lines between reality and fantasy are becoming harder to distinguish.

Maybe we should stop and question the true intentions behind Rockstars Bad Sports in GTA Online.

Until then don't be a bad sport. Play GTA online responsibly dummy.




Video Source: Lui Calibre