May contain simulated driving.

GTA Online is a 7 year old online virtual world where one’s characters acquires weapons, vehicles, and criminal businesses. From Rockstar, whose core competence is modular mission-based gameplay. Missions, like projects, have a defined endpoint where completion is achieved and reward dispensed.

Cooperative Context. Each player must network and coordinate a team of other players against computer-controlled enemies. This technically makes the context of such ostensible crimes prosocial, in contrast to antisocial games where players blunder around shooting everything person-shaped in the face.

Age. This game being so old is hugely significant. Every aspect of the game has choices and alternatives and varieties. There are a dizzying profusion of vehicles, weapons, and properties to buy. Hundreds of standalone missions, entire story arcs of missions, and complex heists can be played to unlock features and discounts and then replayed to ‘grind’ in-game money and buy all that stuff. There are daily objectives and weekly specials to invigorate aging content.

Skills. Administrate businesses, manage a criminal empire, network with other players to run contraband, fly rotary-wing and fixed-wing aircraft, and learn to read maps so you don’t follow the GPS aroooound the shortcut. Research profitability and capabilities of toys before purchase and learn valuable lessons about checking the date on articles.

Abstraction within Missions. My favorite missions have specific conditions for completion but leave some flexibility of choice to the player about the precise technique and tools to be used, which encourages risk-taking experimentation. Other missions punish the entire team with a complete restart for any variation from expectations, which rewards compliant uniformity.

Meta-Play. Acquiring the in-game cash to buy and then upgrade everything in the game can become a job-like grind. People set meta-goals for themselves, such as completing elaborate collections or buying enough expensive stuff to stop those annoying advertisements from NPCs on the in-game phone. Others obsess with annoying other players or being annoyed by other players. Some prefer to cheat and get everything without effort, but they are a bit of a mystery to me since they don’t play very long.

Mission content! Oh Noes! Contains adult, violent, rude, and often quite literally criminal content. Expensive scientific research has consistently failed to link portrayals of such lurid content to changes in behavior over centuries in plays, romance novels, newspapers, music, movies, and TV... but I wish them luck this time. GG, politicians.

May contain simulated driving. GTA Online is a 7 year old online virtual world where one’s characters acquires weapons, vehicles, and criminal businesses. From Rockstar, whose core competence is modular mission-based gameplay. Missions, like projects, have a defined endpoint where completion is achieved and reward dispensed. Cooperative Context. Each player must network and coordinate a team of other players against computer-controlled enemies. This technically makes the context of such ostensible crimes prosocial, in contrast to antisocial games where players blunder around shooting everything person-shaped in the face. Age. This game being so old is hugely significant. Every aspect of the game has choices and alternatives and varieties. There are a dizzying profusion of vehicles, weapons, and properties to buy. Hundreds of standalone missions, entire story arcs of missions, and complex heists can be played to unlock features and discounts and then replayed to ‘grind’ in-game money and buy all that stuff. There are daily objectives and weekly specials to invigorate aging content. Skills. Administrate businesses, manage a criminal empire, network with other players to run contraband, fly rotary-wing and fixed-wing aircraft, and learn to read maps so you don’t follow the GPS aroooound the shortcut. Research profitability and capabilities of toys before purchase and learn valuable lessons about checking the date on articles. Abstraction within Missions. My favorite missions have specific conditions for completion but leave some flexibility of choice to the player about the precise technique and tools to be used, which encourages risk-taking experimentation. Other missions punish the entire team with a complete restart for any variation from expectations, which rewards compliant uniformity. Meta-Play. Acquiring the in-game cash to buy and then upgrade everything in the game can become a job-like grind. People set meta-goals for themselves, such as completing elaborate collections or buying enough expensive stuff to stop those annoying advertisements from NPCs on the in-game phone. Others obsess with annoying other players or being annoyed by other players. Some prefer to cheat and get everything without effort, but they are a bit of a mystery to me since they don’t play very long. Mission content! Oh Noes! Contains adult, violent, rude, and often quite literally criminal content. Expensive scientific research has consistently failed to link portrayals of such lurid content to changes in behavior over centuries in plays, romance novels, newspapers, music, movies, and TV... but I wish them luck this time. GG, politicians.