Playing GTA V last night, I noticed a Rockstar Social Club member had "evaded a 5 star wanted level". I love how Rockstar Games has incorporated its external social features without being particularly overbearing, and despite the alerts' subtlety I still take note of when an online friend has achieved something new in a Rockstar game.
In this case I felt inclined to try and achieve -- and evade -- a 5-star wanted level, which was something I was yet to do in GTA V.
Not one to plan spontaneous acts of anarchy in Los Santos, I used my already-packed weapon infantry and took refuge in a gas station, where, as you can see in the above video, acted as a great place to work my way up to 5 stars.
However, in my hope of getting off the building and finding a vehicle, I fell to my death. As far as gamer rage goes, I was bouncing off the walls with anger. But I have myself to blame: it was silly to try and walk along the edge of a two-story building while my character struggled with little health.
Still, despite my ineptness, I thought it was great that a simple alert popping up above the hud map had enticed me to engage with the game in a different way. I definitely think Rockstar Games has nailed the "social" aspects of gaming in this regard: I wasn't forced to engage with anyone, at least not in an instant capacity, and I never really felt forced to challenge my online friends' police-evading credentials.
I was first introduced to the Rockstar Social Club with Midnight Club Los Angeles. I had signed up for GTA IV but never really engaged with it, but the former definitely provided an avenue to share my pimped out rides with others online.
In the case of GTA V, the social network never turns the individualistic campaign experience into an overly competitive or social one, but rather encourages players to interact with subtle, perhaps cheeky nods to the ways in which we interact with the world.
Some publishers struggle with this. I'm still skeptical of the purpose of driving people away from your game and towards Facebook when you can build your own social network made specifically for the game in question. If I'm being driven away to another social network with a game add-on, I'm personally less likely to engage.
But in GTA V's case, while I don't need a Rockstar Social Club alert to entice me to cause havoc in the world, it challenged me to better another player, without forcing it in my face like so many other games do.
