Why griefing will always be a huge part of the GTA Online experience

Everyone has war stories of their time on GTA Online when they entered a Freemode session and got locked in a battle with a griefer for no good reason.

It has become virtually impossible for players to drop into a Freemode session and have a fun, relaxing time in the game without encountering a trigger-happy tryhard.

Despite the fact that "griefing" is an option players can select while reporting someone in GTA Online, the game is fundamentally designed to encourage that behavior.

As anyone who has ever played an online multiplayer game will testify, players will almost always greet each other with violence in an online multiplayer scenario.

Compound that with the rampant chaos of GTA Online and the tools available to the resourceful and rich.

Why griefing is an essential part of the GTA Online experience

The argument that griefing is a part of GTA Online's design might sound quite defeatist, but there are enough elements of the game that point at this. So before we look into why that is, here are some clear pointers of what constitutes a "griefer" in GTA Online:

1. Going into Passive Mode or killing oneself when attacked by other players
2. Going after Cargo relentlessly or spamming the Orbital Cannon
3. Disrupting heist setups and sell missions

There are many more ways one can "grief" in GTA Online, but a tell-tale sign of a griefer is that the player is being a general nuisance in the lobby. More often than not, these players might be in a high-powered jet or the Oppressor MKII.

It is supremely annoying to go up against a griefer, but not only is it unavoidable, the game actively encourages players to create some chaos.

Global Signals

Prep missions for the Doomsday Heist and other such large heists require players to do them in a public lobby. While the Diamond Casino heist can be prepped for on an invite-only session, such a privilege does not extend to other heists.

Thus, when players are either doing heist setups or selling cargo and product, a Global Signal goes out to every other player. Suggesting that they should go ahead and try and disrupt the player's mission.

So when the game is essentially painting a target on a player's back, it becomes more than tempting for a griefer. The challenge of GTA Online comes from the fact that players have to figure out ways to deal with pesky players and avoid them entirely if possible.

While it can be argued that Rockstar does this to push players towards a quazi "Pay-to-Win" Shark Card, that is an argument for another day. The point being, the game wouldn't force players to do their missions in a Freemode session if it didn't want other players to intervene.

The game pits players against each other

While most players can often take the high road and let others live and do as they please, that would be out-of-place in a game like GTA Online. As some often forget, the whole point of GTA Online is to play a game about crime, theft, murder, and mass destruction.

So is it then really surprising that some players go the extra mile to be thoroughly unlikeable pests in a Freemode session? A public lobby would essentially be scrapped if players were not expected to go after one another and buy the biggest, baddest weapons they could find.

Players can choose to be a good Samaritan and help out others in GTA Online, but griefing is considered the default stance of most players. While griefing is certainly looked down upon and annoying, it's something the game expects players to do.