TLDR (What my basic thought is) at bottom.
Story included. It’s just the tale of how I got there, for those who felt my pain in GTA Online.
I admit it. It’s a classic crybaby story - I was playing basic GTA Online the other day. The omnipresent-in-2019 GTA-Billionaires continually griefed me with their massive jets, helis, rocket bikes. I decided I should go in passive mode, but I realized I wouldn’t be able to do missions as a CEO. I almost clicked to begin an invite only session, but even if I could get my friends online on a dime (they’re adults with lives of their own, so its iffy), we’d still be doing missions ‘alone.’
I asked myself "Why isn’t there a PvE mode in this game? I just want to do missions without hours of progress being blown up (Pot delivery mission, for example) in mere seconds only to have the richest mogul become richer for the sole reason that he is… already rich. BUT I DON’T WANT TO BE ALONE, EITHER.
Research online pointed toward Rockstar’s business model likely being built around shark cards and PvP working hand-in-hand to generate revenue, which was not surprising. A handful of players in forums also wished Rockstar provided this experience. Now, when laid out in detail in this way, it may sound that I’m asking for a lot, or something too specific. But really the answer is simple: PvE server. That’s it! Flip that 1 to a 0 (I know there’s more to it than that) and have offer the 2 categories. If that doesn’t provide enough of an authentic challenge, I don’t think it unreasonable Rockstar devs provide, say, a scripted swarm of NPC enemies relevant to the context of the mission, and voila - your PvE mode is complete.
Feeling defeated, I decided to turn to modded servers, something I had never really done in a specific gaming community (I’ve played Gmod and used singleplayer mods in various games, but that’s it.) My search led me to FiveM, which seems to be ‘thee’ place to be for Modded GTA “Online” servers. I found myself browsing through a massive cornucopia of Roleplay servers and specific mods, with the typical “Online” experience missing. I’m not complaining, just stating.
So I started digging, looking for ways to make my own modded server, put one together, and fired it up locally. That’s when I realized it was ‘supposed’ to be missing.
After scouring these forums and others I was able to see the big picture: (I welcome corrections, just be nice). Rockstar doesn’t want us to have the ability to make a basic GTA Online PvE Server, modded or not. Those Online components are more or less stripped from the game by FiveM admin to provide a partial, moddable (and most importantly, a playable) version.
Having played on basic, easy-to-access private servers on MMORPG games over the years, I guess I just expected to find a PvE server without the wild goose chase. (Now skip to last paragraph in this post)
TLDR: I don’t dabble in mods or private servers often. I was hoping I could find a private server that was GTA Online’s “Online” mode with PvP disabled, where large lobbies of players can do missions without being griefed by asshole billionaires in massive jets, losing hours of progress in seconds. (Gunrunning “Sell” mission, for example.) I have been successful finding easy-to-access private servers for MMORPG titles over the years, with shocking “Wow, you can do anything in Mods!” mods. I thought it would be easy to find such a server for GTA Online, until I started looking. It seems to be nothing more than a lost cause.
Modding/FiveM community: Is there such a thing as a GTA Online server, modded to remove PvP, while still allowing full access to its other features? Will there ever be such a thing? Or should I (God I hate to say it) give up? It seems so close, yet so far away. Thank you for all who contribute to this thread.