Rockstar has been known to respond quickly against modders of GTA Online. Following the massive sledgehammer-to-the-face that was {{#widget:a|href=https://www.gtaboom.com/gta-v-1-28-full-of-dead-code-killing-pc-performance%7Ctext=version 1.28's anti-cheating defense</a (which opted to dump a mother-load of dead code into the game's files to muddy up the water and make modding harder, but ended up making un-modded versions of the game run horribly even on high-end PCs) it was always looking likely Rockstar would go all out on cheaters in the future. Rightly so of course, too — we all want a fair playing field!
Well, Rockstar North's iron fist has descended upon the citizens of Los Santos once again. Work on a mod called FiveM began back when the PC version of the game was released. FiveM is intended to be an overhaul of GTA Online, allowing players to visit Los Santos and cause mayhem with their buddies on private, dedicated servers, where they are allowed to use any kinds of mods, including new fan-made maps and game modes. The project depended on reverse-engineered data and info from the game files, and the team working on it has seemingly spent a lot of time dissecting the game to find out how to make their dream come true. Currently, the mod is only in a very preliminary state, it is hardly stable, but it is more-or-less usable.
Rockstar has responded by dropping the moderation-equivalent of a nuclear bomb. Yesterday, pretty much everyone who was in any way, shape or form affiliated with the FiveM mod was banned from the Rockstar Social Club. This included the creator of the mod, users of the mod, and even the moderators of the GTA V PC subreddit.
I am not a developer of FiveM, I am just the mere moderator of the subreddit, but yes, I have some sort of affiliation with the mod. I was skeptical that we were banned (screenshot" title="">) for being contributors (in some way) to the FiveM project.
It seems that Rockstar really is going to extreme lengths to eradicate anyone who modifies GTA Online. Do you think Rockstar is getting a little brutal with their bans, or do you think the ends justify the means?
