GTA RP - the Booming New Style of Storytelling

It's not exactly a new format. It has been around for a long time. Recently there has been a boom in interest for the format, though. Thousands of people tune in daily to watch.

The game is Grand Theft Auto V. It has been modded with an application called FiveM. This allows the developers to tweak the game to their liking.

The server that I, as well as the vast majority, am interested in, is NoPixel.

So what makes it so special?

Well if you've played GTA Online, it might be difficult to see any form of storytelling in the game. It's just a bunch of people running around shooting each other.

But this is not GTA Online. On the NoPixel server, it is strictly roleplaying. Every player has created a character. They have to stay in that character all the time. Breaking character might result in getting removed from the server. This creates a movie-like atmosphere. Everyone is playing their role and trying to make it big. Trying to make money. Some characters might do it by robbing banks and jewellery stores. Others might try to make an honest living, although they almost always end up doing crime to some degree.

So who is going to stop a bunch of criminals trying to make cash? Well, there's an entire police force made up of players as well. The police force is managed in a pretty realistic way. When the bank gets robbed, the alarm goes off and notifies the police. Multiple squad cars rush to the scene and attempt to incarcerate the criminals. Sometimes they might get away. This results in a high-speed pursuit between the robbers and the police force. Sometimes the robbers get caught and they will have to go to jail.

It might sound very shallow. But in reality, it is not. Every character involved in the robbery has a back story. They have their own goals and motives for wanting money. Each officer has their own reasons for being in the force. The best part is that you get to choose which story you like the best. You might want to watch it from the cop perspective. Maybe there's a gang member you like better. It's up to you.

There's a person behind every character of the server. Each person has to use improv skills and storytelling to create and interact with their character. Roleplaying by yourself isn't a lot of fun and this leads to groups and gangs being formed.

This next segment will be dedicated to the characters on the server and the talented people behind them.

Eugene Zuckerberg is one of the more comedic style characters on the servers. Old as he might look, he is 35 years old. At least that's what he claims. He does, however, suffer from dementia, or "dimensions" as he calls it.

As a natural storyteller combined with his "dimensions" he likes to tell stories from his life. He likes to talk about the 38 world wars he has fought in and the invention of various products including the frisbee.

"Did I ever tell you about the time I invented the frisbee? It was 1642 and I used a paper plate upside down and I would throw it to Edna and she would throw it back to me and I would throw it back to her and she would throw it back to me." - Eugene Zuckerberg

He has done more crimes than you can imagine and is the leader of the "Prune Gang". The gang includes many people including, Melbert Rickenbacker and Gladys Berry. The two are also elderly citizens of the city, hence the "prune"-part.

It also includes the infamous rapper Yung Dab (real name Maximilian Thoroughbred). Yung Dab is known for his music and his criminal activities. His music can be found on his SoundCloud and a lot of his tracks has reached over 100.000 listens. How does he fit into a gang of elderly people? He just does. You'll have to watch it for yourself.

Sound like something for you? You can find them on Twitch:

Eugene Zuckerberg - Vader

Melbert Rickenbacker - Spaceboy

Gladys Berry - MickDaInfamous

Yung Dab - MOONMOON_OW

Red Sea Enterprise is a relatively newly formed group on the server. It was formed by the drug kingpins of the server, Otto Delmar and Joe Caine, and their associate Leslie Ling.

Joe Caine and Otto Delmar are the drug kingpins of the city. If you need cocaine, they are your go-to guys. Joe Caine is usually found at his vineyard, a cover for the drug operation. He is an arrogant guy that likes to show off his money.

"You just fucked with 10 billion dollars!" - Joe Caine

Otto is a wild card. He is a crazy Australian guy that you don't want to mess with. He's not afraid to shoot you even if you're a cop. He is played by Koil who is the manager and main developer of the entire server.

Leslie Ling, self-proclaimed "Sex icon", is a rat of society. He holds grudges for as long as he has to. If you screw him over he will revenge it tenfolds. One time, Al Saab of the Lean Boys hit his car. Leslie spent the next 2 weeks preparing a plan to get him back. He planned to infect Saab with HIV. Unfortunately for Leslie, he ended up injecting himself with the syringe as he slipped while trying to inject Saab. Leslie loves money and will do anything to acquire more.

Check it out for yourself:

Joe Caine - cyr

Otto Delmar - koil

Leslie Ling - Nidas

There's a bunch of characters on this server and I haven't even scratched the surface here. There's the Lean Boys and the Chang Gang as well as a lot of unaffiliated characters. If you're interested in learning more, you can easily do so. Just hop onto Twitch and look in the Grand Theft Auto V section. There's almost always someone from NoPixel streaming. If you don't like that character, you can just move on. That's the beauty of it.

The stories being told on this server are amazing. There's no way for me to cover them here. Even if you're not a gamer and don't particularly like GTA, you can still find enjoyment from the storytelling.