> Cheaters have been rampant for many years, with people using apparently purchased cheat tools that allow them to choose to do server-side things like drop unlimited money and spawn vehicles anywhere, rapidly cycling through weather changes, and locking people permanently in cages.

First I ever played with friends, we were driving down a highway, stopped by spikes that killed our tires, and someone spawned bags of money in front of us. I took a few million, logged out, and did not touch GTA till many years later. I remember I also bought cars and apartments with my friend, I figure we didnt have impossible amounts of money, so Rockstar would never ban us, sure enough, we were fine.

I played a year back with the same friend, but despite there being less hackers, I hate not being able to do gameplay more isolated to just friends, even if you lock out some missions.