You make some good points. I don't know how much play time you have but I'd reckon it's north of 300 hours? Even the best games can start to turn sour when you've dropped that sort of time in to it. For me it's even more acute, because if I get a game I like, I play pretty much only that until I burn out. It's a poor way to go about this hobby of ours I must admit, but there ya go. I'd get more mileage by mixing things up a bit more. Sometimes I come back to it. I've been through the cycle a couple of times with Elite Dangerous for example, and will go back again at some point.

The obstruction points you bring up, whether figurative or literal, are a big issue in public. No one wants to work for hours just to have some D-bag come along and blow it all up. I called it an issue instead of a problem, because frankly this sort of gameplay is encouraged and rewarded. It's really what it's about, from Rockstar's point of view. Some players play in that spirit, some players use that as a cover for their desire to just ruin your day. Public's a bit of a mess no doubt. But there are a few ways to do all of this outside of the influence of griefers and D-bags. And that's what I am planning to do, most of the time.

Most of what you take issue with seems to be common among long time players, and I have little doubt that eventually I'll feel the same way about various parts of GTA. As you said, I'm new, and for me it's fun.

As much as I rip public, it has a morbid attraction for me. I disagree that online is dead. I find plenty of populated servers, and at least "I" feel more alive in these servers. There is such a persistent and real threat that you cannot help but be hyper aware all the time. I like to just hop on my motorcycle and race through the streets as random players take potshots at me. Aircraft get me sometimes, but not much you can do aside from try to hide, and that's not the point

I completely agree with you about the futuristic stuff. I'm late to the game, and all this stuff was already part of it. But I'd prefer if the Deluxo, Oppressor, Up and Atomizer and other things of that sort were not in the game.

For me there is only one thing that is needed to transform public gameplay. The single best thing I can think of would be a server option to remove player icons from the map. It would be a different game. It would be fun, still dangerous, and reward proper gameplay. At least, in my opinion.