2) Has anybody found a way to play the stock market? I've been searching online and except for the Lester missions (which don't count), there's little advice and the advice that is there is often contradictory. For example: It was originally talked about that you could buy stock in one company and then kill/blow up/destroy their competitors and this would lower their competitors stock prices and increase yours. This is often mentioned in a lot of the tips, walkthroughs, etc. But I've seen a few more lately (main one was from IGN) where he demonstrated that doing this doesn't do a damn thing and that the only thing he can figure out is that the entire stock market is completely random and doesn't have dick to do with what you do in the game. (Except for the Lester missions)
If that's the case, it's really disappointing. Even more disappointing is what other people have said lately is that the stock tracking charts showing the history of the stock's performance isn't accurate so you can't even pick stocks based upon historical highs, trends, current prices, etc.
Is the whole thing just a crap shoot?
I'm still learning. I just completed the game and have about 28 million per character, which is quite a modest amount compared to those that have saved up the Lester missios and played the stock market. As for the talk about buying stock in one company and blowing up the other - that sort of sounds a bit like some of the Lester missions or in-game events. I have read though that it's possible to buy stocks from a car company and then trash all the cars you can find to influence the stock market... so on some level, it's definately game-event dependant.
On the other hand, I'm pretty sure some of the stocks are not. For instance, with the 28 million that I currently have, I have saved up one last Lester mission and by searching a bit online, it's very clear what stocks I would have to buy before the I start the mission. When I check the online market though, it seems that particular stock fluctuates quite a bit - low around $240, high and currently $353. Since the graph flactuates on a daily basis going from high to low, I figured I just wait for it to hit the low and then start the mission. Funny thing is though - while the date changes, the chart does not. The current always stays at $353 and no matter what I do, it stays there.
Last time I checked, it was even more weird. The graph had it showing down at $243, yet when I wanted to buy some, it told me it was at $352. What the hell?!?
I get that some stocks are supposed to stay what they are due to the Lester missions, but at least, the graph should be somewhat representative of what it costs...
3) I don't want to spoiler anything here but I don't think this is: Apparently after you finish the main story mission you get a fist full of dollars. The repeated advice is to save the Lester missions until after you finish the main story so you can leverage Lester's advice to really clean up in the stock market. My question is: Uhh... So WHAT?
Why would I want 30 billion dollars after I've already finished the game? Is this just some completionist crap because you can't get 100% complete unless you buy the ridiculously priced golf club? We already know that the money in the single player campaign doesn't go to your GTA Online characters and if GTA IV was any indication, any future DLC will involve completely new stories with completely new characters so the money won't be of any use in them either. So why would I want to run around with 30 billion dollars after I've finished the game?
...anybody got any thoughts on these?
Good question. I guess so that you can keep dying and waking up at the hospital for $5000. At least, that's how I've been putting my millions to use. Apart from that though, the game seems to offer a lot of possibilities after you complete it. Chances are, you still have a lot of side-quests/mission that you can complete and there are heaps of people you can date. I actually haven't reached the point yet, where I am bored of it. And then there's still the part where you can buy cars, helicopters, planes and tune them. Or properties. The question in the end remains though.. for what, if you at that point have reduced the game to a mix of the Sims and SimCity with a lot of cash?
It's really a petty you can't transfer it to your online profile...
