Stay away from GTA V FIVEM WHITELIST servers

Dear friends, today I am going to tell you about an experience of mine so that you can evaluate and decide independently and impartially. It is important that this article is read from beginning to end so that it is easier to get as complete an idea as possible of what we are talking about and how this experience of mine can help you.

It all started when I decided to follow someone on his Twitch channel, a place where people stream almost exclusively games. I had already heard about this game and played a few hours of it in the past but unfortunately the pre-packaged story bored me. I don't really like playing single-player games, so I took the opportunity to get a long-time friend of mine involved.

The idea was to find a server that with appropriate modifications would allow us to have the most realistic and intense experience possible. So, after I figured out how to play in an unofficial GTA V server using FIVEM, I realised that there were plenty of unofficial servers available. The reason why there are so many servers can probably be attributed to a combination of factors.

I decided to go for a server where this person I was following on twitch was playing because it was a server where you could role-play and the rest of us had a similar 20 years of experience. I was convinced that it wouldn't be that difficult, but when we read a 40+ page rulebook, which outlined an application, a written exam and an oral exam, we were immediately discouraged and went to a server that didn't have a whitelist, which also had roleplaying.

The server was not very good in terms of performance and in fact, as soon as I created the character, I found myself with the basic model and no possibility of customising it. We met a few players and everything was going pretty well, except perhaps for the fact that the server was pretty bare of players. One of these people we met on the way advised me to contact the administrators on discord (who were not there) to help me change my character's features. Some time later, I was intercepted by a server administrator who ordered me in an annoyed tone of voice to change my character by going to the various shops. We told him that we had punctured (and it was true) and therefore could not go around with the car.

We contacted, following the game's directions, the mechanic who, for payment with the game's virtual currency, would fix our wheel. After several tens of minutes waiting there, we decided to take the car to the shop in order to follow the administrator's instructions even with a flat tyre. Almost immediately a message appeared with a warning, at three warnings you are banned. After a short time, the same administrator as before stops us and tells us that ‘you can't go around with a flat tyre’ because, if we had lost our grip on the car, they would have accused him of running a server where there was no real role-playing.

The managers of these servers are terrified of people who sometimes come in just to make ‘funny’ videos in order to discredit them. Usually, these players have other servers and thus perpetuate this kind of ‘unfair competition’, but this is not always the case.

To recap, on this server without a whitelist, we couldn't find the administrators and when they found us, instead of remedying the situation caused by their mismanagement of the server and the various bugs, they reprimanded us. Imagine a young boy reprimanding men of almost forty. It was quite recreational.

After struggling to get up to speed, and with the terror that an admin would pop up at every corner to reprimand us or ban me, we decided to look for a job. The options of the various public jobs available were very few. Initially we chose to be truck drivers, after getting our licence, we struggled to find the site where we could get the trucks, and later wondered who on earth would call us in a server so bare of missions and people.

After some time of sheer boredom, we returned to the job centre, which is a circle where one chooses a certain job independently. In this case we decided to try a slightly more independent job, namely woodcutter. We soon realised that it was a repetitive job that we could not complete, so we decided to opt for a server with a bit more people.

My eye therefore fell on a server that offers whitelisted services, for which there is also an application, after some time you submit your character's background, have an oral interview and if you are deemed worthy, you will finally be granted the incredible honour of joining the server. After reading the rules, I decided to do the interview without any help because actually on discord, there was no way to check if I had the rules in my hand to peek but I wanted to do things right. I've never liked groups where you have to take an exam to get in, but many people are convinced that it's the best system to have high quality players and to guarantee fun for everyone.

After waiting patiently on the dedicated channel, we hear the voice of one of the examiners who gives us a speech very similar to the one you get when you join the marines. A couple of people, discouraged by that speech, left the channel to ‘prepare better’. My turn came, initially there were two examiners but at some point one left because he had to have lunch. They asked me why I had chosen that server and I explained that I was following this streamer. They made a strange noise in chorus, but it must have been a rustle on discord.

They asked me a lot of questions but in the end the examiner decided to postpone until three days later because I was unsure how many people could be involved in a given action. I couldn't remember if it was 8 or 15, it was 8. They didn't even know what a GAME MASTER was, which I had to explain to them. Because I was ‘unsure’ they decided to postpone it until three days later. If I had decided to try again and failed again, the time would have been extended to five days and thereafter I could no longer participate.

Personally I decided not to try again, I was already unconvinced but this decision came from a combination of considerations. The first reason is definitely the fact that I at almost forty years old cannot be judged by kids for having the honour of playing a game, it's a stupid reason I know but still it's my time. The second reason is related to the fact that the same streamer I was following, following a question from me, admitted that she did not interview to join the server. As has also been confirmed to me by other players at certain times, the server administrators, as is their right to do, invite whoever they want. This is perfectly understandable and legitimate, it's their server and of course they let in who they like. But then why do I potentially have to waste 10 days in the hope of having the immense privilege of entering?

If the players are so well selected, why are there recordings on twitch where you can clearly see impossible actions, characters metagaming, and other implausible actions? It's not hard to verify, just have a look on the various streaming platforms.

At this point my dear friends, you might probably think that I have written this article only because I have been discarded. And in fact, I have to say that I immediately had the urge to write it precisely with the intention of venting. Knowing myself therefore, I decided not to name names (even though I have proof of what I am saying of course) and I also decided to wait more than a day before starting this article to let my feelings cool down a bit. So I think I have written an article that perhaps started out as a form of revenge, but in the end may give you that food for thought to better consider your choices to value yourself and your time.

In fact, I thought that on a server run in such a ‘careful’ manner. It takes nothing for someone to put me in a position to make a mistake. If I had to be careful and focused all the time without having time to relax, surely the quality of my enjoyment would suffer greatly. If I were to be a very careful person, who wants to play on that server at all costs, after a long time of playing there and having built up so much, I could be banned for something minor or because someone could put me in a position to make a mistake.

So from my point of view my friends, I think this article has come very close to the goal of saving you time and nerves. My final opinion then, having had some previous experience, is to never lose sight of the fact that we are always dealing with a game and that for this reason, never and under no circumstances can you lose sight of the line that separates the game from reality. Rather than wasting a day studying 41 pages only to be flunked because of a wrong number, I would certainly have better invested my time in looking for the right server for my needs without restrictions and focusing above all on the most important side of the game which is the game. Or reading a good book for example.

In fact, with tests and examinations, if one were to follow these people's instructions to the letter, one could potentially waste 10 days of one's life on papers and regulations. This to me is not entertainment, it is an exaggeration. In the final instance, I would also advise you to consider the fact that (also because of the maximum number of players), you are unlikely to find people interesting enough to pass the hours without getting bored.

Also, I think you should be warned that if you choose this type of server, sooner or later, someone will find a system to get you banned if you are too active or if your game collides with theirs. There is an impressive spin around this kind of server, administrators compete to invite famous streamers with the aim of attracting people to the server. Between them, the various administrators spite each other and have a tendency to apply very unfair practices. To make you understand why I have decided that whitelisted servers are not worth my time, I invite you to do a little exercise in imagination.

Imagine for a moment that after a thousand difficulties (because no recommendations) you finally have the privilege of playing on one of these servers. You enter, it takes you a while to build the character's appearance the way you want it, you enter, and then what? What do you do? You wander around hoping to meet someone? Do you latch onto your favourite streamer? Really? These are servers frequented by groups of people who have known each other for a long time and have been playing together for a long time.

This is my personal opinion of course, feel free to leave yours in the comments.