Sorry, another beginner question. I have never been around for one of these.
Do servers matter for a single player game? Do people usually have problems on day one? Should I be expecting to not be able to play on the 19th, or is that only an Online thing? I do not know what to prepare for.
Accepted answer
Single player does not need servers to play, but on both consoles the game still has to check your licence once, and that check is what falls over on a launch day this size.
Practical version: preload from November 12, be online once on the 19th to let it verify, and after that you are fine. If the check fails, it is usually the storefront under load rather than the game, and it clears within a few hours.
Also take the day off if you possibly can. Not for technical reasons. You will not want to be at work.
Launch week for a Rockstar single player game is usually smooth. It is Online launches that go badly, and that is not happening on the 19th.
The other thing worth knowing is that day one patches for Rockstar games are large and land the morning of release. Factor that into your download time.
Do not do what I did with the last big launch and start it at 11pm on a work night. I did not sleep and I did not learn.
book the 20th off too. trust me on this one
Taking the whole week off then. Thank you all, this place has been really good to me.
That is really helpful, thank you both. I would not have thought about the patch at all.