Early Access 3 (EA3) Launch

Rugby 25
26

Just like the others are saying, best update so far. Really enjoy the offload fix and how risky attempts often lead to bad passes, going to ground, intercepts, etc. AI mistakes are great as well, a perfect opposition is not what the majority want.

Can not wait for rules to be implemented to lead to penalties, advantages being played, sin bins, and the end of grossly offside tries during kick tennis! As well as planned set moves, appropriate player positioning and increased calibration.

MLR players, kits, graphics and stadiums are brilliant. Can not wait for the Gallagher Prem - all these features are strong differentiators compared to previous iterations of the game, and gameplay is definitely getting in the right direction.

Gameplay Feedback

  • defender responsiveness at lineout, often frozen and then 9 will run forward 5m with no tackler responding to tackle button
  • AI kick receivers become very robotic and seem to have a tackle guard for first few seconds after receiving, makes kick chases redundant
  • own players slow to react from kicks, no urgency to pick up the ball on a kick and chase, happy to stroll up to it
  • Please explain scrums, have not won one in the latest 3 patches - follow the instructions and get “good” timing but penalty every time. I am by no definition a seasoned gamer so I will happily take criticism for not being good, I just want to understand ha
  • AI is capable of being tackled in the try area and doing an extra movement to place the ball, however if I am tackled in game area it is AI ball immediately (even if ball is grounded on the replay). This means it is not possible to score fun tries through rounds of forwards ball, eg pick and go or running short lines. Many tries are scored this way in real life and would be a shame for this to be limited in game
  • difficult to tackle open runners as button to locate nearest player is selecting 2nd closest player and when selected they pause their running or defensive line
  • line passing is super fast but offloads are slower and it is hard to capitalise on the gaps in space because players become static when receiving, when in games this is often at pace (dependent on skill stats)
  • definitely a future request, but when players when standing near rucks or mauls or open play, it is very rigid. Adding variety of resting animations, or guard animations would increase lifelike aethetic

Glitches

  • Bullet passes to touch
  • AI mall lineouts often cause game to soft crash. The ball stays in maul but game reacts like it is out, so there is no free kick for not using the ball, the game just indefinitely rolls on - only solution is to exit the game and lose progress
  • Pick and go from the ruck into open space sometimes difficult and player will become trapped or partially blocked by open space, which slows the runner or makes it impossible to capitalise on gaps in defence. Solution is to run a big semi circle around the ruck which isn’t ideal
  • Edit: Recently tried to kick from dead ball area to clear possession upfield, but my player placed the ball down resulting in 5m scrum to opposition
1 Like
27

Something minor I would love to see is players names under the selected player, I know it says it in the bottom corner but sometimes hard to check when you’re playing
I’d like to know who’s running the ball and who you’re defending with without looking down there

4 Likes
28

Spent hours creating players and a team, and cannot use them in Play Now or Competetions mode? How to be able to use academy assets?

2 Likes
30

thank you for the reply, that seemed to have fixed it

1 Like
32

Great Update guys! So far the game is SO MUCH more enjoyable! Only thing is it has a lot of crashes now.

But we definitely getting a much more polished game already just with this latest update.

Now still a few things to look at.

• Rucks need to still speed up a bit. Get the ball quicker to the 9 (or whoever) to get faster passes.
• Player Positioning still needs to improve. But we getting there. MUCH better than launch.
• Set plays would be nice, like getting a kicker in the pocket because I tried to do a drop goal and got tackled because I was too close to the defensive line. Or even just a button to put kicker more behind the line of offensive players to open up more space to kick
• Multiple crashes during random events in game.
• Rules in the game. Like offside would be nice to see in a next few updates.
• Btw, I love the on screen notifications when scoring a try and kicking. Also the new pause screen looks great! Maybe just use some different stats when scoring a try haha. Because the age of a player is not very relevant when scoring a try.

Other than that I am VERY happy! Great update guys! Also the Kicking has improved SO MUCH!! Love the work you are putting into the game! Keep it up!

4 Likes
33

not got the game yet i’m PS5, but latest update looks brilliant, wonder if Sliders for gameplay will come at some point like in the AFL Game cause they made a huge differance tbh, great work guys

1 Like
34

A really good update who fixe a lot of stuffs.

Here the stuff that i think still need to be fixe:

  • Being able to change the position of the players so it’s easier to kick/drop kick
    -Implementing the rules that are missing
  • Making the ruck more realistic with new animations (because it does look like a scrum)
  • Fixing the grass texture
  • Implement the charge down when the kick is taken too close to the defence
  • make the players’ movements less linear to make them more natural, because at times they feel “robotic”
7 Likes
35

This is probably just personal preference but I don’t mind kicking for goal being too easy. In fact BigAnt should add a goal kicking difficulty so there is a least an option for people to make their goal kicking experience more challenging, again that is just my opinion.

3 Likes
36

The game has so much potential, I hope you guys stick with it. It’s crashed every game since the update but gameplay feeling better. Crashing mainly occurring on long kicks. Cheers from USA, keep up good work.

1 Like
38

The ruck still needs work, especially the tackling player(s). I appreciate it may need some new animations and further reworking, but the tackling players should sometimes be stuck in the ruck and not just bouncing straight back to their feet to allow them to compete for the ball.

How are we meant to develop overlaps when every ruck has the same number of players. The attacking team is actually at a disadvantage as the tackled player is stuck at the bottom of the ruck every time!

And what about penalties at the ruck for the tackling player deliberately slowing down the ball or not rolling away, which would be a great risk/reward feature to include? These can’t be present unless the tackling player(s) are getting trapped in the ruck sometimes

3 Likes
39

The whole responsiblity of the number 9 is to pass the ball from mauls to rucks to lineouts. Most times I see a ruck occur the number 9 joins in the ruck. The 9 should hold back and prepare to pass the ball to whoever is around.

3 Likes
40

Definitely agree with most, rucks needs to be looked think when stealing the ball should just move to my side rather than the pushover that gives defeats the purpose if ai gets ball back, maybe add another button to do counter ruck than you can do the pushover knowing the risk you might not get the ball

6 Likes
42

100% agree. Do you think it will mostly be resolved once offsides are turned on? Provided the ball is still considered in the ruck

1 Like
43

I see on IGN website they say the game is coming soon to console is it true

44

Number 9 needs fixing, still too slow to the breakdown to distribute the ball. Also should not join the ruck and hold back to pass the ball, as others have said.

Support player positioning also needs work next. Maybe fix the support player to the ball or the ball carrier, either running on the shoulder for an offload, or slightly further for a normal pass. We don’t need set plays, we just need a fluid game with dynamic positioning, dynamic running and good passing. Support player can dynamically sut back inside for the inside offload. Must happen on the fly and the support runners determine the move you will do next by presenting randomised opportunities, like real life.

Would like to see dynamic cameras as an option, as well as broadcast camera, fixed to the 50m line, with low, medium and high options, fixed to the stadium you create and play. With dynamic camera, it zooms in when a scrum or ruck and tactics are set to “close” where the focus is on running forward pods close to the ruck with short offloads for the forwards to take contact. When in open play, or kicking, or tactics set to wide play, camera is more zoomed out.

If player positioning is fixed, would like to see tactics introduced, as previously outlined, using the D-pad.

Introduce more cut scenes in between plays, like after scoring a try, or before forming a lineout and scrum, etc.

Would like to see knock-ons and penalties or infringements with the next update, so we can start playing real rugby. More communication from the ref (hardly hear him) and blowing the whistle when there is a stopage in play, as well as points scored (there is cutrently not always a whistle)

My biggest question - could you confirm which Licensed competitions will make up the 13 that were confirmed, because with team and player creater tools, we can start creating the teams and players for the unlicensed competitions we want to play?

7 Likes
45

concerning passes:
I think that the way sometimes players pass backard with no look is a bit weird, specally when it’s pass that goes 2 to 3 metters behind them. It’s feels like the players are out of place with their actions.

2 Likes
46

Hi Team,

Some feedback

The player creator is really good. Some points on this.

Is it possible to get Leg Strapping added in the future as an accessory to a player. Normally a lot of Locks and backrowers wear the strapping around the thighs. Also head strapping around the forehead if possible as another accessory alternative to head gear.

IMG_0888
IMG_08884032×3024 2.47 MB

IMG_0898
IMG_08983024×4032 2.41 MB

  • With the player creator I made my own version of Seattle Seawolves Flyhalf Mack Mason. I wanted to swap my version with the current version in the game. I noticed at the moment we can’t add any created players to licensed teams in the game. It would be good if we got full squads in the future with reserve players so I can add or swap players into a squad.

IMG_0929
IMG_09291280×800 130 KB

-Could we please consider adding the surname Sua’ali’i commentary name to Rugby 25. I created my own Joseph Sua’ali’i to add into the NSW Waratahs once Super Rugby Pacific is added to Rugby 25 at a future date.

-As for MLR it looks great. Love seeing all the teams and stadiums. MLR logos at stadiums looks good. Some great engaging Crowd atmosphere at Snap Dragon Stadium. Really enjoyed playing some matches. I found the Ai to be competitive, especially when they get behind on the score board, they actually try to look for various ways to open up your defence and score. They push up their intensity with passes, running , offloads. I had one Ai Prop shoulder charge into one of my props , knock him flying and score a try ! Brilliant.
This was on hard and medium Difficulty. With kicking I managed to do a few Grubber kicks , a bomb or two and kicking for field position from fullback. Stamina is also good if running a very long distance as a sprint and eventually getting slower if sprinting too long.

-One Bug Miami Sharks referred to as Toronto Arrows by commentators. Will try to add this to a ticket I raised over a few things.

-I think for the near future it would be great to actually have full squads to do team management in a competition , replace players on the field with those off the bench - Stamina player management, injuries , yellow or red cards occurring.

Plan to create more players on Fanhub just trying to work out the ones you might not have scanned for some clubs. Also hope we can get the online community server to share and download creations soon.

Thanks guys. A really positive major update to the game. It’s definitely getting more fun and addictive.

4 Likes
48

Rugby Academy shows what a good job they’ve done with the graphics, but there’s something about the lighting during matches that makes everything look strange.

1 Like
50

Agree with Valhalla. The AI need to make better decisions. Besides making hot potato passes, they would make a clear break through the defensive line, make 10+ meters in gain, and then pass 20 meters backwards once they are about to get tackled. The same thing when they are within 10 meters of the try line, they would pass it 10 meters backwards. In those instances, when they made clear progress, or are close to the try line, they need to hold on to the ball if there is no teammate near them. Please fix their decision making and perhaps the radius of possible passes, for user and AI, with the next interim patch, so we can actually have AI that score points when they made good ground and already got through the defensive line.

6 Likes
51

Game continues to crash, mostly when you press macros, but really at any point, cannot even get through a 5-minute halves game. Even difficult to test because when you finally get into rhythm game crashes. The passing and offload much improved had some awesome offloads, but these tight offloads seem to be triggering crashes.
Rucks would be nice to have the intended system explained. While isolating an offensive player the defending player should be able to get up and contest. The type of tackle and player rucking stat should determine how quickly he can do this. And this is where strategy would come in. No dumb down rucks please. Allow us to control whether to send 1 or 5 into a ruck. This is part of Rugby fun and strategy.
We should be able to control if we want to send the forwards or backs into the ruck as well. These choices on the fly add to the strategy of the game.

4 Likes