Wow, and he didnt even pay for the game lol, imagine what its like for us victims of highway robbery. And potentially future, better games with licenses.
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so Iâm going to try to be a little more positive than my comrades about todayâs update.
First of all, Iâd like to say that I agree with a lot of people here about the evolution of the game. I can confirm that there are still a lot of things to be ironed out to make the game the best it can be.
I have noticed, however, that after todayâs update, the game has improved on certain points. First of all, it seems to me that the playersâ running speed has been adjusted. Whatâs more, the rucks are better and I sincerely believe that they should no longer be touched. Iâve also noticed that the length of kicks has been increased. In fact, you need to play several matches to realize the progress, as these are small gameplay additions that make the game increasingly fluid. For my part, the only bugbear Iâve encountered over several games is when passes from the 9 go straight into touch.
So yes, the game is progressing, but not fast enough, and the question Iâm asking myself is whether or not big ant is going to work on the problems reported by the community. AI that doesnât make passes, up and underâŚadding combinations for the back lines etc⌠in fact we should at least know if these problems are going to be worked on, and if so, when? a roadmap would indeed be welcome. Big ant, if people are angry, itâs because they feel this game has huge potential and we all believe in it.
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I know there are still a lot of issues to iron out but players running onto the ball, especially after making a break is killing the feel of even a try for me. Also, the whistle needs to be changed to union
Remember when Ross said it was a reasonable game before EA released
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See when you post this without context see how bad it looks 
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Hey JNT_BA curious to know how big is Bigant in terms of human resources that are dedicated to patch development? With AFL 26 on its way and possible patches with that will that reduce capacity for Rugby 25 work? I kinda miss the days when you guys would just release the game (closer to a complete build), boxed and on a shelf only requiring couple patches. Anyways, very grateful that you guys collect everyones feedback and try to implement the most common ideas and concepts, I just hope too many chefs donât spoil the broth⌠cheers and beers fellas.
PC Steam Hardest
Ok so following the latest patch the good news is that the game breaking bugs have been rectified. So far, penalties seem to be alot better balanced as well, and you can now hold the ball a bit better without being automatically pinged.
With the rucks the AI can still retain the ball for bit too long for my liking, and the delay in joining the ruck really needs to be looked at. It we could steal the ball just a little bit more then i think it would be more realistic.
The ruck logic should really be that if you smash the opposition back behind line a few times, or they are not making any ground over multiple phases, then the ball should be turned over or a penalty given for holding on. If you make consistent metres over the gainline, then so long as you are not completely isolated, then there should be a bias in favour of retaining possession. Please look into this, as it gives the player a reward for good offensive or defensive capabilities. it also gives clarity to how the momentum in the game is going, and then you can make the choice whether to kick or not before the inevitable turnover.
Iâm guessing the AI have to be able to hold on for so long because they are still playing a very one dimensional game close to the rucks and have no other choice. Whilst their behaviour is decent at this part of the game, if they could just add tactical kicking to their repotoire it would add much greater depth . That and the abiility to add more width to their play. I believe there two things would really improve the experience.
Can the team also look at kicking off the tee. It seems so hit and miss at the moment; even the AI are regularly missing sitters. iâm not why it changed to be honest as there was nothing wrong with what we had a few versions ago.
As always, thanks to the team for their efforts. The game is at least quite enjoyable again.
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Played the lates updat 4/30/25 xbox-s on medium then hard. Won both games the first by 47 points second by 28 points. Two evenly rated teams Argentina vs Kiwi.
First , review of Rucks will say what I said last statement , it is improving some but need more of this.
Big Ant ! you have a big advantage over Rugby challenge 3 and 4. You have better push over counter ruck animations, use them! Donât use the passive add 3-5 players turnover, use the push over animation for the counter ruck. Split the counter ruck button, up from the steal button. Let us determine which of the two to use, or if we fail at quick steal/jackle, we can pile on players for a counter ruck if the offense takes too long, I donât know how it happened but twice in the last game I played , i did not get the steal but I sent 4 defensive players in to their 3 in the ruck and we pushed them over for a counter ruck because the AI was taking to long to play the ball. (This looked great) I see the meter is helping with knowing when the turnover is going to happen, can be as simple as pressing a counter ruck button at the right time when you have the meter in your favor, different button from the quick steal, and if you do try a quick steal while the ruck has formed and while more players joined the ruck, you either get hand in ruck penalty or a cheat steal, (this is when the rare passive ruck turnover animation can happen, even with 1-5 players) otherwise the better choice once the ruck forms would be a counter ruck move, (if you do the counter ruck while the meter is low then you could be called for a ruck penalty, coming in from the side or a crocodile roll, again would not have to have the exact animation, just a way of adding some penalties at the ruck breakdown. Rucks are coming along, just a little more matching the correct animation with the correct effect. The animations are there , they just got match the action. But still have to fix the (tackle B) (contest Y) and (steal x) (on xbox)combo , in the history of playing this game , have only had it happen once, the animation for tackle, stand and stealing has to be faster (like Rugby challenge 3 or 4) and if your able to stay standing while tackling with Y high tackle or left shoulder button , you should have an even better chance at the contested tackle success. ( of course the players stats would come into play as well).
Fend is still to powerful, make it a timed button thing instead of hold button down thing. (It makes not point at using any of the other offensive moves) the other moves are not effective. Sidesteps have to have a faster animation.
Up and Under have been improved but need an even higher trajectory with skilled players.
Ai needs to use more attacking variations and skill moves like the sidestep and barge and kicking attacks. (this is in there rugby league games , so it should show up in the Rugby game)
Rucks and Mauls have to have a better reward system, Mauls should have some penalties. (good systems just not fully implemented)
Having said all that, at times it does have some really nice highlight real run and pass flow rugby.
On one of the better notes, the grubber kick which can be exploited in just about all other Rugby games , is done very good in this game, and it is a good challenge to pull one of.
Thank you Big Ant for continuing to improve the game, it may take a while but we will get there. Each time I am enjoying it a little more.
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Rugby 25 promotes itself as a game that captures the true essence of rugby:
âExperience the rush as Rugby 25 immerses you in the world of rugby like no game before it. Every pass, every tackle, and every try flawlessly crafted to capture the true essence of rugby.â
Based on their claims and the gameplay, I must say that the game falls significantly short.
Beyond the fundamental mechanics, such as scrums, line-outs, rucks, and mauls, which are quite problematic, the core aspects of rugbyâattacks, running, and passingâare also poorly executed. These issues have been present since early access and have been frequently reported, yet it appears that Big Ant has not effectively addressed or improved these fundamental areas. Whether this is due to lack of effort or passion is unclear.
It is concerning when a company advertises their game as embodying the true essence of rugby, only for it to reflect a very different reality. The current state of the game does not align with that promise.
Furthermore, despite ongoing player feedback and attempts to see improvements, the fundamental issues remain unaddressed. History shows that meaningful change often requires decisive action; for example, Rassie Erasmus transformed the Springboksâ management structure, leading to consecutive World Cup victories. Success often requires tackling core problems directly, rather than making minor adjustments or superficial fixes.
If the core mechanics of your game are fundamentally flawed, the solution is to overhaul them rather than attempt to patch a broken system. If the developers are unwilling to take such steps, they should reconsider their marketing claims, as presenting the game as a true reflection of rugby is misleading.
And this will be my final attempt to try to help the developers as these stuff has been mentioned many times:
General attacking play (this for me is the most important when it comes to the feel of the game)
1 - Player positioning
Players is often randomly spaced out and spread out on the field. This makes passing from one player to another feels unrealistic and cluncky.
This is an example of how it should be when playing the blind side from a ruck:
This is what we get in the game:
(No support no proper player positioning. Players are too deep)
Another example of proper player positioning:
And this is what we get:
I donât even know why is that player standing behind the other player.
2 - Support runners
The problem i see most of the time when passing for a player the player receiving the ball is sprinting onto the ball while the support players is fixing their shoes or just standing still this leaves support players to deep.
This is an example of how it should look like when you break a line:
This is Rugby 25:
This is whatâs happening when you try to run with the ball ( supporting players either stand still and fix their shoes or they run totally the opposite direction as you or they just stand still.)
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I took a few weeks off playing this game in the hope that id give BA time to fix the issues as i found hoping that these issues would be fixed every tuesday and thursday weekly was just frustrating me more and more. I tried not to read this group before returning to the game so i could make my mind up if it has improved at all since i last played.
I played 5 mins a half on hardest difficulty on ps5. I lasted until the 20min of the first half so what is that probably about 2 mins?
Wow BA you really are fooling nobody with these updates. Nothing has improved since i last played. Truly amazing that you can release these updates and expect us to believe that you really are changing anything.
I am so annoyed about this honestly its really unfair how you have treated you customers and i will never buy a game from BA ever again.
Numerous issues all brought up on this thread for the last few months have been ignored and the game has gone in circles and lets be realistic has never been playable.
Licensing also ia something im very annoyed about. Its like you expect us to be happy that we have jerseys in this game and a few face scans? That is not what was advertised. Empty dead stadiums with no atmosphere. Player scans on very few teams. And lets be honest graphics are very poor. No dirt on jerseys etc.
This was a cash grab by a small company who took advantage of the rugby community. And for anyone thinking of buying AFL 26 etc i would highly reccomend you think twice as i feel it will be a repeat of what has gone on with this game.
I have deleted rugby 25 of my playstation and i have never waisted my money on such rubbish in my life.
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@JNT_BA can you please do a quick patch for the sidestep animation and 360 just make it faster lets see if it helps
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Is it still gonna be the Goat?
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Itâs something that I brought up in a meeting i had today.
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Please donât do a quick patch. Last time we got a quick patch it broke the game. Please look at implementing the correct laws of rugby union first. Fix the AI, fix player positioning.
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Thats true , this group is going to go on for many more months like this , fix that , fix this !! i am also on the cricket 24 platform , guys still complaining there , so there we go !! I sold my game again before it comes to the point that it will be of no value , lost alot of money because its now second hand lol ,PS5 DISC VERSION - did not even get time to play because you cant 
,
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I for one enjoying the game, itâs gone back to weâre it was before last update that broke it , PS5 hardest
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I also like this game, I feel that it has potential thatâs why I still believe in it, be careful Iâm not saying that there are no problems to solve, there are even many, but I find that the game is interesting, I have rugby 22 and rugby challenge 4, and despite the defects of rugby 25, I prefer rugby 25, thatâs to say the potential of this gameâŚthe licenses, the graphics, the animations are very good, the gameplay is good but it can still be largely improved and I hope that big ant is aware that their game has enormous potential and that they will not waste itâŚ
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Well, as every other rugby game on the planet is absolute custard as well ⌠then ⌠still no.
I would go as far to say it will be one of the worst rugby union games to ever be released 
I got my copy free and I still feel ripped off.
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I am literally playing Rugby 08 on my laptop due to the fact that it feels like a rugby union game, there are actual offside and knock on rules/advantages, there are actual ball spills in tackles, which Rugby 25 just absolutely dont have. Having licenses and players faces means absolutely nothing if the game doesnt even play like a rugby union game, utterly disappointing, all hope is lost, all money lost
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