XBOX- s version 3/6/ patch V1.0.2750 had a similar experience on the steam version patch V1.0.2746. Main points.
Needs work
Been said, AI passing and offloading not there, played on hardest difficulty and AI is no challenge, so predictable, Winning by 3-4 tries. ( I know big ant will fix this, because all of the league games have challenging AI.
Still have the one player bulldozer ruck over 3 players sometimes, maybe up to 2 not 3.
Just switch out with the simple steal animation that was added (but more of it) simple steal animation is good. Thank you for implementing Big Ant , now need to fine tune.
To easy to win the scrum, AI is terrible at scrums, many times you donāt even have to push on the first graph, just time the hook good and press x for possession. Too simple to easy and not enough reward for executing a great scrum, should be able to gain more meters if you do the perfect scrum, keep the ball moving, or have the opponent infringe for a penalty. AI never gets penalized at scrum. āLets make scrums fun againā by rewarding with good meters gained or causing the opponent to infringe.
I have not gotten the forward analog offensive moves to work at all, only back/down on analog when fend or Bumb of animation triggers and sidesteps work but have to be anticipated way to early. (need to speed up animation)
Dummy pass only works to one side, dummy to left works, dummy to right does not.
AI still choosing scrum on steam version every time, on x-box s also with occasional kicking, but still making wrong decisions at penalty time.
One hit wonder ( it seems like you only have one chance to pull off a special move) have not been able to string two together. Example side step, then fend.
Kicking for points, not challenging, way to easy, (suggestion, make the first graph move side to side, the better the kicker the slower the graph moves)
**9. In order to feel like a complete version of Rugby need to be able to add up to 5 in the ruck,
make the scrums more rewarding if played well, by gaining meters in the scrum, or by forcing the AI to collapse the scrum or scrum penalty.
Y contest the tackle still not functional for rucking, need to be able to isolate, tackle, and same player tackling attempt the steal, or force the opponent to hold on penalty.
The good things from the latest 3/6/ patch
You can pick and go at the ruck, but I believe can only happen if you bind at least one at the ruck, at times when the AI does not have ruck support or the tackler does not stand to try to steal, offense should be able to pick and go without someone binding to the ruck. For the occasional pick and go quick ball.
I use quick ball pick and go a lot, but I have to always bind at least 1 to the ruck . Should be able on occasion to just pick and go from the tackled player setting the ball back.
The passing feels much better, still needs some wild glitches fixed, but if you time your runs with occasional sprints, you are getting some really good running rugby with great linking of passes. Wish AI could do the same.
Offloads are very good for the User, but for the AI non-existent even on hardest difficulty.
The ruck turnovers amount and anticipation when they are supposed to happen is feeling better with each patch but still needs tuning. On an Argentina vs Wales Xbox-s had a good amount of ruck turnovers my 7 all game vs Wales 5 on Hardest difficulty, take in mind I play fairly conservative as does the AI, so it felt good , just need more simple steal animation instead of bulldozer animation 1 vs 3. But I am seeing more variations which is good. Just eliminate entirely the 1 player smashing through 3 for the steal, the 2 on 3 or 3 on 3 ruck over is ok. There should be a few different scenarios at the ruck with different animations. But rucking is improving. Add ability to add up to 5 to the ruck, this will change the dynamics for the game for the better.
The visual of the player faces and the animation for running and doing things in game are some of the bests in a Rugby game.
Overall, it does seem like Big Ant is making improvement, there is a long way to go, but I get the feeling, they will not stop until they have a great Rugby game in their hands.
Grubbers are working good, small chips are working ok, have not tested drop goals, Up and Under need to be fixed they have to have a higher trajectory win kicking with a player with a good kick rating and the animation must be quicker so you can get it off. Currently the only offensive players able to retrieve the ball are the ones offsides. This should be a simple change. (This is not AFL)
The systems are in place; they just need a lot of tuning and added animation to support the tuning. Looking forward to more updates.
AI passing is the best itās been since launch, but rucks are broken more than ever. Players donāt commit and turnovers are non existent. Unfortunately, this new one has killed them and they werenāt the best then either
The scrums need an overhaul as itās just an AI dominated thing.
But happy to see a lot of feedback is being taken onboard.
When it comes to career, I do wish the coaching and training were more in depth and the UI is basic yet can be a bit unwieldy. Iād love the ability to sign players and renew also sooner in game. And an academy system.
I wonder If people are having significantly different experiences on different platforms.
On the ps5, only playing on the easiest setting, Iām still losing a significant amount of rucks and therefore possession. I have tried varied team levels against each other and seen no change. I would say the AI steal far more than me. Could be a skill issue on my part?
Some on this group are apparently thrashing teams to nil on the hardiest setting.
The AI breaking tackles is ridiculous, they literally do it at will, particularly after the last couple of updates.
Scrums make no sense. I have the timings all in green, including the hook. The scrum just collapses or is wheeled in a funny way and then collapses. I may have won one or two since purchase with 10+hrs in the game.
Passing has gone backwards, pardon the pun.
I do wonder if big ant test these updates before releasing them.
Best update so far. The game feels very good to handle at the moment. Passing is spot on except for the odd vertical pass. Today was the forst time playing it where i fell into the āJust one more gameā trap. A few notes and issues below.
Offside penalties need correcting. Also, advantage should be played before a stoppage in play.
AI is performing much better (they even slotted a drop goal!) but still need to sort tactical kicks, and passing to different players.
Tackled over the line always results in held up call.
There needs to be a way to cancel your pass selection, if i hold down LB or RB and end up not needing the support runners, i end up crossing the tryline but having to pass
Need more handling errors
ADVERTISING IN STADIUMS
Mark Telea (All Blacks) being reffered to as the wrong player by commentators, I think Penaud from memory
Cant kick to the nearest touchline 10m out from tryline when awarded a penalty. Instead i have to kick across (example below)
As mentioned above, the kick to the nearest touchline is still an issue. It has been mentioned countless times before, hopefully the team is aware and will fix this soon.
Would like the scrumhalf to be a bit quicker to get to the ruck and pass the ball, to take advantage when the opposition are not in position to mark the wingers by the touchline.
Scrums
I noticed when winning the ball after the hook, if you time late on a drive the scrum collapses. I understand the concept, however after timing the 1st drive perfectly and then the 2nd drive Iām a bit early the scrum sometimes still collapses. Then the scrum is retaken and it becomes a tedious process of doing the whole scrum mini-game again just because of one mistimed drive and the ball is already at the back of the scrum but my team decides to a break and collapse the scrum and not play the ball lol.
(I might be in the minority here with this suggestion) - When the ball is hooked, itās already at the back of the scrum and I think one drive is enough to have the option to play the ball then having to time 3 drives just to play it.
It would be nice to have a reward system in play where you can potentially win a penalty if you decide to drive longer but you would need to perfectly time all steps in the mini-game to win the penalty.
But Iād love some of the more cosmetic things seen too very quickly too. Eg
Youāve done all this photogrammetry. Please can we get it all in the game? Particularly Fiji, springboks, top 14, japan
The ordering of stadium names when selecting is a shambles.
Even if we canāt currently amends rosters for licensed teams, please can we amend the default starting lineup?
Why are the assigned stadiums wrong for nearly all teams and not selected as standard when doing quick play
The player names are so annoying when itās just Fly Half, Lock Left etc. It being for unapproved photogrammetry feels really weird and feels like an excuseā¦
Could we get stamina appearing above the player name when playing a match?
Could we also get the player name for the opposition player who has the ball?
Please can we have advertising hoarding having adverts on? Looks a bit cheap being blank, especially when playing during a licensed competition
As per other requests, please let me tinker with the stats and positions for licensed players? Many are just wrong
Please add players selected in 6N squads to their national sides, especially as we canāt add any ourselves.
Incredibly minor oneā¦but please can Cassius cleaves and Ben waghorn be added to the harlequins squadā¦?
Enjoyed the most recent update, the constant selection of scrums for penalties is a bit of a nightmare and I dont understand the influence I have on the ruck outside of button bashing. But the passing is much improved
My big requests gameplay would be
A) having forwards predominantly join rucks
B) the alignment of the backline after the ruck is still really messy, players hover round the ruck like itās under 11s
Minor, but annoying one - when you look at the stats screen in career, players playing for intl sides have that listed as their logo, rather than their club team
Re teams, a number of Quins players are the wrong age/position (isgro isnāt 31, and a load of the props and centres are the wrong way around)
Latest update is such an improvement, most playable even compared to the EAs. No more floaty passes, knock ons are occuring, AI passing and opting to kick to touch at penalties, high tackles happening, āYā tackle is functioning, passing to winger actually works
Still definitely work to be done, noticeably on AI behaviour, but this seems to me a big step in right direction. This patch needs to be the baseline moving on, or at least offer us an ability to reinstall this current patch in case future updates skew the functionality as this is best yet (in my op).
Xbox-s latest patch V1.02766 The good the bad the ugly.
The good
The game is advancing in the right direction
1.Ai starting to pass more
2.User passing almost perfect except for some glitches here and there
User offloading almost perfect (some of the best offload in a Rugby game.
Running and passing rugby is very good , hitting gaps, good use of no sprint and sprint
Dummy pass does work and can be used as weapon(but only to the left)
Amount of Ruck turnovers feels good , timing for rucks feels fairly good
Some beautiful visuals
The down right stick move works good and the sidestep works fairly good
Speed to the ruck has improved
Love the instant steal without bulldozer effect ( more on this later)
It seems Big Ant is listening (please add ability to add 5 to the ruck)
Grubber kicks are working good
Scrum mechanism is a good mechanism (although more on this later) because they are now very boring to play
The bad
Still no 5 players max in the ruck (this would open up the gameplay)
It seems they have the animations reversed in the rucks (although the outcome is somewhat the same) Explained: when one player steals it does the bulldozer effect, 1 player ploughs through 2-3 players. This steal move should be the quick passive steal with no bulldozer/pushover effect,(maybe every once in a while) in a 1 vs 1 or 1 vs 2 players situation it would be ok for the pushover animation, in reverse the 3 player bind in the ruck leads many times to a passive steal, this should be the when the bulldozer/push over effect animation should kick in, not when its 1 player vs 3 rucking players, where 3 over power 1, 2, or 3 players and push them over not when 1 player steals. Exchange the animations would make more sense. Again, it is already in the game, just has to be implemented correctly.
Y contest at ruck, tackle, stand, and jackal still does not work, when it is eventually applied to the defensive game, offense should be able to hold on with risk of penalty
AI still not passing enough and AI offloads are non-existent (that why so easy to win)
Game is still very easy playing on Hardest with 2 even teams Argentina vs Wales, I always beat Wales by 3-4 tries on 10 minute games , no fear of losing. I always play same teams so the test are consistent, And well I am Argentinian.
AI is horrible at scrums, so scrums are to easy and no reward system, I could win every scrum if I wanted, except for going for perfect scum graphs, I do lose some.
AI. never fouls in the scrum or rucks
Scrums have no reward if played great, makes them boring, should be able to gain ground if played perfect or cause the opposing team to create a scrum collapse or penalty.
Up and Under are the worst of any Rugby game, but can be fixed, a higher trajectory and the player animation to get it off should be quicker, also the button is glitchy, you canāt always do it.
Not enough time to set up plays when you do secure the ball on offense with adding more players to the ruck (thatās why ability to add 5 to ruck is needed) the more players you add to the ruck the more time you should have to use the ball. Now it should come with the risk of the defense challenging with a push over if you take to long, again say you have 3 in the ruck on offense the defense could attempt to add a 4th for a pushover, that is how it should work in the ruck. Itās not an exact science but the gist of Rugby gameplay would shine through.
You can not pick and go in this game, this is in Rugby but not in the game.
You must always bind at least 1 for a pick and go, when the time is right you should be able to pick and go from a tackled player if the defense is not contesting in the ruck in a tackle. This would lead to more exciting play.
12.Set Plays and Pod control would make it a more cerebral game; I use this all the time in Rugby Challenge Series and Rugby 20 and Ruby 22 it adds a whole other level of deep fun gameplay.
Mauls need a deeper system it is too linear and sort of boring, there should be maul penalties, and you do a need a mini game to be able to give mauls justice. Think Risk vs Rewards systems that is what makes game fun.
The Ugly
I have had the game crash twice when doing a maul, most of the time when adding the last player.
Still every know in then the passing glitch that the ball goes crazy
In quick lineouts the ball sometimes goes crazy, better then last patch though.
Ai difficulty must improve,(which I think once they start passing and offloading more it will) should not be able to be winning comfortably on Hardest difficulty. Why learning the game the AI should be able to win consistently on medium difficulty. This does not mean add a cheat were the AI steals more at rucks that they should loose, or does impossible offloads when they should be tackled. They should be able to out pass, use sidesteps, dummies, and fends and trick plays at the right moment to defeat you. I have seen evidence of this in Big Ants Rugby league games , so I believe it will make into the game eventually. As mentioned I think they have everything in the game to make into a really good fun Rugby game, so again, I am keeping the faith, this will end up being at least in the top two Rugby games of all times. Thanks again Big Ant team, for continue to improve the game and listening to our cries. Looking forward to the next improvements (like up to 5 in a ruck and quick pick and go from the tackled player ) one can dream right?
