Just some further thoughts on the issues with ruck play being very vague and at times slow and unresponsive. Here are my thoughts on the current state of rucks and what I feel could help.
Currently possession at the ruck seems to be decided by a mysterious guessing game based on things like:
Why are my player not joining the ruck - they’re at it!
Who did I just add to the ruck?
Is pushing the Bind to Ruck button making a difference once you’ve added three players?
When is the best time to push Steal?
Is Steal actually something I (Push Once) (Hold Down), (Tap Away At)?
Is pushing Steal actually doing anything at this ruck?
How does the Contest Tackle button work?
Does it work at all (or is it like Bump Off and doesn’t)?
Does the Contest Tackle Button only have some effect whilst in a standing tackle attempt as some form of influence on the following ruck giving you more chance of possession with Bind?
Is Contest Tackle actually something I (Push Once) (Hold Down), (Tap Away At)?
Do I just rapidly mash Bind Player (Circle), Steal (Square) and Contest Tackle (Triangle), all at once in the hope of posession changing? (This seems to work at times).
Is all of this fruitless? Is it just a battle of Stat vs Stat (stats of players added vs stats of players added once three have been added?)
If it is mostly just a battle of stat vs stat, then possession has ceased to be a game and is just for the most part a product of luck. There are days in real rugby where someone who’s not the worlds best player at turnovers can get one against better players.
Big Ant MUST refine this into an actual game we play. A swiftly timed skill based mechanism needs to be employed with player stats a minor-medium influence in the background. If it needs a meter or a differing coloured circle around the feet of the players contesting the ruck or attempting a steal then so be it, the purists can switch it off if they want.
None of the above is helped by players standing around near rucks despite controller input. There are MANY instances of my player making a tackle alone, or being in a standing tackle and button input of contest tackle or Steal is doing nothing.
In a one on one standing tackle situation, we could be pushing contest tackle rapidly in a standing tackle to attempt a strip (it could come down to how quickly we got to pushing contest tackle in the first place, followed by minor influences of player position (Lock on Winger for example) and stamina).
In a one vs one tackle that has gone to ground, Contest Tackle should be performed the same way, but we should be seeing our tackler very quickly getting back to his feet and going for the ball (but we don’t see this animation at all).
Steal should be attempted by the first players coming to the tackle just as it is about to become a ruck. With these players we should be tapping steal swiftly and if there is a meter above (like Rugby World Cup 2011) you could see it filling with each steal attempt. If you do it rapidly enough, then you could potentially hit a green zone where you’ve stolen it, or a red zone (you’ve done it too often over filling the meter or taken too long and been spotted by the ref). The amount of filling the meter gets with each press would depend on the ruck ability of the players in the ruck attempting the steal.
This would actually be a game! This would demonstrate visually to players what is going on! And to those who dislike meters, it could be switched off!
I really think we need to make rucks a game!!! Bugs with players standing around need fixed and we shouldn’t have to release the left thumbstick to bind players to the ruck in the first place.
By the way, the recent HOLD BALL IN button needs a bit more leeway as far as how long you can hold it down, not quite long enough in my opinion. I’m not currently using it, because it’s almost an instant penalty.