Q & A with Alastair - The Answer Thread

[chluus1]

Hi Glen, in Rugby 08 when 2 players played in the same team against the AI.You could not pre-select the player next to the ball carrier or you could but the pass missed the pre-selected player completely,but the same thing worked fine in Rugby 06. Do you know if this was corrected?

 

[Glenfillan]

Thanks. Its not an issue for me if SA is ranked 3rd. What wil be an issue though is if for eg. AUS are 92 and SA 88. Like I said, if you look at the current world ranking, if SA beat AUS in the next match that current ranking would be wrong. Personally I think the two should be equally rated, because over the last couple of years SA have been 2nd alot more than any other country.

 

[HB_Glen]

Glen. How wil the ratings work for the different country's.
Will the NZ & AUS teams have their current world ranking or not.
I am asking this because SA are currently 3rd(only since end of year'10).
In rugby'08 SA was ranked according to our world ranking during the November'06 European tour(4th).I am assuming since that was SA's default squad in the game.
We were 4th for only one/two months during'06 though.But had to play with that ranking for 4years.
My point is that on the current world ranking we are 1.01 points behind AUS.
Which means if we beat them in the very next game we are 2nd.
Also if you look at the stats over the last 42 months(3 1/2 years) SA have been no.1 for 28% of the time, 2nd 48% and 3rd 24%.
I just think that when ranking SA you should take this into consideration.
Im sorry if this sounds picky. It is just so frustrating playing a game with a team that is under rated.
Thank you very much.
Roll on August

South Africa is the 3rd best rated team in our game which I think is what you are getting at here
The rankings of teams were based on the IRB Rankings as they were at the end of the 6 Nations.

Though if you are not happy with what we have done you can always go and edit the attributes of players but by default the team rankings are based off the IRB rankings.

 

[HB_Glen]

Hi Glen, in Rugby 08 when 2 players played in the same team against the AI.You could not pre-select the player next to the ball carrier or you could but the pass missed the pre-selected player completely,but the same thing worked fine in Rugby 06. Do you know if this was corrected?

I would need to look into it a bit more but I do recall it being an issue at some point during our development of this game and I'm fairly certain we did address it.
By pre-selected I assume you mean can you run beside a human player and have that player pass the ball to you and have your player catch that pass.

 

[chluus1]

That is exactly what i mean thank you very much!!

 

[Glenfillan]

South Africa is the 3rd best rated team in our game which I think is what you are getting at here
The rankings of teams were based on the IRB Rankings as they were at the end of the 6 Nations.

Though if you are not happy with what we have done you can always go and edit the attributes of players but by default the team rankings are based off the IRB rankings.

What I am getting at is that there is a very very small diff in the two rankings.1.01 points to be exact. So if you based it on the IRB rankings I guess there will be very little diff between SA and AUS. Also editing will not help for online play, will it.
Thanks for your reply.
I know this game will be epic.

 

[ANTHEAD]

HB_Glen - when place kicking and youve done the place kick, does the camera follow the ball to the posts like previous rugby games or does the camera remain at the kicking tee or behind the player, so we can see the kick go through the posts at a distance like we see on tv? cheers.

 

[Glenfillan]

Is there a 2v2 option available.

 

[dan-the-man]

AJ, Glen and everyone at HB I have to say, great job! game sounds awesome and very promising! And it's extremely cool how you guys take time to answer the people that play your games. It's very comforting to know that our ideas are actually looked at and considered, so thanks a lot. I have to say, there is only one thing I'm extremely dissapointed about (aside from no ABs or Wallabies) is that you've kept the maximum positions per player at 3. This is going to be extremely annoying for guys like James O'Connor, Kurtley Beale, Francois Steyn, Riaan Viljoen, Brad Barrit, Francois Hougaard etc. Please in future games can you make 4 or 5 possible positions?

 

[Glenfillan]

TBH I have never seen Brad Barrit play anything but Centre. Did he become a utility back since playing in the NH
Also, how many players realy play more that 3positions. Steyn -FH,Cen,Ful, Hougaard- SH,Wing Viljoen- Ful,FH,Wing
O'Connor might be the only exception.

 

[dan-the-man]

he's played fly-half, wing, centre and fullback

 

[jmaher92]

Why, in the IRFU announcement, does it state MANY pllayer licenses? Why not all?

 

[Glenfillan]

he's played fly-half, wing, centre and fullback

Wow, good to know.
Saracens must be out of options in the backline then.

 

[mikeeboy]

I think the omission of online leaderboards is a huge decision. The shelf life of this game I think is already in the balance post World Cup and without the leaderboards I think there's no incentive for the average gamer to keep playing and the game will soon be in the bargain bins. Do you think Call of Duty would be as successful without stat tracking?

It's all very well saying TRF will provide comps, ladders etc but I'd like to think the potential audience is a little wider than TRF.

In this day and age, online play is massive and even if the gameplay is awesome, people now also need a "reason" to play.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

I can honestly say I have never looked at my stats on CoD

I play for fun, not to see how many people I've killed over the past two years

 

[big ginger 8]

In this day and age, online play is massive and even if the gameplay is awesome, people now also need a "reason" to play.

How about people play because they like rugby games.

 

[UlsterG]

I can honestly say I have never looked at my stats on CoD

I play for fun, not to see how many people I've killed over the past two years

But (and I say this as someone who doesnt play online at present, as rugby 08 is basically the only game I play regularly (and I mean VERY regularly!))
... surely people quitting games in CoD is much less of an issue, as theres still plenty other players? Getting random matches for RWC may become a nightmare as you will spend allot of time playing those significantly worse/better than you since there is no ranking, and there will be allot of people quitting games as there is no incentive not to??

 

[mikeeboy]

How about people play because they like rugby games.

That will get them to buy the game. But in 6 months time if I chuck the game on and try and find a random online match, will I find a game?

 

[raziel_eire]

Remember, the vast majority of people who pick this game up, will do it because they like rugby and want to play rugby (albeit in an electronic format)... automatically they are going to be enclined to not quit for quitting's sake.
This is not some big, brash, yearly release, money churning monster of a game that every douchebag on the street is gonna want to pick up because they got the last one and because all their douchebag mates have it too... its more of a niche ***le that by and large the people getting it will have a real interest in picking up (this is more true in the long term, particulalry after the "just here for the RWC" crowds diminish). I think primarily, rugby (both the sport itself and the controls for it in game format) is too complex for a randomer to invest in without already having a good idea of what its all about... and its this fore knowledge and interest in the game that I hope lends itself to less quitting.

Sure I hope the game sells like a money churning monster of a game, but if it does I then hope the shite-hawk generation who are prone to quitting all **** off quickly afterwards - we want your money, not your company.

If there are less players online, chances are those players are going to be keen enough to play through a full game and not quit as it won't be just as "throw-away and jump in the next deathmatch game available".

Perhaps I've got it all wrong, but comparing a sports ***le to a FPS in terms of reason for playing does not seem a logical thing to do.

I play Fifa, I play it quite a bit, am quite good at it IMO (thats based on not remembering ever being well beaten or thrashed, my games are close, but I don't always win... just mostly ), but I play to enjoy a game of football against another person who brings their own style of play to the table and I play it as I would want to see it played on TV or at a real match. I honestly do not know what my win/loss ratio is or what level I am at and I don't care. Christ, I almost enjoy losing as long as I play well.

Added to all this, the fact that you are already on TRF, means you will have ample opponents to pick from without the worry (mostly) of rage quitting occurring (or whatever its called).

 

[mattday1986]

Rugger4Loife - add me guys. I am good player of Rugby games, no one has beaten me yet lol I'm sure this will happen on here but I need the challengers first!!