Alrighty, I've got some criticisms but they're mostly me looking to make it better for them:
- Players hate being stuck with a team due to a poor schedule (Thanks SANZAR), so there should have been 8 transfers for round 2. Players can stack the bench however they want in round 1 and then have the team they want in round 2.
- The same transfer problem exists for the finals; you are going to need at least 7 certain starters from certain finalists in round 20, because round 21 only gives you 8 transfers. From this, you will need at least 5 certain semi-finalists in the team due to only receiving 10 transfers for the semi final. And good luck scoring well in the final, because you only get 5 transfers. The obvious solution is having 15/unlimited transfers for the final rounds.
- For the bench selections, when you go to the "By Position" menu it has "Second Row" and "Lock", with "Lock" being for the backrowers. That's a simple fix, just rename it to "Backrow".
- When selecting players for your team, the popup system can be annoyingly slow, as can the reload after each selection. The less you have to rely on someone's connection, the smoother the experience.
- Players are missing from teams (Eg. JC Janse van Rensburg for the Lions, likely their captain). I know this is a tough one with some teams not announced yet, so I don't really mind in this case.
- The game times out quicker than you would expect. When I went to re-make my team, the name which I had used was taken by my team which wasn't saved. A good solution is to either not allow a name to be taken until the team is made, or to require a team name upon signing up. (This problem was eventually resolved by logging in on a different browser).
- There are not many "budget" players who are likely to start. In fact, the cost difference between starting players is very slim. That makes team balance infinitely easier, meaning the difference between the best teams is simply who picked the best team at the start.
All that said, I do have some positives already:
- I like the removal of the arbitrary thousands of dollars to a simpler price system. They also seem to have put the "best" players at the top of the price range, so picking the known players has some disadvantage.
- The open bench is a great gambling system. Picking a lot of forwards saves you money, picking a lot of backs gives you good injury cover. It's also just a good idea to give players that sort of choice, helps them feel involved.
- The "backs" system works really well, given the versatility of professional players these days (Eg. Adam Ashley-Cooper). I think they could have gotten away with locks and backrow being merged (Loose Forwards? Eg. Scott Fardy), but also appreciate why they didn't.
- The reduced point scoring methods makes it easy to see who is doing what work and rewards consistent play.
All in all I'm looking forward to the game, but I don't think the first year will be my year.
