The Yard in Madden 21: What Is It and What Do We Want It to Be?

[ChaseB]

For years, fans have been waiting for an NFL Street-type game mode to find its way...

Written By: Josh Houtz

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[olliedathird]

I've said in a previous thread that there's a chance it'll be an improved version of the 7v7 two touch matches from Madden 18's Longshot mode. What I'm hoping is for a football version of 2k's Park.

Not to sound like a pessimist, but if I'm being honest with myself, it's probably the former

[Hshaw810]

I just dont see how this mode will do well. Its going to get stale quick playing as a receiver using analog to run routes. What else can a receiver do? Lol. This type of mode is much easier with basketball

[snc237]

I would pay 300 dollars for a remaster of nfl street 2*

[JayhawkerStL]

I’m anxious to try it out, but I think KO Superstar is a better path forward for competing sports gaming, and hope they spent time expanding on it. I’d like to see it have the same kind of ladder as SMB does in Pennant Race.

And that what a 6v6 could do if it works, become like MyPark and EASHL, where gamers are playing digital version of pick-up games We do in parks and school yards all the time. It becomes a social activity as much as compete especially.

Best case scenario, for someone like me that find fun in a wide array of ways we use sports to play games, digital, board, and real life. I mean, I love baseball like life. So we played “Indian Ball” (This is what I grew up calling it. No idea where the name came from, so apologies if it is offensive) in the cemetery behind a friends house. You only needed 4 guys to play, and each guy was his own team when hitting. And we had different rules for street football than we did for backyard and cemetery football.

Still using all the same skills, but arranged so that you can play in different environments and still have competing games.

I’m for changing any rules if it makes a sport more fun in a given setting. So I get why EA is trying to make I a thing. But I agree that football is a tough nut to crack to make 6v6 work. But if they crack that nut, it’s a good thing.

[inkcil]

I just hope it's not an online-only mode like "KO Superstar."

Allow us to create our own NFL Street like squads and play against the CPU offline in some kind of tournament mode (as well as exhibition) similar to NFL Tour. Wouldn't hurt to just copy the FIFA Volta formula or even throw in some corny story-mode to go along with it.

If these things happen I'm all in.

Wishing on a star: the option to have power-ups, etc. like NFL Street are probably off the table, but if they were offline-only or if online players had the option to create custom matches with power-ups disabled then I'd like to see that happen as well.

[rd1981]

It's either My Park or bust. Hopefully it's not something arcade like with power ups, crazy animations.

I did like the environments in that the longshot side games were played in.
But I really want the ability to roam from yard to yard, if that's the case. And include different things like a place to add accessories and NFL gear.

It would be cool I'd they could add college team jerseys,tshirts, hats etc.

[imthedan]

I hope it's not over the top arcade style gameplay. Honestly, I think something like Superstar KO gameplay. Allow for X-Factors to be achieved easier (or you get them at all times). Allow us to load up on abilities and treat it like Park from the 2k series.



Players have one player that plays offense and defense. You get a limited number of stat points and ability slots. You have to decide if you want to go full offense, full defense or a mix of both.


They also need to allow other game modes to feed into it as well similar to what they do for MUT. If I want to play a quick game of draft or Superstar KO, then allow rewards from those games to be sent to The Yard. They can have packs or whatever, but include cosmetic items for The Yard instead of just packs, training, ect. for MUT.



Most importantly, it really has to be a get-in-get-out type of game mode. Allow me to jump on, play a quick game of 6v6 and get out. 10 minutes total time. If I choose to play longer then fine. If I want to invest time into the character customization then fine. I just don't want to be forced to play a full game that comes out to 30 minutes all the time. Give me back yard rules of first to ~5 touchdowns or whatever.


Honestly, if done right, The Yard could take over as the most played mode. There are a ton of people that don't want to manage a whole team and would rather just manage one player. Get it right, add ranked modes and EA will have another pool of cash to swim in.