So no that I have the Griffin, first thing to do is...

[Lemuria]

I get around this problem by not having my chocobo out. That bird does less damage than a small child, so I'm not missing much by not summoning him.

[Zfz]

A rank 10 full DPS spec chocobo does very good damage when you're a PLD. :3

[hagare]

I just wanna be able to queue with my bird out D;

[Eyjabria]

Not being able to use other mounts while chocobo companion is in use has actually "prevented" me from buying the Sleipnir mount.
I will reconsider making the purchase as soon as the restriction has been lifted.

[Fendred]

Along with all the inventory problems we have in this game, do we really need an item to summon a chocobo when it could be replaced with a suitable ability?

[Delmontyb]

Hello!

After talking to the development team about this suggestion, they mentioned that they will look into making it possible to ride other mounts while your companions is out; however, we can't make any promises at the moment.

I believe this was something that they were targeting for 2.3 back in the day. While not promised for 2.3. I'm guessing the system is more complex then we realize in how it was conceived. That, or I'm confusing it with the idea that we could be in queue with our choco out.

Anyway, very much looking forward to this as well.

[Doki]

A rank 10 full DPS spec chocobo does very good damage when you're a PLD. :3

And if you max out all 3 trees they crit 45% of the time, have lots of HP and can be swapped to healer mode for a few heals, then popped back into dd mode again. Can solo any FATE with them no problem.

[Atrayl]

Does anything work with companions in this game?

Can't queue with companions.
Can't join a group with companions.
Can't use other mounts with companions.
Can't do solo quest instances with companions.
Can't get on a taxi with companions.

This is the most shoehorned feature I've ever seen in any game. It appears to have been developed and implemented with absolutely no regard for the system as a whole. It feels like a user mod I've downloaded that utilizes sketchy hacks to implement something the engine just wasn't built for, only it's an official part of the game that's apparently been there for a while, always broken, forever promised to be fixed.

As a Paladin, the added DPS of a companion is almost required to do anything solo in such a way as to not lose sanity, but it is so horribly frustrating.

The easiest solution is to just remove the requirement of summoning them with items. What's the point of that, anyway? It's such a useless semantic. The item isn't rare or valuable. It's like how Hunters in WoW used to have to buy ammo until Blizzard realized how dumb that was. Just make it free to summon your companion. It would still be tedious, but at least it removes the psychological affect of "wasting" something when you dismiss your companion early.

I swear, this game is held back so much by tedious, cheeky mechanics. Yeah, summoning your bird with a lettuice item is kind of a funny little "immersive" feature, but when it leads to such a large detriment, you need to cut it. Glamor prisoms is another one. Yeah, it's kind of cool to have an in-story way to explain the "appearance tab," but it's annoying to have to keep getting them for every new upgrade you get. Just make an appearance tab, or make glamor prisoms one, reusable item.

Even these forums are a great example of needless restriction. A 1000 character limit that can be circumvented by editing your post? What year is this? Are your forums hosted on a LiteBrite?

[exilio]

Signed!

[BreathlessTao]

Does anything work with companions in this game?

Can't queue with companions.
Can't join a group with companions.
Can't use other mounts with companions.
Can't do solo quest instances with companions.
Can't get on a taxi with companions.

Can't have a minion out at the same time as your chocobo.
Can't give them Protect.

This is the most shoehorned feature I've ever seen in any game. It appears to have been developed and implemented with absolutely no regard for the system as a whole. It feels like a user mod I've downloaded that utilizes sketchy hacks to implement something the engine just wasn't built for, only it's an official part of the game that's apparently been there for a while, always broken, forever promised to be fixed.

Painfully perfect description right there.

The easiest solution is to just remove the requirement of summoning them with items. What's the point of that, anyway? It's such a useless semantic. The item isn't rare or valuable. It's like how Hunters in WoW used to have to buy ammo until Blizzard realized how dumb that was. Just make it free to summon your companion. It would still be tedious, but at least it removes the psychological affect of "wasting" something when you dismiss your companion early.

And the not-at-all psychological effect of having (at least) one inventory slot permanently wasted on the stack of gysahl greens. For a game that's struggling with inventory management, every little bit matters.

I swear, this game is held back so much by tedious, cheeky mechanics.

Even these forums are a great example of needless restriction. A 1000 character limit that can be circumvented by editing your post?

^ QFT.
(From what I know, the restriction is thanks to some beta forum shenanigans.... which did happen way too long ago, though, time to let it go!)