Why another complex minigame that will probably die in 2 weeks?

[KageTokage]

And, from what I've seen, the controls are really stiff with the invisible "lanes" making this a lot less fun to play that an actual racing game.

They claimed that the Chocobo Races feel stiff as they do because everything is handled server-side to prevent people from cheating.

Which is really dumb because it only prevents people from hacking. I've seen people botting the chocobo races and just about every other attraction to farm MGP while AFK, particularly since 4.5 dropped due to people being desperate to get enough MGP for the new rewards.

[Reynhart]

They claimed that the Chocobo Races feel stiff as they do because everything is handled server-side to prevent people from cheating.

Is cheating that widespread in Mario Kart Online ? And frankly, are the reward really that important so you'll be compelled to cheat at Chocobo Racing ?

[Rymm]

I've no opinion on Mahjong- I'll try it eventually after I get bored with Snekboi Ex and the new 24man. But really, it was a freebie cooked up by a couple of devs in their spare time. And you're complaining about something that is optional and given to you for free (did not take the time or resources of any other content)? That seems a bit... 'ungracious' seems a kinda harsh, but I'm not sure what else to call it.

What I mostly wanted to comment on are a few things about chocobo racing (a pet subject of mine) that have come up in this thread.-

I enjoy verminion and choco racing, but they both share the same issue with Mahjong, which is that people who are good at the game will always wreck people who aren't.

Bolded for what I'm addressing.

You really don't have to be good at chocobo racing to succeed in the R300 bracket. All you need is 1- to understand how breeding works and 2-have sufficient self control to not immediately burn all your stamina.

That's it really. There are plenty of guides online explaining how to breed and train your 'bos, literally all you have to do is follow the directions (I can acknowledge that it becomes a time sink, but it's really not that outrageous of a grind). Beyond that, the skill ceiling is extremely low. With the "perfect" bird, you are going to wreck the NPCs and any player with a lesser bird you go up against. And even then, you will very, very rarely ever encounter another player. The vast majority of your races will be against the same small pool of easily predictable NPCs. In the R300 bracket, there is only one NPC 'bo that even comes close to challenging my perfect chocobo and, even then, I usually only lose to her if I have extremely bad luck (miss power-ups, hit by a lot of abilities, etc.).

In theory yes, but isn't there a leveling system in that so that you can be screwed if you start way later than everyone ?

There is a leveling system but 1- you are mostly going to be competing against NPCs 2-there is a bracket system in place that is based on both your bird's actual level and pedigree level (higher bred birds are better than lower bred birds even if they are the same actual level) so that you'll always be facing NPCs and players that are around the same skill range and 3- chocobo racing is capped at the R300 bracket and has been since the release, so with even just a week or two casual breeding and racing, you can catch up to people who've had the perfect 'bo for years.

As KageTokage said, there're no lanes, it's just sluggish because everything is tracked server side. It's something you get used to fairly quickly though.

However-

Which is really dumb because it only prevents people from hacking.

The server checks are less about cheating and more about the player being able to tell with absolute certainty where they are in the race. Otherwise players, especially those with a high ping, could see their bird cross the finish line first but if their computer and the server weren't in perfect sync at that moment, then they could still lose to a bird that looked like it was behind them. I assume SE just didn't want to have to deal with all of the tickets and threads that the ensuing rage would produce if that was a common occurrence. Same goes for AoEs, Power-ups, or anything else that's reliant on the chocobo's pinpoint position or timing. Tracking server side ensures that everyone is on the same page, no matter what their ping is.