DevTalk: Chocobo Thread. Riding! Raising! Racing! You Know You Want Your Fix

[Teknoman]

If we can only access certain areas via magitek armor, im for it.

[Jinko]

Don't want to see Magitek at all really.

I think Lalafell would look awesome on Dodo's.

[RisaCooper]

I really like the ideas. And about other mounts, there really isn't a point in my opinion, because if they give us enough customization then you will see personalized mounts running all over the place and they wont look the same at all other then the fact they they are all birds lol.

I really like the ideas, i think the lvls are right because that would make people want to rank up their characters. I'm all for this ^_^

[Amineri]

Wow Renta, I simply could not agree more. This concept sounds amazing. I would like to add some ideas to the mix as well.

Oh, one thing I would change about your post is that instead of the Chocobo Racer having to retire after just two months of hard work. Why not make it degrade? That way you can prepare yourself for another (Newer) racer instead of being out of competition all together. Just a thought!

Anyway Here is what i'd like to add/change:

New DoL: Chocobo Breeder
New DoH: Chocobo Outfiter
New DoH: Chocobo Trainer

Think about it! AND YES if this does come into play Chocobo customization is an absolute must in an MMO, Especially if it is the only mount available!!!

I really like the idea of adding some new DoL/DoH classes surrounding chocobos. Fantastic idea!

Hopefully you won't mind if I toss in some thoughts/ideas in this regard

DoL - To my mind DoL is all about going out into the wilds and creating materials / items out of nothing. Chocobo Breeder sounds cool, but, well... a breeder makes new chocobos by combining two existing items... a pair of chocobos you already have . A DoL that went out into the wilds and found chocobo eggs in nests of wild chocobos would be (to my mind) a perfect fit for a DoL class. Might be a little too restrictive, so perhaps it could be rolled up into the cancelled Shepherd class. A shepherd could find chocobo eggs in nests, find dodo eggs, pluck feathers from dodos, milk aldgoats, shear fleece from sheep, all sorts of ideas pop into mind.

DoH - Chocobo outfitter could become it's own class, but it could also add new recipes to the existing classes. Tanners could make saddles, weavers make barding, armorers make chocobo armor, culinarians make chocobo feed (for both raising young and in the field), alchemists could make illegal performance boosters. It escapes my creativity now, but I think even blacksmiths, goldsmiths and carpenters could contribute something to equipping the chocobos.

Chocobo trainer -- a definite win. Could incorporate both the breeding of chocobos as well as the training and caring of them. Sadly I didn't play XI, so I can't compare to that game's system.

Hopefully I added something positive to your ideas ^.^

[Rentahamster]

Add auto-pilot to the chocobo you have raised as advanced feature and add command like

/goto <camp or leader>

maybe you will have to take your chocobo to all different areas to teach him how to reach each place.

Hmm, that's actually a pretty neat idea. If you level up your chocobo and train it to get from camp to camp, why not give the player an auto-pilot button?

It would introduce another goal for chocobo training, and most people like to ride just to take in the scenery anyway. It's not like an auto-pilot function would be exploitable or anything.

I really like the ideas. And about other mounts, there really isn't a point in my opinion, because if they give us enough customization then you will see personalized mounts running all over the place and they wont look the same at all other then the fact they they are all birds lol.

I really like the ideas, i think the lvls are right because that would make people want to rank up their characters. I'm all for this ^_^

Thanks, Risa

[uzu]

Really like this thread. I would also be interested in Chocobo digging being added. Need more mindless gathering grind.

[Tsuwu]

Just transferring my thoughts from another thread over to here, to see what everyone thinks. ^^

Alot of the OP's points are excellent and I would love to see a majority of them instated.


(Copied from the (un)Official Mount Thread)

Chocobos only, please.
I don't want to end up seeing some random motorcycle or car obtusely bursting into my traditional Final Fantasy world, ala WoW. Also...seeing someone randomly striding across the dunes on something like a Peiste or an Eft or Goat just seems like it would be a bit goofy to me. I couldn't take that seriously to any degree. Chocobos have always been a mainstay of Final Fantasy - they should stay so in XIV.

I do think however, that the chocobos should obviously be earned.
A status symbol, of sorts. I remember the feeling I'd get from riding my Green Chocobo that I raised to a party location in XI. I was proud of it and the work I invested into raising it, and it felt neat having something unique and special that was specific to me and what I wanted it to be. And then to get a chocobo lisence period was a rite of passage in XI.
And once we have the chocobo system ready, commence with the breeding, armoring, special stats, racing, etc, and XIV could have an awesome "mount" system.

The more customizable you can get your bird, the better.
As long as it's all earned and gives people something to focus on and work towards, I'm happy.

As far as what they can do and what purpose they would serve:

I liked how chocobos worked in XIII, actually.
There were certain zones you could only get to via chocobo. This gives people a reason to rent them aside from the obvious things such as mob-free travel and speed.

We should be able to rent a basic ("yellow") one from the stables whenever, for a somewhat reasonable price (not the chump change in XI...only a few hundred gil for a chocobo seems insulting to them) or summon one we've earned/raised whilst in the field. This could be an item (such as Ghysahl Greens) a piece of equipment (added in a new slot, not worn around the neck...shame on you, chocobo whistle, taking up my neck slot with your horrid cool down time.) or an option on the main menu.

No birds in town. They "stay at the gates" (sort of like calling a retainer, you could have a chocobo valet at the entrance to each city) or if they're a rental, they're returned to the agency. This would allow you to have multiple chocobos, the same way we have retainers. (I.E. Blue Chocobo can cross deep rivers, allowing you to reach a certain zone. Red can climb steep surfaces. You have both for doing either thing. There can be 'black' chocobos that can reach any area, but obviously those need to be prime rarities. I also understand someone might just want a black chocobo for appearance sake, so color shouldn't nessecarily the only indicator of ability...just as an example. Maybe 'classes' for the chocobos?)

What would be neat would be to have saddles or heraldry for your chocobo specific to your LS or other group (player run companies comes to mind, if that's still happening). Armor and saddles could all provide the chocobo with boosts to certain respects, such as how long it can sprint, how many times it can get "spooked" (avoid aggro before some adverse condition takes place) how well they can dig or find treasure, etc.

Plus, all of this could be a big gil sink to help de-bloat the ecomony, and could maybe even add a new class - A chocobo breeder class! ^^

[Katie]

Thanks Admineri, you expanded on my thoughts exactly, i was just giving food for thought. ^^

[Rentahamster]

Alot of the OP's points are excellent and I would love to see a majority of them instated.

Thanks, Tsuwu!

Chocobos only, please.
I don't want to end up seeing some random motorcycle or car obtusely bursting into my traditional Final Fantasy world, ala WoW. Also...seeing someone randomly striding across the dunes on something like a Peiste or an Eft or Goat just seems like it would be a bit goofy to me. I couldn't take that seriously to any degree. Chocobos have always been a mainstay of Final Fantasy - they should stay so in XIV.

Agreed. I can see Magitech armor due to the Garleans, but it would have to be restricted in use so as not to mess up class balance.

Other than that, Chocos only.

I do think however, that the chocobos should obviously be earned.
A status symbol, of sorts. I remember the feeling I'd get from riding my Green Chocobo that I raised to a party location in XI. I was proud of it and the work I invested into raising it, and it felt neat having something unique and special that was specific to me and what I wanted it to be. And then to get a chocobo lisence period was a rite of passage in XI.

Yes, definitely! One of the failings of a lot of MMOs is that there really isn't any way for a player to really create things and take pride in those creations. Instilling a sense of ownership to our virtual stuff makes it that much more personal and rewarding.

And for those people who don't want to spend the time to breed their own birds, they can always freely buy them on the market, or just rent.

We should be able to rent a basic ("yellow") one from the stables whenever, for a somewhat reasonable price (not the chump change in XI...only a few hundred gil for a chocobo seems insulting to them) or summon one we've earned/raised whilst in the field.

Yes, chocobo riding is a privilege, and a valued commodity, so it should be priced accordingly. It will also help to act as a gil sink.

http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/threads/11434-DevTalk-GIL-SINKS!-Ideas-to-Stabilize-the-Economy-and-Curb-Inflation

[Alexb150]

i think its a pretty cool idea. i stopped playing XI before the whole chocobo thing and always thought it was a shame.

i think if there was some way to rent out your chocobos to other players would be good to. the higher the stats the more they go for. and have the option to rent for certain time periods say 10, 20 or 30 minutes and stay with you till times up.. maybe kick or peck a few bad guys to death?

also with the odd chocobo and carriages about i'm guessing there will be some kind of auto travel involving them kinda like in red dead redemption.