hm, well i don't know about the Chocobo thing. it doesn't seem like there would be any harm in allowing us to buff them. but what do i know? noughta! anyhow, about the cut-scene thing. i am not 100% on this one either. but i am sure it's usefulness will be more apparent later on. it's currently useful in the sense that the instance won't allow anyone to move forward until everyone is done watching the cut-scene. and then if you are in an open-map area with hostile enemies around. you wouldn't want to be killed during the cut-scene :P