-= dev1082 = - Chocobo Variation Pre-discussion

[Anonymoose]

We are looking into whether or not we will implement additional colors in the future, so please stay tuned for future updates.

As far as I'm concerned, this isn't a Final Fantasy sandbox until I see a Dark Knight on a pink bird.

- from the travel logs of Anonyworth Moosewick III, Esquire

Well, if they're looking into it, I'm starting the discussion now. I'm not sure if Foxclon means that they're looking into chocobos ever getting palate swaps or whether we're just talking company issue here, but I'm going to cover both issues, as well as breeding, so SE has a great guide foundation for what the playerbase wants to someday see if/when chocobos gain a complex integration into Eorzean culture and play-styles. Feel free to contribute! I'll update the OP with well-liked ideas

To the Devs:
Being able to snag a rent-a-bird for daily activities (and earning yourself a fine thoroughbred from the Grand Companies) is an excellent start, but if you're looking into variance, please consider the following.

PART ONE: COMPANY CHOCOBO VARIANCE

Part of building an army is the idea of uniformity - so I understand if our company chocobos don't show all that much variance in color and ability. The company buys the best of the best of the local breeders so they look similar to the renters. Gotcha. However, maybe we at least can look forward to upgrades for more elaborate armor (and moar flags!) as our rank goes up. Come on; the empire does that for Legatus Von Darnus, and we can't even give our Generals a nicer bird? I think we know who's going to win this war.

PART TWO: THE FUTURE OF CHOCOBO OWNERSHIP

Let's be honest about one thing here: Someday, we want a chocobo to call our very own; a chocobo that we can raise and feel connected to. Not that I'm bringing this up now to spite Gifthorse's suggestion and offer alternatives to having them die on us for emotional content or anything... not entirely...

In my opinion, the best way to build an emotional attachment is to have the chocobo we adventure with be as unique and customized as the character we play. So, while you guys are looking into the idea, here's a compilation of some of the things we're really looking forward to seeing in Eorzea's future.

Visual Variation

• Feather Color (Based on breed, family, or region)
• Feather Type (Bushy, shiny, short, long, fancy tail)
• Crown Feathers (Length and type could denote age/abilities)
• Wing Feathers (Could denote stamina, health)
• Tail Feathers (Could denote speed and/or gender)
• Beak Size (Different looks for different strengths and abilities)
• Beak Shape (Same as above.)
• Eye Size
• Eye Color
• Neck Length (Combat advantages)
• Talon Type
• Accessories (Collar, gems, brands, markings, tattoos)
• Armor (+Stats? Aesthetic? Both?)
  AND MOST IMPORTANTLY
• Call/Song (Some may WARK! while others may KWEH! - Chirps, trills, etc.)

Performance Variation

• Base Running Speed
• Base Defense from Aggro
• Fighting prowess
• Base Ability to... whatever minigames you come up with. (Digging, racing... JOUSTING!?!?)
• Ability to reach areas not usually reachable, such as high cliffs and steep plateaus, from which enemies can be drawn down, or rare items/materia gathered.

Breed Variation
One of FFXIV's strongest selling points is that a crafter or a gatherer truly can make it on their own - they can experience the whole of the main story, can travel the world safely, can become wealthy and accomplished, etc. So why would we all ride the same birds? This is a great way to introduce some lore about chocobo breeds and their strengths and weaknesses. Breeds that display such traits as:

Warbird - Armored, can take more hits (Great for farmers!)
Runner - Faster, lighter, more athletic. Adds bonus to base speed stat. (Great for partyers!)
Packer - Wears sidebags capable of storing items (Great for gatherers/crafters!)
Fighter - Built for battle, best choice for cavalry and battlefields. (Soloers? Legions? You decide.)

Quest Development Variance
Addition of various sidequests to raise and gain bonuses for our chocobos. The obtaining of a personal chocobo for such use could start in one of three ways.

• Receiving a chocobo egg as a drop from certain difficult enemies.
• Receiving a chocobo egg from breeding of existing personal chocobos
• Receiving a chocobo egg from gathering (time/place/season specific?)
• "Rescuing" a baby chick via a faction leve
• "Rescuing" a baby chick from PVE Area
• "Rescuing" a baby chick whose parents have been killed

This chick could then be raised or adopted out - raising could include feeding, training, development, and such as aesthetic armors, accessories, new abilities, extensions of existing abilities, etc. Have us make decisions that shape our chocobo's life and style from birth and let us balance their abilities to our styles - an all around build for the hardcore player, or a specialized build for a less eclectic one. Options are key in the style of MMO you've chosen to build.

Battle System
Chocobo fights with you through heavy territory (both alongside you, or on chocoback working as a team to tear a new path) - bring on the cavalry.

These are just some ideas. I hope you'll hang on to them for future reference. What do you guys think? Good? Bad? Anything else you want to see?

[Chardrizard]

I liek Warbirds and i would like them to expand this to a full fledged fight-on-a-chocobo big scale war content.

[Anonymoose]

I liek Warbirds and i would like them to expand this to a full fledged fight-on-a-chocobo big scale war content.

Added it to the list. Yoshida-san discussed this in the past, so it should definitely be added to the variables.

[quantumsaint]

I've said multiple times over the course of these forums, but I'd like to see chocobo jousting. I've thought about it a lot and I think it could work something like this: your Grand Company chocobo can also be used in tournaments for the glory of your company. Although not hostile to each other, the chocobo jousts are the perfect solution to entertain the denizens of Eorzea, as well as drum up support for the Grand Companies. By earning chocobo company credits that you win against another company, you could then use them to upgrade your bird, buying armor and the like. The match itself could just be a simple rock, paper, scissors where you tilt, defend, or shift against an opponent. Perhaps over the course of upgrading your armor, your chocobo can sustain more hits, so instead of going best out of three, your able to go best out of five (provided you don't win the first three).

Uh...sorry if that got a bit off from your topic. To tie in to your suggestion, perhaps the armor you could earn would have different abilities that function outside of the joust, such as increased speed and defense in the field, according to the three archetypes you've designed, further increasing the differences of the Grand Companies.

[Anonymoose]

I'd like to see chocobo jousting [...] Uh...sorry if that got a bit off from your topic.

Off-topic or not, I'm adding it to the quip about minigames. Chocobos are born to joust. It'll give the LNCs something to do while the GLAs and PGLs are duking it out in the colosseum.

[ChiefCurrahee]

*IF* and *WHEN* they introduce custom chocobo I'd like to see, it done through a system similar to the character creation system.

Allow you to choose different styles like Anonymoose suggested. But maybe each style has it's own attribute .
for example. You can choose different beak styles.
Style 1is great for digging or sensing burried treasure
Style 2 is more pointy and is better for combat roles
Style 3 is more thick and broad, it adds a lot of defense.
Body:
style 1 is lean and slender allowing it to run long distances
style 2 is more bulky, its good for cargo transport
style 3 is muscular and is great for combat.

ect ect.

In my minds eye I envision a system where you raise a custom chocobo from egg to adult. You can then register your adult bird at the local Chocobo husbandry club. There you can breed your chocobo with other registered players to create a new generation of chocobos.
You can can look at the different "stats" or colors and pick and choose with what bird to breed with.

As long as the system is deep and complex to keep players interested but user friendly and approachable as not to deter players from delving into custom chocobos.

[Aion]

FF VII breed system and NMs that only can be accessed by high tiers/different variation of chocobo which have rare materia drops and rare material crafting...

sounds too much?

[viion]

FF VII breed system and NMs that only can be accessed by high tiers/different variation of chocobo which have rare materia drops and rare material crafting...

sounds too much?

Sounds good!!

[Coombah]

Yeah, they should have known players would want to customize there choco color and such

[Anonymoose]

In my minds eye I envision a system where you raise a custom chocobo from egg to adult. ... As long as the system is deep and complex to keep players interested but user friendly and approachable as not to deter players from delving into custom chocobos.

FF VII breed system and NMs that only can be accessed by high tiers/different variation of chocobo which have rare materia drops and rare material crafting...

I've added bits of both ideas to the Performance Variation and Quest Development Variance areas. Thanks for the input! Hopefully we can get the ball rolling on a nice little pamphlet of ideas that would make the system a hit if/when they decide it's time to bring Chocobos into the immersion fold.

If I've missed any of the things you wanted specifically stated, please let me know - and keep those ideas coming (Criticisms, as well. We can remove things if they don't fit the system and/or aren't wanted by the community majorities).