Make open world mobs relevant.

[Nalien]

You know what I'd like? Chocobo Digging.

Toss out using Greens to summon the Chocobo Companion (and completely revamp the Companion system as a result, but that's a topic for another thread, perhaps...), instead have them used while riding your Chocobo. Pretty much exactly like Final Fantasy XI, you use the Greens, the Chocobo digs, you get random trashy rewards, probably stuff trash mobs drop.

How is this relevant to this topic? Well, you shouldn't be able to dig on the stop repeatably, you'd need to constantly move around digging in different locations. So what? Well, the only time trash mobs have ever been an issue in this game is when you're mounted. Get it now? OK, that really solidifies trash mobs place as "annoyance", rather than "challenging", but they never were, or should have been, challenging or anything but an annoyance. Was I the only person who played a Final Fantasy game in the past? Overworld mobs were an exercise is mashing the confirm button, never anything more... So, if you want to dig, you'll probably eventually end up having to clear out trash mobs to do so, before moving on to a new location and perhaps having to do the same thing. Open world mobs have pretty much always been a case of "Get out of my way!", at least that's how I remember Final Fantasy... Granted, riding a Chocobo generally voided random encounters...

Now, what would be the point in Chocobo Digging, beyond a poor mans farming method? Chocographs. Essentially Treasure Maps, for Chocobos, so basically what the OP suggested, just obtained through Chocobo Digging, rather than farming. Rewards? Well, a nice amount of Chocobo/Companion EXP makes sense given how you obtain them, as does the odd Chocobo Food, perhaps even rarely a Reagan Pepper or Thavnairian Onion? Bonus points if Chocobo Digging and Chocographs also result in a Chocobo Hot & Cold and Chocobo Dungeon series of instances.

Heck, lets revamp Companions seeing as I mentioned it. Again, copy Final Fantasy XI shamelessly... I'm not too well versed on its current content, but I'm under the impression they allow you to summon various NPCs as Companions now... That is perfect, and exactly why I suggested scrapping Greens for summoning. Still have the Chocobo Companion as an option to summon (more importantly, an option you can customize), but also have a heap of NPCs we can summon as well, how about those forgotten Class quest NPCs for starters? Bonus points if this effectively gives us Jobs which we're apparently not getting. Yes I'm still mad we're never going to see a Thief Job apparently, but could the Rogue Guild offer a NPC Companion who effectively fills the role? Absolutely, Steal and Treasure Hunt for improved farming, perfectly balanced because it is tied to the Companion system rather than a Job we can take into instances. I'll be honest, that's 99% of my motivation for this suggestion, I want a Thief Companion to speed up farming crap like Dragon Skins...

Oh, right, and before I forget... The Gambit System. Why don't we have that for Companions yet? Could effectively be the leveling system for NPC based Companions, or alternatively something tied back into Chocographs/Dungeons; Rewards could include improvements to the Companion Gambit System. Been a while since I played Final Fantasy XII, but you upgraded the Gambit Grid as you went along, right? Same basic principle.

With Sky Exploration on the way, as open world "The weakest mobs are equal to Heavensward A Ranks" content, Companions could really do with some loving... Having a whole system built around it to improve them would be nice, at least IMO... I'd certainly rather do Chocobo Digging for Chocographs to improve the Gambit Grid, than just the stale grind we have for Chocobo Companions currently... Inb4 we can't even summon Companions in the Sky Exploration zone...