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

[KaivaC]

On the other hand if they made a game anyone can pick up, without needing to invest time into it, then people might actually play on a regular basis

Fair enough - games such as what, though? They can't exactly put in games that have a huge gambling stigma attached to it, like typical casino games. I'd imagine that if they had added Blitzball as Yoshi had hinted at finding a hard time implementing, that would be a significant time sink as well. Maybe we need to throw some suggestions on feasible future GS options and see what catches up with others?

[Azurymber]

Fair enough - games such as what, though? They can't exactly put in games that have a huge gambling stigma attached to it, like typical casino games. I'd imagine that if they had added Blitzball as Yoshi had hinted at finding a hard time implementing, that would be a significant time sink as well. Maybe we need to throw some suggestions on feasible future GS options and see what catches up with others?

Multiplayer FF7-esque magitek motorcycle racing (with swords). Think mario kart (add powerups and stuff so part of winning is random luck)
Multiplayer FF7-esque snowboarding (it was so popular it spawned a standalone game)
Multiplayer BlitzBall (not blitzball manager 2019)
Mario-Party-Esque boardgame with gold-saucer-based minigames (e.g. short jumping minigame, flying plane minigame, basketball hoops minigame, etc)

Im sure there are 100s of unique possibilities they could think up.
The key being none of them have a level system, or special gear, etc. You just queue up and your on equal ground with everyone else. And have fun.

[KaivaC]

Multiplayer FF7-esque magitek motorcycle racing (with swords). Think mario kart (add powerups and stuff so part of winning is random luck)
Multiplayer FF7-esque snowboarding (it was so popular it spawned a standalone game)
Multiplayer BlitzBall (not blitzball manager 2019)
Mario-Party-Esque boardgame with gold-saucer-based minigames (e.g. short jumping minigame, flying plane minigame, basketball hoops minigame, etc)

Im sure there are 100s of unique possibilities they could think up.
The key being none of them have a level system, or special gear, etc. You just queue up and your on equal ground with everyone else. And have fun.

I don't disagree with those suggestions - especially motorcycle, Blitzball, and Mario Party. But I worry that the latter two may be time sinks in and of themselves. I'd imagine Mahjong might have slightly longer staying power because, of course, it is rather popular (there were a good number of people who wanted the Mahjong board on the Live Letter stream where it was revealed).

[Reynhart]

Think mario kart (add powerups and stuff so part of winning is random luck)

That's what Chocobo Racing should be.

[CorbinDallas]

That's what Chocobo Racing should be.

That's exactly what chocobo racing is though. You could be sailing away in first place and boom, choco meteor, now you're in last.

[Reynhart]

That's exactly what chocobo racing is though. You could be sailing away in first place and boom, choco meteor, now you're in last.

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 ?
In Mario Kart, neither vehicles nor pilots change over time.

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.

[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.