Chocobo Racing DiscussionFollow

After thinking for a day about this and the information given.

*The Ability of raised chocobos will be reflected during chocobo racing.
- This I agree with 100% and if this is going in that route, possibly new abilities can be given when breeding chocobos. i.e. not only speed etc. but possibly things such as a "Job Trait" that can give "Slight resistance against foresight" or something.. and foresight be something a player can use on another rider dureing the race. I think it would be great, if you could race but have the ability to slow your oppenents down, or improve your chocobo dureing the race, with either items or abilities from raising the chocobo.

* Chocobos will not be controllable by players during chocobo racing.
- I agree with this 100% however, Consider having TWO DIFFERENT ways people can enter. NPC controllable = gamble. Controllable = Can't Gamble. The objectives will be different perhaps on how to win? Perhaps either game types or events instead of Just Raceing. "Capture the Flag" or a "Ballista type Match" where you can fight or deal damage somehow. The controllable aspect will involve learning a map, certain turns are quicker then others, and hazards in the track can slow you down. Such as wheather, mud in the track, etc.etc.
Acorse, prizes should be awarded such as ballista. Items to increase stats on the chocobo would be great.

Equipment for chocobosWould be a great idea! Have a section in the AH and gear can be crafted / dropped. Certain chocobos can wear certain gear etc. Such as job classes. This gear can be equipped just like player's can equip there gear. The armor peices however have a point system. where as the most a player can equip is 100 points, and each peice based on rariety / how good it is, is given a point value.

*Gambling / Class system + point system for Gear/Armor
- Two different types. NPC controllable = gamble to an NPC. Controllable = Non-gamble. (Player vs Player gambling will be done acorse... (DAV! lol). Different classes based on the point system i mentioned above Class S,A,B,D etc. Classes are a rank you move too and you race via the same class and/or have freeforall's also. (such as ballista.. you have a cap. "D-S or D-B" etc. Classes also have a point limit in the armor that can be equiped. Higher the class, higher the points become.

Main points discussed.
-Equipment for Chocobos
-Point System on the armor.
-Classes determined by ranks (win/lose) maps completed(such as dynamis), or missions.
-Job traits etc. for chocobos, or abilities that can be used dureing race.
-Different Arena games. Raceing, Capture the flag, Ballista type... etc.
-Hazards in the track (Job traits can overcome some). / player controlled = different routes to take. or even on NPC choose the route.

I for one would like to see that same type of style of raising from VII I don't care if i can't steer the chocobo but as long as i can control hows its stamina is used up and stuff that would be awesome.

Betting: I'm not a fan of betting but thats what racing is about. You already have 'party' type room how about adding a npc to bet on the races as a group with a 'winner takes all approach'. Or have a set up just like the AH and have it for betting on the races as a single person, granted this way your only betting against the chocobo you choose and the bank but depending on the odds then that would determine the pay out.

Odds : I believe that a chocobo breeder/raiser should have its race winnings/loses/ties all calculated to make a chocobo's odds chart to determine the pay out. Keep in mind that when the chocobo gets too old it would ahve to be restarted but it will add to the betting system and also let the person know how they fair on chocobo breeding.

One thing that I'm hoping that doesn't happen is a long wait between calling you chocobo out. A party usually last about 2-3 hours so I suggest at the least making its 'cool down' period about that same or less.

Drecan
Siren Server

Everything else has probably already been said but one thing I wouldn't mind:








Interesting Areas!








Like FF7 Gold Saucer style, the whole volcano, rainbow roads, hills, mountains, rivers, space-arena and such... at least make some eye-candy for us when watching the chocos run! :3

Well one thing id like to see personaly in Racing is more variation. Unlike in FFVII where it was only 2 Different tracks, id like to see atlest 5 different tracks to Race on. Where different Chocoboes would have advantage. This would prevent 1 Chocobo from easily owning everyone in all races this way one player might only race 1 type of race or many for Experiense and points. But not only do i want to see more then 5 Tracks, i want to see more then 1 type of Race.

To sum it all up please read list below:

Field Track:
This is the standard type where Chocbo's race in a area for instance decert, etc and is a longer track where STAMINA becommes an important thing. So Chocobo's raised with high stamina would be very suited for this type of race. The different fields would give different advantages to the different types of Chocobo's, so along side how its raised and a few "Equipment Choices(will comment later).

Dragster Track:
This is the all out Speed version of a race, everyone lines up and its a straight line forward. The distance can vary meaning the right ballance on Top Speed, Stamina and Accerleration will be important to sucseed. This type can also easily becomme Turnaments on Knockouts 1 vs 1 where last one standing gets higher prices etc.

Tag Team Racing:
Signup as a team, the type of race is Field. But you hafto complete the course say 3 Times (3 players on team) and the team that wins get the price. This will also encurage more communication between Racers and we could get that "Race Team feeling" into the game. Since it depends on the Field that will be run in different kids of chocobo's will have different area's of the track they will be good. A sprinter might be great on last ledge as if it comes down to a sprit it would have advantage, one with good acceleration might be good on first stage etc to get a good posision. Those kind of things creating some more stratagie also into it.

The Racers:
Since we cant control our Racers, i belive we should be able to give light Instructions to our Racer For instance: Tell Racer to focus on last stretch, ALL out, Ballanced etc type. This would mean a factor into how well a chocobo has been raised and if you pick the right type of Racer for it. Can add a vide range of different type of Racers. For instance one who has alot of Raising Experiense in Dunes, if your chocobo normaly is bad here he might not be to bad now etc. Or one who is good at Dragster Typet tracks. This combined with the Raising of the Chocobo should create a vide enouth range to not make things to predictable.

Rewards And Racing LVL:
For each Race you take part in you will earn Racing Points, these points goes into a Ranking, for each rank you pass say 1000 points, 4000 points etc you will get acsess to higher lvl races which has again higher prices etc. Its your total points earned that opens up these race options. As for rewards you hafto spend RC(Racing Points) to Optain them, this can be anything from Breeding/Raising Materials, Outside of Racing Chocobo Items (Increase % to find better items with Dig, increased rate of finding item, further increased travel time, increased travel speed etc) Other Items could be for instance a "Chocobo Armour Set" fiddle with the stats on your own, as for other rewards it can be "Manuals" That teacher your Character more about Chocobo's. These can be high lvl prices, for instance Breeding Manual: Increases Chanse Chocobo gets born with its race colours, Speed Manual: Increases Chanse of Chocobo being a natural sprinter, Dig Manual etc. To ballance it out you can only pick 1 Manual this means you can becomme a good breeder in 1 area(or should i say a little better in that area). Other types of manuals can be virtualy any Chocobo related. Alongside with being able to make BETS it should be enouth as a whole.



Thats my 2 cents :P

Items! Might be a wierd idea but... maybe there could be some items in the race that you could pick up and help you out. For example, maybe there could be an item that temporarily slows down your opponent's movement speed, or an item that can help replenish a stamina guage (someone already posted an idea about a stamina guage). I was thinking if you get an item (lets call em Magicites) you can keep em and use em later. Here are a few things i thought of while i was walking home from the doctors ;xx
Stone- Creates a few small rocks on the track that players must avoid.
Water- Drenches the track behind you with water for a small period of time, making it difficult to control your chocobo
Aero- Gives you a temporary speed boost
Fire- Small AoE that lowers opponents stamina by a little bit
Blizzard- Single target temporary freeze (cant act)
Thunder- Single target very short stun (goes through any buffs)
Protect- Reduces amount of Stamina lost
Shell- Gives a resistance against detrimental effects
Stoneskin- Nullifies damage done to stamina via spells completely once
Blink- Creates a shadow image that absorbs a detrimental spell
Phalanx- Reduces amount of stamina lost by a certain amount (random amount)
Regen- Hastens Stamina recovery speed
Cure- restores some stamina (25%?)
Reraise- Greatly reduces exhaustion time of chocobo once(for this i was thinking, if you deplete your chocobo's stamina completely, it will be temporarily stunned out of pure exhaustion)
Dispel- Takes away 1 beneficial effect of an opponent
Gravity- Reduces movement speed of a player for a short time
Reflect- Backfires an opponent's spell once
Dia- Doubles (or maybe it just increases) rate at which stamina is lost (including spells)
Poison- Reduces Stamina over time
Bio- Damage done to an opponen't stamina is reduced
Bind- Roots a chocobo to the spot for a short time
Paralyze- Chocobo may become paralyzed right before casting a spell, canceling it alltogether
Erase- Removes 1 detrimental effect
Stun- Stuns target, lasts longer than thunder's but it can be stopped via blink, etc.
Blind- Slightly blurs an opponent's vision
Flash- Greatly blurs an opponents vision (lasts way shorter than blind)
Sleep- Puts an opponent to sleep (very short)

Thats all i can think of nowez ;x
Edited, Aug 4th 2006 at 11:09am EDT by Megapoopile

Edited, Aug 4th 2006 at 1:49pm EDT by Megapoopile

Stop adding stupid **** like Chocobo racing and Besieged and get rid of the god damn 24 hour farmers. People are quiting the game because of them, not because they can't race Chocobos.

When I first saw the track layout I instantlt said "That's a breeder's track, not a rider's track". (A breeder's track is flat and featureless. It shows off top speed. A rider's track would hsve obstacles and choke points. Riding skill is at least as important as top speed and endurance.)

Now I understand why, we don't even get to ride our own birds.

FAIL

Look Squenix, what is the meta purpose of Choco raising and racing? Is it not to get us to bond with these birds and therefore more tightly bond with the game? Is it not a time sink? Did I miss something?

Let me explain something is one sylable words. More people will race chocobos if they can ride them themselves.

On betting:

The standard system used at race tracks everywhere, the parimutial (Spelling?) system, where all bets determine the odds on each entry, is probably the best way to go. It must be simple to implement as it was introduced when Babbit was programing looms and became universal for horse and dog tracks before Univac.

If betting is supposed to be a Gil sink, I would say that the 2% the tracks take off the top is too little, and would suggest a 10% track fee.

But to make it a REAL gil sink, you would bet in Gil and get paid off in some kind of points redemable for items, either unique or things already in game and in high demand and/or short supply. These same points could be awawaded for Win, Place, and Show (1st, 2ed, and 3rd) in the race.

Thank you for seeking input.

The most import thing is to make sure that the amount of gil you have has absolutely nothing to do with raising your Chocobo nor the ability to race it.

1. Have different type of races.
a. Skill based;
b. Balista styled;
c. ls v. ls;
d. Breed of Chocobo;
e. Friendly races that are purely for fun and do not affect your Chocobo or riding skills so players of different levels/skills/class can race each other. The prizes here could be furnishings or easily obtained items. No betting would be allowed;
f. Free training races up to a certain skill level to help learn how to race your chocobo. Maybe learn riding skill level 1 here. No prizes awarded or betting allowed; etc.

2. Any item that would affect how your Chocobo will run, while being raised or in a race, or riding skill ability MUST be the EX type. This is the only way to keep it fair to all. It will also keep RMT from benefitting from it and monopolizing how the item is acquired. Items should not be high priced if sold from a shop as this would entice players to buy gil from RMT.

3. Player control would be much more fun and allow for different types of races. This will also allow for much more varitiy in out come of races.

4. Players can not interact directly with another player during skill based races. Allowing players to interact directly with each other would allow a group of players to team up (cheat) against another player. Prizes for these should be hard to acquire and/or high priced items, but not the EX type.

5. Balista style and other team based races would allow direct player interaction with one another. The prizes for this should be good items, but not necessarily hard to get ones.

6. What place your Chocobo finishes a race will affect how it will do and your riding skill as you advance in standing. Time will also be a factor to prevent people from "fooling around" on the track. Your Chocobo's ranking and the players riding skill level will drop the longer it takes you to finish a race.

7. Chocobos and players will have to have a class/rank system so the races will be more evenly matched.

8. Betting: Stats and odds would have to be displayed. You would place (trade) your bet at the track, maybe at an "OTB" NPC. You would not be required to stay for the race, but if you win, you must go to the place where you placed your bet to collect your winnings. Just normal fees would be charged (the whole thing of "removing gil" to help the economy is stupid and does not work. It actually helps RMT since players would more inclined to buy from RMT to afford the high costs, just as it is happening now because of other high fees). Players who are racing can place bets.

9. A normal fee (same reason as 8. above) would be charged to enter the race which would not be refunded if the player fails to enter the race, but in the event a race is cancelled because not enough players entered the race it would be refunded.

10. The Chocobos would need stats. Amount of Body Fat (i.e.: feeding too much food that raises Stamina will also make it fat), Stamina, Speed, Accelleration, Strength, etc. They would affect each other, and different types of raising, training and food would alter them.

11. The controls (Controller given, keyboard would be the equivilants) could be: forward = faster; back = slower; left = left; right = right; X button = burst of speed.

12. Open races and scheduled races for all types of races.


I'm calling it quits for now. Really tired and 12 things should be enough of a good beginning.

Make friendly matches, strictly with people, and no prizes, be player-controlled, and competitive matches, with NPCs and prizes, NPC-Controlled. >.>

(I posted this message in another place when I meant to type it here! srry!)
I didn't see if anyone else agrees, but what about the people who don't like betting and racing and such? There should be other contests for chocobos than racing. I know that seems to be your main focus about the chocobo's in the first update on it, but can't we do activities less racing?
1. I mean there are people who are good at chocobo digging. We could have contests for that and you could train your chocobo up to the point that it will dig without gyshal greens.
2. Or we could have a beauty contest and you can win trophy's and more World Fame that way.
3. Perhaps people could raise their chocobo's to be war chocobo's (i.e. a war horse) but that would effect the battle system, so its basically a cool idea.
last one!
4. I liked in FFIX that the chocobo would get a prize (color change) from the Choco king person for getting better at what he does (digging) but that'd be cool if a chocobo could learn to fly and swim. That would effect the maps again haha, so yeah, just another cool idea.

so yeah, basically have something to do with a choco other than racing and betting cause that seems demeaning to the whole chocobo idea...to me at least

I loved the color system of chocoboes in FF9. It would be relly cool if that system applied here.
Red Chocoboes good at running on rough terrain. Bad at Flying.
Blue Chocoboes good at running/swimming in shallow water. Bad at on rough terrain.
Black Chocoboes good at flying. Bad on at shallow water. (Black choco's from a few early FFs and FF Tactics. FF9s flyer choco was gold.)
Yellow Chocoboes a balance of them all.

But unlike FF9, different colors would have to be like a job system rather than upgrades. But that wont be so bad because FFXI is a big spiral of jobs anyway.
This system is easy enough to follow but theres gotta be a way to improve them. (kinda like weapon cap system on different jobs.)

Well here's my views on a few of those things.

Player Controlled vs AI: Having the game player controlled would destroy it before it's even started. Too many people would fix games, people would make speed bots and warp hacks, and people would complain about lag. Even in the cases where those DON'T happen someone would still be a sore loser and acuse someone of botting or lagging. (don't believe me? just stand at a king behemoth pop and watch the feathers fly)

Gambling: If it's not player controlled then go for it as it'd keep things clean and fair. Hopefully it'd be possible to bet on yourself and perhaps make some profit off of your time invested into raising your chocobos.

Major Concern: What concerns me most with the whole Chocobo Racing thing is if it involves unique items or armor that enhance your chocobos then the "wealthy" players in FFXI can just buy themselves to the top and end up dominating the market. But I'm sure that one's already been chucked around the dev team's office and you've got a few ideas for it.

Personal Suggestions: As mentioned before, different types of track to be introduced for different types of chocobos to excel or struggle with to give the game a more rounded approach for the different types of raising styles the players will make. Rather than one "this is the right way, follow this guide and do it" mentality we have for practically everything else in the game.

Thank you for taking the time to reach out to the community for our opinions about Chocobo Racing and Raising. Good luck with it and do what you think is best.

If anything I post has already been posted, I apologize. I only skimmed through all the posts.

One of the concerns I share with many players is the potential unfair advantage people with gil might have over others who don't have enough gil to "pump up their chocobo". I have no suggestions on how to counter an issue, and I'm, a bit unsure of how it would be possible.

Will chocobo ages be recorded? A thought that just came up to potentially give people a fair advantage is to create "leagues". In the same essence of various capped and uncapped Ballista and Brenner matches, why not make leagues where chocobo of certain ages or breeds participate in certain races?

Thank you, Square-Enix!