Chocobo breeding added in Final Fantasy XI June update

Final Fantasy XI: Treasures of Aht UrhganFFXI: Treasures of Aht Urhgan is getting Chocobo breeding added in the next version update, scheduled for June. The first thing a player must do is acquire an egg. Each one has its own unique DNA, and some eggs are extremely rare. How you get an egg has yet to be revealed.

Once you have an egg, you’ll then need to incubate it, but chocobo breeding isn’t something that happens either instantaneously (like in a game like Monster Rancher) or even over a few days. In fact, the length of time required to successfully hatch an egg makes growing elemental ores look like child’s play. Over the course of approximately one to three months, players will have to check on their egg at least once a day, much in the same way one must check their plants daily. It’s not a time-consuming event, which should make it easy for breeders to manage.

Depending how you raise your bird (experimentation is encouraged) this will determine its appearance and abilities. Chocobos will be as unique as the players raising them.

Since moogles don’t like the smell or mess that chocobos create, you must raise them at the Chocobo Stables. In the event that you have to go away (school, work, vacation, etc.), you can have a stable-hand watch over your bird, but an as-yet unknown fee or compensation must be paid for such services. According to Square: “Chocobos are very delicate creatures. The love and care you give your chocobo will have a major effect on its development. You should feed your chocobo when it is hungry, and spend time with it when it is lonely.”

But once your chocobo has reached a certain age, you’ll be able to mate your chocobo with another of the opposite sex and appropriate age. Once you’ve matched your chocobo up with another, you could end up with an egg, and the chick may end up looking nothing like its parents. In addition to the breeding, the development team is hard at work creating the system in which players will compete with each other in races and other events.

The new chocobo feature is set to go live at some point this month. Via 1up.