User:Seral/NeoOne

Day -1
Traded a Black Female (ArkieAyu) and Black Male (EteAyu) Chococard to Finbarr with the Jeuno Tour Plan. These Chococards were bought off a Bazaar in Bastok Mines, right outside the Chocobo Stables. This player appears to set up shop and AFK on a Japanese schedule.

Day 0
Received a Chocobo Egg (Bit Warm) from Finbarr. Set it up with Pulonono in Windurst. On this day the only thing she tells me when inquiring about its condition is that she can't tell whether it will be male or female. She also tells me that it needs care at this delicate stage of life, which is good, because I'm going to watch over it 25 times. Chocobo's Condition "Let's see how your egg is doing today... I can't tell yet whether your chocobo will be a male or female... Chocobos are delicate creatures, and their condition easily changes. The secret to raising a good chocobo is giving it plenty of care!" Activity Chocobo's Condition No Change

Day 1
Today when I watched over the chocobo it said The chick inside the egg seems to want out..., instead of Day 0 where it said Your egg feels the tender warmth of your gaze. Chocobo Status Report "Plan: Basic Care We've been taking good care of your egg. I can't wait to see how cute the chick will be!" Chocobo's Condition No Change Activity Chocobo's Condition No Change

Day 2
Curiously, I checked on my Chocobo after 9:00 AM PDT (which is 1:00 AM Japanese Daylight Time), but didn't get a status report until I returned home from work, about 4:00 PM PDT. My girlfriend suggested the days are based on when you brought your egg to the VCS trainer. Her status report later this morning seems to indicate this is the case. Chocobo's Condition No Change Activity Chocobo's Condition No Change Chocobo Status Report "Plan: Basic Care We've been taking good care of your egg. I can't wait to see how cute the chick will be!" Chocobo's Condition No Change Activity

Chocobo's Condition No Change

Day 3
Later today when I was caring for my chocobo the message changed to The chick inside the egg seems to be anxious to meet you... Chocobo's Condition No Change Activity Chocobo's Condition No Change Chocobo Status Report "Plan: Basic Care We've been taking good care of your egg. I can't wait to see how cute the chick will be!" Chocobo's Condition No Change Activity Chocobo's Condition No Change

Day 4

 * Chick hatched.
 * Discovered my chocobo was male, despite the Jeuno Tour Plan used on Day -1.
 * Got my first real condition report.
 * Received an increase to affection. This was the result of watching over the egg 126 times, and then taking the chick on a short walk.

Alright, so I generally assume simple values in a game are 8-bit values (binary:00000000-11111111, decimal:0-255, hexadecimal:00-ff). Chocobo raising isn't half the game, it couldn't even account for 1% of all the data stored against an average character. By the looks of these attributes, the server stores less data on every chocobo than it does on every character's crafting level. This makes me assume they consider these simple values, not worth a 32-bit long or float's corresponding size or precision (but enough programming talk). So I have a little dilemma with the way attributes have been described. Stength, Endurance, Receptivity, and Discernment are each described to have 8 levels:

Attributes
Affection, likewise, has 8 levels:
 * 1) Poor
 * 2) Substandard
 * 3) A bit deficient
 * 4) Average
 * 5) Better than average
 * 6) Impressive
 * 7) Outstanding
 * 8) First-class

Affection
Now, my dilemma is that I watched the egg 126 times and started out level 7 ( Regarding affection, it seems to want to be with you all the time. ). What's the dilemma with that? Well in theory my points for affection are being increased every time I watch it. It's possible there's a random modifier in there, but it doesn't feel like it, seeing as to how chicks hatched with high affection seems to be the norm around 90-130 watchings according to other ffxiclopedia editors. However, I digress. Let's split up the 8 levels into point ranges for an 8-bit value, shall we?
 * 1) Regarding affection, it does not seem to care about you.
 * 2) Regarding affection, it seems to be able to endure your company.
 * 3) Regarding affection, it seems to slightly enjoy your company.
 * 4) Regarding affection, it seems to like being around you.
 * 5) Regarding affection, it seems to like you pretty well.
 * 6) Regarding affection, it seems to like you a lot.
 * 7) Regarding affection, it seems to want to be with you all the time.
 * 8) Regarding affection, it seems to regard you as its parent.

Points
So, clearly, watching over the egg is not worth merely 1 point. That would start me out on the high end of level 4. Alright, fine, each watching is worth 2 points, yes? No, 126 times 2 is 252, which would start me out on the high end of level 8. He would already be regarding me as a parent if it was as we've thus far defined it. Chocobo Status Report "Plan: Basic Care We've been taking good care of your egg. I can't wait to see how cute the chick will be! A chick has hatched from the egg! It's sooo cute! Let's name it later, okay? Sometimes people forget to name their chocobo, but this can cause problems when the chocobo matures and it comes time to fill out important paperwork!" Chocobo's Condition Activity Chocobo's Condition Activity Chocobo's Condition No Change Activity Chocobo's Condition No Change Activity
 * 1) 0-31
 * 2) 32-63
 * 3) 64-95
 * 4) 96-127
 * 5) 128-159
 * 6) 160-191
 * 7) 192-223
 * 8) 224-255

Chocobo's Condition

Day 5
Damn't, I told them to take him on a walk. Somehow he wound up back on a Basic Care plan. Ooh that pisses me off. Chocobo Status Report "Plan: Basic Care We've been taking good care of NeoOne. Your chocobo has been passing its time here in the stables without a concern in the world!" Chocobo's Condition Activity Chocobo's Condition Activity Chocobo's Condition
 * First meeting with Pulonono Go on a Walk (Short).

Activity Chocobo's Condition Activity

Chocobo's Condition Activity Chocobo's Condition
 * Encountered Lost Chick

Day 6
I'm still checking the chocobo's condition after every single activity, but I'm now condensing activities where there was no change in status, and nothing exceptional happened.

I intentionally tried to exhaust my chocobo's energy today. 3 Walks, and 8 sessions of being watched over seemed to do it. I believe each walk is taking 25% of his energy, and each session of being watched over is taking 3.125%. (If energy is an 8-bit value it'd be an even number of 64 for each walk, and 8 for each watching session).

So it would seem, in the chick stage, if you are afraid of exhausting the chocobo (there's lots of arguing over what it does to their health), you should walk it then watch over it three times. This gets you (supposedly) strength and endurance bonuses, and maximizes the number of items you'll receive from your chocobo (note 1:I'm assuming the chocobo doesn't hide more than one item in the stable at a time--note 2:I don't believe there's any consensus on whether giving you an item effect's a chocobo's attributes).

If my Chocobo's still in Excellent condition tomorrow (a status he just achieved today, so I should be just barely within that level) I'm probably going to assume exhausting him won't have any ill-effect as long as he's kept full (nourishment-wise). That will mean walking him 4 times a day and missing out on any items he's retrieving (unless a quest calls for that, or further data leads to the contrary). That's fine though, I'm going for strength and endurance now, and intend to work discernment and receptivity later. Chocobo Status Report "Plan: Take a Walk I took NeoOne on a walk around town. It seemed interested in everything! NeoOne seems pretty perky lately! It should be responsive to anything you give it now." Chocobo's Condition Activity Chocobo's Condition Activity Chocobo's Condition
 * Second meeting with Pulonono Go on a Walk (Short).
 * Lost Chick owner's name starts with the letter K.

Activity Chocobo's Condition Activity Chocobo's Condition
 * Discovered chocobo had found a box of Tarutaru Rice.

Activity Chocobo's Condition Activity Chocobo's Condition

Day 7
Today, when I fed him it said NeoOne munches weakly on the ball of carrot paste. I'm trying to decide if this means he's sick of the Carrot Paste or if this was a side-effect of his crying at night. Hopefully I'll discover the answer tomorrow when I give him another Carrot Paste. If he's still munching weakly on it, I'll try some greens. Chocobo Status Report "Plan: Take a Walk I took NeoOne on a walk around town. It seemed interested in everything! Lately, NeoOne has been crying loud enough at night to wake the dead! I know chicks cry a lot, but this is the worst..." Chocobo's Condition Activity Chocobo's Condition Activity Chocobo's Condition Activity Chocobo's Condition
 * Obtained White Handkerchief.
 * Third meeting with Pulonono.
 * Got Story of a Youthful Chocobo.
 * Lost Chick owner is a Tarutaru woman.

Activity Chocobo's Condition Activity Chocobo's Condition
 * Got Story of a Diligent Chocobo.
 * Discovered a Little Worm on my first watch.

Day 8
Well, he wasn't munching weakly on the carrot paste today, so, I'm going to attribute yesterday to his crying state.

I'm wondering if when Pulonono said NeoOne seems to have had its fill and has calmed down, that meant he had his fill of crying, or his Excellent state of health was over. Chocobo Status Report "Plan: Take a Walk I took NeoOne on a walk around town. It seemed interested in everything! Thanks to the White Handkerchief, NeoOne has been sleeping like a baby! NeoOne seems to have had its fill and has calmed down." Chocobo's Condition Activity Chocobo's Condition Activity Chocobo's Condition
 * Discovered a Beastcoin on my first watch.
 * Discovered a Little Worm on my second watch.

Day 9
Going to start differentiating between quite full and completely full in nourishment from now on. I apparently didn't notice the difference before. This was my first time feeding him Sharug greens and he didn't seem to express a preference for or against them. Chocobo Status Report "Plan: Take a Walk I took NeoOne on a walk around town. It seemed interested in everything!" Chocobo's Condition Activity Chocobo's Condition Activity Chocobo's Condition
 * Fourth meeting with Pulonono on first walk.
 * Fifth meeting with Pulonono on third walk.

Day 10
I can't decide if patient or easygoing is a better personality, so I just colored it yellow.

So I finally got a stat increase today. Here's a tally of all the activities between egg and endurance increase: The only activities that should be increasing endurance are:
 * Watch over chocobo: &times;140
 * Go on a walk (Short): &times;17
 * Kamp Kweh: &times;6
 * Carrot Paste: &times;5
 * Sharug Greens: &times;1
 * Plan: Take a Walk: &times;5
 * Go on a walk (Short): &times;17
 * Kamp Kweh (patience+): &times;4
 * Carrot Paste: &times;5
 * Plan: Take a Walk: &times;5

That's 31 individual activities. I find that interesting. Perhaps each is worth only 1 point of endurance, and my chocobo started with a single point (from supposedly awesome racing parents, bleh). Interesting stuff. If I continue to receive no strength from Kamp Kweh, then maybe I'll see my Strength increase tonight after the three additional walks and the Carrot Paste I plan to give him (31), or tomorrow after his next "Take a Walk" Care Plan (32). That should be the absolute latest I see an increase to strength, if we're all sure about these points, and what gives them.

Well, fed him Carrot Paste, he's not stronger after that, and Kamp Kweh didn't give me strength so my next point to strength should come with my Take a Walk care plan tomorrow. That'll be 32 points, so if it doesn't work, something will be amiss. Chocobo Status Report "Plan: Take a Walk I took NeoOne on a walk around town. It seemed interested in everything!" Chocobo's Condition Activity Chocobo's Condition Activity Chocobo's Condition
 * Sixth meeting with Pulonono on second walk.
 * Seventh meeting with Pulonono on third walk.

Day 11
So... 32 suspected-strength-increasing activities, no strength increase. Lovely.

If you read that I didn't get an increase to Strength until I finally fed him his Carrot Paste, then you're reading right. Actually, here's a summary of the activities rumored to increase strength that occurred before the strength increase: If each activity is worth a point (which is what I was thinking was the case when I got my increase to endurance), then what's this 35 points before I saw the increase to strength? I mean, his ancestry may not be as glorious as I originally thought, but I really doubt he started with -3 to strength.
 * Go on a walk (Short): ×23
 * Carrot Paste: ×6
 * Take a Walk: ×6

I suspected there was more to this chocobo raising system than people have suggested. Seems I might have been right. Chocobo Status Report "Plan: Take a Walk I took NeoOne on a walk around town. It seemed interested in everything!" Chocobo's Condition Activity Chocobo's Condition
 * Eighth meeting with Pulonono on first walk.
 * Ninth meeting with Pulonono on second walk.
 * Received a Flint Stone on first watch.

Running Activity Tally
Plan to make a copy at adolescence. Keep an overall tally going, and a separate tally for each stage of development. So at adolescence there will be three of these lists. One running total, second for the duration of the chick stage, third starting with all zeros for the adolescent stage. A fourth list starting with all zeros will be created at the adult stage.  Overall  Personal Care  Watch over chocobo: &times;143 Go on a walk (Short): &times;23   Kamp Kweh (bonuses reported)  Strength: &times;0 Endurance: &times;4</li> Discernment: &times;0</li> Receptivity: &times;2</li> Unknown/None: &times;1</li> </ul> </li> Food  Carrot Paste: &times;7</li> Sharug Greens: &times;1</li> </ul> </li> Care Plans  Basic Care: &times;5</li> Take a Walk: &times;6</li> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> </ul>