(11-17-2013, 09:24 PM)LandStander Wrote: Fourth, how expensive do you think a chocobo would be? Would it be akin to buying a car in our world? Or would it be plausible that a breeder may give a deal to someone based on a variety of reasons? And are there any naming conventions for chocobos?
I like to think that they are pretty damn expensive. Not only do you have to afford it, but also the housing, food, water, vet bills...Its like owning a horse in real life lol. I like JJ's idea of just saying its a company chocobo. My character is constantly broke so she never has one IC, but she did come across some money from winning a tournament and "gifts" so she was able to rent one a few times.Â
So I've been thinking about the question, and the various responses I've seen here, and I...have to disagree.
Instead of thinking about this from a modern standpoint, think about this in terms of history. Â Let's replace Chocobos with Horses - which served the same function in our world for thousands of years. Â Horses, ponies, and mules were extremely common in pre-industrial society. Â They served the same function as modern automobiles - they transported people over long distances, hauled goods for sale from one location to another, plowed fields, and served as the ultimate mobile weapon - first drawing chariots, and later being employed as mounts for fast-moving calvary units.
Did everyone have a horse? Â No. Â Most common people probably wouldn't have a horse. Â In more urbanized areas, it would be possible to hire a cab (yes, drawn by a horse) much like you might hire a taxi in a large city, for those who did not own a horse themselves. Â However, in the wilds? Â In the wilderness and untamed land? Â Not having horse was often a one-way ticket to an early grave. Horses allowed you to carry more supplies than you otherwise could (and, seriously, food is really heavy, and water is worse, and carrying enough food and water to last for a week is going to be really tough, not to mention bedrolls, tents, etc.), hastened your trip to an extent, and gave you the ability to outrun predators (as well as early warning that predators were out there). They were hardy, dependable, and very strong. Â There's a reason why horse stealing was a capital offense in many western states/territories right up through the 20th century (I think some of those laws are actually still on the books, but don't quote me on it).
Horses were not expensive. Â They weren't expensive to buy (though, of course, some horses were very expensive, this depended on your location, the breed, and use of the horse), and they weren't expensive to maintain. Â A huge cost for modern horse owners is stabling - something that was much cheaper just a century ago. Â And that's assuming you even used a stable. Â If someone was traveling from place to place, and they booked a room in an inn, the stable fees were usually (from everything I've read ,anyway) included in the cost of the inn room. Â In the wilds? Â You'd hobble the horses or tie them and leave them outside over night. Â They were, after all, just horses. Â There was none of this paying $400+ per month for a single stall in a stable.
Someone mentioned vet bills, but if we're going with the "medieval-esque" time period of the game, well, there were no vets. Â The closest thing you'd have to a vet was a Farrier, and they mostly took care of horse hooves. Â There were no regulations, and no schools to teach Farriers how to do their jobs. Â The first veterinary schools didn't appear until the mid 1700s, and it wasn't until the turn of the century that the profession really took off. Â And this is even assuming that an Adventurer (or most people) would pay the extra gil to get their mount looked at. Â Most Horses never saw a Farrier for more than shoes, and if they were ill, most of the time they were put down. Â While there are a lot of really nice NPCs running around professing their love of Chocobos, I'm sure there are just as many people who view a Chocobo as a means to an end, and don't really care if the creature is treated well or made comfortable.
There are two Chocobo stables that we see in game, both in Gridania. Â And yes, the NPCs there talk about how they "won't sell to just anyone." Â Because, after all, Chocobos are special. Â Well, they may be special, but the main storyline leads you through a quest at Bentbranch where it's mentioned in passing that the guy after the all-important egg is from Ishgard, and makes a passing reference at the quality of the Chocobos in Ishgard, and how much finer they are than anywhere else. Â So there's got to be at least one breeding stable in Ishgard (or was before the Calamity, anyway). And if there's one stable outside of Gridania, there are probably more. I find it hard to believe that the money-grubbing merchants of Ul'dah, for instance, would want to pay to import their draft animals and mounts. I find it even less believable that the residents of La Noscea would be importing all of their Chocobos from Gridania (and neither of those operations are large enough to supply the presumable demand for the entire continent). So Chocobo breeding is probably pretty widespread, just like horse breeding. Meaning that some people are going to be very careful about who they sell to, and others won't give a shit - they just want the money in their pockets. Â
Plus, Chocobos are everywhere. Â They're in every settlement, big or small, sometimes even when there's no Chocobokeep. Â We see them carrying people from place to place (taxi!), hauling goods for sale, serving in the various Grand Companies as calvary mounts, and generally filling every role that Horses filled in human society here on earth. Â There are various sizes of Chocobos (big, small, and in-between!), and even the suggestion that certain Chocobos are suited for specific types of work (i.e. a riding Chocobo might not be suited to draftwork, and a draft chocobo might not be suited to serve as a war mount, etc).
My personal feeling on the subject is that Adventurers, as adventurers, tend to be moving around much more than your average commoner. Â Therefore, they'd need a solid means of transportation. Â And while not every commoner is going to have the coin to purchase a chocobo (or, even if they do, might not have a place to keep it in a large city like Ul'dah, or just not need one), an Adventurer is likely to have the coin and, more importantly, spend it on a Chocobo because of how useful they are to someone who needs to be constantly moving from place to place.
Finally, I don't think you can judge the ability for people to own a Chocobo of their own on modern limitations to horse ownership. Â Many of those limitations wouldn't even exist in a more agrarian society.
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