Chocobo Digging as a hobby and a means of economic support Negative Aspects: Time Consideration: Not everyone Chocobo Digs because the reality behind it is Chocobo Digging takes a long while to level up in Rank. It is too obnoxious for most because it consumes a lot of time.  Going from Recruit to Expert may takes years! Cost Investment: In addition, skilling up requires burning through dozens and dozens of Gysahls Greens, while although cheap, collectively end up costing a pretty penny. Whistle charges used count towards side costs as well. Inventory Space Concerns: Another downside to Chocobo Digging is the need to free up a lot of Inventory Space to collect treasure.  Even NPCing your cheaper digs will compensate a fraction of the gil paid for Gysahls. Competition: Other diggers, especially high level diggers, may clear out the zone once you arrive there to dig.  Even if you are a high level digger, other high level diggers can prevent you from profiting that session. Chocobo Fatigue: Last but not least, eventually if you dig long enough in a 1-day session,. your Chocobo will become fatigued. Once your Chocobo is fatigued, you are forced to stop and wait until Japanese-midnight to start digging again. On the flip side, Chocobo Digging has many positive characteristics as well. Positive Aspects: Good Time-Filler and Easy Accessibility: Stating the obvious but here goes. You can Chocobo Dig in so many different, accessible zones.  It's also a great activity to do when you are bored and don't know what to do.  You can put your flag up for an XP party while doing so, and go at your own pace as well. Cheap Food: As long as you are not buying in large bulk, Gysahl Greens are cheap. Semi-Profitable Digs: Starting around Initiate Digging Rank, you can make a profit or at least split even in some midlevel digging zones. Digging up beastcoins, seeds, and certain ores can be done at initiate skill level and can easily compensate the gil spent on Gysahls plus even quite a bit more.   Below initiate rank, sessions aren't very profitable, with some exceptions.  Choosing the right low-level zone to dig in may very well compensate the gil spent, maybe even a bit more. Eventually, a Powerful Means of Economic Support: High level diggers can clear out an entire zone in like 10 minutes.  I've heard of diggers walking away with a stack of Coral Fragments.  Competition in your zone will of course hinder your profit margin, especially if they are a more skilled Chocobo Digger than you are. Sheer Enjoyment: Under Negative Aspects, I listed a few reasons why most people do not enjoy Chocobo Digging.  However, there are always a group of people that do enjoy Chocobo Digging.  For some, it's an enjoyable hobby, relaxing, no stress from other players involved, and fun riding around on your Chocobo digging.		Requirements: In order to Chocobo Dig, you need to have raised your own Chocobo to day 29 Adulthood and have acquired at some point a Chocobo Whistle.  = or = You may hire a rental Chocobo in the region you plan to dig in. Advantage of Personal Chocobos Calling your own Chocobo to the field has its own important advantages. Unlike rental Chocobos, you can raise your own Chocobo to acquire both Burrow and Bore (see: Abilities section).  These two Chocobo Abilities are exclusive Digging abilities, allowing the Chocobo to dig up more valuable items, more often.  This is the reason why you mostly see Chocobo Diggers using their own Chocobos. Gysahl Greens: Gysahl Greens are the food you feed to your Chocobo to motivate it to dig.  You will burn through dozens and dozens of Gysahls in one digging Session. Gysahls are obtainable via: -   NPCs located in city Stables. The prices are usually 62-65 gil, and vary slightly depending on your fame. -   Gardening. -   Harvesting in Giddeus. -   Auction House or Bazaars. Skilling up Digging: Skilling up your digging is an extremely slow process with a lot of variables.  You do not see your digging skill-ups, and people believe the skillups may happen with either successful or unsuccessful digs, but there is no concrete evidence to back this. Moon phase affects the accuracy of successful digs. Skilling up may also occur while digging in the Hot-and-Cold game. The higher level your skill is, the higher chance of a successful dig in certain zones, therefore a higher yield of treasure.  Higher Digging skill also allows you to dig successfully in higher level digging zones.
Digging Aids: There are a few easy ways to make your Chocobo Digging-Sessions more profitable and economical.
Digging Gear: Egg Helm: The Egg Helms you can obtain during the Easter Celebration give you a Chocobo Digging Bonus, which is absolutely necessary for digging up a few certain items. Chocobo and Rider Gear: This gear adds a significant time extension to your Chocobo when called.  Although this doesn't improve your actual Digging habits, it allows your Chocobo to stay out longer, allowing more time to dig!  Very useful. The Rider gear is simply the HQ version of the Chocobo Gear and is substantially more expensive.  The NQ Chocobo Gear has exactly the same time extension stats as well. Chocobo Wand: This extends Chocobo Riding time as well.  It's awarded yearly during the Adventurer Appreciate Campaigns, usually held in May, and was also awarded during the 2006 Fan Festival.		Moon Phases: Moon Phases definitely affect successful dig-rates.  Full Moon and New Moon offer the best accuracy for digging.  First and Last Quarter Moons seem to be the least desirable times for digging. Check the Zone First: If you are digging for Profit, check your zone first for possible Competition. A high level digger may have already cleared the zone, or at the very least will cut your profit.
Digging Rank Evaluation System: Chocobo Digging, in its own manner, is comparable to Crafting in that there are separate Rank Evaluations to determine one's progress and skill level.  The eleven ranks in order are:  Amateur, Recruit, Initiate, Novice, Apprentice, Journeyman, Craftsman, Artisan, Adept, Veteran, and Expert.  Luckily, there are no level cap quests to advance in Rank, no Guild, etc. Chocobo Rank advancement is a slow procedure, which consumes tons of Gysahl Greens. The graph I've created below shows the ELEVEN different Ranks obtainable through Chocobo Digging, starting off with Amateur, your default Rank Evaluation leading all the way up to Expert. Knowing your rank is useful, however is sometimes annoying to determine.
		Determining your Rank: One way to find out your Digging Rank is by calculating your Area Delay.  This task can be a little tricky. Get your Stopwatch ready, and zone your Chocobo to a new zone. The moment your screen starts loading text, quicky press your timer and start spamming /dig or a dig macro. The exact moment your Chocobo starts digging, click your Stopwatch again to see what your Area Delay is. You need to be very concise and quick on your timer.  Lag or poor timing judgement may falsify your Area Delay Results.
Note:  This section is currently being expanded.  Please keep checking back for new information. Soon to come! : Expanded Digging Material & Digging Treasure List!