Today, Square Enix announced the return of one of the most popular events in Final Fantasy XI, the Egg Hunt. Slated to hit a city near you on April the 9th and running on to the 20th, this year's Hunt will include all the favorite egg gathering combinations from the event's past, as well as a new event to seek the pieces of an "Egg Buffet" for assembly. So prepare for another exciting, or should I say "eggciting", time with your friends and companions at Egg Hunt 2009.

Discuss this announcement on the Zam forums.

From Playonline.com:

The three nations are abuzz once more as the pinnacle of all celebrations good and eggly—the Egg Hunt Egg-stravaganza—fast approaches, kupo! This year, as in the past, the Egg Hunt will see that most vital of all adventuring qualities—cooperation—tested to the fullest egg-stent. After all, it is only through uncompromised collaboration that an ad hoc assemblage of adventurers can consolidate weaknesses and overcome ordinarily overwhelming odds. With seamless cooperation in full swing, even the subjugation of legendary beasts of yolk—errr...yore, even—is not out of the question, kupo!

We perpetually bickering moogles are often in awe of the indomitable spirit of cooperation that is the trademark of so many an adventurer, and thus decided to draw inspiration from this as the theme for this year's prizes for completing "initial egg" combinations. Feast your eyes on following egg-squisite egg-inspired objects, born from the indubitably adroit hands of Kupelcian, San d'Orian master carpenter and pride and joy of all mooglekind, kupo!

"Egg Locker"
Store your dining utensils with class with this gorgeous locker unit crafted from century-old oak and lovingly inlaid with gleaming brass marquetry. For a limited time only, all egg lockers come with a lovely Kshama tea set, kupo!

"Egg Table"
This sturdy, hemispheric table assembled from polished chestnut wood and draped with a handsome cloth of scarlet is right at home even in the manor of the lordliest of lords in the Kingdom, kupo.

"Egg Stool"
Egg-xuding the simple yet refined elegance of wood sourced from a young walnut tree, this low-set stool is upholstered with a velvet-trimmed cushion for your protracted perching pleasure, kupo.

"Egg Lantern"
This egg-shaped lantern wrought in burnished brass shines forth with the rich radiance of a newborn star. Set the ambience of your Mog House aglow with this endearing little number, kupo.

And that rounds up the prize items available at this year's Egg Hunt event, kupo!
Hm? What happened to the theme of "cooperation" I so meticulously made mention of merely moments ago, you ask?
Well, I was just about to get to that, kupo.
While each item is formidable in its own right, only in union do these furnishings unleash their true potential!

By their powers combined, I give you—ta-da!—the "Egg Buffet"!
A technologically trailblazing egg-shaped buffet table that is the very embodiment of the spirit of cooperation, kupo!

Come event time, we moogles expect you to get rolling—or cracking, whichever is more to your taste—on egg-quiring the entire array of egg items, kupo! Eggspeed you all!

Event Period

The Egg Hunt event is set to begg-in on Thursday, April 9th, 2009 at 1:00 (PDT), and conclude on Monday, April 20th, 2009 at 1:00.

Moogle Locations

For the duration of the festivities, event moogles will appear at the locations listed below. Talk to them for a briefing on how to go about getting the absolute most out of your egg-hunting endeavors.

Southern San d'Oria (J-9) / Northern San d'Oria (D-8)
Bastok Mines (I-9) / Bastok Markets (G-8)
Windurst Waters (north side) (F-5) / Windurst Woods (K-10)

How to Play

1. Collect Initial Eggs!
"Initial eggs" are eggs of avian persuasion that have been inscribed with a single letter of the alphabet. During the Egg Hunt, adventurers can receive a random initial egg from the festival moogles once every Vana'dielian day. Collecting and forming certain combinations of initial eggs will garner you event egg-sclusive prizes. Please note, however, that the letter inscribed on a particular egg will not be revealed to you until you receive it. Trading often with your fellow adventurers is the key to completing that elusive combination!

2. Make a "First 3" Combination!
First of all, try collecting the initial eggs required to make a "First 3" combination. Once you have the eggs you need, trade them to a moogle to receive your prize!

First 3: Collect the first three letters of your character's name.
For egg-xample, a character with the name of "Moogle" would need to collect one [M], and two [O] initial eggs.

3. Take it to the Next Level!

Initial Straight 8: An egg inscribed with the first letter of your character's name followed by the next seven letters in the alphabet.
For egg-sample, a character with the name of "Moogle" would need an [M], as well as an [N], [O], [P], [Q], [R], [S], and [T].

7 of a Kind: Seven initial eggs with the same letter.
For egg-sample, you could choose to collect seven [A] initial eggs.

*Hints
- If you are in a party when speaking with a moogle, it is possible to choose an initial egg inscribed with the first letter of a party member's name. And if that party member happens to be wearing an egg helm...
- Try trading any type of "egg" to a moogle. Once every Vana'dielian day, you might find that the moogles will gift you with an initial egg in exchange for a "normal" egg.
- Newly created characters must wait at least one Vana'dielian day before they can receive an initial egg. Furthermore, you'll have to trade in a "First 3" before you can trade in any other combos. Think of it as a sort of preliminary test!
- The moogles are usually egg-stremely reluctant to give out any of their classified information, but maybe if you are persistent enough, one will let you in on a secret or two! Make it a point to talk to them as often as possible!

For those of you who are looking for a real challenge, try egg-sperimenting with different, more egg-citing combinations.

Unleashing Your "Egg Buffet"

Trade an egg locker, egg table, egg stool, and egg lamp to your resident moogle to have it assembled into an egg buffet. Similarly, trading an egg buffet will cause it to revert to the four aforementioned furnishings.