How much time has gone by...

[Jonnycbad]

Same thing in FFXI. The official end of the Crystal War was in 864, and by this post, the current in-game year in FFXI is 1305. But, it's still always 20 years ago.

[LineageRazor]

Same thing in FFXI. The official end of the Crystal War was in 864, and by this post, the current in-game year in FFXI is 1305. But, it's still always 20 years ago.

Even more amusing, a great number of player characters and virtually all of the NPCs are, by the calendar, centuries old...

[Anatha]

I mean there isn't any need for any of the characters to remain the same. The twins can age, they all could if enough time passed in the msq.

It's silly to think otherwise because that is exactly what happens now. A new player doesn't have the same cast of characters an up to date character has.

Barring world changing events there's no need to think time has stopped, it hasn't.

[Ameela]

It's been at least a year, I'd think.

I remember there being some throwaway lines about Zenos having taken over the ruling of Ala Mhigo after Gaius's passing one year prior, which is obviously the end of ARR.

[SaitoHikari]

My personal headcanon is that each expansion is one year, unless directly stated otherwise (5 years from 1.x to 2.x). I'm not even sure there was any new dialogue post-Stormblood giving an exact timeline on events that transpired pre-Stormblood either (as in, saying the Calamity was still 5 years ago).

I vaguely remember some dialogue in this recent patch (or the previous) indicating that 4 months had passed since Doma had been liberated. Though my memory on that may be faulty.

(Also, does it really take entire months to sail from Eorzea to the Far East? That seems problematic from a logistics standpoint, from ship supplies all the way to exactly what the hell was the Alliance and the XIIth Legion doing in Gyr Abania while we were messing around in Othard? Besides the whole 'capturing Krile' thing.)

[ObsidianFire]

(Also, does it really take entire months to sail from Eorzea to the Far East? That seems problematic from a logistics standpoint, from ship supplies all the way to exactly what the hell was the Alliance and the XIIth Legion doing in Gyr Abania while we were messing around in Othard? Besides the whole 'capturing Krile' thing.)

Well, sailing from Europe to East Asia when the the highest tech around was sailing vessels was something done often enough in real life. And it took longer to sail from Europe to East Asia then it takes to sail from Eorzea to the Far East (the bulk of Africa isn't in the way). It's also predictable enough that Limosan Pirates regularly raid Garlean ships that far out and for Lolorito to have a business office there. I'd say the logistics of getting to the Far East have been known for quite a while.

And now you know how the British felt about fighting wars in the Americas... The game does say what the Eorzean Alliance was doing during that time. The Resistance had just been decimated by Zenos so they need to recruit more soldiers to fight. Given the state Gyr Abania is in, I could see them needing months to persuade people that signing up with the Alliance/Resistance is a good idea. As for the XIIth Legion, for the first part of the time you're in the East, Zenos isn't in Gyr Abania. He's traveling to the East same as you are, although significantly faster most likely. After you and him fight in Doma, he goes back to Gyr Abania. Given that he doesn't seem to have the Resonance when he fights you in Doma, it seems like this is when he would have gotten it done. So that's a couple months of experimentation, surgery, recovery, and figuring out what the Resonance actually does. Also, Zenos himself admits what he wanted was for the Alliance/Resistance and you to get to Doma. He's not about to make that too difficult...

[Cilia]

The Resistance and Alliance had a few skirmishes with the XIIth while the Warrior of Light was in Othard as well, but there were no major engagements.

Remember both that Carvallain has secret ceruleum engines on his boat (so the trip would be faster - around 1 month instead of 2 - 3) and the XIIth wasn't interested in actually winning (so a lack of engagement on the Ala Mhigan front makes sense).

[SaitoHikari]

Hm, that is logically sound, actually. I guess I was just always confused at how no major skirmishes had taken place while we were gone, but I didn't consider that Zenos really did not want to make any effort at all in crushing the Alliance in the meantime.

[Rosenoire]

For the purposes of my headcanon, each expansion is around two years, so it's about a year since Stormblood began. This means that the twins are adults. I do sort of wish they'd grow up in canon, because it would be much easier to take Alphinaud seriously if he didn't come up to my lizardboy's navel.