Disappointed in one Endwalker Aspect [SPOILERS]

[MikkoAkure]

Are we shown how long everyone lives on each shard or that their measurements of time are the same? No. This is a case of the scriptwriters presenting a plot fact, but then not showing or writing what it really means into the story, because that would be too difficult to really show. Keep in mind every shard is locked away from the real universe by a space-time dimensional barrier that only allows aether, and perhaps Dynamis, to pass through it.

If your theory was correct, then it would be a noticeable fact throughout history that people gain longer lives after each Calamity but there’s nothing at all to suggest that. That would be like saying that people died of old age before their 10th birthday immediately following the Sundering and that’s just silly.

Also, there are Viis who themselves say are over 100 years old on the First. If they were a fraction of the Viera of the Source then they wouldn’t live that long. We’re also shown that measurements of time are the same. The Scions all reflect on the years they spent there. You would think that some of the brightest people from a different world would be aware of time being different or a year being a fraction as short. We’re also given ages of a couple of characters from the First in comparison to those from the Source and not only do they look that age, they look like the same age as the characters from the Source.

If that was an actual possible theory, then there would be clues somewhere, but there’s not. It’s not even a matter of “difficulty”, there’s no point in writing supporting information for something that doesn’t exist. I’d need actual proof, not “my theory is so difficult for the writers to put in the game that they didn’t”.

I had to go back and look at the scene to see it. Y'shtola says, "it may predate the empire." because it's, "Unlike anything she's ever seen." Emet-selch merely says that anyone pre-Sundering would remember it. I said it was the Ronkans, due to the later questline where we see the Meteorshower Mural with the Vieran Sorceress.

The whole point of Y’shtola saying that the cave paintings predate the empire is because the materials used are “older”. You’re twisting the source material and quoted it wrong. The full quote:
Y’shtola: “The murals. If I am not mistaken, they predate the empire.”
Minfilia (Ryne): “How can you tell?”
Y’shtola: “A peculiarity of the paint. Most are made from mineral-based pigments, but whatever was used here is older than anything I have ever seen.”

And by the way, the Viis sorceress Tiuna had the Echo. That’s why she saw the meteor shower and why it’s in her mural. At least to me, the murals don’t look the same either. Different art styles. And one is painted in a cavern wall that was eventually developed into a shrine devoted to “the wisdom of the ancients”, the other is a mural painted on the walls of a ruin itself.

[Vyrerus]

If your theory was correct

It's something they keep vague, because it is hard to show. It's like how half-races are possible, but they've only ever shown Hilda. Whenever they present something hard to write and account for in the story/gameplay, they generally tend to shy away from it or mention it again vaguely in later sidequests. The time passage for the Scions was written to show that the time drift between the Source and the Shards is real, as the entirety of Shadowbringers takes place relatively quickly (like what, a couple of days? I don't remember what Tataru says when you return at the end) by Source time. The Viera's age was to keep the FFXII reference intact when they decided to include the race in the game, and so they also used it in the story so that the Viera on the First can tell us events from 100 "years" ago.

Also keep in mind that the Scions were taking the time passage on the First for granted by those who told them what day it was, considering that for the "years" they spent there were hounded by a sky that never darkened. So you tell me, how long is a year in Norvrandt? How many days? How many months? And then, in the Source?

I was answering you casually, so I didn't bother getting the direct quote. Also, just because they predate the Empire, doesn't mean they predate the Ronkans. For instance, the Garleans existed before their Empire and had a culture that did things, before their empire.

As far as Tiuna's mural goes, it is Y'shtola herself who compares it to the murals in Qitana Ravel. /shrug

[MikkoAkure]

The time passage for the Scions was written to show that the time drift between the Source and the Shards is real, as the entirety of Shadowbringers takes place relatively quickly (like what, a couple of days? I don't remember what Tataru says when you return at the end) by Source time.

I think you got the wrong impression from this. Shards vary in time and can be faster compared to the Source at one moment and slower the next. It was specifically stated in-game that the First is currently 1:1. The same amount of time we spend on the First now is the same on the Source.

But that doesn't mean that their years are specifically different than ours, just that the passage of time itself can move faster or slower relative to ours. If you were to travel during a time of speeding up or slowing down, the time for you when you're on the shard would be normal, but when you get back, more or less time would have passed. But it's always in flux. We just get there at a time when the difference is negligible in order to save the writers headaches when we're going back and forth.

I still think that whole thing is really stupid, but that's how the writers wanted to deal with the expansion since they didn't want us to be there in a world that was only just devastated by the Flood.

Also keep in mind that the Scions were taking the time passage on the First for granted by those who told them what day it was, considering that for the "years" they spent there were hounded by a sky that never darkened. So you tell me, how long is a year in Norvrandt? How many days? How many months? And then, in the Source?

I mean, there's the item called "Crystarium Wall Chronometer", a device that tells time which in our world we call a clock. When the little hand goes around twice, it's been a day. The inhabitants of the First can also tell time without a sky because they themselves have relayed information to us based on years. But if Urianger says that he's been there for years, I'm more inclined to believe him than a poster on the forums. You would also think that a group of people from the Source would use Source-reckoning when it comes to describing the passage of time to another person from the Source. What use would it be for G'raha or any of the Scions to tell us that it's been "X" years if it's Norvrandt years and not Source years and we have no point of reference for how long a Norvrandt year is?

I was answering you casually, so I didn't bother getting the direct quote. Also, just because they predate the Empire, doesn't mean they predate the Ronkans. For instance, the Garleans existed before their Empire and had a culture that did things, before their empire.

In the original post I replied to you on, you said:

Also, the Qitana Ravel cave paintings were made by the Ronkans, an empire civilization implied to be similar in workings to the Allagans, though never outright stated to be a machination of the Ascians, it could have been.

Now you're saying that it was by the Ronkans, but before they were an empire? Then what would the point of referencing the fact they were an empire even be? The Garleans were only made an empire because of the Ascians. There's no proof in the game at all to suggest that the Ronkans were made an empire by the Ascians, but even if they were the murals are already stated in-game to predate the empire so it would have nothing to do with the Ascians to begin with. I'm not following your logic here. Per Oda himself:
“So, the cave painting was not done by Ascians. It was drawn by someone who has a memory of the world before the Sundering, he must have seen it through a dream or something, and made a mural.”

Then there's a whole other section of the MSQ where we specifically examine a "Primitive Mural", a "Ronkan Mural", and a "Faded Mural" anyway, which would suggest there are different periods of mural making in the area.

As far as Tiuna's mural goes, it is Y'shtola herself who compares it to the murals in Qitana Ravel. /shrug

Watch the scene again. Y'shtola compares the scene itself depicted in Tiuna's mural to the scene depicted in the Ravel mural. The whole point of that cutscene is to show us that the Echo is connected to the Final Days. The Viis with us tell us that Tiuna was a peerless mage and goes on to describe what we know as Echo powers. Then Y'shtola says that the falling stars remind her of the Ravel mural and also what Emet-Selch showed us at Amaurot. Then we're treated to a flashback showing the Tiuna mural, then the Ravel mural, then the Final Days themselves, then the Tiuna mural again.