there should be a time line / dungeon chart

[LineageRazor]

The game does a pretty good job of that though, there aren't many instances where this is relevant, and when it is the general rule of thumb is that the entirety of ARR comes before the entirety of HW (and then SB and so on). Some notable times that should be noted are the ARR CUL questline taking place before 2.5, the ARR DRG questline taking place before 2.4, Tam-Tara HM taking place before PotD, binding coil taking place before 3.4, and crystal tower taking place before 3.5 (while these last two take place before 3.0 anyway, they are directly referred to as past events in those patches).

Given the route the story is taking however, I expect to see a lot of shifting about (both geographically and character development) for side characters who may appear in side quests, so expect to see more of this (and remember that everything in SB comes after HW).

Curious about that DRG one - is there anything after 2.4 but before 3.0 that references events from the DRG questline? I didn't think there was anything until you encountered Estinien in the early 3.0 cutscenes...

Anyway, yeah, events like Zombie Nanamo and PotD are the big offenders, in my book. There's a pretty big and obvious divide between ARR and Heavensward, so it's not too unreasonable in those cases - but for the rest, for a player new to the game to distinguish between patch contents is nigh impossible without hunting down and reading patch notes. Especially in the case of PotD where just about everyone will be shooing new players into the Deep Dungeon for fast leveling.

[Cilia]

Curious about that DRG one - is there anything after 2.4 but before 3.0 that references events from the DRG questline? I didn't think there was anything until you encountered Estinien in the early 3.0 cutscenes...

There's some minor differences in scenes from 2.55 (Before the Fall - Part II). Depending on whether you've started the DRG questline or completed it, you'll get alternate dialogue when Estinien walks into the intercessory during "The Wyrm's Roar." If you haven't started it he treats you as a stranger; if you've started but not completed it he acknowledges you; and if you've completed it, he will acknowledge you as a fellow Azure Dragoon.

[Lambdafish]

Curious about that DRG one - is there anything after 2.4 but before 3.0 that references events from the DRG questline? I didn't think there was anything until you encountered Estinien in the early 3.0 cutscenes...

It might be 2.5 instead of 2.4, but the first time you meet Estinian in the MSQ is definately before steps of faith. He is introduced by Aymeric at a meeting, and if you have beaten the DRG questline, he will acknowledge you as a fellow azure dragoon.

Edit: Nvm, Cilia explained it far better than me

[LineageRazor]

It might be 2.5 instead of 2.4, but the first time you meet Estinian in the MSQ is definately before steps of faith. He is introduced by Aymeric at a meeting, and if you have beaten the DRG questline, he will acknowledge you as a fellow azure dragoon.

Edit: Nvm, Cilia explained it far better than me

Guess I was misremembering that scene as a 3.0 cutscene. I do remember being acknowledged by Estinien, but I thought it came later on.

[Fenral]

Guess I was misremembering that scene as a 3.0 cutscene. I do remember being acknowledged by Estinien, but I thought it came later on.

It's actually both. In 2.55, Estinien will acknowledge you based on your DRG quest completion, implying that the DRG job quests can be considered canon anywhere in the 2.0-2.55 bubble. In Heavensward proper, Estinien will acknowledge you as another Azure Dragoon regardless of even job crystal possession. A WHM-main friend of mine who started with Heavensward was very confused by this.

I think the simplest metric we have is whether or not the reference to X content appears in voiced dialogue or not. Since voiced scenes don't use text-replacement macros like regular dialogue, they have to make the choice to either solidify continuity or evade direct references entirely.