Lore Timeline?

[Anonymoose]

But if it were 2 7A, then we'd be at 26 years since Doma fell, and 21 years since the fall of Ala Mhigo. That's what's bugging Moose, and now me

Thank you, lol.

Important Note #1 Yes, it is the inconsistency that gives me pause. This is the only example of a concrete year of time movement (usually it's vague to preserve some semblance of normalcy) and it appears alongside other dates that did not move with it.

Important Note #2 Yes, it's entirely conceivable that more than a year of time has passed in the main scenario, but that's not the same thing as the open world experiencing a movement of time. Based on what we know, no matter what happens, even if you were to cram 5,000 days into the main scenario, the world shouldn't age into 2 Seventh Astral Era. It's a Simpsons-like "time-stoppage" to keep the text in order. If that changes, we need to know as soon as possible so we can start <winces at the thought> being ready to calculate what year things happened based on where the NPC is and when they were last updated when they say how long ago it was.

[Rannie]

I'm actually having a private little crisis about this RIGHT NOW.

Solus zos Galvus died in 1 Seventh Astral Era. (Born 1489, lived 88 years, died 5 years after 1572)
The Doman rebellion took place during the War of Succession.
As of Stormblood, NPCs repeatedly say Doma fell exactly 25 years past. (1552)
As of Stormblood, NPCs repeatedly say Ala Mhigo fell exactly 20 years past. (1557)
As of Stormblood, NPCs repeatedly say the Doman rebellion was 1 year ago.

...wat?

My 4.0 notes are still in disarray but ... wat?

Am I wrong about something here?

You can still have a war of succession before said ruler dies... Especially if said ruler is unsure as who is strong enough to take the throne. Unfortunately he died before he could truly name a successor and voila the war continued.

[Jaywalker]

Reviving an old thread (this subject has only become more complicated since) just to chime in that if we get veeeery technical we also don't know how long an Eorzean year is compared to an Earth year?

Timeline's a mess regardless.

[ObsidianFire]

We do know how long an Eorzean Year is. Every month has 32 days in it and there are 12 months in an Eorzean Year. So an Eorzean Year is 384 days long. The length of the months are tied to the movements of the moon.

The timeline is not a mess. There is a timeline of the 6th Astral Era in Lore Book 1 that gives years for the major events and the timeline is around four pages long. If anything, FFXIV has an unusually well-put together timeline compared to most games with lore this developed.

[Jaywalker]

We do know how long an Eorzean Year is. Every month has 32 days in it and there are 12 months in an Eorzean Year. So an Eorzean Year is 384 days long. The length of the months are tied to the movements of the moon.

The timeline is not a mess. There is a timeline of the 6th Astral Era in Lore Book 1 that gives years for the major events and the timeline is around four pages long. If anything, FFXIV has an unusually well-put together timeline compared to most games with lore this developed.

My bad on the year and day chart, forgot those existed. Honestly though I was with you until people in this thread started bringing up the Doman Rebellion being one year ago relative to other events. Started looking like snarls.

[Brightamethyst]

The writers really need to pop the time bubble (and adjust the story accordingly.) It's causing way more lore issues than it's preventing.

[Anonymoose]

I think they could meet the vast majority of total complaints/grievances (from players and devs alike) by officially and firmly committing to a hierarchy:

Level 1
The in-game world is and will always be acting as if the present day is in 5 7UE into/also known as 1 7AE.
If you can prove that 100 days have passed, it will still act as if it's 1 7AE.
If you can prove that 1,000 days have passed, it will still act as if it's 1 7AE.


Level 2
This is merely a baseline date. This allows...

...all players to suspend disbelief about co-existing regardless of join date or story progress.

...time to pass without moving, precluding the necessary updating of thousands of lines of in-game, PR, website, etc. text.

...devs to avoid constantly re-calculating when making references to time (and thus avoid likely mistakes and fan confusion).

Level 3
All content that came out in a patch "happened" in that patch, even if you didn't do it. All patches are in chronological order.

e.g. All job quests up to LV50 happened before the Praetorium. The Binding Coil of Bahamut was explored after the Praetorium and before the arrival of Elidibus. The Labyrinth of the Ancients was explored between the arrival of Elidibus and the summoning of Leviathan. The Second Coil of Bahamut was explored around the same time as Leviathan appeared, but before the Ramuh debacle, which itself happened around the same time Syrcus Tower was explored. Etc. Etc. Etc.

Level 4
Every individual player has a blank check to decide for themselves how much time has been added to the baseline between any two patches.
No one can tell them they're wrong.

[Jaywalker]

Level 3
All content that came out in a patch "happened" in that patch, even if you didn't do it. All patches are in chronological order. e.g. The Binding Coil of Bahamut was explored after the Praetorium and before the arrival of Elidibus. The Labyrinth of the Ancients was explored between the arrival of Elidibus and the summoning of Leviathan. The Second Coil of Bahamut was explored around the same time as Leviathan appeared, but before the Ramuh debacle, around the same time Syrcus Tower was explored. Etc. Etc. Etc.

I think there's some evidence of this. Went back to hit Coil of Bahamut after MSQ everyone-is-in-a-coma situation. Besides the fact that various characters were present when technically they should have been totally unconscious, the way dynamics and references play out indicates that while the player is messing with order the event technically took place way earlier.

I don't mind playing out of order one bit, and some wiggle room is cool. But it would be nice if there was a bit of clarification imo haha.

Also, disclaimer--I don't have the lore books. I googled around to check but not much clarity.

[Anonymoose]

I think there's some evidence of this.

I think so, too. I think around the time Nanamo "died" and Estinien joined the MSQ, they just accepted that trying to make excuses for doing things out of order wasn't going to work aside from the occasional spoiler-preventing text-swap flag. Forget Zombie Nanamo showing up to dinner if you do the LV50 CUL quest between 2.5 and 3.0 content, Estinien can be, at the same time, a guy in blue armor who's struggling to resist the Eye so he can kill Nidhogg (DRG LV30-50), and also a guy in red armor who is currently shaped like a shade of Nidhogg, who is already dead.

It's passive confirmation that that tier of the hierarchy exists loosely in practice, but not having a firm hand was a major contributing factor to the Darnus debacle, lol.

[Brightamethyst]

Level 1
The in-game world is and will always be acting as if the present day is in 5 7UE into/also known as 1 7AE.
If you can prove that 100 days have passed, it will still act as if it's 1 7AE.
If you can prove that 1,000 days have passed, it will still act as if it's 1 7AE.

Level 3
All content that came out in a patch "happened" in that patch, even if you didn't do it. All patches are in chronological order.[INDENT]e.g. All job quests up to LV50 happened before the Praetorium. The Binding Coil of Bahamut was explored after the Praetorium and before the arrival of Elidibus. The Labyrinth of the Ancients was explored between the arrival of Elidibus and the summoning of Leviathan. The Second Coil of Bahamut was explored around the same time as Leviathan appeared, but before the Ramuh debacle, which itself happened around the same time Syrcus Tower was explored. Etc. Etc. Etc.

The problem is that the game is trying to do both of these at the same time, and everything just ends up being more confusing because of it. You can't have it both ways.