How much time have passed since ARR?

[Karthak]

I don't understand why there has to be a bubble. For example, time passes in WoW just fine. Just have the game say that the ARR content takes place 5 years after the Calamity, Heavensward 6 years, Stormblood 7 years, etc etc. Players aren't stupid.

Edit: At some point "it's five years after the Calamity" is going to look pretty dumb, given all we've done and are going to do. They mention the Simpson as an example, but then I can't stand that show. :P

[Cilia]

I don't understand why there has to be a bubble. For example, time passes in WoW just fine. Just have the game say that the ARR content takes place 5 years after the Calamity, Heavensward 6 years, Stormblood 7 years, etc etc. Players aren't stupid.

Edit: At some point "it's five years after the Calamity" is going to look pretty dumb, given all we've done and are going to do. They mention the Simpson as an example, but then I can't stand that show. :P

It's mostly a cost-saving measure. Updating key characters' models every expansion just isn't practical, and by keeping the year stuck at "7UE 5 / 7AE 1" that particular issue can be side-stepped. Now character models are only updated when key events occur, such as Raubahn losing his arm, instead of giving every character who appears in a major cutscene a model update every expansion. (WoW can get away with doing what it does because it never shows the PC in a cutscene proper, and what cutscenes it has (which were pretty recently implemented) are pre-rendered instead of being in-engine like here. Its lower graphical fidelity is also a boon in this case - because the graphics aren't as high-quality, it takes less time and resources to update or make a new model.)

If you really must have a concrete date, just take the starting date of ARR (7UE 5 / 7AE 1) and add all of the real-world time that's passed since then on, using the Rising as a year marker. Considering ARR launched in August 2013, that would mean we've had 5 Rising events with a few months tacked on, so it's been ~5.7 years since ARR.

... if you really must.