I think the time being static is part of what makes eorzea so bland, lifeless and inconsequential. its just a static world in which nothing really matters.

they could allow time to flow without having any significant impact on the story or actual timeline. XI as old and archaic as it was even managed this. what you did one day would have some actual effect on the world the next. the balance of power between nations under constant flux, the variety of goods available from vendors constantly changing based on the state of the world. places like sacrarium where the maze was different every game day..

loads of these little things all bought the world alive and made it feel like it was moving forwards. makes a big difference in comparison to eorzea where you can sit there eat popcorn while a bunch of beast men run rampage on a settlement in some fate or other and pooooffff! it never happened..... which is often stated as a big reason why fates are so boring and tedious because nothing actually happens.

you could consider beseiged in XI to be basically 1 big fate. but it was a million times better simply because its outcome had a real impact on the game world...

you can create the sense of time actually progressing by such small and simple things