What is canon and what is not (Spoilers)

[Ruinfeild]

May seem like a strange topic to bring up (though this is meant more for RP servers in FFXIV) but with the new patch bringing people back and lots of RP events filling up with people again, I noticed the topic coming up of what is canon and what isn't (such as people bringing up the mention of anything from the first as if their character has been there.)

Now I know it is impossible to really put down for all players to agree on what is allowed and what they will accept but perhaps in this thread we can at least get an idea of what should be accepted by at least a good amount of players.

Like for myself, the discussions of a PC being a warrior of light/darkness, the first (or shadowbringers in general), and just being able to travel there as a PC should be canon.

I do want to get this thread going to get an idea of what a lot of RPers or lore nuts see as acceptable.

[Valkyrie_Lenneth]

If it happens in the story, its canon, anything player made is not canon.

[WhiteArchmage]

The general rule I think is that:

Anything in the MSQ is hard canon.
Sidequests are semi-canon until the MSQ brings them up and confirms them. Like Crystal Tower which has been deemed canon since 5.3 (technically speaking since 5.0, but with some Time Travel Tense Problem meaning that it's happened in the past but can still happen in your future, but 5.3 NEEDS the events of CT)
Omega, Alexander, and Coil are kind of canon in that the first 2 are not REQUIRED for 5.x, but greatly flesh it out.
Ivalice is generally canon as of 4.5, given that the Dalmascan Resistance shows up in an Easter Egg; and the Wandering Dramaturge from the Prima Vista is now in the Blades of Gunhildr storyline.
IIRC the only thing not SUPER canon are Hildibrand Quests... and even then I'm not that sure because the Scholasticate quests needed the ARR Hildibrand quests to unlock, and Ultros, Typhon, and Yojimbo have become part of the Gold Saucer...

However, technically speaking, the PC is not the only one of Hydaelin's Chosen (there are other people in the opening cutscene), but IS the only "Warrior of Light". The other PCs you run into are random adventurers who are probably Echo-blessed so as to fight primals but aren't THE WoL/D. The game, at least, doesn't treat their race/gender combinations as anything special (like Moonkeeper Miqo'te Males being rare, or Au Ra not being shot on sight in Coerthas pre-3.0); any Lore about it would be the RPers personal backstory, I'm guessing.

And traveling to/from the First... afaik only The WoL/D should be able to do that in both body and soul... any Loremongers are free to correct me on this one.

[DamianFatale]

The general rule I think is that:

Anything in the MSQ is hard canon.
Sidequests are semi-canon until the MSQ brings them up and confirms them. Like Crystal Tower which has been deemed canon since 5.3 (technically speaking since 5.0, but with some Time Travel Tense Problem meaning that it's happened in the past but can still happen in your future, but 5.3 NEEDS the events of CT)
Omega, Alexander, and Coil are kind of canon in that the first 2 are not REQUIRED for 5.x, but greatly flesh it out.
Ivalice is generally canon as of 4.5, given that the Dalmascan Resistance shows up in an Easter Egg; and the Wandering Dramaturge from the Prima Vista is now in the Blades of Gunhildr storyline.
IIRC the only thing not SUPER canon are Hildibrand Quests... and even then I'm not that sure because the Scholasticate quests needed the ARR Hildibrand quests to unlock, and Ultros, Typhon, and Yojimbo have become part of the Gold Saucer...

However, technically speaking, the PC is not the only one of Hydaelin's Chosen (there are other people in the opening cutscene), but IS the only "Warrior of Light". The other PCs you run into are random adventurers who are probably Echo-blessed so as to fight primals but aren't THE WoL/D. The game, at least, doesn't treat their race/gender combinations as anything special (like Moonkeeper Miqo'te Males being rare, or Au Ra not being shot on sight in Coerthas pre-3.0); any Lore about it would be the RPers personal backstory, I'm guessing.

And traveling to/from the First... afaik only The WoL/D should be able to do that in both body and soul... any Loremongers are free to correct me on this one.

The thing about Coerthas happened. A tribe of Au Ra migrated to Coerthas and was almost completely wiped out. Only one person remains. He is the Dark Knight quest giver.

[MariaArvana]

And traveling to/from the First... afaik only The WoL/D should be able to do that in both body and soul... any Loremongers are free to correct me on this one.

Considering it took harnessing the power of an almightily powerful construct like Omega to travel across the rift, pretty much anyone that's not the WoL of the story/An ascian would never be able to travel there unless the MSQ showcases another method to do so. In the current MSQ, only the player character has the ability to travel between worlds.

Which to answer the OP's thoughts, is while they're canon, you'd have to write some intensely extreme reason why your RP character can even travel there in the first place, to the point it'd be heavily immersion breaking unless you're just straight up RPing as the WoL/An Ascian (Both of which are generally frowned upon, afaik, as many people see it as far too 'snowflakey' and many aren't interested in RPing with such characters. Also because tbh, they're extremely boring cop-outs for writing an intricate life story for your character.)

So pretty much unless you RP with others that want to bring the First and those types of themes into it and don't mind bending lore to do so, RPing as a WoL/WoD & interacting with the first are very frowned upon.

[Ruinfeild]

MSQ being hard canon I get but didn't know much about the side quests (since Balmung has a wide range of characters who play as what they want). So the MSQ being hard canon is one I think everyone can agree on (and even side quests depending on what they are and who has done them).

When it comes to the WoL/Ascian, it is subjective if they are boring and the like but people still like to try or even do play as them. Sure there are a lot more as WhiteArchmage put it that play as being echo gifted and the like but with 5.3, it does bring up the question if our characters can be WoL without it being frowned upon and that SE just hasn't done/said anything in terms of the story or out of it (in interviews or fanfest) that our characters and those we meet are also the WoL/WoD.

Another thing that I had been thinking of was the fact that a lot of people subscribe to the 'only the Hyur in the trailers is the true WoL'. However, I do wonder if he is just meant to be the placeholder/stand in for our own PC characters.

[Enla]

Another thing that I had been thinking of was the fact that a lot of people subscribe to the 'only the Hyur in the trailers is the true WoL'. However, I do wonder if he is just meant to be the placeholder/stand in for our own PC characters.

I tend to RP the WoL as a nebulous, agendered and non-racial being just to keep things fluid between RP encounters. Better if they never come up, but if they do I'm comfortable using the most basic and non-identity confirming details just to keep things easier across the board. About my only rule is that if my characters meet someone actually claiming to be THE WoL they're going to laugh themselves into a stupor and I'll likely immediately cut the scene. I don't have many rules with my RP but I don't enjoy RPing with people who play as either NPCs or as the big, bad hero of the whole story. It breaks my immersion five ways to Tuesday.

Nothing against NPC roleplayers, but I've been to one too many RP events where one has absolutely gone off the deep end and ruined the experience. Such as Nanamo showing up to an RP fight club and then proceed to try and order everyone around and tried to take over the event. It sadly was not a troll.

Beyond that I feel people can RP whatever they want, so long as they accept that not everyone will agree or want to RP back if it breaks their definition of the lore.

[kaynide]

Pretty much echoing the above, but truth be told I would say any content that involves the Scions or Ironworks is Canon for the WoL/D.

I would specifically state any of the Minstrel versions of trials are obviously not actual events but “retellings”.

To Rp, all one need do is:

A) assume you are not involved with any of it aside from hearing about it. Here you can just hook into anything really.
B) assume you were in the WoL/D’s group for a particular battle by chance (like being taken prisoner by Amal’ja before Ifrit)
C) assume you are a rank and file adventurer, involved in Grand Company operations/battles/events often overlapping with MSQ battles like Praetorium.

Regarding interacting with the First, the only real option is being a fairy at this point, or seeing visions via fairy..even then it’s...ehh...

That said I fully expect Y’shtola to full speed ahead in working out how to make a more permanent solution for planar travel.

[Iscah]

The optional stories are still canon - it's just that canon will twist itself sideways to refer to a non-canon version of events if you didn't do it yourself.

For any version of the story that comes from outside of your personal view within the game, such as the lore book's summary of events or the "Tales From The..." series, the side stories have definitely happened. There is no question that they have.

Even when they are not enforced, everything points to them happening. Alisaie sets off on a journey at the end of the Binding Coil and her re-entry to MSQ in post-Heavensward mentions that she's been on one.

Even pre-Shadowbringers, CT was a piece of Cid and Nero's ongoing story - and the first time we'd encountered Nero as an ally, not an enemy.

Alexander and Omega are critical to the background of Shadowbringers, even if the game doesn't force you to do them here and now.

Warring Triad gives more detail on Meracydia, Allag, the Thirteenth and a little more insight into Elidibus. Certain details tie into what we learn in the Lv70-80 role quests.

Eden is heavily linked to the MSQ, to the point that they had to note the Scions' departure from it before the final act.

Not everything ties into MSQ, but there is a clear precedent.

TL;DR: All side stories are canon and happen at the point in the MSQ where they are unlocked. This is the writers' intent, even if they won't actually force you to complete them unless it affects the current state of something MSQ-related.

[Stepjam]

The trailer WoL is just a stand in for our character. The WoL is "canonically" whoever the player plays them as. And yeah, anything that happens in game is canon. Personal RP stuff is less so, though that doesn't mean you can't do it.