A MSQ timeline/calendar is needed.

[Wanzzo]

Everyday Eorzeans certainly use calendars at the very least. You can see it when you start up a new character and we know the years when almost every event happened throughout the 6th Astral Era. The days themselves were revealed in an interview to be named after the FFXI names of the week - one day for every element, 8 days a week, 32 days a month, 12 months a year.

We also have plenty of different types of clock furnishings so they’re at least around. Certain NPCs like the skywatchers and the GATE attendants also know the time by the hour. I think that extends to the ocean fishing NPCs too. In 1.0 that extended to the boats and airships which left on a schedule.

Considering the long voyages some of these ships take across the world, they would also need clocks in order to accurately gauge their longitude, so sailors should be very familiar.

Yep, you are true here!

For scheduled stuff, there is a precision for things to happen in Eorzea. But that doesn't mean they will stick to the same precision when talking about specific dates of events. Day x, month y, year z for every event. It's more like "in the year z..." or "it's now almost z years since..." Maybe, in some old books we can see more precision in this. Like the Aetherostronomic thing the Ishgardians have at Coerthas. maybe there, all things are very very precise! But, out of there, not so much...

All what I meant was: eaorzean people are not controled by the clock (like we are in real life). Beside all the use of clocks for scheduled stuff (like transportations, ships, GATES, etc), for the regular track for especific dates of events, they use aproximated times, not a very precise one. That's all that I've said. I never said they don't use clocks, just not that often for everything in their lives (like we do irl).

They have a calendar, yep. But they not stick to it for every single thing (as we do in real life). The precision of time is like a "new stuff" for them like if they are living in a transition or a mix of cultures. The garleans, on the other hand, seems to use this precision more often, more daily. Maybe because they lack the connection with the aether and need to control more their own time using transportations to be a more efficient society.

In a way, the use of the clock is like real life transition: as we relate more to technological progress we depend more on the control of our time. And when we don't need that much technology, we could stick to a more wider view of the passage of time, marking "the older days" of our culture since progress is related to technological evolutions. Eorzea seems to be in between moments having some advances, but a culture not so related to the precision of their passage of time... yet.

They have track of their time in a daily basis, sure. But this track is not as precise as the garlean ones for historical events outside their books.

[Lustre]

I think it's best not to think more about these things than the writers themselves are, but that's just me.

You see it in almost every area of the game, I agree. No point over analysing anything when they'll just take a sledgehammer to it when the next patch drops anyway.

[RyuDragnier]

If there was a timeline. They would not only have to age the twins. But also every character in the game. That seems a lot of work. But that’s just my opinion.

GW2 also deals with that. Characters have the costume changes, but do not age much, as the vast majority of them are either other races that aren't human (and thus don't follow human aging rules much) or are between the ages of 20 and 40, so any aging is miniscule in the looks department. For here, that can work for the majority of the Scions save for the twins...which is why I hope they give them a growth spurt the next time we see them.

[Gothicshark]

There needs to be some way of telling how much time has passed in game from first entering the starter cities to killing titan, to killing despair itself.

I kind of would like an official timeline, the best you will ever get is a fan created unofficial one on a wiki: https://finalfantasy.fandom.com/wiki...y_XIV_timeline

The past, and 1.0 to 2.0 all very well documented. the Period of time from your first trip to a city until the end of Endwalker 6.0 is unclear but no more than 2 years. The main reason for them not wanting an official timeline is the Twins. They start the Game between 15 and 16, they are currently between 16 and 17. The dev team has made it clear they don't want to age the twins any time soon. They have also hinted a few times that Elezen don't fully mature as adults untin their early twenty somethings, but that is not officially in game, but might be in the encyclopedia.

so the timeline is basically how long would a playthrough be IRL and apply it to the game world, with a couple continent spanning trips that might take a week or two.


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Quick Edit: This is how I see the Timeline and events. 2.0 to where we are 1 year.

WOL Timeline

FFXIV 1.0 Events take place over a couple of weeks Ends in the 7th Calamity

Sponge Bob voice " Five Years Later"

FFXIV ARR 2.0

Month 1, week 1

Arrive in City, Become adventurer, get noticed by a Scion of the 7th dawn

Month 1, week 2

Visit the three cities, Dungeons, and first Primal

Month 1, week 3

More Primals and dungeons, and stuff, become reconnized as someone special

Month 1, week 4

MSQ Dungeons (Now made better)

Month 2

Raids, side quests, crafting etc

Month 3

2.1 to the gates of Ishgard

Month 4

FFSIV Heavensward 3.0

Month 5

3.1 to the end of Heavensward content

Month 6, week 1

FFXIV Stormblood, Ala Mhigo

Month 6, week 2

Travel time, Eorzea to the East

Month 6, week 3

Events in the East

Month 6, week 4

The rest of 4.0 content

Month 7

4.1 to the event that starts Shadowbringer

Month 8

All of 5.0 to the start of Endwalker (Yes the entire expansion fits in a one month span easily)

Month 9 ((Endwalker is probably a 3 month event))

Endawalker Opening Act

Month 10

Middle part of Endwalker

Month 11

Final Act of Endwalker

Month 12

Endawlker Patch Content

[Gaelle]

Just wanted to add an update, because I really prefer sticking to canon timelines when writing fanfic lol.
That when Tataru talks to you to give you your Island (I'm pretty sure this is when she says it) she says it's been a little under a decade since you've met.
Also, during the newer Hildy quest when you're in Radz-at-Han again after EW, Hildy's assistant (cant remember her name atm) says it's been a year since you last saw each other in Kugane.
From what I've read on these forums and seen in game, I'm thinking ARR is prob the biggest chunk of time (3-4 yrs?) and then the rest are prob like 1 yr to 1.5 except for SHB oc.

Other notes, that I havent confirmed yet but;
In ARR I swear Minfilia or someone said that the banquet would be in "3 moons time" or something when u finish helping Ishgard with something.
And in HW I swore someone said there was another 3 moons time, or a few moons time thing for the MSQ. Like the Peace Conference or something?

[CaptainLagbeard]

The timeline is really weird and makes no functional sense.

I think most of the expansion's stories (3.0, 4.0, 5.0 and 6.) take place over about a week each...

[RukoBoshi]

Not likely considering in Stormblood the boat trip to Kugane takes at least 3 weeks.

[VelKallor]

But then they wouldn't be able to justify why the twins never grew up.

They have grown up. What YOU fail to realise is that Elezen have an extended lifespan, close to 110 years..or longer. Yes they still look young, thats to be expected of a race that doesnt necessarily LOOK their age.

I am 61 this year...I have been mistaken for a man of 35.

Its even funnier you say this when, if you apply that to Viera, they dont look like they "grow up", yet that young looking Viera you say doesnt "grow up".................can be 130 years old.

[MikkoAkure]

They have grown up. What YOU fail to realise is that Elezen have an extended lifespan, close to 110 years..or longer. Yes they still look young, thats to be expected of a race that doesnt necessarily LOOK their age.

Hilda's half-brother is full-blooded Elezen and is 20-years-old, using an adult Elezen model. There's a bunch of 21-23-year-old Elezen using the adult model as well. That's probably just past the limit we would reasonable expect the twins to look young. There are 16-year-old Hyur using adult models so while there is a difference in how fast the two races age, it's not a super large one and they'd still be expected to reach their adult height before their 20s.

The devs themselves said that they're not keeping track of time so we're not likely to ever get clarification beyond a small handful of events like the couple of months it took us to get to Kugane or event NPCs remembering us from last year. I believe it was mentioned that it's been at least 1 year since the failed rebellion in Doma that made Yugiri leave with refugees that was a result of the First Garlean Civil War caused by Solus's death, which happened sometime during ARR.

No matter how you write your own interpretation of the timeline into your RP or your fan fic, you'll find someone who disagrees with you so it's probably best to not touch on it if it can be avoided or to be vague if it can't.

[Iscah]

The simplest version of the time bubble concept is: the devs have stated that the passage of time will not make sense, and they will not attempt to resolve this. If you want to establish your own concept of how long it has been between events, you cannot use the characters' ages as a reference, because they are not officially ageing.