These final days are canon.

[Ingolf]

As much as it all seems chaotic, I'm pretty sure that these final days are canon. The Imperials would legitimately be invading at this point, Dalamud is projecting visions of Nael Van Darnus and the creatures are frenzied because Dalamud is effecting them.

All of these are things that have been witnessed before, just on a grander scale now.

Whilst some people believe that these last few days are 'just a bit of fun' or 'silly', I wouldn't be so fast to write them off as a non important part of the lore for the future.

We were given relics that we obviously wouldn't be able to keep, at the same time that our prayers are now effecting people visually. The relics are a temporary gift from the twelve, as they've obviously decided to actually aid our endeavors.

So... Just because the final save has occurred, that doesn't mean that what's happening isn't important. Keep it in mind.

[Eruantien]

Everyone keeps saying this and I'm going to look stupid I'm sure, but what's canon? Other than a camera maker.

[Wint]

Everyone keeps saying this and I'm going to look stupid I'm sure, but what's canon? Other than a camera maker.

Canon refers to a standard or convention, in this case it's a group of events that are shaping the culture of XIV.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_canon

[Ingolf]

Everyone keeps saying this and I'm going to look stupid I'm sure, but what's canon? Other than a camera maker.

Canon refers to the overall set of storylines, premises, settings, and characters offered by the source media text.

Let's use an example to exemplify what I mean:

Say there's an event (like halloween) and a load of really important NPC's are turned into zombies? This would not be canon, it's not recorded as something that actually happened in the lore and premise of the world.

[Rhomagus]

Everyone keeps saying this and I'm going to look stupid I'm sure, but what's canon? Other than a camera maker.

It's the standard by which something is judged. While the definitions provided to you thus far are accurate, the term canon is broad and can apply to many different subjects.

To provide some insight in the literary sense, if something is considered canon in the lore that means that it has established a precedent of truth in the storyline. For example:

"The lesser moon Dalamud is on a crash course with Hydaelyn."

If something is non canon then you don't have to, nor should you expect others, to accept it as truth in regards to the story being told. For example:

"Rhomagus Asclepiot fought alongside Baderon's father during the attack on Ala Mihgo"

Now that is something I made up myself that didn't come from an authority in regards to the storyline.

Where it gets confusing is where an authority will do things that seem outside of the story's established canon. For example:

"A GM calls for everyone to line up and dance while they sing the lyrics to Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up" in order to halt the attack of the ferocious beasts invading Ul'dah"

Anything created by the development team or its representatives in game could be considered cannon. In general though, if not all players are able to witness an event it may not be considered canon as well as other game mechanics such as system messages displaying maintenance schedules and game glitches. Since only one server was privy to this event and it wasn't actually written into the games storyline by the game's writer(s) we don't necessarily have to consider this event canon. Now if the event were to be referenced in, say, a quest cutscene in ARR or possibly a lodestone article written by a journalist from the Harbor Herald, then we might have to consider it.

Canon in this sense begins to become vague. The following are my opinions on what I personally believe are canon, and I may change them in response to a possible SE declaration.

1.) The formation of the Grand Companies in response to the lesser moon Dalamud's apparent crash course with Eorzea." Canon
2.) Adventurer's dancing to "Never Gonna Give You Up" to stop the invasion of Ul'dah
Non-Canon
3.) Relics appearing in our beds as we wake up from a dream
Non-Canon or Canon needs to be followed up by another authoritative source in the story imo.
4.) Monster suddenly growing in size after patch 1.16 (dubbed by some as the over-compensation patch)
Canon as the change has been referenced by in game NPCs.

As you can see, what is and isn't considered canon is quite vague and can change dramatically.

Duuuude mentioned retroactive continuity. I'd consider number four an example of just that. The official source decided to recognize a change via lore when that didn't necessarily have to be done, but since it's an official source you kind of have to take it as a precedent of truth.

Retconning is often frowned upon by fans of a series' lore.

[Dralid-Montferrand]

And what of those innocent Goblins and Qiqirn who came in town for unknown reasons?

We killed them all ;_;
We're monsters ;_;
And we wonder why they hate us ;_;

History will retain this as "the great slaughter of the innocent beastmen by the bloodthirsty adventurers"

[Wint]

Duuude, you beat me to it

[Duuude007]

Duuude, you beat me to it

/bows

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[Ingolf]

And what of those innocent Goblins and Qiqirn who came in town for unknown reasons?

We killed them all ;_;
We're monsters ;_;
And we wonder why they hate us ;_;

History will retain this as "the great slaughter of the innocent beastmen by the bloodthirsty adventurers"

I do actually think that us killing the Goblins, Cactuars and Qiqirn will result in hatred of the higher races, by the beastmen.

[Duuude007]

I was there during a goblin event, Kipih Jakkya was frusterated and confused at why the goblins, normally peaceful, were suddenly attacking the city gates.

Conclusion: The frenzy was on their part, motivated by the effects of Dalamud, based on actual canon.