Time

'''I have alot planned for this page including some time charts, formulas, and other stuff to explain Vana'diel time to the fullest extent. Please don't edit this page even if you see a mistake because I some things are just fillers until I check the math on everything *^_^*'''

Vana'diel, like the real world, has a fundamental set of rules that govern time. Like, the real world, Vana'diel experiences both day and night, different days of the week, different months with varying seasons, and a full cycle of moon phases. Unlike the real world though, Vana'diel time is a very exact science; there is no leap year and every month consists of the same number of days. Taking a moment to understand Vana'diel time will eliminate alot of guesswork during your stay here.

=Vana'diel Time=

Minutes & Seconds
A Vana'diel minutes are composed of 60 Vana'diel seconds, similar to earth time, but this process is sped up due to its smaller scale. This makes a Vana'diel minute seem to pass by in only a couple of seconds.

Day
A Vana'diel day is made of 24 Vana'diel hours, like an earth day, but the entire process takes less than an hour due to its smaller scale.

Week
A Vana'diel week consists of 8 Vana'diel days, unlike earth which only has 7. Each day corresponds with an Element which it is also named for. The first day of the week is Firesday and is followed by Earthsday, Watersday, Windsday, Iceday, Lightningsday, Lightsday, and Darksday.

Month
A Vana'diel month has exactly 30 days, which in Vana'diel time is 2 days short of a full four weeks. It is this reason that there are irregularities in which day each month begins with and adds a sense of realism to the Vana'diel timesphere.

Year
A Vana'diel year, like an earth year, has 12 months as well, but because of the exact nature of Vana'diel weeks and months, there are only and always 360 days in a Vana'diel year.

=Vana'diel Time vs. Earth Time= Vana'diel time is scaled down in relation to Earth time so it appears to move faster for us; twenty five times faster to be exact. An hour earth means exactly twenty-five hours in Vana'diel have passed. These solid mechanics make Vana'diel time extremely easy and fun to calculate! Below are a list of equivalents for each element of Vana'diel time.


 * Vana'diel Second
 * .04 Seconds (1/25th of a second)


 * Vana'diel Minute
 * 2.4 seconds


 * Vana'diel Hour
 * 2 minutes 24 seconds


 * Vana'diel Day
 * 57 minutes 36 seconds


 * Vana'diel Month
 * 1 Day 4 hours 48 minutes


 * Vana'diel Season
 * 4 Days 15 hours 18 minutes


 * Vana'diel Year
 * 14 Days 9 hours 24 minutes

Common Equivalents
The following equivalents have various uses, particularly if you are farming a certain type of monsters and want to reference the Vana'diel clock as to when to expect a pop. These times were calculated using the simple fomula eM/2.4 = vH.


 * 16 Earth minutes
 * ~6 Vana'diel hours and 25 Vana'diel seconds (this number is rounded up a second)


 * 12 Earth Minutes
 * 5 Vana'diel hours


 * 5 Earth Minutes
 * ~2 Vana'diel hours and 5 Vana'diel seconds (this number is rounded up a second)

Moon Phases
The system that governs the moon phases helps create one of the most beautiful aspects of Final Fantasy XI; a moon that is visually altered as it "orbits" the world of Vana'diel. Like our moon, this produces an effect that gives the moon phases because of its orientation with the "sun" and our viewpoint from Vana'diel. The only thing that could make this system even more beautiful is the occurence of eclipses.

One of the really neat things about this system is its relation to a Vana'diel month. The moon takes an entire 4 Vana'diel weeks to complete its cycle which is 32 Vana'diel days. However, there are only 30 days in a Vana'diel month causing a two-day alteration each month in the moon's phases in relation to the actual day of the month. Whether or not Square Enix designed it this way to mimic the approximate one-day variation in our real-world system or because they simply didn't want people being able to predict the moon's phase every single month simply by looking at the "/clock" is still a mystery.

While the real-world system may make it virtually impossible for the moon to be at the same exact phase for the same exact month in any subsequent year, the Vana'diel moon is governed by a much simpler system with no chance variables such as the conservation of angular momentum. Every 16 months the Vana'diel moon will once again begin the month at 0% and every 3 years it will do so on the first month of a Vana'diel year.

Seasons
Vana'diel also experiences the four seasons which also follow exact calculations. While the seasons go by relatively without notice, they are part of the conditions and mechanics for some of the game's events; one of the most notable is the Noble Mold Notorious Monster in The Sanctuary of Zi'Tah. You'll also find it much easier to experience the weather you may need for whatever circumstance if you try to plan your event during a specific season.

Each of the seasons is three months long, similar to Earth seasons. The Winter season consists of the first three Vana'diel months followed by Spring, Summer, and Autumn. Each season takes exactly 4 Earth Days 15 Earth hours and 18 Earth minutes to run its course and is typically followed by specific weather patterns, especially in certain areas. You'll notice more heat spells during the Summer while in the desert and you'll notice more rain and thunderstorms in the tropical areas during the Spring.

Airship Time
The Airship schedule applications aren't as complicated as you think. The leave the same destination 4 times a Vana'diel day. 24 hours divided by 4 hours means that the Airships are all exactly 6 Vana'diel hours apart. Six Vana'diel hours are equivelant to 14 Earth minutes and 24 Earth seconds. It's not very difficult to create an application that loops a countdown timer, now is it?

Now that you know how the Airships are scheduled, how useful is it to you? Well, for starters, try memorizing one Time-to-Depart for an Airship you frequently use; your home nation for example. If this nation was Windurst, you could use the Vana'diel time 05:40. With this little number we now know the exact depart times of all the airships to and from Windurst. Add 6 hours and you have 11:40 as your next Time-to-Depart, add another 6 hours and you have 17:40, and once again for 23:40; Add or subtract three hours from any of these 4 times to get the Time-to-Depart for Airships leaving Jeuno for Windurst. Using the time 05:40, the previous and next Airship from Jeuno would take off at 2:40 and 8:40; add 6 hours a couple of times and you have the other two schedules times 14:40 and 20:40.

Selbina-Mhaura Ferry / Silver Sea Route for the Nashmau-Aht Urghan Ferry
This Ferry also follows a very specific time pattern similar to the Airship, however it only runs three times a day. 24 Vana'diel hours divided by 3 means that each ship will be 8 hours apart; 19 Earth minutes and 12 Earth seconds. The only time you need to remember is Vana'diel midnight or 00:00. The ship will depart from Selbina, Mhaura, Nashmau, or Aht Urghan Whitegate at exactly this time and will do so again at 08:00 and 16:00.

Mhaura-Aht Urghan Ferry This Ferry also runs 3 times a day or 8 hours apart, but its off-scheduled from the other Ferry by four hours to make room for two ships that share the port at Mhaura. The first Time-to-Depart is 04:00; add 8 hours for 12:00 and again for 20:00 to get the other two times that this ship takes off from either zone.

Manaclipper
The Manaclipper schedule utilizes the most complicated ship schedule in the game but it also follows a very predictable pattern. The main destination, Purgonorgo Isle is scheduled twice a day and evenly spaced 12 Vana'diel hours apart. However, it only takes half that time to complete the route leaving alot of extra time for the boat to Manaclipper to alternate between the Maliyakaleya Reef and Dhalmel Rock tours. These other two routes are also seperated by 12 Vana'diel hours and happen at the same time each day.

Now, this is where the ship schedule seems complicated. The first assumption is that the four trips per day should be equally spaced 6 Vana'diel hours apart creating a harmony schedule similar to the Airship timetables. However, that could only occur if there were an equal number of depatures between the boarding locations. In this case there are two boarding locations, Purgonorgo Isle and Bibiki Bay and six departures between the two. However, four of the six departures take place from Bibiki Bay creating a lopsided schedule that has to allow for the extra time it takes for the arrival and departure at one location. This is why the two optional tours can't be scheduled for the alternating half-way points between the Purgonorgo Isle destination.

Carpenters' Landing Barge
The Carpenter's Landing Barge follows a precise route through the Phanauet Channel and takes exactly 1 Vana'diel Day to complete its entire route. Because there are three boarding locations and five departures the ship schedule may appear to be quite random. However, four of the five routes between the landings are through a different part of the channel so the arrival and departure times vary throughout the day.