Years 1-2

Year 1* Around the start, get Mimi in party, fill up the basket to near full (you can gather instead as well), go out of town, gather until it's (near?-)full, and walk to the starting town. This starts her chain. After this, a good chunk of her chain should come easily. I personally got caught with this trap because on one loop, I played her more later in the game where I warped in and generally almost always had around a half-empty basket. So, make sure to Walk and not warp/arrive by carriage* Melvia has an event that makes it easier to harvest Eiche. I got into a trap where "I'll just harvest 5 Eiches near Arland... um... where's the Eiches?" She just needs to be in the party while adventuring. Not a big deal because there's better wood later, plus you can buy Eiche at R&T Sundries.* Raising Gino's friendship to the 30-60 range can help year 2Bronze/Year 2, first half (many of these are still good as long as you get it before maybe months 8-10)* After you get Bronze, wholesaling is enabled (Ceci)* Around the beginning of the year, I got the event that's needed to start the Rorona chain after synthesizing at Atelier Totori. I was bronze at the time. I'm not sure if Bronze is required for this or not* Don't forget about Marc and the wagon. Also, if you never figured it out, the upgrade items needs to be in the basket. I sometimes didn't notice since I somewhat ignored Peter, and remembered because Marc wasn't by Atelier RoronaYear 2, Sterk. These should be done ASAP, otherwise you can miss certain events in the game.Sterk apparently becomes recruitable on Year 3, Month 1, Day 1. Apparently Sterk also doesn't join until 1 month after a Chim is born (major thanks to the Gamfaqs guide by Krystal109). It's kind-of weird since it's like Chim's birth is almost messiah-like. Anyways, this also means that you might be able to gain some time if you delay Chim's birth* At year 2, Month 1, Day 1, Go to Atelier Totori to start off the Sterk chain* After meeting Sterk's pidgeon, make sure to go to Sandy Wind Plains or the Calamatous Mountain. This one is a very easy one to missYear 2, Gino. Huge spoiler alerts.You must do certain things before Day 1, Month 1 of Year 3. There's a chance that this is related to when Sterk can join the party.* Gino at 40 friendship will want to get a secret move. Adventure with him to trigger this event. This event will still happen after the due date, but some of the events that follow won't happen if you do it too late* After giving him the weights, go adventuring again with him. This wasn't mentioned in one of the guides* Hang around Alanya for 1-2 months. After a week or so, an event should happen. The final event you need that needs to happen before the due date should happen at the wharf. Go between the square, the wharf, and the Atelier every week until you run out of eventsIf you are ranking up quickly before the first expiration, pay attention to Mimi ending guides. If you rank up REALLY fast and it might be 5+ months before the license expires when you hit Diamond, you may be waiting a while for Mimi's chain to continue. This isn't time critical, but if you can take care of this now, Mimi is out of the way until Year 4 and you can concentrate on the others. Someone else out there came to a similar conclusionYear 2, second half* After Year 2, Month 6, Day 1 (New Game+ Days, so this would be 1 year after Totori gets her license), go to Atelier Totori and synth there a bit to get Rorona* Head to Atelier Rorona. Rorona is literally there that instant. I warped there, and before the day is over, her shop is upgraded with a gigantic cauldron with the proper ventilation.* After Rorona gives you the pie recipes, go to Atelier Totori and make pie. This makes sure Rorona recipes keep coming* It took around 2.5 months before Rorona asked me about if I preferred a boy or a girl. I used sleeping to figure out when it happens (around Year 2, 9/5 in my game)* It takes about 1 month from when Rorona asks you about a gender for you to get a Chim. You need to leave Arland and to come back for the Chim to be bornHere's how I know: I kept Totori going to sleep for nearly a year without the Chim getting born. I had no clue what was going on, and I wanted to try to get a good estimate on how long it takes. It turns out that you need to leave Arland and come back. Most of us wouldn't have this issue, but there's always that one guy, plus some people want to get a Chim ASAP due to the benefitsPlatinum (maybe Gold)* The forgotten village (north of Alanya and west of Arland) should be your highest priority if you want travel shoes