Marelli
so 31 years since the game started
I'm actually hoping anyone who knows anything might answer, because any "canon" knowledge can help create a common frame of reference for anything that happens.
As far as "31" vs "70-something", I'm more interested in the 70-something full time-line. Unlike other games, our characters in this game aren't all heroes who save the world, we're hard-working homins trying to do our little part in the overall picture. So the years before the "game" started are just as important as the time that our characters have (potentially) existed.
Some marauder story I've read seemed to touch on the Goo, though I think that your last bit may have been an answer I was looking for (not necessarily hoping for). Do the new owners authorize (or even author) the chronicles, or are they pure fan-fiction?