Originally Posted by
Unelonborro
You raise a very interesting question, and I think there are a couple factors at play. Note that these apply to pretty much every MMO out there.
* When dealing with something that happened in the past (either in real life terms, or in-game terms), to what extent do you remain faithful, and to what extent do you reimagine it?
* How has the direction of the game changed or remained the same?
* What are the players' expectations?
* How would the decision look if viewed in context? In a vacuum?
There are no cut-and-dried answers here. In Sakura's case, you have two arguments: 1. Sakura should continue to speak in katakana, because that's how she is originally, and 2. Sakura should make her noises in English, because that's easier to understand for people who aren't familiar with her backstory. Ultimately, the team opted for the latter. Sakura's alter ego is not tied to any specific event, and you can receive it regardless of whether or not you've had any interaction with her at all. In the context of first meeting Sakura, the player is initially confused--why is she speaking in Japanese?--but Markovich is there to steer you in the right direction, so you are able to understand right away. But put yourself in the shoes of someone who's never met her in person and just grabbed her alter ego. "Why is she speaking in Japanese? That's got to be something the translators overlooked!" It breaks their immersion in the game. So we have to ask ourselves the following question:
"Do the positives of staying faithful to Sakura's characterization outweight the negatives of new players feeling uncomfortable?"
Different leads might have taken a different approach, but I chose the latter, given that I cannot guarantee that the player would have interacted with Sakura before.
However, I can understand and sympathize with the opposing argument!