Complaints about some translation choices for English clients

I switched to Japanese client interface yesterday and noticed the dialogue of my retainer was completely different intonation in Japanese than English!

For example in English he sighs and groans that I will send him on another venture. In Japanese he just says "welp don't blame if it it's nothing good, see ya!" in a joking manner. Whoever translated this stuff needs to double check the intonation. It sounds really different in English and I was beginning to hate my retainer's personality!

The 2nd issue I noticed are Aetheryte locations. In the Japanese interface it lists exactly what each location is but in English it just lists the name.

Example:
Japanese: ゼファ出口（中央ラノシア）
English: Zephyr Gate

It would be great if the English names also had a () text next to them to explain what each place is. So in this case I'd love to see Zephyr Gate (Middle LaNoscea). Also I noticed Aetherytes in town specify something like （マーケット）(Market) which is very helpful as well! I've been playing this game since beta and I find it strange how much more newbie friendly the Aetherytes are in the Japanese version of the client.

Also I think the Sylphs are a lot funnier in Japanese でふっち(・_・;) The English localization of their dialogue makes no sense to me that I just gave up trying to figure out what they were trying to say.

P.S. If anyone asks "why don't you just use Japanese client" the answer is a lot of system messages/attack skills are hard for me to understand and I'm already used to all the English names for a lot of things in the game to switch over now.

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Originally Posted by Nukocafe

I switched to Japanese client interface yesterday and noticed the dialogue of my retainer was completely different intonation in Japanese than English!

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This occurs throughout the entire game and there is a very good reason for it: the localization team is charged with localizing the game, not just translating it. They are thus afforded a certain degree of license to amend text so that it can enliven the world in a way that makes sense to the reader. Humour, for instance, rarely translates well and so alternative ways of giving the game culture are regularly used.

Fortunately, nothing is done in isolation. The head of the English localization team is also a part of the Lore team. They go out of their way to make sure that nothing in the translations is factually contradicting, even if they may have very different ways of expressing it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Nukocafe

The 2nd issue I noticed are Aetheryte locations. In the Japanese interface it lists exactly what each location is but in English it just lists the name.

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This is a fair point.

Hi,
For the second point, I also noticed the French version of the client gives way more information than the English version.
For instance, in Gridania we can see "Forêt centrale via la porte du loup blanc" meaning "Central Shroud via the white wolf gate" (but this is true for the 3 cities and all their exits).
For other destinations inside cities, we also have some tips. For instance, in Limsa Lominsa, we can read "La Dunette (auberge, aérodrôme)" (not exactly these words but this is the idea) telling us that this destination is the closest to the inn or the airship.

Just wanted to say thanks for adjusting the aetheryte names in 2.28! Didn't think my little thread would get noticed this quickly (*´∀｀)

Overall I am AMAZED at how well the localization team did their job for the English-language client. They truly and successfully localized the content in a way that is relevant and entertaining, especially for a North American audience. A lot of translators, even professional ones, tend to forget that direct translation is not always (or even usually) the best method.

I notice a few things here and there that I might have chosen to do differently (like not having Urianger's speech be a form of flowery "olde English" when his Japanese syntax is modern). The Bridge Battle Trial is also even funnier in Japanese, but that, too, is a question of flavor.

I'm fine with the Sylphs because it can be pretty difficult to localize jokes and gimmicks that depend entirely on messing with syntax, especially since Japanese is constructed so differently from English. The team apparently decided to give Sylphs a verbal tic that would make sense to an English-language audience, and it works.