From 3.5 patch notes: the mount is called Firebird, and the item to obtain it is called Phoenix Fife. Why not just call it Houou, to follow up the theme with Kirin? It's called Houou in Japanese client, so what gives?
From 3.5 patch notes: the mount is called Firebird, and the item to obtain it is called Phoenix Fife. Why not just call it Houou, to follow up the theme with Kirin? It's called Houou in Japanese client, so what gives?
Because we silly burger eaters are too dumb and must be protected from all kinds of foreign cultures.
I agree that it's confusing, especially since there are established Phoenix (and Bennu) naming clashes in the existing lore of the game. The localisation team seem afraid that Japanese (/Chinese) references are too obscure lately, hence the Kuro/Shiro (Khloe/Zhloe) character renaming mess. Maybe they're worried people can't pronounce the words or spot the references, but most Roegadyn names are in this category and nobody minds. I'd much prefer to be able to have less confusing conversations with people using different client languages over having simplified names for everything.
In the next patch, all male Roegadyn will be renamed George, and all female will be Jane. Their race's name will also be changed from 'Roegadyn' to 'Big Dudes'.
I mean, this isn't the absolute worst localization change, but I feel like 'Houou' would just look and sound better as part of the same series of mounts as the 'Kirin'; there's a clear theme being aimed for, so it's puzzling that they'd change it (And no matter which direction they go in for the inevitable Stormblood collection mount, someone is going to sound out of place!).