Weird english

I always wanted to know why the characters in this game speak with such a weird english. My native lenguage is spanish so its really weird to read and hard to understand since its not the english im used to.

It's an old style of English, most know it from Shakespeare's works.

Why make a game like that
thee,
thou,
thy

wth?

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Originally Posted by Alphoter5

Why make a game like that
thee,
thou,
thy

wth?

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It's old style English, being a fantasy game that use that not all of them of course but different ones.

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Originally Posted by Alphoter5

Why make a game like that
thee,
thou,
thy

wth?

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It gives characters like the primals, Midgarsomr, etc. an ancient kind of feel. They have existed for a very long time and have/will not adopt the common tongue. It really is not that difficult to understand as it is easy to replace the spoken words with those that sound correct to you. However, with someone like the OP where English is not their first language I can see why it would be more difficult.

But if you can understand the slang that comes out of the Lominsans, you can understand anything.

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Originally Posted by Gemina

But if you can understand the slang that comes out of the Lominsans, you can understand anything.

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^that, lol
They are really hard to understand sometimes.

Koji Fox said this game has a medieval theme and I think overall it has failed imo. As a native Japanese speaker myself what we read through English text apart from the voice dub is so different then what is being said in the Japanese audio. Its a shame really that the English Localization team takes good work and tries to spin it off and it just falls flat imo, they have been given way to much liberty with their translation and I don't think they really care about any feedback on whether its good or not.

Yeah I am not a fan of the way they speak either..it is difficult to read and lot of times I don't totally understand what they're saying. I get what Koji is trying to do...its just sometimes I'm like damn I feel like I gotta translate it to modern day English lol.

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Originally Posted by AshlikeSnow

Koji Fox said this game had a medieval theme and I think overall no one likes it has failed imo. As a native Japanese speaker myself what we read through English text apart from the voice dub is so different then what is being said in the Japanese audio. Its a shame really that the English Localization team takes good work and tries to spin it off and it just falls flat imo, they have been given way to much liberty.

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It is not uncommon for Japanese to English translations to be poorly done, but it goes unnoticed for the most part unless you are fluent in Japanese. But even the difference between and English sub and dub is quite noticeable and nearly a crime. I can only imagine how it is if you are fluent in both languages listening to the voice acting. However, if you've ever been to a renaissance festival, or to a Medieval Times restaurant in the US, you will know that we LOVE that medieval crap!

I think it's pretty great - and it makes for a very in-depth and immersive game world. It's also very much in line with the style of Vagrant Story, Final Fantasy Tactics (War of the Lions) and Final Fantasy XII.

Because from my understanding, the Japanese translation directly to english is kind of boring, from what Koji has talked about. Like, instead of it being told like an adventure, its "He went there, and there were bad guys"

I was going to say, "Can't you just play the game in Spanish?" but does FFXIV seriously not have a Spanish language option? That seems like a huge oversight. More people speak Spanish than German and French (and Japanese, for that matter) combined.

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Originally Posted by AshlikeSnow

Koji Fox said this game has a medieval theme and I think overall it has failed imo. As a native Japanese speaker myself what we read through English text apart from the voice dub is so different then what is being said in the Japanese audio. Its a shame really that the English Localization team takes good work and tries to spin it off and it just falls flat imo, they have been given way to much liberty with their translation and I don't think they really care about any feedback on whether its good or not.

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Well who is going to give that feedback?
The english players that don't understand Japanese and just use English voice acting or the Japanese that don't use English voice acting or text?
I do however agree that it constantly get twisted, mostly very americanized. A perfect example of this is somewhere in the after story of ARR and in Japanese they say "All for Eorzia" while in the text stands "freedom for all".
You might argue it makes the same point but they had to appeal with their freedom nonsense.

i'm a japanese speaker, too and i'm always baffled how audio and text are different to the point the characters come across completely wrong (if you assume the spoken lines to be "the real deal"). it's not "lost in translation" anymore when story and protagonists differ that much from the original.

that being said, they totally overdid it with their "pray tell" and "anyroad". when you get spammed with it like this, it looks rather forced.

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Originally Posted by Theodric

I think it's pretty great - and it makes for a very in-depth and immersive game world. It's also very much in line with the style of Vagrant Story, Final Fantasy Tactics (War of the Lions) and Final Fantasy XII.

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don't remember old English being a big theme in FFXII as much as it is in XIV

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Originally Posted by AshlikeSnow

don't remember old English being a big theme in FFXII as much as it is in XIV

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Did you mute Balthier then?

I haaaate reading Urianger's talking segments. I try to read it normally but I end up tripping over my words. But it does make sense that he talks like that

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Originally Posted by Lufir

I haaaate reading Urianger's talking segments. I try to read it normally but I end up tripping over my words. But it does make sense that he talks like that

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I think it would be a shame for Urianger not to talk like that. Its part of his character. As for the likes of Midgardsormr, he is so damn Kryptic anyway that even if he spoke normally it would still be difficult to figure out what the hell he is talking about.

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Originally Posted by Gemina

It gives characters like the primals, Midgarsomr, etc. an ancient kind of feel. They have existed for a very long time and have/will not adopt the common tongue.

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And makes Alphinaud, who is about 8 years old, sound like a douche.

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Originally Posted by ZioSerpe

And makes Alphinaud who is about 8 years old sound like a douche.

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Then he is the biggest 8 year old I ever seen, for he is actually 16 or so. There are actual 8 year olds in the game and none speak the way he does.

Well a good alternative to avoid the English localization would be to learn Japanese. Honestly original works are always superior to subs and dubs. Think about your favorite film and try watching it another language, its not the same.

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Originally Posted by Valkyrie_Lenneth

Because from my understanding, the Japanese translation directly to english is kind of boring, from what Koji has talked about. Like, instead of it being told like an adventure, its "He went there, and there were bad guys"

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I've heard that too. Japanese players seemingly don't value storytelling as highly as European and American players do. Heck, from what I gather role-play isn't really a thing over on their servers but it is over here.

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Originally Posted by AshlikeSnow

Well a good alternative to avoid the English localization would be to learn Japanese. Honestly original works are always superior to subs and dubs. Think about your favorite film and try watching it another language, its not the same.

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That's just an opinion rather than a fact. I think those sorts of statements does the wonderful work of the localisation team for FFXIV a major disservice.

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Originally Posted by MilesSaintboroguh

Then he is the biggest 8 year old I ever seen, for he is actually 16 or so. There are actual 8 year olds in the game and none speak the way he does.

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You must be fun at parties.

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Originally Posted by ZioSerpe

You must be fun at parties.

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I like to correct.

i like it. it's very immersive. like the writing. i mean, i can read a little, like the signs that say, "no entry", but a lot of the signs i can't read, and i feel like an illiterate adventurer ^^

that's the same with the english. they don't use the same english everywhere. most of it, i can understand. urianger, i have to concentrate. jacke? i just nod my head and try to read body language, and i'm a native english speaker lol

what i'm trying to say is, it isn't just hard for you to read. it's sometimes hard for native english speakers to read, and that's the point

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Originally Posted by AshlikeSnow

Well a good alternative to avoid the English localization would be to learn Japanese. Honestly original works are always superior to subs and dubs. Think about your favorite film and try watching it another language, its not the same.

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Yet that film in another language, for the audience who are native speakers of that other language, would find the localized version to be the version they are able to connect with and understand far better than if they learned the original language. A good localization team will do more than just translate - they will change it to better fit the nuances of the culture and language of the new version so that this new audience can connect better with it on their own terms while still telling the same story.

Like it or not, when telling a story in a medieval setting in English, co-opting an older style of English (even though it's rarely *that* old - it's closer to Tolkien than anyone else for the most part) for the sake of world-building isn't exactly an uncommon practice...and Koji-Fox and his team are among the better teams at putting that into practice.

Believing that all versions have to say exactly what the original said but translated or they are inferior or "wrong" is little more than hubris on the part of those that believe it.

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Originally Posted by cheolsu

jacke? i just nod my head and try to read body language, and i'm a native english speaker lol

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Jacke's a troublesome sort to read even for native English speakers.

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Originally Posted by Valkyrie_Lenneth

Because from my understanding, the Japanese translation directly to english is kind of boring, from what Koji has talked about. Like, instead of it being told like an adventure, its "He went there, and there were bad guys"

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Ehm, not to sound harsh or anything here, but you do know that you have basically said "The dialogue is badly written?" Sure I'm not expecting the dialogue to be 100% accurate but, if the translation itself is said to be boring DIRECTLY from one of the big guys, I don't think we were going to expect greatness to begin with.

I mean, to put it in perspective, as someone who is currently playing Trails of Cold Steel and has TONS of dialogues with TONS of exposition in it, I can say that the translation in that game is not only top notch but extremely fluid and I hardly got tired to read anything in it. Heck even the secondary characters tend to have well made speeches and dialogues, it's that good.

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Originally Posted by Theodric

I think those sorts of statements does the wonderful work of the localisation team for FFXIV a major disservice.

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I think its your opinion that its wonderful work and your absolutely entitled to it as I am to my own.

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Originally Posted by Voltyblast

Ehm, not to sound harsh or anything here, but you do know that you have basically said "The dialogue is badly written?" Sure I'm not expecting the dialogue to be 100% accurate but, if the translation itself is said to be boring DIRECTLY from one of the big guys, I don't think we were going to expect greatness to begin with.

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I think the point was that a direct translation would sound boring in English. What works fine (or even works great) in the Japanese language, if translated directly, wouldn't really work in English - that's what I believe Koji was saying.

As a result, they localize to make it more flowery and medieval and such in English, because for this kind of setting that is generally what is expected by a native speaking English audience.

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Originally Posted by Voltyblast

Ehm, not to sound harsh or anything here, but you do know that you have basically said "The dialogue is badly written?" Sure I'm not expecting the dialogue to be 100% accurate but, if the translation itself is said to be boring DIRECTLY from one of the big guys, I don't think we were going to expect greatness to begin with.

I mean, to put it in perspective, as someone who is currently playing Trails of Cold Steel and has TONS of dialogues with TONS of exposition in it, I can say that the translation in that game is not only top notch but extremely fluid and I hardly got tired to read anything in it. Heck even the secondary characters tend to have well made speeches and dialogues, it's that good.

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No, what I meant was the styles are different.

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Originally Posted by Berethos

Believing that all versions have to say exactly what the original said but translated or they are inferior or "wrong" is little more than hubris on the part of those that believe it.

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Well I am not a native Chinese speaker so when I saw IP Man I preferred the original Chinese format instead of the Enlgish dub. Different opinions. I view this game to be fantasy and that does not in fact automatically translate to medieval for me playing the game in its original format I can say that its indeed not Medieval, it became Medieval because of the direction and liberty that the English Localization decided on. And I'm not advocating for this game to be a direct verbatim translation from the original. Unless you hear the original audio Japanese dialogue in cutscenes and compare that to what is written in English its so different. It is just my opinion that the English version suffers from not delivering the cues off how the cutscenes and sequences were designed.

That's why I like futuristic fantasy setting like FFXIII.

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Originally Posted by AshlikeSnow

Unless you hear the original audio Japanese dialogue in cutscenes and compare that to what is written in English its so different.

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What do you mean by 'original audio?' Every language is roughly voiced at the same time in FFXIV, right? This isn't like any other Final Fantasy/JRPG where it's released in Japan first.
I also do not believe the localisation suffers at all. Every dialect matches the character (though Urianger does kinda feel like a hipster with his thy's and thou's. It makes sense for Hydaelyn and Midgardsormr, since they're the oldest 'beings' we know of).

It's like a blend of modern english, old english, and just random gibberish thats sounds sophisticated.

Is "anyroad" even a word

And did people ever say "must needs"?

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Originally Posted by Averax

Is "anyroad" even a word

And did people ever say "must needs"?

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Yes to both. English is a very strange language.

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Originally Posted by Averax

It's like a blend of modern english, old english, and just random gibberish thats sounds sophisticated.

Is "anyroad" even a word

And did people ever say "must needs"?

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Actually yes, "anyroad" is a word:
(Link) It's old British slang for anyway or anyhow.

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Originally Posted by Nestama

What do you mean by 'original audio?' Every language is roughly voiced at the same time in FFXIV, right? This isn't like any other Final Fantasy/JRPG where it's released in Japan first.
I also do not believe the localisation suffers at all. Every dialect matches the character (though Urianger does kinda feel like a hipster with his thy's and thou's. It makes sense for Hydaelyn and Midgardsormr, since they're the oldest 'beings' we know of).

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When I said original audio I was talking about the Japanese audio.

Since the player character doesn't speak outside dialog trees, which is unfortunately rare, I dont mind. Archeage forced voice acting on the player breaking any and all immersion. But whenever "you" talk it's usually just mouth flaps and waving your hands, I tend to fill in the blanks with my head.

"Man that fight was dope yo, broke his goddamn wings off and I think Alphinaud wants to be my wife."
"Pray, Warrior of light. Rest and mayhap have succor from your arduous battle." (dramatization)
"Ayyy later fam."

Besides, it really works for Lominsa, Ishgard and Gridania. If anywhere that I'd find it out of place is Ul'dah. Just seems the most modern.

I wish they would stop using the "pray tell" phrase. Sounds so awful.