An Introduction to Dragonspeak

[Karen_Cerfrumos]

Ah yes. The Japanese should be translated and not localized camp. I disagree completely with this. It's why a good translator usually also needs to be a good writer.

It's also a pretty reductive way to look at the English localization team. Like they're just simple translation bots and not an actual part of the development team.

Please stop putting words into my mouth. You're valiantly fighting what is obviously incorrect but also none of what I've said.
Localization is an extralinguistic process that involves adaptation for a different culture. Like, let's use an extreme example, a swastika in Japan would be taken as a buddhist symbol while in Western culture, you'd have to remove that from a game because people will absolutely take you the wrong way. This is localization. Replacing a jokeful reference to a Japanese comic with a jokeful reference to an English comic where appropriate is localization, done to retain the effect in a different cultural setting.
Localization however is not a carte blanche do just do whatever as every decision must serve some purpose or be questioned.
And "translation bots", that's rich. Translation, even something as trivial as 1:1 (which does not imply translating words by the way) is a very mind-tasking process. So again, please stop putting words into my mouth.
I'll admit, I'm not a big fan of fauxpeare writing and certain other alternations (like removal of callouts of Megaflare in Gilgamesh trial and Diamond Dust in Shiva trial, perhaps also considered inappropriate for high fantasy feel?).

See, fair enough, the translation is done in-house and close to people who come up with original lore. That's great. But the fact remains that the original writers did not consider this setting while writing Midgardsormr's dialogue.

[Spellbinder]

But the fact remains that the original writers did not consider this setting while writing Midgardsormr's dialogue.

Then maybe, just maybe, instead of lambasting the localization department for their characterization of Midgardsormr, someone should ask why the original writers failed to consider character setting and history they asked him to make?

You don't just ask someone to create an entire language and stuff it in a drawer to collect dust, and I think it's great that they took the time to incorporate this into the dialogue.

[Karen_Cerfrumos]

Then maybe, just maybe, instead of lambasting the localization department for their characterization of Midgardsormr, someone should ask why the original writers failed to consider character setting and history they asked him to make?

You don't just ask someone to create an entire language and stuff it in a drawer to collect dust, and I think it's great that they took the time to incorporate this into the dialogue.

Maybe? I'm not here to point fingers at people.

[Balipu]

Maybe? I'm not here to point fingers at people.

Well you did kinda imply that the localization team left out some meaning from the original on purpose in order to make room for an idea not in the original. That's some serious finger pointing right there. As a fellow translator I think the localization did an excellent job with the dragons. Yes, their version is better than the original, so what? It happens.
I think they are right about this, and right about the astrologian(no it is not completely different from astrologer). I know you didn't claim the latter, but many did.

[Karen_Cerfrumos]

Well you did kinda imply that the localization team left out some meaning from the original on purpose in order to make room for an idea not in the original. That's some serious finger pointing right there. As a fellow translator I think the localization did an excellent job with the dragons. Yes, their version is better than the original, so what? It happens.
I think they are right about this, and right about the astrologian(no it is not completely different from astrologer). I know you didn't claim the latter, but many did.

Because they did.
http://www.reddit.com/r/ffxiv/commen...ersus_english/

[Grayve]

Because they did.
http://www.reddit.com/r/ffxiv/commen...ersus_english/

I read it. The English version is superior. All the points are in the English version, save mention of the 'Shadow'.

Midgardsormr sounds, well.. like a mysterious ancient dragon should, in English. In the Japanese, its like... he's flat.

[Balipu]

I read it. The English version is superior. All the points are in the English version, save mention of the 'Shadow'.

Midgardsormr sounds, well.. like a mysterious ancient dragon should, in English. In the Japanese, its like... he's flat.

Yeah. Like how all the Kefka fans forget that in the original he was simply an irritating nutjob that everyone hated, characters and players alike, and only in the english dub did he become the Joker 2.0 he is now. Reading the word to word translation, I didn't understand more. I just noticed that Midgardsormr didn't have a personality in the original.