I'm all for clever localization but please don't just leave out important story.

[Delily]

I read the translations of the text, it's not a localization thing, it was leaving out key points, I have been through a (unique MMO) game before (Phantasy Star Universe) in that game the JP players got new weapons new story lines while the western market got reskins of old weapons with new names and no new story lines, so I'm seeing a pattern here, favoritism to JP speaking/reading people and to heck to those who can't (it's like the non-JP players arn't intelligent enough to understand the story), I know SE is a JP company but I think it's only fair to give everyone the same story, look at the reddit post the person did the translation for us, and it is clear a big chunk of the story was left out or changed to the point it made no sense in the EN ver. this is probably a prequel to 3.0 so how much of that story would be changed for the western market? this just makes me sad.

In this case, it's subjective. The Japanese version basically told the players what Midgardsomr was up to, whereas the English version is a lot more cryptic. I much prefer our version, as it has lead to a lot more speculation and adds an element of mystery to the plot.

[Illya]

In this case, it's subjective. The Japanese version basically told the players what Midgardsomr was up to, whereas the English version is a lot more cryptic. I much prefer our version, as it has lead to a lot more speculation and adds an element of mystery to the plot.

There's not supposed to be a mystery to the plot. Why do the Japanese, German, and French speakers get the "normal" plot and the English speakers get the "abridged" plot? I mean, you can't say "cultural differences" if ONLY the EN script deviates so dramatically from the other 3 languages. If all 3 languages in the West were different from the JP script then maybe you would have an argument. As it is, only 1 of 4 languages gets the butchered Midgardsormr and that is a problem.

[Delily]

There's not supposed to be a mystery to the plot. Why do the Japanese, German, and French speakers get the "normal" plot and the English speakers get the "abridged" plot? I mean, you can't say "cultural differences" if ONLY the EN script deviates so dramatically from the other 3 languages. If all 3 languages in the West were different from the JP script then maybe you would have an argument. As it is, only 1 of 4 languages gets the butchered Midgardsormr and that is a problem.

You know I can't answer those questions. At this point, all I can reiterate is my support for the translators to make our story more cryptic. The top comment on the reddit post gives a good breakdown of why I think we got the better version.

[Illya]

You know I can't answer those questions. At this point, all I can reiterate is my support for the translators to make our story more cryptic. The top comment on the reddit post gives a good breakdown of why I think we got the better version.

It seems a lot of people want the "normal" story, where's my toggle in the game's options to trigger "normal" story which matches the other languages instead of EN-exclusive "cryptic" story?
Well, now the cat is as they say out of the bag, I guess we'll have Reddit to give us the "normal" story like I linked to in my OP.

[Verlyn]

You know I can't answer those questions. At this point, all I can reiterate is my support for the translators to make our story more cryptic. The top comment on the reddit post gives a good breakdown of why I think we got the better version.

You should ask the writers to make the plot more cryptic then. The translators shouldn't be making such changes.
Yes, they can make little flavor changes and make it read better for english-speakers (though most of it is horribly overwritten, as an aside, so they're not doing that right). That's one thing. Radically changing the personality of a character or the tone/content of a conversation, is something completely different. That shouldn't be allowed.