Translation Team: Please stop doing this...

[Nuinn]

I can understand it perfectly but I do find it rather annoying, causing me to skip some dialogue when I get the gist of what's going on.

"Ok, so here's 3 chat bubbles of text basically saying he's angry.... Check!" *skips reading all off the words*

[Mistoltin]

While there's many arguments on the side of approval of "ye olde English", I do wish to bring forth the fact that as any maker of content, one thing you ultimately have to understand is the relationship between your creation and your player.
You can convey the tones so much easier, so much simpler and without having to excessively draw it out.

[TouchandFeel]

My favorite quip on the subject is that Middle English was the product of Norman soldiers trying pick up Saxon barmaids. A little Googling reveals that H. Beam Piper came up with that one.

Ha, I'd believe it and while somewhat of a joke, there is probably a grain of truth to it as the commonfolk of the time, being of Anglo-Saxon origin probably assimilated aspects of the Norman conqueror's language into their vernacular through their day to day interaction with them. So drunken Normans hitting on Saxon barmaids influencing the evolution of the English language, totally plausible.

[Kiara]

My only claim has been that there is no "original" text, because each of the localization teams has a hand in crafting the story.

This isn't true. In the very interview you linked Koji Fox very clearly states:

Then of course I do a lot of translation. On heavy days we do upwards of six, seven thousands characters of translation...

We talk about adjustments… how we’re going to go in and tweak the text, and if those tweaks are big enough to warrant going over to the devs and getting their permission.

They get the Dev Team's *permission* to change things if it's big enough. Your claim that there is no "original," is simply false. If they were Co-WRITERS for all of Final Fantasy XIV, he'd be talking about something like...

"I go in and begin writing new Quests and new Story Missions. I'd probably CREATE some new Characters and DECIDE what their role is in the Calamity..." etc.

THAT'S what a Dev Team's real Game Designer / Writer does. They are still Localization (with some influence and communication) *back* to the OG Japanese Development Team.

If it’s a new character appearing in the quest we will ask them about the background of those characters, where they want to take the characters, we need all that information so that when we translate it, we know that we’re gonna give the player what the developer and the planner really intended. Then, again, if we decide we need to make some changes, whether be characterization or maybe how a character handles a certain happening during the quest, we make sure to talk with the planner and see if that’s okay. A lot of times it is, sometimes he tells us no and we make sure that we follow that.

Again, more examples of the Localization Team asking and getting permission and approval *from the Original Creators / JP Dev Team* if they are changing / tweaking stuff.

G: How much leeway is given to the localization team when translating the script from Japanese to English? Do you prefer a more literal approach or a heavily adapted approach?

MCKF: Well, when it comes to wording we’re given a great deal of freedom, but when it comes to story we make sure to try to stick to the original Japanese.

Stop kidding yourself. The Localization Team members aren't listed in the Final Fantasy XIV End Credits as "Writer / Planner / Story Designer".

Because they are NOT.

From Koji Fox's interview right there. They take the Original Japanese version and translate and localize it.


Lastly, your previous quotes were about the Localization Team working with "monster names, monster attacks, place names, item names…". And they helped flesh out some Guildleve Quests (minor stuff). They aren't writing the Main Story.

I want to close out by saying I really *appreciate* all the hard work the Localization Team does. It's a thankless job at times. So "Thank You!"

But some of the points being brought up here I definitely agree with:

1. They take too many liberties at times, more than what I'd like to see as an avid Final Fantasy fan. (The Midgardsormr 2.5 Story segments / VO were the worst so far (compared to the OG Japanese version).

2. Some things feel excessively wordy at times. (And I like lore and story.)

It gets to the point where even I find myself hitting [ENTER] (repeatedly) to just push through random NPC text (from various small side quests, Guildleves, etc.).

Thanks.

[Viridiana]

Stop kidding yourself. The Localization Team members aren't listed in the Final Fantasy XIV End Credits as "Writer / Planner / Story Designer". Because they are NOT.

Did I ever say they were? My only assertion has been that calling what the JP client gets the "original" text is wrong, because it, too, is modified. Quite frankly, if anyone wants to see the true originals, they would have to go find the early drafts before a lot of the editing happens. My point this entire time has been that holding up the JP as some mythical "original" is delusional.

[Haibel]

Why do people think that the JP version is some master script that the game is translated from? The writing team is going to collaborate with each other to get the point across
that is in the story planner / designers have in their outlines. Their is no master script, there is a master outline and that leaves some room for the teams to collaborate.

[Conradus]

The problem is a lot of modern day citizens do not use this type of language

And the answer is that Eorzorans are not modern day citizens and thus should not sound like ones.

[Chevrefoil]

So...

Does anyone wonder why famous/popular texts will often end up with multiple translations and readers pitting translations against each other as far as which is 'best'? This is an argument without resolution. Translation is not an exact science and just like with art, there may be individual liberties taken within the confines of the original text. What defines the original text is something that philosophers have been trying to figure out since the modernist period started...

Everyone likes a certain level of flavor when it comes to word choice. As long as the original meaning is conveyed, translators have some liberty. If you don't like their individual style or the style FFARR has chosen, it's simply like you not liking a particular artist's work. It's not inherently -wrong- or -bad-...just not to your taste.

Which do you prefer -- Time Regained or Finding Time Again?

[Niwashi]

They get the Dev Team's *permission* to change things if it's big enough. Your claim that there is no "original," is simply false. ...

But none of this really supports your point either. Of course they have to make sure what they're writing supports the story that the planners and developers designed, but so do the writers of the Japanese dialog.

This game isn't a one man job to develop. No game of this scope is. There's a great deal of planning to decide how the story is going to unfold, and to develop all the lore of the world it occurs in. Then all of that information has to be divvied up into quests, with decisions regarding how to balance story exposition and gameplay pacing, determining which things are going to occur where, which information is revealed when, etc. Then finally, after everything has been planned out, and it's been determined precisely what needs to occur in each quest, that's when the actual writing of the dialog scripts can begin. In that final step of writing, where the choices in wording is taking place, all the writers of all languages need to make sure that their quest scripts are going to match what the game needs to happen at that point in the story.

[AlexiaArchos]

Stop kidding yourself. The Localization Team members aren't listed in the Final Fantasy XIV End Credits as "Writer / Planner / Story Designer". Because they are NOT.

Probably, but lets not forget that Koji-Fox is listed as one of the 2 World Lore Creators, in the opening movie, so his imput might have more weight.