1 Month in impressions/criticisms...

[Archaell]

LOL, don't forget the labyrinth that is English grammar.

Oh yeah the hated labyrinth.

Starting with irregular verbs, continuing with perfect aspect, and ending with unisex sentence structures. I have honestly spent few minutes during one of my exames talking about an author using wrong pronoun... Like common, throw me a bone and at least use different colors for male and female names. In Czech we don't have this issue as female speakers use different verb suffix than male ones.

[Linadae]

My memory of old Norse language is rusty, since it's about 15-20 years since I went through that time period in school, but I'd say it's not so much an issue of consonants being considered vowels as there being an assumed vowel interspaced. So 'haldr' for example would be pronounced 'haldir' (random example to show what I mean, not necessarily a 100% correct example). Though yes, Y is considered a vowel, so if you're used to that being a consonant you'd be correct in your statement =)
(Then again, Welsh considers W to be a vowel, so...... *shrugs*)

Sorry, when I typed my original post, my mother was talking to me so I skipped words and then promptly failed to proofread properly. What I had MEANT to say was that it was likely there was/is consonants that double as vowels. I have a nasty tendency to think faster than I type. So letters/words end up getting lost.

[adn]

OP, what you need to realize is: though FFXIV is a Japanese game, the "original" script is not the Japanese one. The Japanese scripts are made at the same time as the English ones, and it may shock you to know that the ENGLISH lore is often "back-translated" back into Japanese. So any inconsistencies you see? Those are the JAPANESE translators changing things, not the English ones.

It's a common mistake to assume that because the development team is Japanese that the Japanese text/VAs are the original, which is not the case in FF14, sorry.

You can see this here: http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...=1#post2804270
They talk about it in this panel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvNpO4gy_Tg
Transcript of that: http://gamerescape.com/2014/10/18/fi...nel-live-blog/

FFXIV has one of the best localizations and localization teams in the entire industry. I will agree with you that the English localization is not friendly to non-native English speakers, however.

[Roegadyn_Bear]

Art thou complaining about the w'rds spoken from mine lips? I hest satisfaction! Meeteth me at the fields of hon'r and prepareth to loseth!

[Kallera]

Which script do the french and german translations derive from? As they are often different as well.

This is the current problem with the localization, it is resulting in changes in character attitudes and responses that simply do not exist in other versions. This is not the result of"the best in the business".

[Kosmos992k]

Which script do the french and german translations derive from? As they are often different as well.

This is the current problem with the localization, it is resulting in changes in character attitudes and responses that simply do not exist in other versions. This is not the result of"the best in the business".

No, the French and German are translated from a direct english translation of the japanese original.

OP, what you need to realize is: though FFXIV is a Japanese game, the "original" script is not the Japanese one. The Japanese scripts are made at the same time as the English ones, and it may shock you to know that the ENGLISH lore is often "back-translated" back into Japanese. So any inconsistencies you see? Those are the JAPANESE translators changing things, not the English ones.

I believe that is incorrect actually. The English Lore team works with the Japanese Lore team to make sure that place names, NPC names and 'fixed' things in the game both fit the lore, and are consistent. The Lore teams don't write the dialog, the original story and dialog are written in Japanese by the main story team, with the combined input of the lore teams, including back translating certain names and other lore related matters.

The japanese originsl is translated into an English reference version. The French, German and other languages are translated from this, which is why they *all* match the Japanese script - give or take minor translation issues. The English version of the game is however the product of taking the reference version and 'localizing' it for the English market. This is why the English client sometimes differs from all of the others - Midgardsormr being a prime example.

From one of your links; "Due to the organic process of localization, the most creative ideas often get re-translated back into the Japanese version." He's referring to lore and the process of creating parts of the lore for the English localization and says that the most creative ideas get back-ported into the japanese lore. That's not the translation of the script or story, it's talking about the background material, names, places and so forth.

Also the forum post in your first link is not talking about the script, it's talking abput GC titles which falls well within the kind of things that the lore teams would want to be consistent and which the English Lore team could easily have useful input in.

[Sapphic]

In response to 7, the story.

I agree with that sentiment prior to HW, but heaavensward story they learnt and took to heart the critique in regards to the 2.0 onwards story. As there is a massive drop in filler quests (which you refered to as Fedex) a lot less reunning over the same patch of land until you leave a rut XD It gives you a sense of constant progression through the lands as you move with the story. Albeit with 3.1 and future that will become more difficult as there wont be any new zones to explore so we will get some of that. But if the quality stays the same as it did during the MSQ for heavensward, I don't think it will be as much of an issue.

[Murakami7]

The very notion of localisation is to convert the content into something that is suitable and appropriate for the target audience of that area. You seem to want a literal translation (直訳) of the Japanese script which would be completely bland and boring. Now, the localisation team didn't have to localise the English script into a sort of medieval, game of thrones-like way but it works for this game (especially in Ishgard) though I think it can be a bit irritating at times.

[Bourne_Endeavor]

That's exactly the point. The characters speak according to their personality, but the English and the Japanese versions are completely different.

Take Minfilia, for example, who's just annoying in the English script, whereas she's a friendly, warm person in the Japanese version.

Alphinaud would be a snotty little boy who grows up a bit and fights with regret in the Japanese, whereas the English makes him sound like an emo full of teenage angst - which might be appropriate if you look at his character model, but I digress ^^

Yeah, the localization team most certainly did NOT localize the characters. They all use the same phrasing, the same way to speak. Not a bit of individual personality there in the Japanese version comes through in the English.

I dare say you are flat out misinterpreting Minfilia, because every interaction with her in the EN dub, she couldn't be more of a sweetheart if she tried. The issue people have has little to do with her personality, but more with how frequent her role is reduced to a damsel. Despite being presented as a fairly capable leader and tactician, she does nothing to defend herself nor warrant those titles; instead usually necessitating a rescue. Given FFXIV has a much larger female audience, it's little surprise many deem her a nuisance.

The other are merely down to subjectivity and cultural standards. Hamon Holyfist, for instance, devours the scenery every chance he gets, yet may rank him among the absolute favorites in the entire game on the EN side. I, personally, enjoy Thancred, who strikes him as a variant of Balthier - another oft cited favorite.

[kazeandi]

The very notion of localisation is to convert the content into something that is suitable and appropriate for the target audience of that area. You seem to want a literal translation (直訳) of the Japanese script which would be completely bland and boring. Now, the localisation team didn't have to localise the English script into a sort of medieval, game of thrones-like way but it works for this game (especially in Ishgard) though I think it can be a bit irritating at times.

Not a literal translation, but one that transports the characteristics of the characters and conveys what they say properly - this didn't happen at ALL. It's like they had a rough draft of the original and wrote their own version.