Regarding the Localization of Haurchefant in the EN/FR/DE Versions of FFXIV

[Almalexia]

problematic

FFXIV EN Lead

(((('A'))))

[CalamityTwo]

I don't think you did poorly in creating a new personality for Haurchefant.

I take issue with the fact you changed it at all

Every. Single. Localization team constantly throws around the word "Problematic" these days like it's their god given duty to protect us from the evil quirks of JP culture.

[Chasely]

He also drastically changed lady iceheart's personality, altered the personality and lore behind Midgardsormr, etc. Every single time, when he was forced to make these characters more like their japanese counterparts they became vastly more popular with the EN playerbase. He's just horrible at his job.

See, I would be really happy for this appology if I thought it was sincere, and that such ridiculous changes would be avoided in the future, but I already know it's not true. Sure, you fixed Haurchefant for the 3.0 quests, but other unnecessary changes were made instead, like Matoya's picking on Alphinaud which didn't really happen in Japanese.

That scene wasn't funny, as intended. It was incredibly awkward. I felt so bad for alphinaud. :/ It was like going over to your friend's house to watch a movie and his mother making you watch his potty training videos instead.

[Mandze]

I really liked the EN version of Haurchefant; I watched some of the JP dialogue online and felt that he was a more authentic character in the EN version. Later plot developments were more moving than they would have been if he were just a silly trope.

[sarehptar]

While the apology and attention to this issue are greatly appreciated, unfortunately, parts of this letter limit my hope for improvement on this issue in the future, namely this:

If we strongly believe that a significant deviation is warranted, we consult with the team leads beforehand, and then we do our utmost to minimize the complications.

Hasn't the need for apology/explanatory self-justification over this issue multiple times now made it clear that "significant deviation" shouldn't be warranted 99.9% of the time? Fans across all language clients should be playing the same game, not "significant deviations" of the same game. Instead of "minimizing complications" arising from deviations, how about you just don't deviate? I imagine in certain cases, yes, not deviating might be "problematic"--but is undermining the trust of many fans with inaccurate translations not also problematic?

Many people on this thread have noted that they really enjoyed the EN version of Haurchefant, but I can't help wondering whether they would have enjoyed him as much if changes were not made to bring him "gradually closer to that of the JP Haurchefant" over later patches and into Heavensward... I imagine that many of the people who loved him by the end of his EN version would have loved the JP version too, if that was the version they'd gotten from the very beginning and watched develop into a strong ally alongside their character.

Rather than making controversial choices on behalf of the players, maybe it would be better to let the players make those choices for themselves--given that people will never all agree on anything anyway, eliminating the "problematic" material from a game such as this one is utterly impossible. Personally, I think it would be best to stop trying to make characters and plot lines more palatable to an imaginary unified EN audience and instead just let the fans decide who they want to be fans of based on the original writers' work.

Please.

[FJerome]

He also drastically changed lady iceheart's personality, altered the personality and lore behind Midgardsormr, etc. Every single time, when he was forced to make these characters more like their japanese counterparts they became vastly more popular with the EN playerbase. He's just horrible at his job.

You're going off some misinformation here; Midgardsormr's dialogue was written by Michael Christopher Koji-Fox, not John Crow, please stop blaming him for everything you personally didn't like.

Also I disagree with pretty much every opinion you've had but since you're entitled to them I'll leave it at that.

[Velhart]

I wouldn't apologize, I thought Haurchefaunt was great as he was and I wouldn't change him just to be more on the personality of the JP version. Sometimes changes are for the better and I think you made the right call.

[Chasely]

Also I disagree with pretty much every opinion you've had but since you're entitled to them I'll leave it at that.

Aw..! Lemme have my pre-programmed romances. Let's face it. with a perosnality like mine how else is a man supposed to find me attractive?

[Riardon]

"Problematic"

Game is rated T for Teen. If the people playing this game can handle executing the insane (early Ifrit-related scenario quests), pirate sex slaves (Sastasha), and child abuse (Dark Knight quest line), then they can handle a guy who loves muscles and adventurers' bodies. Please remember that FF doesn't need the Nintendo seal of approval anymore. You don't have to change pubs to cafes or prayers to wishes for fear of offending parents or the religious. Likewise, you don't need to change characters like Haurchefant because you're afraid of offending the easily offended. They're going to find something to be offended about anyway. It might even do them some good to have the "Whoa this guy is weird" reaction before realizing that he's one of your staunchest allies.

Pretty much this thank you

[Savagelf]

Haurchefant saw the hero as a brother or sister person. i have really siblings i like Haurchefant as he is. sometime sibling have hard on they younger siblings. This truly how sibling are, you see there are such thing as sibling that go beyond blood or every family. Haurchefant is example of this. To be honest i cried when he died. the term sometime is brother of different mother in american. Final Fantasy remind us that friendship can go to point of sibleship that good thing. i would encourage the dev team to leave Haurchefant alone he good as he is.