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

[KaitlanKela]

Fenral, point taken. Maybe they will? I stand corrected.

Lukha, honestly I don't think the team thinks its as big a problem as you think it is. Like I said, unless you can play multiple localizations of the game, know someone who plays a different one, or are on the official forums watching the gripefest, you're completely oblivious to the face the Hauchefant is a little inconsistent. I think that's the vast majority of western players. Therefore, not worth the effort when the Localization team could be localizing the new content coming in for the next patch. The apology was to the people who recognized the disparity as an acknowledgement and a sign of good faith. But, tbh, if they all reacted like you they probably should have just saved their breath.

[Lukha]

How often does a company make a public apology over something they don't feel is 'that big a problem'? They've ignored threads about this before, so it's not like they couldn't have just gone on ignoring it if it wasn't a problem in their eyes. If you release an inferior or damaged product, you apologize to the consumer and then either recall or offer to repair the item if you want to keep your consumer base happy. Just because the vast majority of your customers will never notice that your car was built with a faulty ignition switch doesn't mean you can just let them keep driving it.

The changes were made without permission, and resulted in a serious disparity between the experiences of Japanese and English players (And FR/DE players to some lesser extent). You said in an earlier post that changing the incorrect localization would be a bad idea because it would create a disparity in player experiences...but if that disparity already exists, which one takes precedence? If there's going to be one either way, wouldn't it be better to err on the side of correctness, so that future players, and those who care enough to go back and rewatch the fixed cutscenes, can benefit from a unified experience across all regions? I'm not asking that they fix the translation THIS MOMENT, though I can't see how it would be hard to do; surely they have the original translations in archive somewhere, in case they're needed for reference. I'm asking that they work on it as there's time and implement it at some point down the road as a sign that they're truly contrite for their actions. I'm also asking that they not make the same mistakes in the future; I know it's tempting to pick on Alphinaud, but show a little professionalism and leave it to the fans, please.

And one final thing: It's not 'a little inconsistent'. Haurchefant in the initial Coerthas quests is a completely different character from the one in the Japanese version, and makes little sense in relation to the character he was 'transitioned' into later on. His dialogue was very serious and he honestly sounded like an 'older' character to me - I thought he was some middle-aged guy who was maybe nursing a bit of an unrequited crush on Francel. Then the Heavensturn event came around with him acting the way he was always intended to and I and many others ran to the forums and Reddit asking why he was suddenly so 'different', with a lot of people even assuming it meant he had been tempered or was planning to betray us, not because he was being flirty, but because his personality was basically the complete opposite of how he'd been previously portrayed.

[KaitlanKela]

Meh, I have a counter argument for pretty much all of your points, but instead of breaking it all down, I'll just summarize: I don't think this is as big of a deal to the developers or to most of the players as it is to the vocal minority here. Your opinion counts, but given that the localization team is tiny and everyone is pushing for newer content and more of it I would rather they not spend time retconning old 2.0 content and focus on making a higher-quality more accurate product going forward. It doesn't cost them resources to issue an apology and acknowledge they dun f-ed up and they'll do better: a retcon is something I don't think they could or should deliver on.

If they do, though, I won't strictly be complaining. I just don't think it's the best use of their time. IF I'm wrong, I will take back everything I've said, but until then agree to disagree I guess.

[Ayuhra]

Fenral, point taken. Maybe they will? I stand corrected.

Lukha, honestly I don't think the team thinks its as big a problem as you think it is. Like I said, unless you can play multiple localizations of the game, know someone who plays a different one, or are on the official forums watching the gripefest, you're completely oblivious to the face the Hauchefant is a little inconsistent.

Haurchefant still comes across as a warm and likable guy but the inconsistencies are very noticeable if you bother to really watch the character. I could list some of them but instead I'll say I know someone who played the game in Japanese and adored the character whereas I, who had just beaten the MSQ 2.0 dungeon (The Praetorium) had no strong opinion until I started digging into him more. Why did she like him so much? He'd left no impression on me.

I think if he had been more of a Big Flirt Elf I would have remembered him as more than just "that guy from the Coerthas Central chain".

All of this said, he obviously grew on me eventually and became one of my favorite characters so, while I do wish the versions were all more similar, they still managed to make the big guy draw a reaction from me.

[Tenkuu]

Basically you're wanting it more like the Japanese, right? So the localization team is working more closely with the Original JP team. This is exactly what you want. Yes, it's general, but any more specific thing you post is splitting hairs and 1) is making it look like what they're doing isn't good enough for you and 2) kinda pointless because Yoshi's opinion matters so much more than yours and I would rather the localization team ask him his opinion then come to the official forums any day of the week.

Actually, not at all. I'm acknowledging that it's good that they recognized this mistake and are working to avoid making similar ones in the future. Giving ideas on specifically how to make it better is never a bad thing. Also, the simple fact is that trying is only good enough once it's produced results that can be gauged. Why on earth are you bringing up Yoshida's opinion as if mine is clashing with his? If you want something pointless, that comment you made right there was it. We already know that they look at feedback given on the forums and listen to the fanbase, and I don't think anyone would take negatively getting tips on what more specifically the fans want. That is all that I was saying. You're the one being negative and taking things out of context here.

Meh, I have a counter argument for pretty much all of your points, but instead of breaking it all down, I'll just summarize: I don't think this is as big of a deal to the developers or to most of the players as it is to the vocal minority here. Your opinion counts, but given that the localization team is tiny and everyone is pushing for newer content and more of it I would rather they not spend time retconning old 2.0 content and focus on making a higher-quality more accurate product going forward. It doesn't cost them resources to issue an apology and acknowledge they dun f-ed up and they'll do better: a retcon is something I don't think they could or should deliver on.

Why are you assuming that it's a "vocal minority" rather than the majority if it obviously got enough of a response for them to offer an apology and a promise to try to do better in the future? I would say it *is* a big deal to them because they care about their fanbase, and our opinions count for more than you give them credit. And why would there be any retconning involved? After all, it's only the dialogue that's inaccurate so it would merely be a correction with no consequence other than a more faithful adaptation of a single character. And yes, it is just my opinion that they should re-translate the whole thing, and really it's only a whimsy, but I can wish.