Petition to change the name of The Maelstrom (english language)

[Reika]

If I'm not mistaken, the kanji 黒渦 (Black Eddy) means to Japanese speakers what a Malestrom means to English speakers: A bigass whirlpool (or "Free Vortex") so deep you can't see the bottom.

However, in English, Vortex often carries a cultural connotation of space and/or supernatural dimensions. I think it was a stylistic choice due to the fact that maelstrom still carries strong naval/water roots in free association whereas vortex has been compromised.

渦 isnt eddy, its whirlpool, vortex, swirl, etc. 黒 is black, 団 is group. I had no idea what it was called in Japanese until I asked. 'The Maelstrom' Translates horribly and is totally different from 黒渦団、The Black Vortex　Group.

The same with almost every other name in this game. it would be much better if the names were direct translations of the Japanese names rather than make up new names for everything. Communication could be much easier.

And The Maelstrom sounds intimidating, but Black Vortex sounds much more intimidating imo.

[Holland]

渦 isnt eddy, its whirlpool, vortex, swirl, etc. 黒 is black, 団 is group. I had no idea what it was called in Japanese until I asked. 'The Maelstrom' Translates horribly and is totally different from 黒渦団、The Black Vortex　Group.

I will disagree with this part here. Based on the lore of Limsa Lominsa: the sea, pirates, naval fleets, a city made from the remains of a ship, The Malestrom fits perfectly well.

The black vortex on the other hand does not. Localization team did a great job, in my opinion. As someone earlier mentioned a Maelstrom is a "huge-ass" whirlpool usually present in the middle of storms out in the sea. It makes perfect sense they would be called that =p

[Viridiana]

渦 isnt eddy, its whirlpool, vortex, swirl, etc. 黒 is black, 団 is group. I had no idea what it was called in Japanese until I asked. 'The Maelstrom' Translates horribly and is totally different from 黒渦団、The Black Vortex　Group.

The same with almost every other name in this game. it would be much better if the names were direct translations of the Japanese names rather than make up new names for everything. Communication could be much easier.

And The Maelstrom sounds intimidating, but Black Vortex sounds much more intimidating imo.

I may not know Japanese, but Japanese and Korean use most of the same Chinese characters with the same meanings. Looking up 渦 gets me 소용돌이 in Korean. Looking up "maelstrom" also gets me 소용돌이. You can't really argue that maelstrom is not a valid translation for that character. . .

I mean, you could, but you'd be wrong. >_>

ETA: I guess the forums don't like bolding Kanji?