English translation lacks charecter compared to other translations

[Kurando]

The closer we get to today, the more comfortable the listeners will be. Also, because the type of documents I read daily, I am very comfortable with early modern English and I can sense it a mile away when people try to emulate it.

Reading what you may think is modern English is always not the same as hearing it day to day, which was my point. Also it being comfortable again varies greatly amongst regions so some actually already feel it's comfortable as a listener, and that's how I feel about it. Though definitely i appreciate some players don't feel that connection and may think it coming across a little detached from the character.

Essentially it probably really wouldn't matter what kind of English is used as it's the choice of vocabulary that often makes it stand out more as something different or even peculiar to what some listeners may be used to. Although that can happen anywhere in the world where certain words are more prevalent or seldom used than others

[Eloah]

There is nothing wrong with the English version, I feel it's done very well. Plus we know that things are checked over thoroughly, well almost. They admitted to messing up Haurchefant's character a bit, but we all still loved him.

The best example I could probably give for a really good translation is probably Middy's speech when we first meet him. It was crafted in a way to give us all the info the Japanese version gave, but the way you'd kinda expect from a millennial old dragon. Here English was full of flavor and the Japanese version was dull. Plus all the pop culture references are cute, like the Simpsons reference in Kugane, lol.

One of the bigger issues with language is understanding it, too well. As native English speakers, we've heard certain commonalities over and over again that they just feel dated or boring after a while, no matter how accurate they are. But since our understanding of other languages is limited, usually, we tend to like those better, because we are more interpreting what is being said over the literal translation. And understanding multiple languages help you see how other languages are just as dull as English, lol; their words just sound cooler at times.

Also regardless of what anyone thinks I like the English version, is every performance 5 stars no, but it's not, "so horrible you need the hear the voices in Japanese", I mean have you heard Susano, lol. Hey plenty of people on this forum, mostly French and German, admitted to preferring the English version over their native laguage.

[Yui_Tenshi]

I find the English versions amusing, it just sounds kinda funny but works in its own way. The Japanese versions are very theatrical and makes the plot seem more serious.

I run my main character on JP cutscenes, and my alt on ENG cutscenes.

[Mikayuki]

I have to agree with a former statement made here. I'm currently playing the story again, this time on the EN client. While I'm quite fluent in English, I noticed I oftentimes had trouble reading the npc dialogue. Sometimes it's the slang, sometimes it's the Old English. I would welcome it if they could make the English more modern.

[Shurrikhan]

I disagree, at least from what I've seen of leveling one character each in the JPN version and the ENG version. The ENG seems more often to have... more character than the JPN, at least.

I'll admit though, Haurchefaunt is like three totally different people between JPN, ENG, and FR. Iirc, on meeting him in one, I thought he was fairly nice, another Machiavellian, and in the third... possibly psychotic.

[Jonnycbad]

but the vast majority of characters in the game use modern English with a few archaisms here and there.

PRAY, TELL ME MORE

[MicahZerrshia]

snip.

idk, if you went to school in NA and you paid any amount of attn in high school English and even middle school English classes you should be able to understand things clearly. They don't really change it up too much, they just tend not to use a lot of modern slang or shorthand. Urianger is also not Shakespeare on steroids lol he is much easier to understand for the layman. As someone who has a degree in Literary Criticism I do have a bias as I can read anything from Chaucer to Rowling with ease, but I have never been asked what a word means nor have I met anyone who has struggled with the dialog. It's just more formal than anything which is to be expected when dealing with dignitaries as we do in game.

I honestly think I speak in a more complicated fashion irl than the characters do in the game due to my education, as with those in the circles I run. Even in my guilds, I am far more likely to be asked what a word I used means, than one Y'shtola used. They do use uncommon words but definitely not ones that are undecipherable, especially when in context, unless you are not a native speaker.

But at what the OP is getting at is that the dialog is flat compared to others. And it is, quite. They did address this, especially in the case of Haurchefant because they did get tons of flak for it. And while they did say there is much lost in translation, they would not drastically change a character again. If memory serves Koji got into quite a spot of trouble after the changes in Haurchy were brought to Yoshida's attn.

I also think a lot of it has to do with the voice actors they hire. You can most definitely tell they are just there to collect a paycheck. It is really flat and lacking. Idk if the pay or working conditions are bad, but they seem to mostly phone it in.

[Mikayuki]

idk, if you went to school in NA and you paid any amount of attn in high school English and even middle school English classes you should be able to understand things clearly.

One thing I forgot to add in my previous post is that in my opinion, the EN version is the international version and not only the "NA" version. We can see this as the official website even has different EN versions tailored to different english speaking countries. I remember when I was in middle school I'd use FFX to improve my English, so the spoken dialogue in FFX was a lot 'simpler' (since I wasn't even fluent in EN back then). FFXIV is very text heavy, especially ARR which has less voiced cutscenes in the msq than the 2 expacs. It's not that people cannot understand it per se, it's more that the swollen language gets 'annoying', so you'd rather skip those cutscenes. This can get rather frustrating later on when there's some gap in the story because of a skipped scene.

So all in all I think being the international version of the game, the EN should be a bit more modern and easier accessable for everyone. Just because the setting of FFXIV is slightly old fashioned doesn't mean that the language has to be over archaic. FFXII has a similiar setting, yet the EN there is modern and easy enough to understand.

[Shurrikhan]

There is nothing wrong with the English version, I feel it's done very well. Plus we know that things are checked over thoroughly, well almost. They admitted to messing up Haurchefant's character a bit, but we all still loved him.

The best example I could probably give for a really good translation is probably Middy's speech when we first meet him. It was crafted in a way to give us all the info the Japanese version gave, but the way you'd kinda expect from a millennial old dragon. Here English was full of flavor and the Japanese version was dull. Plus all the pop culture references are cute, like the Simpsons reference in Kugane, lol.

One of the bigger issues with language is understanding it, too well. As native English speakers, we've heard certain commonalities over and over again that they just feel dated or boring after a while, no matter how accurate they are. But since our understanding of other languages is limited, usually, we tend to like those better, because we are more interpreting what is being said over the literal translation. And understanding multiple languages help you see how other languages are just as dull as English, lol; their words just sound cooler at times.

Also regardless of what anyone thinks I like the English version, is every performance 5 stars no, but it's not, "so horrible you need the hear the voices in Japanese", I mean have you heard Susano, lol. Hey plenty of people on this forum, mostly French and German, admitted to preferring the English version over their native laguage.

There are several bosses and characters I was surprised to enjoy far more on my alt (who I leveled on the JPN client but with English voices) compared to my main (who I'd leveled on ENG client but with Japanese voices that I'd assumed would be better). Just a lot more... character... to them, for lack of a better word.

[Elamys]

The occasionally hamfisted use of old English in this game makes it difficult to understand at times even for native speakers and also sounds bad while simultaneously stripping the dialogue of emotion because it's so rough. Urianger is a really bad offender in this department. His dialogue is absolutely unbearable to listen to at times. The cinematic where you meet the Warriors of Darkness is a really good example of his terrible dialogue. Being in faux medieval world doesn't mean we need to use medieval language. It's not like England existed in Eorzea. Do the other clients use archaic language?