Tokyo Fan Fest - Only keynote to be translated

[Lambdafish]

But since Tokyo Fan Fest is being held in Tokyo, there's really no need for them to have English for anything but the keynote. The attendees are going to be 99% Japanese, with maybe a small number of foreigners. So it really doesn't make sense to translate the side panels.

Except the whole thing is being live-streamed online to a worldwide audience. I kinda understand why generic live letters aren't translated given their small scale, but this is a Fan Fest.

[Barraind]

Except the whole thing is being live-streamed online to a worldwide audience. I kinda understand why generic live letters aren't translated given their small scale, but this is a Fan Fest.

I actually dont understand the lack of official translations on things being delivered to the community as a whole.

At this point, more people playing 14 speak English than any other language, and they employ people for that purpose.

[kikix12]

Except the whole thing is being live-streamed online to a worldwide audience. I kinda understand why generic live letters aren't translated given their small scale, but this is a Fan Fest.

Live translation takes time, more than anything. They will have to interrupt speaking to let translator speak the same thing just in different language. That interrupts the flow and takes away from what they are able to present.

The Live-Stream is there, yes, but who exactly told you that it's "for you"?! It may be for the Japanese that could not attend the Fan Fest, and you are just allowed to latch on.

Just wait for the translation or depend on the fan translations. Live translations are not only inaccurate but interfere with the event.

[TarynH]

Live translation takes time, more than anything. They will have to interrupt speaking to let translator speak the same thing just in different language. That interrupts the flow and takes away from what they are able to present.

If that were the case, they could just have someone come out and give the keynote in English (at NA/EU events), while Yoshi stands and smiles at them. I personally don't mind the "flow being interrupted" if it's done professionally. Koji and Yoshi are a good team on stage.

Oh. I just read the thing. It says on a separate channel. Wonder if that means at the same time or after.

If it's like the last Fan Fest in Japan, it'll be someone that is so excited about what is being announced, that they'll "ooh" and "aww" instead of translating. Or talking nonsense back and forth, while missing information. I'd rather have Koji there live, with the back and forth.

[Burningskull]

If it's like the last Fan Fest in Japan, it'll be someone that is so excited about what is being announced, that they'll "ooh" and "aww" instead of translating. Or talking nonsense back and forth, while missing information. I'd rather have Koji there live, with the back and forth.

Eh.. Just post all the pictures on the forums then lol. I'll miss Koji doing a live tanslation tho. Him and Yoshida are rather funny to me.

[kikix12]

Seems odd that they would do live translations for NA and EU but not JP when they made the point of making the streams free.

They didn't make live translation for the NA and EU streams. They made live translation for the guests on the premises. And that was simply streamed live. They went to a foreign country with mostly foreign spectators paying for actual tickets to see them. They could not ignore the translation for the people at the venue.

But with the next Fan Fest in Japan, the entire audience is expected to know Japanese so no on-venue translation is needed. Even if there are foreign guests as well (there surely will be), some of them will know Japanese all the same (most people simply wouldn't go there otherwise).

And the remaining few?! Sorry, but the concept is the same as in EU. There was no German, French, Spanish, Polish, Danish etc. translations for the EU Fan Fest even if it was in France. If you want to see some foreign event held in some foreign country (or internationally)...it's on you to learn the universal language in the area. In Europe English is the most universal as it's taught across all the countries plus it's the primary language in England and Ireland, plus a very strong second language in numerous others. In Japan...it's Japanese. It's as simple as that.

I personally don't mind the "flow being interrupted" if it's done professionally. Koji and Yoshi are a good team on stage.

Flow being interrupted means that less information is being given in the same amount of time. Not only is the information given repeated an additional time, but the in-between and the translation process itself (the translator needs to "translate" it in their head due to different way that phrases are built in the two languages, if nothing else).

As a result, to match the same duration, the information is condensed and some is omitted. What's worse, the more information is condensed and omitted, the easier it is to make a mistake while translating something.

So yeah, flow is actually a lot more important that "I can understand only half of what they're saying".

Well, you may still say that you don't mind it being interrupted...you're free to do so. But clearly Square Enix chose the practical option.

Yup. It seems like by not making the information translated so everyone can know, they are shooting themselves in the foot a bit. Also often times fan translated things are wrong, which leads to misinformation being spread, and then disappointment eventually when its released and nothing like "they promised at the fanfest!"

Did you actually look at the posts after key notes and live letters?! Do you know how many people were spreading misinformation about something that was clearly written and translated properly, just cause they cannot read fully?!

The people that spread misinformation from fan translations often are the ones that have difficulty with reading comprehension, a problem that affects huge chunks of humanity. Functional illiteracy is a thing, you know, and that's only for those most severe cases. There are countless more that make frequent mistakes when reading even if they can do so with some degree of accuracy in general. No amount of on-the-fly translation (which is AS PRONE to mistakes as fan translations) is going to prevent that.

Look at forum posts and comment sections. How often do you see an exchange similar to this:
MR.A: "I like Big Bad because he shows us how to make a well written character. I hope to see him in the sequel if it'll ever be made."
MR.B: "Big Bad is not good, he's evil! Did you even watch the show? And no one said there will be sequel either, don't lie to people!"

The above exchange may be just an example...but I've seen even more obvious cases of illiteracy of people that "can" read and write (type) "on paper".

[Burningskull]

They didn't make live translation for the NA and EU streams. They made live translation for the guests on the premises. And that was simply streamed live. They went to a foreign country with mostly foreign spectators paying for actual tickets to see them. They could not ignore the translation for the people at the venue.

But with the next Fan Fest in Japan, the entire audience is expected to know Japanese so no on-venue translation is needed. Even if there are foreign guests as well (there surely will be), some of them will know Japanese all the same (most people simply wouldn't go there otherwise).

And the remaining few?! Sorry, but the concept is the same as in EU. There was no German, French, Spanish, Polish, Danish etc. translations for the EU Fan Fest even if it was in France. If you want to see some foreign event held in some foreign country (or internationally)...it's on you to learn the universal language in the area. In Europe English is the most universal as it's taught across all the countries plus it's the primary language in England and Ireland, plus a very strong second language in numerous others. In Japan...it's Japanese. It's as simple as that.

Fair point. And honestly as long as the slides continue to have English on them it doesn't matter to me personally. Also the Reddit Discord has some wonderful translators that do a really good job with live letters. Not sure if they are doing it for the JP Keynote.

[TarynH]

They didn't make live translation for the NA and EU streams. They made live translation for the guests on the premises. And that was simply streamed live.

Please. That's like saying they are completely oblivious to the fact that a large portion of people watch it on stream. Why bother with the streaming then, if they don't care that those people will watch it? Why even advertise that it will be streamed?

For Stormblood's festivals they actually charged people to watch it, and still did Japan's show like they're planning to do this one. It was, to put it nicely, a very bad secondary show; two people having a chat while ignoring half of what was being said on stage. If I remember correctly, they basically just waited for the slides to come up, and read them out loud.

Streaming is a moot point. They know they have a streaming audience watching, and should cater to it. Money doesn't seem to be a factor either. We get the same show regardless.

Your argument of "interrupting the flow" is moot as well. All they need to do is plan a little more time for the translations. Which they'd do anyway for two of the shows. They can fit in as little or as much information as they want to. Translations are not what cut the NA/EU shows short. They were cut short because that's all the information they wanted to give.

The simple fact is they have a large Japanese-speaking audience, and a large English-speaking audience. They provide Japanese at all three shows; English only two. Yes, there are other languages tossed in the mix, but they should at least cater to the largest two. This is the last show, where the "meat" is shown and talked about. The translation shouldn't be a separate show, or side act. We shouldn't have to open discord or reddit to get translations on the fly. SE should handle it in the main show.

[kikix12]

Please. That's like saying they are completely oblivious to the fact that a large portion of people watch it on stream. Why bother with the streaming then, if they don't care that those people will watch it? Why even advertise that it will be streamed?

As I said above, what makes you think it's streamed "for you"?! The venue is limited in size. There are countless Japanese that would be interested in seeing it but can't be there physically. So these Japanese will be able to watch the stream. And since they have no reason whatsoever to limit it to ONLY Japanese, anyone around the world can watch it too.

You're saying that it's like they're oblivious to the stream watchers, but they're not. They're also not oblivious to all the fan translations done during the event.

Your argument of "interrupting the flow" is moot as well. All they need to do is plan a little more time for the translations.

Over twice as long is a "little more time"?! I think your understanding of what "little" is is rather horrible.

Which they'd do anyway for two of the shows. They can fit in as little or as much information as they want to. Translations are not what cut the NA/EU shows short. They were cut short because that's all the information they wanted to give.

You clearly have no idea about planning. That's all the information they planned to give because they planned for translation so they limited the information to give out for the shows to accommodate it. They still have the same amount of information to give over the three shows. If they cannot offer more in NA and EU Fan Fests due to translation, they need to fit more into the Japanese one. If they had to cut it short for translations as well, they would be unable to reveal all the information that's out there and players would complain "Where is x! Why didn't you talk about y!".

The simple fact is they have a large Japanese-speaking audience, and a large English-speaking audience. They provide Japanese at all three shows; English only two. Yes, there are other languages tossed in the mix, but they should at least cater to the largest two.

Why not largest three?! Four?!

They provide Japanese on all three because...this is a secret so don't spread it too much...the development team is mainly Japanese and doesn't know English. What a surprise, right?! Don't snitch on me telling you though!

Seriously though, you're mistaking a necessity with a business decision. It's not possible for a largely non-English speaking team to provide information in English without first providing it in whatever language they speak. And that just happens to be Japanese. If the developers spoke only Korean that would be the language they use. Simple as that.

Not impossible for people fluent in both languages.

Japanese is a lot more complex language than most other. That's why translating anime, manga or games from Japanese to English can take so long. It's very easy to make translation errors, even in speech. Then there's the different construction of their phrases which is always a problem with translating on the fly between two disconnected languages.

It is possible to translate on the fly, yes...like every language...but it is difficult to do it both fast and accurately.

[Anselmet]

Japanese is a lot more complex language than most other. That's why translating anime, manga or games from Japanese to English can take so long. It's very easy to make translation errors, even in speech. Then there's the different construction of their phrases which is always a problem with translating on the fly between two disconnected languages.

It is possible to translate on the fly, yes...like every language...but it is difficult to do it both fast and accurately.

An actually trained translator sole job is to do translations on the fly you know that, right? Have you ever listened in on the UN or the EU? A trained professional translator can translate as a person speaks and usually only has a topic sheet. If a translator can translate a politicians tirade in the EU, I am more than certain that they can for a fanfest MMO that can feasibly give them material that can prep them on what they will be revealing. It would not be difficult for a professionally trained translator even if it is Japanese. The live stream should have this option. I can understand if the event does not have it, but there is really no reason that the livestream does not have this feature.