This frequency of English localization issues is unacceptable

[KageTokage]

Nice to see the usual story is bad mmmkay cultists are active, keep up the good work guys!

Not that anything will change because thank our lady and saviour hydaelyn the devs don't read a single word of what you say.

It's ironic how you tend to see far more white knights ragging on people for disliking elements of the story then the opposite.

Nobody expects what was already written to change, but they can at least retroactively clarify points and add more context/details to make what did happen more satisfying. Yoshi even explicitly stated they would "adjust the narrative based on reception" so I'd like to think that goes both ways.

The Omega quest actually addressed multiple grievances I've seen echoed, such as the MSQ initially suggesting that the people who succumbed to the transformations during the Final Days were simply weak of will/heart in a very "natural selection" sort of manner, then walked back on it by going into how immensely complicated the heart/emotions are and that even those in nearly identical circumstances had survivors and victims alike for reasons that really cannot be pinned on one specific cause.

Though the best thing it did was encouraging the player think about then inject their own opinion on who among the three pivotal Ancients they thought were properly justified in their actions.

It spun nuance into elements that felt very black and white with how they presented in the MSQ.

[hagare]

still going huh.
Time to bring out the big guns

[Fayt1203]

still going huh.
Time to bring out the big guns

Not good eating popcorn but i will join you if there is a room on the couch

[Tsukino]

The English version of FFXIV has always been terrible. They screw up almost every reference to another FF thing, they're the only team that butchered the spell names across the board, and all the random NPC chatter comes off as them wishing they were writing for Game of Thrones instead of translating a Final Fantasy game.

I haven't played FFXI for many years now, but every time I switched between English and Japanese clients I ended up impressed by some decision the English localization team had made that I never would have thought of. Every time I switch in XIV (or just hear the difference in voiced lines) I end up disappointed.

[Ivtrix]

this is what happens when you take koji fox and put him on FF16

[Reap00]

A recent topic that has sprung up regarding discussion of the writing is that certain things have been getting lost in translation, and even slight dialogue changes have been making huge differences in context.

Originally I figured this was an issue for every language, but cross references of similar scenes across all of the languages have found that English is usually the only one that's saying something different. One key example I can bring up off the top of my head is dialogue from 5.4 in which Y'shtola discusses Zodiark.
In French:

Here (thanks Teraq for the translation) she says; "Emet-Selch entrusted us with the future of this world, thus it falls to us to make sure Zodiark is not used for nefarious ends. After all, he was created to stop the Final Days..."
In Japanese (I use JP audio) what she said is much the same from what I can tell. I'm not yet fluent so maybe the egg is about to be on my face
However, in English...

...yeah. Completely different.

Another example, Y'shtola again, in Thavnair:


In French:

"Hydaelyn, or rather Venat, could perhaps help us out. After all, she was there when Zodiark was summoned to fight against the Final Days. She was also the one who kept him alive to protect us."
Once again, completely different. This is far more egregious than changing Haurchefant to be less horny, these minor differences completely change what's being said and change the story by consequence.

I understand that localization isn't just purely translating, I know it has to be made to sound good in the language it's being translated to, but localizers should NOT be taking creative liberties! There's absolutely no reason why EN players should be reading an entirely different story than everyone else, and it's really frustrating because it kneecaps discussion between people on different language clients until they figure out that they're being confused by a bad translation.

The game is in a very good spot when this is all people have to nip pick about on the front page. Carry on.

[Tsukino]

The game is in a very good spot when this is all people have to nip pick about on the front page. Carry on.

You really shouldn't pick nips, that sounds painful.

[Raoabolic]

Localizing is better than translating. There are always nuances in text that can't translate that well, resulting in missing so much of the original meaning that even the best translations can't truly be accurate. At that point, giving something its own meaning is better.

Mr. Kirkland was wondering where you were when Working Designs went under. They needed more people like you. :^)

[UNDEAD10000]

English localization have been terrible since 2.0 and it seems to get worse every expansion.

Localizing is better than translating. There are always nuances in text that can't translate that well, resulting in missing so much of the original meaning that even the best translations can't truly be accurate. At that point, giving something its own meaning is better.

Actually it's the localization that cause missing so much of the original meaning of the games story, just like in FFXIV when i use English text with Japanse voice i keep getting feeling that i'm missing like 50% of main story when many times the Enligh text make no sense on what actually is happening in main story cutscenes.

[Deveryn]

Seems like a lot of stress could be avoided by only consuming the content in one language. That people do this to themselves is extraordinary. I look at this thread and I look at the new tribal story and I laugh even more.