Translation quality

[Takfloyd]

While I enjoy the localization for the most part and particularly the quality of the writing, some changes in the English translation are really contentious and make absolutely no sense.

For example, one pivotal character was changed from female to male in English, without changing the model, leading to a bunch of nonsensical mumbo jumbo being inserted to explain this obvious discrepancy. This was probably due to a misconception ny the translation team because Japanese doesn't always use gender pronouns, but they should have solved it in a better way. Even something as simple as "she was hiding her gender".

[Illya]

While I enjoy the localization for the most part and particularly the quality of the writing, some changes in the English translation are really contentious and make absolutely no sense.

For example, one pivotal character was changed from female to male in English, without changing the model, leading to a bunch of nonsensical mumbo jumbo being inserted to explain this obvious discrepancy. This was probably due to a misconception ny the translation team because Japanese doesn't always use gender pronouns, but they should have solved it in a better way. Even something as simple as "she was hiding her gender".

Regarding this specific case, the character was never referred to with a specific gender in the JP script. The EN team assumed the character was male, the JP team never apparently clarified since the character in question always wore a helmet that covered their face. So when the face was suddenly shown, they had to scramble to cover their new problem. I guess the decision was made not to retcon her gender but instead try to explain it away. Too bad the explanation was mostly nonsensical, they might as well have just retconned it and saved themselves a lot of trouble.

[Spellbinder]

Regarding this specific case, the character was never referred to with a specific gender in the JP script. The EN team assumed the character was male, the JP team never apparently clarified since the character in question always wore a helmet that covered their face.

At least one reference has been noted from Version 1.0.
ネールはやっぱり男だった (Nael Was a Man After All)
http://jp.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodest.../blog/1441865/

Nael Van Darnus (not Nael Deus Darnus) being referred to as a man in the dialogue. Apparently the Japanese description for him on the lodestone referred to him as a man as well.

[Illya]

At least one reference has been noted from Version 1.0.
ネールはやっぱり男だった (Nael Was a Man After All)
http://jp.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodest.../blog/1441865/

Nael Van Darnus (not Nael Deus Darnus) being referred to as a man in the dialogue. Apparently the Japanese description for him on the lodestone referred to him as a man as well.

Interesting if true. I wonder why they decided to change Nael from male to female, at least the Deus version. Seems like a pointless change to make and it made a mess of the English version of Nael's dialogue in a certain cutscene.

Remember a localization is not a translation..

When localization changes the meaning of the original script or leaves out details entirely, it's no longer a localization. It's a butchery. The point of localization is to modify translated scripts to match local culture and language. It's not to completely change the meaning of statements or events, or even leave things entirely out.

[Aldora]

Interesting if true. I wonder why they decided to change Nael from male to female, at least the Deus version. Seems like a pointless change to make and it made a mess of the English version of Nael's dialogue in a certain cutscene.

Since the explanation contains spoilers, i’ve enclosed in the spoiler tags below.

After defeating The White Raven (Nael van Darnus) on the Rivenroad (back in 1.x), his essence was absorbed by Bahamut, creating a new being.

This new being took the form of Nael deus Darnus, which consisted of the essence of both Nael van Darnus as well as Bahamut. Nael van Darnus is Male, however Bahamut is portrayed as a female. Since the essence of those two merged into 1 being, Nael deus Darnus looks female, but still talks like the male version Nael van Darnus.

[Takfloyd]

snip

snip

No, that's the English version of it, pay attention. It's the exact mess of a translation we talked about.

The character makes it completely clear she was always a female in the Japanese version, referring to when she was a little girl. She may very well have been supposed to be a man originally though, and changed to female later because in Japanese, it didn't cause any major conflicts.

[Spellbinder]

No, that's the English version of it, pay attention. It's the exact mess of a translation we talked about.

The character makes it completely clear she was always a female in the Japanese version, referring to when she was a little girl. She may very well have been supposed to be a man originally though, and changed to female later because in Japanese, it didn't cause any major conflicts.

Source? Another poster claims Nael Van Darnus doesn't mention gender at all in the JP. Or are you referring to Nael Deus Darnus? I've seen my fair share of JP posts saying "what!? but I thought Nael was a dude!"

[Aldora]

No, that's the English version of it, pay attention.

No need to be snarky, sir. Illya was curious why “Nael” changed from a male to a female and we replied with the knowledge we obtained from Coil. This information happened to come from the English version, which in essence should be the similar, if not the same.

Since not everyone can read Japanese, would you be so kind to point out where in the Japanese text it was stated that “Nael” was a female from the start, as you mentioned within your previous comments?

While I enjoy the localization for the most part and particularly the quality of the writing, some changes in the English translation are really contentious and make absolutely no sense.

For example, one pivotal character was changed from female to male in English, without changing the model, leading to a bunch of nonsensical mumbo jumbo being inserted to explain this obvious discrepancy. This was probably due to a misconception ny the translation team because Japanese doesn't always use gender pronouns, but they should have solved it in a better way. Even something as simple as "she was hiding her gender".

The character makes it completely clear she was always a female in the Japanese version, referring to when she was a little girl. She may very well have been supposed to be a man originally though, and changed to female later because in Japanese, it didn't cause any major conflicts.

Were you referring to the information gathered from Coil where the person in question was Nael deus Darnus? Or were you referring to way back in 1.x, where the person in question was called “Nael van Darnus”?

The reason why i ask, is that based on the character profile pages, Nael van Darnus was apparently portrayed as a male in the Japanese text as well.

At least one reference has been noted from Version 1.0.
ネールはやっぱり男だった (Nael Was a Man After All)
http://jp.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodest.../blog/1441865/

Nael Van Darnus (not Nael Deus Darnus) being referred to as a man in the dialogue. Apparently the Japanese description for him on the lodestone referred to him as a man as well.

Spellbinder was probably referring to this page: Key Characters from the Garlean Empire

Nael van Darnus also had the posture, idle pose and emotes of a male Elezen. As you can see here:

Rivenroad Cutscenes (Contains Spoilers)
Nael van Darnus Emotes

[kyuven]

When localization changes the meaning of the original script or leaves out details entirely, it's no longer a localization. It's a butchery. The point of localization is to modify translated scripts to match local culture and language. It's not to completely change the meaning of statements or events, or even leave things entirely out.

This...isn't always true.
Since localization often happens after a work is finished, those in charge of the process often have the whole work to work with rather than numerous in-progress scripts and the like.
Thus, often plotholes can actually be FIXED by a localization rather than broken.
An interesting example is in GoLion/Voltron. In an early episode, the character Sven is killed off, only to have his identical twin brother show up later and save the day.
This was, obviously, quite a groaner plot twist.
In the American localization? He didn't die, and rather than his inexplicable twin brother showing up, his injuries just healed.
And that's before you get into issues where the original plot is just plain wrong about something, such a character who grew up in New York City inexplicably being a cowboy with a ranch.
In New York city.
It happens!

[Illya]

This...isn't always true.
Since localization often happens after a work is finished, those in charge of the process often have the whole work to work with rather than numerous in-progress scripts and the like.
Thus, often plotholes can actually be FIXED by a localization rather than broken.
An interesting example is in GoLion/Voltron. In an early episode, the character Sven is killed off, only to have his identical twin brother show up later and save the day.
This was, obviously, quite a groaner plot twist.
In the American localization? He didn't die, and rather than his inexplicable twin brother showing up, his injuries just healed.
And that's before you get into issues where the original plot is just plain wrong about something, such a character who grew up in New York City inexplicably being a cowboy with a ranch.
In New York city.
It happens!

The story of FFXIV is a work in progress, so while your example is an interesting one, it doesn't apply to FFXIV's story in particular.

Eorzea is a fictional world, so your example about New York also doesn't apply to FFXIV.