This frequency of English localization issues is unacceptable

[Necrotica]

I'd also definitely like some kind of source on the idea that Ishikawa was under the impression that translation was a 1:1 thing, because as far back as 2018 there's an interview with her and one of the localizers on the team where the localizer specifically points out that he sits close to her in the same office and they're constantly revising and going back and forth between each other as the scripts are being written, and if there's any confusion at all they go directly to the scenario team for information. They even pointed out that absolutely everything is sent to Yoshi-P for direct review before it's allowed to go out.

Even if it's no longer the case that she literally sits in the same office as them, I'd be absolutely shocked if Ishikawa somehow forgot the process in the years between then and now, or if the localization team just lied about it in a public interview.

Is Yoshi given a direct translation of the changes? Or is it localized back to him?

[KariTheFox]

Is Yoshi given a direct translation of the changes? Or is it localized back to him?

There is no such thing as a "direct translation" in the first place. You are always going to lose some meaning and cultural context when translating. And translators will have to make choices about how to construct the localized text. You're always working with a compromised text when dealing with a localization. There are always many ways to translate something between languages, and they're going to be both right and wrong in some ways, no matter what.

Do I agree with all the choices the localization team makes? No, I actually dislike a lot about the localization.
I would have made different choices personally. But I'm not a professional localizer, working in the context of a commerical product with a top down decision to have every character speak in a certain stylized kind of way.

[GrizzlyTank]

Could you not witch-hunt the translators over petty details.

[Rulakir]

It's a death by a thousand cuts situation when every piece of dialog is treated this way. I haven't even been posting every example I've come across due to the frequency in which it occurs.

Regardless, I have to wonder whose interest it's in to not get the story presented accurately? Also, like I said, this goes back to ShB missing what I'd consider crucial context, but EW is so exponentially worse I don't consider it an issue that can be ignored anymore.

[Ransu]

It's a death by a thousand cuts situation when every piece of dialog is treated this way. I haven't even been posting every example I've come across due to the frequency in which it occurs.

Regardless, I have to wonder whose interest it's in to not get the story presented accurately? Also, like I said, this goes back to ShB missing what I'd consider crucial context, but EW is so exponentially worse I don't consider it an issue that can be ignored anymore.

The story is presented accurately. I've played through all the expansions in both English and Japanese. The differences in context are not even remotely as extreme as you want to pretend they are. You're just taking this weird narrative of "Japan is original so any changes are blasphemy" when reality is the script is written in conjunction with each other. Its not written in JP and then translated, its specifically written in both languages at the same time and the nuances between them are adjusted. They have been open about this process in the past and its perfectly fine how they go about it.

[Graeham]

I agree. Real racism is against the Garlemald people.

Look I have read the official story for Endwalker from the lackluster story writers guild so I know. Garlemald wins, the Loporrit dies and the God Hydelyn is defeated by the God Meteo. The problem is in translation. Let me give you an example:

世の中はどれも、泥のような……
退屈で……醜く……くだらないものだ……。
だが……時折……こうして火が……
愉しみがもたらされる……。
まったく……憎いものよ……。
お前は、どうだった……
この世界に生み落とされ、名を与えられ、生きてきて……。
歩いてきて……何を思った……。
存分に、愉しかったか……？
……俺は…………

Like everyone else in the thread I do not speak any Japanese at all. But I found a trick and can use the translator:

Everything in the world is like mud... It's boring... Ugly...... It's bad... But...... Sometimes...... And so the fire is... Bringing pleasure.... Exactly...... I hate it... How were you... I have been born into this world, given a name, and have lived... Walking in... What did you think.... Was it fun to the fullest...?...... As for me............

It is confusing and does not make sense. This is terrible! I went to the feedback section and I found the problem. Every other language has a section called Localization. But Japanese forum does not. So they do not have place that they can be told about errors in story translation from official German version to Japanese. This is why they do not know the real story. I am sad about this.

We must write a letter and explain that the story is wrong so we can fix it to the one where Garlemald and Ascians win. I like the god Meteo as well from Abeyond's story so they should win as well. If you give me more quote of the story in Japanese I can use the translator to find the errors so we can make official petition about it.

[aveyond-dreams]

You don't have to be a chef to know when a dish isn't cooked properly, and you don't have to be a localizer to know that something is clearly amiss here.

[Lhanu]

You don't have to be a chef to know when a dish isn't cooked properly, and you don't have to be a localizer to know that something is clearly amiss here.

A (from Yoshi-P): I also consulted with Natsuko Ishikawa to came up with an answer that makes sense when we explain it. As Y’shtola explained it, the ancients being so dense with aether could not have controlled dynamis to stop things at its source. The other ancients that thought okay we’ll summon Zodiark and that’ll be our solution.. but she saw that and determined the actions would be unable to change as a people and we will always be our own undoing. If you look at the dungeon, the Dead Ends, that final boss is our vision for what probably would have happened to the ancients if they just continued as they were. For that reason, she chose to sunder the star to dilute their aether so they might be able to use dynamis and stop the final days at the source. As she herself says, this isn’t really a simple matter of good and evil, and she agonized on if her decision was correct.

I think everyone has their own feelings about Venat, and we want to convey that Hydaelyn isn’t a bad guy, but… it’s this decision she made to split everyone into 14 parts so they can use dynamis. This decision makes me think, she was definitely an ancient huh?

Y'all really be just inventing Yoshi P's opinions on the story for him to cope with the Ascians not being correct.

[Exposure]

You don't have to be a chef to know when a dish isn't cooked properly, and you don't have to be a localizer to know that something is clearly amiss here.

Like, I don't get it, a root of this particular argument as far as I can get is over the depictions of particular characters in Endwalker and how they obviously differ from the original intent, but to use a live letter that had an entire section to Q&As about it:

Q: Venat had good intentions and her plan worked in the end. Was sundering the star really the only way to save it?

[snip for word count but Lhanu happen to quote the first part of it]
At the end of 5.0, we find out that Emet-Selch this whole time has been making decisions about how humanity were imperfect creatures but at the end he gives you a chance and re-evaluates his judgement. Hermes is also concerned with this to the degree that he erases his own memories so he can re-evaluate humanity. He’s really concerned with fairness and humanities worth. Venat herself never talks about herself in this lofty way that she’s making a judgement on mankind, but when we see her in that cutscene and holding that sword, that really is a very ancient moment that shows you how different the wholeness of the ancients were. Normally we wouldn’t be able to make such a decision for all of mankind so I think she really was one of them.

Emet-Selch is very popular, but I agree with Alphinaud when talking about judging people “what right does he have to do that?” and that might be true with Venat as well. If you go back and look at the different parts and the side quests with the ancients you might find it interesting.

you got that general sentiment of "She's not a bad person but she was also still an Ancient with all the flaws that came with it" which is pretty clear throughout the English localization, the game just doesn't go "see she was secretly evil against you the whole time", which would fit with the localization also generally being sympathetic towards Emet and Hermes?

I mean I got kinda baffled reading some of the earlier posts saying how nearly nobody on the English side likes the Ancients/Ascian characters and how they're unfairly maligned because man that is not my experience at all with the more active FFXIV places on the internet.

[aveyond-dreams]

I can't say that his opinions factor into my own view of the story given that apparently Hythlodaeus is somehow scary to him and this "she was definitely an ancient huh?" line. It has severely reduced my confidence in their storytelling going forward combined with the localization issues that have already been discussed at length.