With SoA, What Direction Should FFXI Take?

[Ophannus]

I like how they inlcuded 1337 5p34k in that TOAU mission. I wonder what that was in the JP version. I don't read JP but I can almost guarantee that the NA localization team does a better artistic job than the original japanese translation i.e all the accents/speech impediments/rhyme schemes that NPCs have. Just noticed the other day "All proceeds go towards the Kupalikan United Preservationists Overseeing History and Orthography (KUPO-HO)".

[Odin'sLaw]

I like how they inlcuded 1337 5p34k in that TOAU mission. I wonder what that was in the JP version. I don't read JP but I can almost guarantee that the NA localization team does a better artistic job than the original japanese translation i.e all the accents/speech impediments/rhyme schemes that NPCs have. Just noticed the other day "All proceeds go towards the Kupalikan United Preservationists Overseeing History and Orthography (KUPO-HO)".

as much as i hate him/it, the hume male dancer in WoTG had the best accent seen to date (and lisp or was that to show campness wasn't to sure)

[Ophannus]

Yeah although that NPC wasn't the first to have a lisp, the Mamma Mia quest NPC for Evoker Ring had a similar accent. But yeah the translator must be extremely witty and very well read in Victorian and middle english/high english literature to be able to make these NPCs speak so eloquently and use such archaic words.

[ronin sparthos]

I like how they inlcuded 1337 5p34k in that TOAU mission. I wonder what that was in the JP version. I don't read JP but I can almost guarantee that the NA localization team does a better artistic job than the original japanese translation i.e all the accents/speech impediments/rhyme schemes that NPCs have. Just noticed the other day "All proceeds go towards the Kupalikan United Preservationists Overseeing History and Orthography (KUPO-HO)".

I may bitch about the devs all the time and their confusing/moronic way of going about things but the localization team? Amazing bunch of people along with the sound team.

[Spira]

i agree. the XI localization team does great work. i do feel that they overdid it with Gramercy Cait Sith tho.. but other than that, they've been very meticulous with their accents, mannerism, style of speech and so on. And it gets better with each expansion.

[Byrthnoth]

They also have the distinction of being the only ones that respond and actually fix things as requested on the official forums. Once every week or two someone will show up, apologize for all the reported localization errors, and the next update they will be fixed. I wish the rest of the game worked like that.

[Ophannus]

⇧ Whats this symbol above my post?

Well the localization team directly interfaces with the game. The 'community team' indirectly reports our complaints and wishes to the dev team which then deem if they feel like addressing it or not. The localization team probably doesn't need authority to fix/change things since it only affects the English client version which the devs could care less about. The only thing is I wish they localized common Final Fantasy items/spells/weapons/abilities to be more consistent with previous incarnations as stated earlier in the thread
Phalanx=Wall
Inferno=Hellfire
Tutlary=Defender/Defense Sword
Earthen Fury=Gaia Wrath
Benediction=Prayer/Bless
Elemental Seal=Focus
Sharpshot=Aim
Libra=Scan
Tidal Wave=Tsunami
Spirit Surge=Lancet
Souleater=Darkness
Sanus Ensis=Crystal Sword
Muramaseru=Muramasa
I know the new translations are more 'complete' and more interesting than the original staple names but I miss the staple names and translations.

Most heartbreaking translation for me was that originally Kaustra was supposed to be "Merton" because in the video where they first demonstrated it, it was called Merton. (Merton was a staple spell in past FF games, the word Merton is actually a bastardized engrish translation of Meltdown which dealt heavy fire/non-elemental damage and reduced defense)

[Odin'sLaw]

oddly enough i was reading the latest NEO magazine today and there was an article about how often Engrish is used in everyday slogans (as racist as it is the Japanese public actually care little if there stores are called fuck your son) so it doesn't shock me how often we get weird localizations from time to time

[Septimus]

lol didn't know which topic to place this and didnt wanna start one for no good reason.

i've been looking at this image


and i'm hoping somehow that the arciela.. refers to some legendary map making NPC or something.. as sort of the devs recognition of me as a player and a member of the community. (ps: i author all my charts/maps as Arciel Spira). hurhur egoist.

which might be a direction that i'd like to see more of in SoA.. a celebration of the community, be it in the form of recognition for players through silent nods or light references, FFXI memes (subligars, blurple, domaru and the like) or something that encourages the community to bond more.. even forum contests help
it might be a bit much to expect for XI, tho I do expect to see a paradigm shift in the way its run now that Tanaka is out, but community belonging is something that I felt was both a strong and weak point for the game in various ways.

for the record, it isn't like SE hasn't referenced an actual player before. I don't think Avesta Bangles being usable by RDM, and actually being the most useful for that job, would happen to be pure coincidence. It isn't enough to outright say it, but also a little much to simply dismiss it. And that's really nice, imo.

I wonder if they do that already, just covertly. I sometimes wonder if S-E was trolling me during Abyssea, in each update there was either an item or an NM that was a reference to one of my mules. Visions had Yhel Jacket and Quetzalli, Scars had Amun, Heroes had Bennu. I and not saying that it is not coincidence since my mules are all named after various gods (although, Amun doesn't make any sense as a hecteye; a bird, a beetle, or a buffalo would fit the mythology), but it is still highly freaky to have 4 of your 6 active mule names wind up in the game over the course of a few months.

And don't even get me started on these:
http://cdn.bluegartr.com/wiki/5/57/S...em_Example.png

[Spira]

I know the new translations are more 'complete' and more interesting than the original staple names but I miss the staple names and translations.

the flavor of life, imo. it'll never be perfect and there will always be discrepancies. the familiarity would be nice, but at the same time its a different game altogether, so they don't have a real reason to keep it the same other than for continuity/nostalgia.

thankfully, we don't always have to worry over the variations of names, because there are places that document this already (ffwiki).

I personally like some of the newer names they give. Like Kaustra does sound cooler and more SCH-like than Merton. I'm fine when the localization team decides to add more flavor by giving it a more apt localized name. What i don't like is when they do a shoddy job and miss a reference, or when they do it just to avoid a taboo and the name itself loses a bit of its flavor/style. Eg FFX Longinus -> Spirit Lance.

I wonder if they do that already, just covertly. I sometimes wonder if S-E was trolling me during Abyssea, in each update there was either an item or an NM that was a reference to one of my mules. Visions had Yhel Jacket and Quetzalli, Scars had Amun, Heroes had Bennu. I and not saying that it is not coincidence since my mules are all named after various gods (although, Amun doesn't make any sense as a hecteye; a bird, a beetle, or a buffalo would fit the mythology), but it is still highly freaky to have 4 of your 6 active mule names wind up in the game over the course of a few months.

And don't even get me started on these:
http://cdn.bluegartr.com/wiki/5/57/S...em_Example.png

hahahaha. you never know. I think some of the mytho gods are pure coincidence but it could be a silent nod at you somehow.
Where is Yhel from btw? I know the rest of them but not that one.

[Ophannus]

After 2002 it seems SE has eased up on the taboo nature of shit. They're starting to use "kill" "die" more than "destroy" and "defeat" these days and in the new FF5/6 remakes they brought back Longinus/Heaven's Cloud. I wonder if the FFXI "Holy Lance" is Longinus, hoping it's not because it would be an awesome weapon to add for the new line of legendary weapons in the new expansion(DUBBING THEM FABLE WEAPONS). FFXI is somewhere in between. They use words like "Damn" and "kill" and there's a good amount of violence but they still Disney up some terms like Hell Fire, the quintessential Ifrit ability is "Inferno" instead. Yet there are other mentions of Hell in mob names/ability moves and items.

Also I like when they introduce mobs/items that resemble my character names. Back when I was Seraphus, they came out with
http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__...eraphsKiss.PNG

And when I changed to Ophannus they came out with:

http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__...1d/Ophanim.png

Seraphs(Seraphim) and Ophans(Ophanim) are the #1 and #2 highest order of angels in lore, so when I switched servers I changed to Ophannus(from Seraphus). I added the extra n because it wouldn't let me name my character Ophanus because of the bolded.

[Priran]

Playing FFXIV really makes you appreciate FFXI's localization team. FFXIV's script comes off like the localization team got paid by the swear/innuendo. True story, I made a female character and talked to a female (tarutaru) bartender in the main mission hub of the game and she just starts talking to me about the joys of anonymous sex. Like, GALS LIKE US KNOW A THING OR TWO ABOUT DICKS EH? Really fucking awkward, out of place, forced-edginess.

Foul language has its place. You go to Norg, people will be rude dicks to you because they're pirates. But every NPC in the game talks like this. It's like the FFXIV localization team is a bunch of 15 year old shut-ins they scouted from fanfiction.net who think people talk this way.

Also, I don't mind them reusing names from old FFs when those names are actually cool and not some gobbledygook mistranslation, garbled to fit size restrictions for names, or just bland and generic. Merton is a stupid name and I'm glad they changed it, I hate it when JRPGs are slaves to reusing names from older games in the series (see: tales, DQ, etc).

[Spira]

maybe eorzea itself is just a really uncultured backwater region lol.
i felt it too
LL = rude with pirate speak that hurts your eyes
Uldah = rude businessmen who will readily cut your throats for money
Gridania = peace loving people but if you offend their forest they will fuck you up rude.

im guessing the world is generally more hostile.. maybe their trying to for a more 'mature' language style.. but its very forced. and very inconsistent i think..
XI really has all its racial/cultural/regional differences/idiosyncrasies sorted out really well.

curious to know what the people in Ulbuka will be like

[Chamaan]

My favorite part of FFXIV is the Galka blacksmith in Limsa Lominsa with the Mithra assistant, and she's all "MAN HE'S SO GOOD AT POUNDING THE METAL WITH THAT BIG HAMMER, I WISH HE'D POUND ME WITH HIS HAMMER, THE HAMMER IS HIS DICK". That was back in beta, I dunno if she still says that.

Also on the topic of player references, one word: Chamama

[arus2001]

...seriously at that mithra one? Makes me wonder if the translators just knew early XIV was shit and phoned it in.

[Septimus]

hahahaha. you never know. I think some of the mytho gods are pure coincidence but it could be a silent nod at you somehow.
Where is Yhel from btw? I know the rest of them but not that one.

Yehl is the Tlingit name for Raven. And I wouldn't say "nod", I would say "bemused trolling."

[Odin'sLaw]

i find 14 to be more abrupt compared to 11 but a lot of the npc's that use foul language are normally the crafters type npc's (laborers are known for bad language since its nicknamed "workmen's language") maybe i'm the minority but i'm happy we don't have dbz syndrome up in 14 guy gets his arms sliced off screaming "Darrrrrnnnnn!!!!!"

[Priran]

Except that's a strawman because FFXI dialogue uses swear words and innuendo a lot, when it makes sense and is called for. In FFXIV you talk to a random NPC on the street you've never talked to before and they're like WHAT THE FUCK IS UP? YOU POUND ANY PUSSY LATELY? It's fucking horrible.

[Draylo]

lol'd at the ffxiv dialogue. I actually enjoyed the thing they had going with Cait Sith's dialogue.

[Tarage]

lol'd at the ffxiv dialogue. I actually enjoyed the thing they had going with Cait Sith's dialogue.

The moment I realized that Caitsith talks like Mordin from Mass Effect was the moment I started screaming.