Regarding the Localization of Haurchefant in the EN/FR/DE Versions of FFXIV

[Kage]

Regarding the Localization of Haurchefant in the EN/FR/DE Versions of FFXIV

 

Hey guys,

 

Recently, in a Letter from the Producer LIVE held in Korea and in a Famitsu interview, Yoshi-P discussed changes made to the characterization of Haurchefant, an NPC who first appeared in 2.0 and rose to a prominent role in the main scenario.

 

The reason this topic came up is because, in the Korean version of FFXIV, the two voiced cutscenes in patch 2.3's main scenario which feature Haurchefant were based on the EN/FR/DE versions of these cutscenes. Yoshi-P goes on to explain that these cutscenes were altered to account for changes made to Haurchefant's characterization by the LOC team in 2.0. In the Famitsu interview, he further clarifies that these changes were made due to LOC team concerns that Haurchefant's behavior might be interpreted as problematic.

 

However, these changes to Haurchefant's characterization were made without consulting the relevant parties, and as a result, the JP and EN/FR/DE player bases came to perceive Haurchefant differently, culminating with these significantly different cutscenes in patch 2.3.

 

When videos illustrating the differences between the JP and the EN/FR/DE cutscenes were posted online, some fans spoke out in protest. After internal discussion, it was decided that efforts would be made by the EN, FR, and DE LOC teams to bring Haurchefant's characterization gradually closer to that of the JP Haurchefant over the course of future updates. Moreover, the development team enacted a new policy that all cutscenes would be fundamentally the same, so that users across all regions would have more similar experiences.

 

---

 

How did this all happen, you ask? Well, it all goes back to one of those 300 hour months in the summer of 2013, when the FFXIV LOC team was hard at work in the Tokyo office with the rest of the devs, working late nights and weekends to make A Realm Reborn a title worthy of the FINAL FANTASY legacy. These long hours were necessary not only because of the massive amount of content we were pushed live with 2.0, but because each language team is passionate about producing a high-quality localization that immerses the player in the world of Eorzea.

 

To achieve this goal, we decided years ago, during the development of 1.0 (with the blessing of the director), that simple, literal translations would not be sufficient. We would have to look beyond the words and carefully consider the intentions of the JP writers, as well as give thought to how the experience would be received by people with different cultural backgrounds. While this can be an extraordinarily difficult process, it is one which is possible because the Square Enix Localization Department seeks out translators who demonstrate not only a strong grasp of the Japanese language, but sufficient creative writing ability in the target language as well. These individuals are expected to work side by side with the development teams here in Tokyo as they transform the JP source into flowing, natural text in the target language, while taking care to ensure that players in all regions will have comparable emotional experiences.

 

For that reason, when I was working on the Coerthas questline for 2.0, I had a dilemma. Haurchefant is intended to be received as a good and true ally, but some of his comments directed at the player could, if rendered in EN as it was written in JP, provoke a strong negative reaction for some players (this wasn't so much of a concern for the JP, as his characterization played to a certain arch type which exists in Japanese media of a loveable debauchee). I discussed this concern with the FR and DE translators in charge of the same quest line, and we all concluded that, to ensure that our players regarded Haurchefant as positively as the JP player base was intended to, we should tone down these potentially problematic statements.

 

However, as Yoshi-P stated, these decisions were made without consulting with the relevant parties, which resulted in a growing discrepancy that would culminate with patch 2.3's cutscenes.

 

As the individual who pushed for these changes, I would like to sincerely apologize to our fans, as well as Yoshi-P and our scenario team. It was never my intention to deprive our players of a memorable character or elaborate cutscenes, and to this day I deeply regret how I handled this situation.

 

---

 

Over the months since, we have taken many measures to ensure that similar problems do not arise in the future, and I am proud to say that the LOC team works more closely with the scenario and cutscene teams than ever before.

 

For our quests, we pore over plot outlines and character profiles as they become available, even if the quest text itself is not to be written for months or more (oh, the things I could tell you about 3.2 and 3.3...). We share our thoughts with our scenario team counterparts, raising concerns and working through problematic issues together. If we strongly believe that a significant deviation is warranted, we consult with the team leads beforehand, and then we do our utmost to minimize the complications.

 

For our cutscenes, we consult with the cutscene team in the early stages, when the blocking and animations for key scenes are still being worked out. This is especially important for voiced content, since we usually record lines well in advance with only stage directions and story boards (just the other day I was sitting with the cutscene team for several hours as they discussed the elaborate custom animations that would be required for 3.2 main scenario and a certain...well, you'll just have to look forward to it!). We check the cutscenes at various stages of their development to ensure that there are no problematic animations or contradictions with our voice files, and should we discover any, we negotiate with the cutscene and scenario teams to find a solution that satisfies everyone.

 

Can we do more? Absolutely. FFXIV wouldn't be the game it is today if we were the type to settle for "good enough." Everyone who works on this project knows full well that we must always strive to be better than we were. And so we do, each and every day.

 

I don't expect everyone to agree with our decisions. Quite frankly, I am glad to see so many fans willing to voice their opinions, because it shows how invested you are in our story─that you care as much as we do. However, I do hope that everyone understands that these decisions are not made lightly─that we carefully consider the consequences of our actions. And when we do make controversial choices─for FFXIV, FFXV, or any of our other games─I hope you will all bear in mind that we do so in service to the Square Enix philosophy: to create incredible, moving, unforgettable stories that can be shared with our fans throughout the world.

 

Finally, I'd just like to say that, as someone who has had the honor and the privilege to write Haurchefant for the past several years, from his first to his final lines, it has been touching to see how so many fans have grown to love him. And though I know he will always hold a special place in many of your hearts, I hope that you all will grow to love our other characters just as much in the years ahead.

 

John Crow

FFXIV EN Lead

[Aysun]

Still love our Haurchefant.. he was a sweetie.

[Kage]

To be honest, I have to check at what the old differences was/are. I remember seeing something about it with the Heavensturn event when he was touting the wonders of horse masks but I don't remember what it really was.

 

Just not as flamboyant?

 

Anyway... there are some forum posts in the official forums thread that was made that just make me facepalm a bit

[Edda]

J-J-Japanese audio master race!

 

I always wondered about why they changed his dialogue and mannerisms so egregiously (and I always threw shit around about it too, but that is neither here nor there), so it's nice to finally have an open acknowledgement and reason. Even if it is kind of a crappy one... but I do understand. Next they're going to apologize for killing him, right?

 

I love you Haurchefant. I love you.

[Oli!]

The phrasing of this article sure does dance around the issue a lot.

 

For myself and the other uninitiated, can someone please put what they're talking about as straightforwardly as possible?

[Hyakki]

The phrasing of this article sure does dance around the issue a lot.

 

For myself and the other uninitiated, can someone please put what they're talking about as straightforwardly as possible?

 

Haurchefant was censored because it was thought he'd be seen as "too gay" for western audiences.

 

I didn't get that vibe from the JP version though, I thought he was going to backstab the WoL not become their bff.

[Kage]

Haurchefant in the Japanese version can come off as extremely perverted and creepy-harasser to the player.

 

Edit: Depends on how much of a fucking dumbass 'trigger' you have.

[Oli!]

The phrasing of this article sure does dance around the issue a lot.

 

For myself and the other uninitiated, can someone please put what they're talking about as straightforwardly as possible?

 

Haurchefant was censored because it was thought he'd be seen as "too gay" for western audiences.

 

I didn't get that vibe from the JP version though, I thought he was going to backstab the WoL not become their bff.

 

Well that's lame but I can see why they would have decided to censor it like that. At least they're aware that it was unnecessary and potentially damaging now, though.

[Valence]

Haurchefant in the Japanese version can come off as extremely perverted and creepy-harasser to the player.

 

Edit: Depends on how much of a fucking dumbass 'trigger' you have.

 

Well that's lame, it could have been really fun actually. More tri dimensional characters please. Current Haurchefant is not bad per se, but he sure feels more... tame, flat.

 

Also, I'm a bit disappointed to see that kind of decisions being made just out of fear to draw unwanted homophobia among westerner players, because that's really the only reason I can find behind.

[Kage]

There are some people who think that this type of talk borders on sexual harassment and inappropriate behavior, especially when a male is the one expressing it to females. It's not just because it might be considered gay because Haurchefant is male and your player character is male (though I believe it did play a part, I don't think homophobia is the only reason).

 

HAURCHEFANT: Oh, I was waiting for you, [PLAYER]! I had heard you would be attending this meeting, so I impatiently waited for you to arrive! Your body is beautiful as always… splendid! It has been a long time since you last visited Coerthas — do you find it cold? It is warmer in my private chambers, so if you’d like…

ALPHINAUD: That would help a lot. I’m not very good with the cold.

HAURCHEFANT: ……well, well, Ser Alphinaud. You arrived rather early……………

 

 

HAURCHEFANT: What supplies were lost to the heretics, you ask? Hmm, they were fundamentally commonplace goods chosen by House Fortemps. Clothes suited for hot weather, in which adventurers might do heavy lifting while still showing off their bulging muscles… in this area, such revealing clothing is hard to purchase. How regrettable that it was lost…

 

"Haa... Irresistible... You and my men...panting...Splendid..."

"...By the way, how about you stay for the night before you depart...?"

 

A lot of people might not have issues with this.

 

There are some who may see it as perverted, harassing, etc

[Telluride]

I would rather have flamboyant Haurchefant than "Dead because SE's writers are really bad with the concept of earned drama and are more interested in letting villains get away forever and filling in the tension with arbitrary, forced character deaths because George R R Martin is cool right now" Haurchefant.

[Caspar]

I thought he had the sound of the stereotypical "camp" characters pretty common in JP media. That never bothered me, but I wonder if people would have found it offensive.

 

Though with a female character, his dialogue doesn't change, so maybe that's not quite it.

[Dravus]

I would rather have flamboyant Haurchefant than "Dead because SE's writers are really bad with the concept of earned drama and are more interested in letting villains get away forever and filling in the tension with arbitrary, forced character deaths because George R R Martin is cool right now" Haurchefant.

 

To be fair, Haurchefant didn't really die to a villain. He died to an antagonist. A society doesn't change abruptly without major losses - if anything, they should have killed off more than just Haurchefant. Perhaps some of the Scions?

 

I don't feel as if his death was done for 'cheap drama' either. It was handled pretty tastefully. I feel like a lot of people don't want any character that they like to die and so they end up claiming that the writing is 'terrible'. Something which I feel is rather unfair. I won't pretend as if it's the best writing around but as far as MMO's go? It's definitely a lot better than what certain other games are offering up on a platter.

 

Heavensward was an immense improvement over the 2.0 stuff I felt. Plus Final Fantasy games have always been bold enough to kill off major characters.

[Valence]

Thanks for the spoilers, guys...

 

Anyhow, I see, so that's not gay per se, but more than a little obsessed with kinky stuff and lewd remarks? Ah well, I suppose it doesn't bother me because i'm seeing it with the eyes of a roleplayer, seeing a character for what it is... I guess that the average player could take it personally yeah...

[Kellach Woods]

If it was that flamboyant, the backlash would have been people being annoyed with him and wanting to kill him way before, y'know. Like, even Shadow Hearts was more subtle about the homosexuality of their characters than this, and we're talking about the game where the following scene is a thing that happens (skip to 4:00) :

oyOQDvkkZo4

 

I'm glad they changed him, but they could have easily kept the mannerisms while changing the dialogue. Not glad they went with the easier route.

[Ashe]

Now I know why no one was getting why I thought he was a crazy nutjob asshole with a heart of gold.

He loved adventurers and loved the WoL (your character).

I donno what his english dialogue was since I played of 2.0-2.55 with Japanese text and audio...but the Japanese Haurchefant is the only one I know and love <333

THEN AGAIN.

I'm a weird lady who likes those types of characters >.<

[V'aleera]

The English version of him in 2.0 was just an honorable and exceedingly friendly/accommodating knight in a region that until that point had been full of unpleasant and unwelcoming people.

 

While the authenticity may be in question, I actually prefer this version over the Japanese one.

[Oli!]

The English version of him in 2.0 was just an honorable and exceedingly friendly/accommodating knight in a region that until that point had been full of unpleasant and unwelcoming people.

 

While the authenticity may be in question, I actually prefer this version over the Japanese one.

 

The main problem that people seem to have with the change is the reason why it occurred, not so much that there was a change in the first place.

 

If they changed his personality because they wanted to match his 2.0 one, that's a fine reason. But changing him for the reasons that they stated has understandably upset people.

[Kellach Woods]

Yah that's why I mentioned not being glad they went with the easier route. Like, I've only got three months experience in the localization gig and even then it was just sprucing up text at the request of the client (who then requested to scrub ALL the flavor of the original and make it as bland and to the point as possible during the second pass - keep in mind, to make sure we would turn in amazing work we nabbed some folks who spoke the original language and were familiar with the source material) and what they did is definitely easier. No need to come up with a creative solution when you're just straight up replacing it.

 

I mean, the mention of his chambers and the obsession over muscles could easily be scrubbed out with his mannerisms remaining the same.

[Kage]

The English version of him in 2.0 was just an honorable and exceedingly friendly/accommodating knight in a region that until that point had been full of unpleasant and unwelcoming people.

 

While the authenticity may be in question, I actually prefer this version over the Japanese one.

 

The main problem that people seem to have with the change is the reason why it occurred, not so much that there was a change in the first place.

 

If they changed his personality because they wanted to match his 2.0 one, that's a fine reason. But changing him for the reasons that they stated has understandably upset people.

This is the case, now, however the only reason YoshiP even said something or knew about it was because of the large hooplah when people found out that they were different.

 

Some people just don't like the fact that there is -change-. The fact that he was different rustled peoples jimmies.

[Ashe]

The English version of him in 2.0 was just an honorable and exceedingly friendly/accommodating knight in a region that until that point had been full of unpleasant and unwelcoming people.

 

While the authenticity may be in question, I actually prefer this version over the Japanese one.

 

The main problem that people seem to have with the change is the reason why it occurred, not so much that there was a change in the first place.

 

If they changed his personality because they wanted to match his 2.0 one, that's a fine reason. But changing him for the reasons that they stated has understandably upset people.

This this!

I didn't even know they were different until no one knew what I was talking about when I was talked about him like he was a crazy nut job.

I can see why the change was made though...if you don't know Japanese and/or understand Japanese media archetypes, you'd get thrown for a loop. 

 

I think people do get thrown off when things are changed though...and don't understand how localization works.

 

I work on manga for a living and edit it for english speaking audiences for graphic novel releases. One of my series gets rid of all the Japanese references entirely because they really don't make sense. For example, a lot of the monsters in the series are puns in Japanese so we have have to make them into English words.

 

Denshark is my favorite example because it's a shark that is a train (Densha=train + rk at the end...). We made it Choo Choo Chomper and some fan berated me for it (even though I wasn't working on it at the time) but the general english reader would have no idea what the hell Denshark was.

 

The translation and adaptation process is much more complex than people realize. 

 

Personally, I understand it. But a lot of people don't do this kind of work for a living and don't get why it exists in the first place...

[Larson]

If it was that flamboyant, the backlash would have been people being annoyed with him and wanting to kill him way before, y'know. Like, even Shadow Hearts was more subtle about the homosexuality of their characters than this, and we're talking about the game where the following scene is a thing that happens  (skip to 4:00) :

oyOQDvkkZo4

 

I'm glad they changed him, but they could have easily kept the mannerisms while changing the dialogue. Not glad they went with the easier route.

This is one of the greatest games of its time! It was full of stuff like this. I personally hate the way Japan portrays gay men as effeminate and predatory in their mainstream media.

[Kellach Woods]

The translation and adaptation process is much more complex than people realize. 

 

Personally, I understand it. But a lot of people don't do this kind of work for a living and don't get why it exists in the first place...

Understanding it and liking how it was handled are two different things. I understand why they did it, but it does break my heart personally that they don't try.

 

Especially in this case where it wasn't so much a trick of the language than a very Japanese thing that could have been adequately conveyed with only a few minor edits.

[Ashe]

The translation and adaptation process is much more complex than people realize. 

 

Personally, I understand it. But a lot of people don't do this kind of work for a living and don't get why it exists in the first place...

Understanding it and liking how it was handled are two different things. I understand why they did it, but it does break my heart personally that they don't try.

 

Especially in this case where it wasn't so much a trick of the language than a very Japanese thing that could have been adequately conveyed with only a few minor edits.

It's still not that easy.

Like I said in my post, I do these sort of adaptations for a living.

You have to keep in mind that this game is not meant for solely fans of manga and anime and that if this games wants to be a success, it must appeal to fans who are gamers who may not have anything to do with Japanese media and culture.

 

While what they did was extreme (though I never saw english Haurchefant...I can only tell what the change is from what people are saying), there is definitely a reason for it.

 

The anger is more that something was changed and that people don't really understand what was changed.

 

It's not that he was 'gay.' A lot of people think that Haurchefant was meant to be gay, which would make no sense if your character was a female. But he was very...crazy and said things that could be taken as sexual harassment by an unsuspecting English-only audience. He was supposed to be liked and missed and the Japanese version of that character for an English-only audience who does not understood Japanese media and archetypes would not, under any circumstances, gotten that. They really did run the risk of him being a hated character in english.

 

So while the changes in english were extreme, they were justified. 

 

If you really care, go back and change your speaking language to Japanese and listen to it that way. My text and dialogue is in Japanese for this game for a reason. 

 

You'd be surprised what else as changed.

 

Scions of the Seventh Dawn are just "Dawn," Alphinaud's group was known as the Grand Company Eorzea. Alphinaud was even more of a douche bag. In the final 2.55 cutscene, Thancred goes on about not having interests in doing it with men when the guards go to arrest him, etc. 

 

There were A LOT of major changes.

 

Even in 3.1 the dialogue in Japanese did not match the english version.

[Garalona]

If it was that flamboyant, the backlash would have been people being annoyed with him and wanting to kill him way before, y'know. Like, even Shadow Hearts was more subtle about the homosexuality of their characters than this, and we're talking about the game where the following scene is a thing that happens  (skip to 4:00) :

oyOQDvkkZo4

 

I'm glad they changed him, but they could have easily kept the mannerisms while changing the dialogue. Not glad they went with the easier route.

This is one of the greatest games of its time! It was full of stuff like this. I personally hate the way Japan portrays gay men as effeminate and predatory in their mainstream media.

Seconding this, it's so tiresome. They even portray lesbians as predatory as well and just... Come on.

 

I personally find regional changes interesting, and liked English Haurchefaunt well enough. He was a bit campy in demeanor, but his genuine concern for and desire to help the WoL made him an endearing character. The laviciousness on top of all that would have annoyed the hell out of me.