Over in the http://drunkardswalkforums.yuku.com/topic/3765]Persona 3 thread...
So, here's someplace for it to be on-topic.
Anyway. You're probably right about most people not understanding how to use them properly. (I've probably done my part to make things worse in the past, having some characters who deliberately use ones that wouldn't be considered appropriate. '.' )
On the other hand, I think "interpretation" might be open to argument. Certainly there's subtleities that most people will probably miss out on; I know I continue to run into new things. But getting some of the information is better than getting none of it, and most if not all of them entirely lack useful translations. Or, to put it another way, I consider translations that strip honorifics to be unprofessional. Not necessarily sloppy, but I don't approve of someone doing extra work to hinder my understanding.
For the specific case of Persona 3, since it seems to be generally considered a "niche" game, I think it likely that most of the people who will play it will at least have a basic understanding of the honorifics, and will probably appreciate them. I've never even seen any threads complaining about them on the gamefaqs board for the game, and people on gamefaqs will complain about everything that is. (Even Fuuka Yamagishi's voice! >,> )
-Morgan.
Ayiekie Wrote:Even if you happen to know what they mean, most people who say they do don't. Therefore, they're not translated at all in the sense of conveying the
original meaning - and for regular people who would like an actual English translation in their English game, even more so.
However, this isn't really what this thread is about, so I'd rather not continue the digression on an off-hand comment.
So, here's someplace for it to be on-topic.
Anyway. You're probably right about most people not understanding how to use them properly. (I've probably done my part to make things worse in the past, having some characters who deliberately use ones that wouldn't be considered appropriate. '.' )
On the other hand, I think "interpretation" might be open to argument. Certainly there's subtleities that most people will probably miss out on; I know I continue to run into new things. But getting some of the information is better than getting none of it, and most if not all of them entirely lack useful translations. Or, to put it another way, I consider translations that strip honorifics to be unprofessional. Not necessarily sloppy, but I don't approve of someone doing extra work to hinder my understanding.
For the specific case of Persona 3, since it seems to be generally considered a "niche" game, I think it likely that most of the people who will play it will at least have a basic understanding of the honorifics, and will probably appreciate them. I've never even seen any threads complaining about them on the gamefaqs board for the game, and people on gamefaqs will complain about everything that is. (Even Fuuka Yamagishi's voice! >,> )
-Morgan.