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Weekly Loc Discussion: Belvast or Belfast?!

KatherzKatherz
Mabinogi Rep: 21,640
Posts: 1,593
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edited June 6, 2018 in Weekly Loc Discussion Archive
When we localized Belvast way back in the day, we followed the Korean spelling of the word, which uses a V or B sound. But we've reviewed some old documents and now believe the intention was to name the city Belfast, like the real-world city! It seems jarring to change it now, after it's been in the game for so long. What do you think? Should we keep it as Belvast? Or change it to Belfast?

Let us know what you think, and of course, the more you can expound on the reasoning behind your opinion, the better!

- The Mabinogi Localization Team
  1. Should we change "Belvast" to "Belfast"?53 votes
    1. YES!
       40% (21 votes)
    2. NO!
       60% (32 votes)

Comments

  • [Deleted User][Deleted User]
    Mabinogi Rep: 550
    Double down and change the name Beltfish!
  • BlankeyeBlankeye
    Mabinogi Rep: 4,640
    Posts: 159
    Member
    I've been calling it Belvy for so long...
    Belfy doesn't roll of the tongue as well.
    That's literally my only reason.
  • SpkrSpkr
    Mabinogi Rep: 1,450
    Posts: 52
    Member
    As weird as it would be to just suddenly change it, I think Belfast would be the better option because (I personally think) that's what it was supposed to be to begin with. When Belvast first came out, we couldn't stop laughing at the fact that it was misspelled... Let the change happen!
    BronzebreakGreta
  • TreepTreep
    Mabinogi Rep: 1,930
    Posts: 66
    Member
    Yeah I think it should be changed since it was misspelled before, and most people I know call it Belfast instead of belvast. Even the autocorrect spells it as Belfast! (Can we change festia to fiesta too?!
    Greta
  • SaiSai
    Mabinogi Rep: 8,785
    Posts: 675
    Member
    edited May 23, 2018
    Actually, KR even used "Belfast". Even the BGM used that spelling. "Belfast.mp3"
    I've always used "Belfast" as well and REFUSED to say "Belvast" as I knew it was wrong.

    I say fix it. But, it might bother some people to get used to a change like that.
    Greta
  • EraleaEralea
    Mabinogi Rep: 9,890
    Posts: 779
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    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tir_Chonaill
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunbarton
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangor,_Gwynedd
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emain_Macha
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cobh
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hill_of_Tara

    Some of these links may redirect to the modern names, but anyway.... we've always had the old-timey spellings of real life places for the towns in Uladh. Giving Belfast its proper spelling just keeps it consistent with the other towns.

    But If we wanted to keep the current spelling, we could justify it by saying that Belvast Island is separate from Uladh and not subject to its naming traditions, like how Iria names are mostly derived from mainland European languages instead of anything Celtic.

    Also I used to spell Taillteann with one L because I thought it was a reference to this place and its legendary festival but that's probably another topic altogether.
  • IyasenuIyasenu
    Mabinogi Rep: 24,265
    Posts: 2,887
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    If it's changed, it'd have to be changed on the minimap, too.

    I'm guessing that'd take more than the 'find and replace' tool in wordpad or something.

    Though on the other hand, I'm imagining people saying stuff like "Let's meet in Belf/Belfy" and... it just sounds lame, pfft.
    Belf... Barf.

    I'm sure I'd get used to it, so it's not a big deal lol.
    And hey, if it's "more correct" let's do it.

    There are sillier mistranslations I can think of atm, but those aren't whole towns.
    Jazmyn
  • CrittenzCrittenz
    Mabinogi Rep: 1,220
    Posts: 31
    Member
    I think we should change it. That way it'll be more authentic.
  • FluoretteFluorette
    Mabinogi Rep: 4,840
    Posts: 815
    Member
    I think it should be changed to Belfast to reflect the actual location in Ireland.

    There are other errors your team may wish to look into in the future as well. For example:

    Taunes' weapon is referred to as the "Vastion" when it should be "Bastion"
    Lugh's sword is referred to as the "Pragarah" when it should be "Fragarach"
    Then there's Lugh's last name itself... "Lavada" should be "Lamfada", given that he's based off of the actual Lugh Lamfada from the Irish mythos.
    Also, I'm guessing Hillwen and Shyllien are supposed to be "Heruin" and "Sulien", but I'm not too sure.

    There are many more, but I figure this is a good start.
    Greta
  • CaissaCaissa
    Mabinogi Rep: 2,175
    Posts: 150
    Member
    edited May 23, 2018
    Regardless of the island's namesake, I think it would be much too late to change the spelling of the name now. If it was only a few months old, it would probably be more reasonable to do so. If a Mabinogi 2 was adding the region for the first time, I don't think I would mind the spelling change, either. But for this game, I think the spelling has been this way for so long that it should not be changed.
    JazmynImaizumi
  • JazmynJazmyn
    Mabinogi Rep: 7,595
    Posts: 1,009
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    edited May 23, 2018
    Iyasenu wrote: »
    If it's changed, it'd have to be changed on the minimap, too.

    I'm guessing that'd take more than the 'find and replace' tool in wordpad or something.

    Though on the other hand, I'm imagining people saying stuff like "Let's meet in Belf/Belfy" and... it just sounds lame, pfft.
    Belf... Barf.

    I'm sure I'd get used to it, so it's not a big deal lol.
    And hey, if it's "more correct" let's do it.

    There are sillier mistranslations I can think of atm, but those aren't whole towns.

    I voted not to change it because it's been Belvast for so long, but, I also agree with @Iyasenu here, that I'd get used to it, so if it's "more correct" to have it be "Belfast".

    I would have a much more difficult time getting used to it if I ever spoke to some NPC and it said "Belvast" after it was changed to "Belfast". Things look sloppy if they aren't the same 100% throughout (which is why the titles bother me.... "The Phoenix's Witness" should be "the Phoenix's Witness").

    IMO, only if someone can guarantee it is changed everywhere the word is in the game, whether it's mainstream conversation or a random NPC that may say the name or a partner's speech bubble, I say go for it; but that sounds like more work then necessary when it's been "Belvast" for so long.

    (I don't know much about code, but is it possible it could be done with just a "find and replace" type function like Iyasenu mentioned? Or could you just write code that like, overrides all of "Belvast" changing it into "Belfast".... I know just enough to show I know nothing about writing code. LOL.)
  • EraleaEralea
    Mabinogi Rep: 9,890
    Posts: 779
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    You know, I might be remembering this wrongly, but I could have sworn there was a point in time where both spellings were used in our NA version, before it was all standardised to Belvast. There was a... something, a graphic or map or something, that said Belfast (which didn't match up with the big white "Belvast" that appears when you enter the map). But this was back when a good portion of the game was strangely-translated, so I just shrugged it off.

    There are some old forum posts out there discussing the inconsistent spelling of the name on maps vs the NPC text (maps said Belfast, NPCs and item names used Belvast) so I might not be the only one who remembers this.


    There's also this floating around, it was posted in a set of screenshots when the KR server added more moongates in 2013. I get the feeling that the localization team must have put in a lot of effort to change all the text and graphics to the v-spelling, so it may very well be not worth it to change it all back...

    iHJHxXs.jpg

  • AquasolAquasol
    Mabinogi Rep: 5,465
    Posts: 442
    Member, Volunteer Forum Moderator
    It’s been so long that it’s pretty much better to just keep it as Belvast, as it’s not that egregious an error. If the localization team did that, then they’d really need to correct several other translation errors/variances.
  • GretaGreta
    Mabinogi Rep: 51,805
    Posts: 6,975
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    Belfast.

    Fast bell?

    Fastbel.

    Just made new region name. You are welcome.