Eyes on Final Fantasy Forums > Final Fantasy: The Quickening > Final Fantasy XI Online > Elmer's Q&A with Japanese players

[Lionx]

ElmerThePointy of Gilgamesh server recently conducted a little social experiment where he asked both the JP and NA communities which questions they would most like to ask the other, but can't due to the language/culture gap. Elmer is a fluent Japanese speaker as well as a native English speaker and was able to post on Japanese sites as well as NA sites. He tallied the most popular questions that NA would like to ask JP, and that JP would like to ask NA, and posted them on NA and JP forums. Incidentally from the NA perspective, this all is happening on BG.

The answers from the Japanese players have come through and Elmer recently posted them on his blog:

Click here

The questions that were asked of the Japanese players were:

• Are there any famous (or infamous) foreign players for the Japanese?
• How do you feel about English-speaking players attempting to speak Japanese. (i.e. Using limited Japanese phrases, saying “w” etc.)
• Why is using /check considered rude? For English-speaking players it is a fairly innocuous action.
• Square Enix has mentioned many times that they are proud of their servers being unique, in the sense that many people from around the world are on the same server, instead of split up by region, and can communicate with the Auto-Translate feature.
• Do you feel that this was a success or a failure? Do you think that mixing regions on each server was a failure? If you could choose, would you choose a JP only server?
• Have you learned anything about the NA culture that you didn’t know before? Perhaps a polite/impolite gesture/phrase that seemed innocent to you? (e.g. we see /check as innocent, and JP find it rude)
• Do you ever utilize English websites such as BlueGartr, FFXIAH, etc for foreigner research and opinions? Do the Japanese have a large end-game community forum, similar to foreign players using BlueGartr?
• Is the Adaman Hauberk blue or purple? This debate has raged across NA forums since the dawn of time.
• What is your main reason behind having “JP Only” or “English No Thanks” in your search comment? Is it because you prefer to speak in Japanese, or is it a problem with the way foreigners act?
• Do JP players still use Skillchain+Magic Burst in their parties or do they TP burn like most NA/EU players do? Do you miss the SC/MB days?Do you wear certain earrings or rings in certain slots? For example, Suppanomimi on ear 1, CoP ring on ring 2. (this was a joke question to see how seriously people were taking this experiment)

[Roogle]

The answers were an affirmation of what I found the general consensus of most Japanese players to be towards North American players. As representatives of our respective cultures, we must all make the effort to appreciate and understand each other.

It is a shame that language barriers still exist in this day and age.

[Miriel]

The language thing is interesting because you wouldn't think that Japanese words typed out in English would impress people so much. Isn't there a way through Windower that lets you type in Japanese characters?

[Roogle]

I speak limited Japanese by using a web translator, checking the results, and pasting the results into the game. Unfortunately, I have no way of understanding what they say in return.

[Citizen Bleys]

JPs hate windower, though, so I'm thinking if you use kana/kanji, they're just as likely to report you to a GM as be impressed.

[Mirage]

You can use kanji/kana without using the windower!

[Miriel]

Originally Posted by Citizen Bleys ^

JPs hate windower, though, so I'm thinking if you use kana/kanji, they're just as likely to report you to a GM as be impressed.

Why in the world would they hate windower? That's nuts!

[Jessweeee♪]

See, I knew I wasn't crazy about the check thing! I don't absolutely loathe /check (I do get the impression that people are staring at me), but I don't use it on others because I'm always afraid people will think I'm rude xD