romeoteknik said:
Business lingo for said person or persons are to be reprimanded and possibly terminated from their duties.

Alternatively, business lingo for we can neither confirm or deny the Dustloop hearsay.

Akselziys said:

....Unfortunately we can't say who, but please rest assured that measures have been taken to ensure that such errors won't arise in future releases.

Thanks, guys!

Business lingo for said person or persons are to be reprimanded and possibly terminated from their duties.

Akselziys said:
Apologies for the delay everyone :)

Had to make sure I was able to talk about things, but yes, we weren't responsible for the localization of BlazBlue: Continuum Shift EXTEND, but we did market and release it in the US.

We wanted to shoulder any criticisms in the US, without playing the blame game, so we're more than glad to receive them.

Unfortunately we can't say who, but please rest assured that measures have been taken to ensure that such errors won't arise in future releases.

Thanks, guys!

http://www.siliconera.com/2012/03/03/blazblue-continuum-shift-extend-playtest-more-portable-more-accessible/
sounds like the vita ver. has same problem
jeeze foolish arc system just let aksys do next time
hope the ps3, 360 and vita ver. get the patch

Davin said:
One bit of extra feedback. Some of the dummy text that made it into the final product *was* pretty funny, just not as easy to appreciate since they were in by default and broke stride with previous releases.

Some of us would actually enjoy something like an "omake script" menu option (similar to Arakune's speech option) that switches many lines with some of the placeholder ones. Something for replayability after having completed story mode...

I would approve of this. It would be intriguing to have a bunch of story modes that are humorous and ridiculous, if nonsensical, activated with the 'omake' option, possibly only selectable after achieving 100%.

Although I doubt that due to budget reasons it would be possible to voice the 'omake' option entirely / partially / at all, a good idea would be to automatically mute the character voices when 'omake' is selected as to not confuse anyone listening to the voices and reading the text.

The options in creativity are endless! I could certainly imagine Jin referring to Noel as 'that hussy' for an entire arc in his quest to dominate Ragna's affections. In other words, a giant gag reel that replaces the normal story.

I would imagine that it would be a translator's nightmare, however, haha.

Some of us would actually enjoy something like an "omake script" menu option (similar to Arakune's speech option) that switches many lines with some of the placeholder ones. Something for replayability after having completed story mode...

Davin said:
My take is that the silence speaks for itself:
[...]

I believe the silence was also possibly caused by the BlazBlue U.S. Qualifier that was going on around the same time, but all of your ideas are sound. Thank you.

Akselziys said:
Apologies for the delay everyone :)

Had to make sure I was able to talk about things, but yes, we weren't responsible for the localization of BlazBlue: Continuum Shift EXTEND, but we did market and release it in the US.

We wanted to shoulder any criticisms in the US, without playing the blame game, so we're more than glad to receive them.

Unfortunately we can't say who, but please rest assured that measures have been taken to ensure that such errors won't arise in future releases.

Thanks, guys!

Thank you for replying. At least we now know the reason for the sudden dip in quality, so I am satisfied. I am sure that whatever the reason that someone else localized it that surely the lesson was learned, so we can finally call it a day. I understand that as a company that you cannot reveal much, but thank you for telling us the main reason.

I do have a small question; was the list forwarded to whoever had localized Extend at the idea of hopefully a future patch? I think the list to be rather a straight forward reference guide so that they can narrow down on the process easily and efficiently.

And finally, a suggestion / request: If, for whatever reason that a voice actor or voice actors do not return for the sequel, would it be possible to re-dub all of that particular character's battle lines with the new voice actor? I shudder to think the type of Frankenstein that Hazama will become if his voice actor does not return in the sequel, especially if a new Hazama is chosen on top of that, haha.

Since it concerns the same subject; whenever the sequel comes out, could you also re-dub the vs. character lines / miscellaneous with the chosen voice actor if those lines are to be used again? An example would be, if Mela Lee returns, that she would re-dub the vs. Valkenhayn lines (whom were supposedly voiced by Laura Bailey). This of course should include the following if the voice over effects for Hakumen and Arakune are permanent. Switching between a Jin-sounding Hakumen in battle to a deep sounding Hakumen in the story would sound rather silly.

Thanks, again!

romeoteknik said:
I'm more disappointed with the voices, hopefully all the originals return for the next game. Bang is just lost.
[...]

Of course, I share the sentiment that you do in regards to the original voice cast. I believe that Tony Oliver will return, rumors are is that he could not be reached in time for the recording, bundled with that, time constraints on the game. I have a feeling that everything will be planned well-enough ahead in the future.

romeoteknik said:
[...]
I've noticed the typos and if you play Hakumen, there is a part when he is talking to Luna and it shows "Runa" instead. So that's from the QC team of CS and not Extend.
[...]

I did notice that during my play through as well, however that is just a minor typo in the middle of nowhere. I mean, after all, reading 'Runa' in katakana over and over again while translating it will get stuck in your head somewhere down the road. Of course Aksys is not perfect, seeing as the BlazBlue script is rather large, but the sheer amount of errors in the new chapters was ridiculous and alarming, which was the reason for this thread. Since we now know that Aksys was not in charge of the localization of Extend and with the promise of nothing like this happening in the future, we can rest easy and hope for a patch.

I've noticed the typos and if you play Hakumen, there is a part when he is talking to Luna and it shows "Runa" instead. So that's from the QC team of CS and not Extend.

I appreciate Stewart's work in this regards.

Had to make sure I was able to talk about things, but yes, we weren't responsible for the localization of BlazBlue: Continuum Shift EXTEND, but we did market and release it in the US.

We wanted to shoulder any criticisms in the US, without playing the blame game, so we're more than glad to receive them.

Unfortunately we can't say who, but please rest assured that measures have been taken to ensure that such errors won't arise in future releases.

Thanks, guys!

Mr. Stewart said:
I agree and completely understand, which is why I only asked if the quote was true and why they told DustLoop (or a moderator of DustLoop would be more correct) and had not posted it into this thread if true (I had only found the quote by chance as I tend to stay away from DustLoop, personally). If the quote is fabricated, all they would have to say is that it is so and I would be satisfied. If the quote is indeed true, however, I just wish to know why the answer was not posted here as the reason explained in said quote would have satisfied my curiosity about the subject.

My take is that the silence speaks for itself:

1. The alleged comment from Bo was second hand and not quoted from a direct post on DustLoop (at least that I've seen cited). If so, more than likely this was an indiscretion on the part of Bo (for sharing it), the poster (for sharing something said in confidence), or both.
2. Lack of any comment on, either confirming or denying, would seem to indicate that it's probably true that Bo said something that could be construed that way, but for legal reasons Aksys is unable to reaffirm the hearsay. The fact that the post wasn't removed or edited would suggest that Aksys is wise to the influence of the Streisand Effect; the damage is done and it's best to abide by whatever legal restrictions they're under without further contributing to the existing problem.
3. Alternatively we're just spinning our wheels and the forum-goers have been told to not comment definitively until their ducks are in a row and a statement is prepared.

Neko Arc Chaos said:
[...]
I did notice a few of the errors mentioned in your report (I'm playing on the 360), though it I must say, it never did break my enjoyment of the game. The extra stories did help point out a few gaps in the plot, typos/errors included. Since I'm already familiar with the general idea of the plot, the extra parts did it's job.

The only thing that bothers me is the voice acting changes. I don't mind typos and such, but when the voice actor changes, sometimes the character's...how to put this..."impact" changes. Also, hearing different voices for one character in the same game sounds odd.
[...]

I agree, the extra stories were indeed entertaining. It did definitely reveal some of Relius' backstory, as the mystery surrounding him is intriguing.

I know what you mean, going from normal story mode to extra story mode makes it extremely odd at times. Put on top of that random Japanese voice overs and it loses said 'impact.'

Neko Arc Chaos said:
[...]
Personally, I'm one to take out the cheese and eat what's left (I like all-meat tacos.) I won't mind a update/patch, but it wouldn't change my opinion of the game itself nyaa. The only thing I might be mad about is having to wait for the update/patch to finish, and sometimes those things take too long.

Indeed, that is the bad thing about it. I still love BlazBlue, Aksys and Arc System Works, of course. Regardless when the game gets (hopefully) patched, I doubt I will give another run-through of the story as I have completed it thoroughly already. However, I probably will whenever I pick it up for the 360 as well for achievements and collection purposes someday in the future, so I will probably go through the extra chapters again whenever that time comes. (Not to mention the Vita version whenever I purchase said Vita. I must say that I love separate trophy lists.)

Hopefully it will be patched so late purchasers / story players will be able to enjoy it without a hitch.

Davin said:
To be fair, I was less alienated once I read the hearsay that Arc System Works decided to handle the additional localization. Easier to swallow and understand the how and why behind it; my original read was that a company that had a good rep with me was starting to experiment with penny pinching at the expense of the customer via outsourcing.
[...]

I agree, my initial shock was at the lack of quality control in Extend, considering that Aksys always puts in a lot of effort into their releases. While the cause was supposedly that Arc System Works did the work this time around, Akselziys had mentioned time constraints which unfortunately means 'rushed,' regardless of who really translated it.

Davin said:
[...]
At this point I'm going to take it on good faith that lessons were learned and that this probably won't happen again. I agree with Mr. Stewart that it should not have shipped in this format, but realistically speaking:
[...]

I agree that I hope that the lesson was learned. If the quote is true, it was a one time thing.

Davin said:
[...]

1. Aksys has done pretty well by us so far and are generally good folks. If they're not speaking up about something that is presented intelligently there's always a legal reason why. (hi belisarius)
2. Considering Arc's market position, they know that they can't let things like happen too often because their relationship with the fans moves more product than impulse buys.
3. BB is Arc's flagship series for trying New Things<tm> on modern consoles and it's better to risk mucking up an interim release like this than a 1.0 (i.e. CT or CS).

[...]

I will respond in order going down the list per paragraph, to make my replies coherent and correspondant.

I agree and completely understand, which is why I only asked if the quote was true and why they told DustLoop (or a moderator of DustLoop would be more correct) and had not posted it into this thread if true (I had only found the quote by chance as I tend to stay away from DustLoop, personally). If the quote is fabricated, all they would have to say is that it is so and I would be satisfied. If the quote is indeed true, however, I just wish to know why the answer was not posted here as the reason explained in said quote would have satisfied my curiosity about the subject.

Of course, considering fighting games are still somewhat niche and that Arc System Works' fighters are a niche inside that niche (albeit more well known with a loyal fan base) it would be a bad idea to disown fans. Not many people buy fighting games as impulse buys as you have said.

That is indeed true. Most fans eagerly await major release to major release, while generally only the hardcore or ones that missed out on the first two games would buy this for a 'complete' edition of Continuum Shift with a linear synopsis of Calamity Trigger, so I can see what you mean. Hopefully lessons are learned (regardless of the inner-workings) and the next product will be a high quality release once more.

Davin said:
[...]
Just trying to extend an olive branch I guess. The situation and its handling are a bit weird and easy to blow out of proportion without Aksys's side on the table, and I've lurked on the forums long enough to know that they're pretty decent folks. If we aren't being fully debriefed on something like this, it's not because they don't want to.

You are correct, once again. The only reason why I posted here is because I know Aksys does listen and cares what their fans have to say. I do understand that they may not be able to say much if at all about the situation at hand as well as that Aksys is a company and that, through agreements, certain things cannot be said without permission from both parties. However, since that quote has surfaced from someone with a higher standing on DustLoop (Kurushii, moderator) and considering the close ties with DustLoop and Aksys, the quote had a high probability of being true. As such, I am waiting for a confirmation or denial that the quote is legitimate or not.

At this point I'm going to take it on good faith that lessons were learned and that this probably won't happen again. I agree with Mr. Stewart that it should not have shipped in this format, but realistically speaking:

1. Aksys has done pretty well by us so far and are generally good folks. If they're not speaking up about something that is presented intelligently there's always a legal reason why. (hi belisarius)
2. Considering Arc's market position, they know that they can't let things like happen too often because their relationship with the fans moves more product than impulse buys.
3. BB is Arc's flagship series for trying New Things<tm> on modern consoles and it's better to risk mucking up an interim release like this than a 1.0 (i.e. CT or CS).

Just trying to extend an olive branch I guess. The situation and its handling are a bit weird and easy to blow out of proportion without Aksys's side on the table, and I've lurked on the forums long enough to know that they're pretty decent folks. If we aren't being fully debriefed on something like this, it's not because they don't want to.

I did notice a few of the errors mentioned in your report (I'm playing on the 360), though it I must say, it never did break my enjoyment of the game. The extra stories did help point out a few gaps in the plot, typos/errors included. Since I'm already familiar with the general idea of the plot, the extra parts did it's job.

The only thing that bothers me is the voice acting changes. I don't mind typos and such, but when the voice actor changes, sometimes the character's...how to put this..."impact" changes. Also, hearing different voices for one character in the same game sounds odd.

Personally, I'm one to take out the cheese and eat what's left (I like all-meat tacos.) I won't mind a update/patch, but it wouldn't change my opinion of the game itself nyaa. The only thing I might be mad about is having to wait for the update/patch to finish, and sometimes those things take too long.

To make a further correction, Laura Bailey voices all of Rachel's story lines in Valkenhayn's arcade mode.

The following errors happen during Valkenhayn's story mode:

During Valkenhayn's story mode, before the screen fades when the game goes to load the character intros before it loads the fight, the character story portraits disappear before the fade out. In other story modes the character story portraits do not disappear during the fade out.

When Valkenhayn chooses to search for Rachel, during the scene Relius states that he would like to run tests on Tager provided that Hazama 'does not mind.' In the next line, Hazama says 'Nah, he doesn't mind' (which is not in text on screen) and then says the text on the screen 'Go ahead and knock yourself out... or him.' Obviously this is a comment the voice actor made prior was in jest, as it obviously does not make sense story wise or in any sense for that matter.

During Valkenhayn's Gag Reel, the following occurs:
After Ragna states how he only sleeps a couple hours a night with one eye open, Taokaka says a very uncharacteristic line about how it would affect Ragna on a cognitive level, before adding an 'uh, meow' at the end of it. The text, however, reads 'it will make you stupid in the head, meow,' which is the line that should have been said as it would have been something within Taokaka's character. While Taokaka did do something extremely similar (i.e. 'uh, meow') during Hazama's Gag Reel, the line is still incorrect.

After Valkenhayn states he is going to use his 'Uber Verboten Attack,' there is a random comment afterwards about 'the line being futzed about in post-production.'

The following errors happen during Platinum's story line:

The second character on the screen are always exceptionally loud, close to double of Platinum's volume. Platinum's volume is normal, however.

During Platinum's encounter with Ragna on the street, after he agrees to buy her food Platinum randomly changes from her 'hooded' portrait into her 'battle ready' character portrait. Story wise, this does not make sense as she never reveals herself without her hood to Ragna. If this was intentional, the transition is extremely awkward.

During Platinum's 'bad end' route, Hazama uses the word 'noob' when speaking to Trinity about Tsubaki. Considering he has never said 'noob' before and always refers to Tsubaki as 'trash' and 'useless' instead, it is simply not correct. Regardless, if it was intentional, 'newbie' would be the correct form.

During Platinum's 'true end' route when Trinity is speaking Bang, after she mentions Tenjou's son Bang replies 'the young prince?'. This is another word that is incorrect as he never referred to Tenjou's son as young prince before, and instead should be 'young master.'

The following errors happen during Relius' story line:

During Relius' main story mode, Kokonoe and Lambda-11 are extremely quiet when they talk.

Arcade Glitches:

For the arcade scenes of Makoto, Valkenhayn, Platinum, and Relius, the last line before each of their battle begins is cut short. Such as, the line is not fully said before it is skipped generally about halfway and the battle begins.

Whenever Terumi appears beside Mu-12, his line is cut short, ending with 'Now it is time for a little punis---.' 'Punishment' is never fully said.

'Azure Grimoire' and 'BlazBlue' are often interchanges between text and talking.

{Side note}:

Noelpoem said:
Another thing I wanted to know. Are these extra chapter parts only partly voiced? Cause the voices stopped about halfway through on me.

The only time I had a similar experience was during Platinum's Gag Reel. However, the only times were when Makoto and Tsubaki's voices faded out as they were being turned into cards and during Platinum's 'true' path when Platinum woke up and pushed Bang over a ledge and his scream faded out. These were intentional. If you mean something else entirely than I'm afraid that I have not had the errors that you have had.

The Requiem:

For the following statements I am harboring no ill will, grudge, or malice. I believe I have pussyfooted around the issue well enough and now must be straight forward.

Due to no response to the question I asked a week ago, I will pose the question again along with the back story and quote:

Mr. Stewart said:
[...]
Here, Aksys, is where things get interesting and I would like a response to confirm or deny;

Over at the DustLoop forums, Kurushii, a DustLoop forum moderator posted the following:

Taking into accounts that it was a random post online, one might think that it may be false. However, that is not all, considering the post was by a site moderator and the close ties between Aksys and DustLoop, I read on. Posted was the following:

So, pretty much my question is (if what was said prior is true): Why were we left in the dark while DustLoop was not? It seems rather obscure, considering my topic was posted directly on the Aksys forums. The same response would have worked just fine for myself, as it would have answered 'What went wrong?'
[...]

From here, Aksys, the proverbial gloves must come off:

If the aforementioned is true, I am afraid that this outcome of low quality was to be expected. To use an example of how poorly a similar title was localized, I bring up 'Samurai Shodown: SEN' which was published by XSEED in the United States.

Recently, XSEED has been shown much praise for their great localization of niche games. However, this was not the case of Samurai Showdown: SEN. The reason I suspect is that it was localized by SNK themselves, the developer.

The straight forward proof I have would be the achievement list: Samurai Shodown: SEN Achievement List Looking through the achievement list you can see that it looks like all of them had been translated via an auto-translator, such as Google. Examples of the achievement descriptions would be 'To kill thousand of men (in any mode)' or 'To have Xbox LIVE fighting for once (regardless of the result, in any match)'.

Remember how I said that is seemed like no one worked together on Extend? Here is my leading point:

In Samurai Shodown: SEN there is a move that is executed by inputing QCF(236)+AB while your health is glowing red (low health). Here is the thing: the achievement lists it simply as 'Slash,' when you look at the manual it is listed as 'Fatal Flash,' and when you perform the move ingame, it is called a 'Desperation Slash.' Three different terms, three different mediums, one move. Ridiculous.

That is how Extend feels to me, a project where no one communicated to each other. Given how small of a project it was to localize (considering 85% of the project was already translated as the translations are straight from Continuum Shift) there is truly no excuse for the amount of errors present.

I must now present my final point:

Akselziys said:
Yeah, there were some lingering minor textual or English voice errors, due to time constraints, so we weren't able to catch everything, though I think a majority of them might be found in the PS3 version.
[...]

While granted, it was my mistake that I did forget to include that I am indeed playing the PS3 version of Extend, I must make the following point;
So in other words, you are saying I bought 'the wrong version?' If I wanted a '(mostly) bug free' Extend I would have had to bought the Xbox 360 version, correct? Is that not a little... misleading? I surely do not believe the PS3 box said 'buggy version!' on the box whilst the 360 version said 'less buggy version!'

Akselziys said:
[...]
But nothing too detrimental or game breaking that would impair the overall enjoyment of the game.
[...]

The vast majority of the bugs in the few new chapters present are a major hurdle to climb, while not game breaking, it does impair the overall enjoyment of the 'story' portion, of which is one of my main reasons for continuing my support of BlazBlue.

Akselziys said:
[...]
Hopefully we can address any of the lingering issues in a future patch, if that possibility arises :)

Here is where my point comes to its' elongated conclusion; at the very least, we do indeed deserve a patch. I am truly not trying to be self-entitled here, but the amount of errors in such a small amount of new content is truly ridiculous. Granted, the main game play draw (fighting) works without a hitch, but I bought the game for the 'complete package' that includes functioning extra chapters (which was my main draw).

The overall quality of the localization of this release feels 'lazy.'

Think of it like ordering a taco (for lack of a better metaphor). The taco is layered as the tortilla (the product itself), the meat (the gameplay, such as fighting mechanics), the lettuce (the Continuum Shift story modes), and the cheese (the extra stories / new stories). However, the cheese has very evident mold on it. Do I blindly devour it and smile, happy with something that has something wrong with it? Do I pick off the moldy cheese and ignore the bigger problem, and devour what is left? Or do I go to the manager and complain, asking why I was served a taco with cheese that is very evidently moldy?

The third option calls attention to the problem, with hopefully a resolution to said problem, which is what I chose.

This is where I, finally, close my report.

End notes:

Everything presented in this report were found and recorded by myself (unless otherwise noted). I am not a part of any group or other forum, I did not have any groups or persons assist me with compiling the above and previous lists. I did this out of personal interest and goodwill. I do hope a positive resolution will be reached.

Mr. Stewart said:
I have played through Makoto's storyline and I had noticed no significant errors (other than occasional typos, of course.)

The retry text for Makoto uses male pronouns.

It is quite possible that he may not reprise his role as Hazama.

For what it's worth, of the new voices Yuri Lowenthal gets my vote. He has a long history of voicing douchebags (Haseo, Gig, Razeluxe, etc.) and it's fun when he's given enough freedom to unload both barrels.

In the case of Soul Nomad and the World Eaters (Gig), I daresay it's one of those rare cases where he actually sold the character better than the original JP voicing did.