Although many people don't realize it, the "FF translation wars," as they have come to be called, were a major turning point in the evolution of the translation community. It can be the classic story of small groups in what seems almost a death struggle with the "big boys". Or, it can be viewed as a group of game fans pursuing a project in an orderly fashion and producing a rather organized product. It depends on whom you ask. It's been over two years since the FF translation wars where at their "height." They raged on through most of 1997. There is no official date when they began, or when they ended, and the resentment still lives on today in one form or another.

It's very hard to cite a specific reason for the bad feelings, but one explanation put forth by BiGWeirdMaN for some of the turmoil was simply personality conflicts. Everyone I talked to hinted toward or centered on one thing: a difference of philosophy. Reading though Nightcrawler's interview is like reading something that you know just can't be true. If you assumed that however, you would be wrong. The translation community of early 1997 was vastly different from the community we know today. It consisted of more "underground" activity, more hobbyists, more work for the love of the game. The FF Translation Wars seemed to mark a transitional period. Whether it was due to a mass immigration of the less technical savvy or due to changes brought on by the surviving groups themselves we can't be completely certain, but something definitely changed in the demeanor of those who played the patches produced by early groups.

SoM2freak carries a persistent reputation within the translation community, and for the most part it isn't a good one. If you mention his name in an IRC channel, you are met with snickers and jokes. Most of the people who respond don't even have any first hand knowledge of him, just stuff they've heard from their brother's uncle's cousin's sister who works at a hair salon where SoM2's brother's mother-in-law's daughter's friend's sister-in-law gets her hair done. From those people I have interviewed, you may get the general impression that he was a perfectionist who was committed to keeping translations as accurate as possible. He was also, as Neill Corlett put it, "someone very, very, very devoted to japanese culture practically to the point of zealotry." At times this would put him into conflict with those working around him, such as those who would take on the task of shortening the script, thus conserving space. But when this would happen, he would do everything in his power to make sure the perceived injury to the perfection of a script was repaired. Most of those he worked with seem to have a rather high respect for his skills but believe his personality needed some work.

Most of the translation wars were fought over FF3 and between three projects. Akilla's, Translation Corporation's, and Demiforce's. So far, I have been unable to reach Akilla for comment on this particular aspect, however Nightcrawler of the Translation Corporation paints him as a malcontent who started a competition for no apparent reason. Demi, although not working on FF3, also had problems with Nightcrawler. He called Nightcrawler's work "too shitty to be pubicizing, definitely too shitty to be bragging about." The note in the FF2e documentation put out by the Demiforce team provides a similar point of view. Nightcrawler sees Demi as attacking him and his work unjustly. AWJ pointed out that at the time this was going on, everyone's current patch looked about as bad as everyone else's did. One thing out of all of this can be made certain. There was certainly a lot of mud slung in various directions and by various people.

If, however, you assume that FF2 projects avoided much of this flaming, you are mistaken. Toma describes the mistake he made in basing his first patches off of Demi's old FF2 patch. Demi was understandably upset. Fortunately, as Toma's and Demi's projects were really the only two, this constituted the only real exchange of fire between FF2 groups.

One of the interesting things that became apparent from the interviews is that several of those interviewed had a less than peachy view of the translation community, and felt that it was in its downfall. Nightcrawler talked about how it seemed to no longer be about fun, but had evolved into a more professional, deadline oriented pursuit. Demi called it "a bunch of kids with too much hate on their minds." No matter how you talk about it, the FF translation wars changed things in a very big way. A new group was attracted by the "new" FF games, some bright talent left after being basically forced out, and the inalterable community was changed by one of the very events that initially started it. I suppose the shock waves are being felt even today, in the organization of translation groups, by the way many people avoid projects like the plague when others are working on them, or by the way people avoid conflict at all costs. I, for one, hope that anyone in the translation community who reads this article will take the time to read through the interviews. Hopefully you can gain a sense of the feelings that still flow strongly after all this time, and more importantly, recognition of the mistakes that were made so they will not be repeated. Translation wars have happened several times since this period, but perhaps if we learn a lesson from our history, we might be able to prevent them in the future.

This article is by no means done. I hope to continue gathering information from those involved so I can provide a more complete picture here for you. If anyone out there who was involved in the FF2j or FF3j projects wishes to add something to this article, please send me an email and arrange for an interview or simply include the information in your email.
-Neil_Mortensen@hotmail.com

Links:
Translation Corporation (Netscape only)
NeoDemiforce
Translation Corporation's last FF3 patch
Toma's last FF2 patch
Completed NeoDemiforce FF2 Patch
AWJ, Neill Corlett, & SoM2Freak's completed FF3 Patch

Interviews:
AWJ
Demi
Neill Corlett
Toma
BiGWierDMaN
DRAKEN
NightCrawler
Necrosaro
I'm currently in the process of interviewing Akilla, so there will be an update to this article in a few days. =)