Fans Highlight Blade & Soul Localization and Censorship Changes

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Nearly five years since its original release, the North American version of Blade & Soul is finally playable. While slight changes between regional versions of a MMORPG are common, many users have noticed a few controversial changes and cases of downright censorship in the current Closed Beta version of the NA servers.

Reddit user SafeguardKilly has compiled a list of changes and censored content. Many of these changes are minor but some severely alter the story line and visual ascetics of the game. Highlights include:

Censorship Related

  • The localization team is deleting posts on the forums which criticize their decisions instead of forwarding the posts to CM's/Moderators.
  • Quests are being altered to remove content they find personally offensive or not "welcoming" enough.
  • Story/NPC dialogue being altered to turn the player into a strict hero archetype with no moral failings or ambiguity. Villains are now stereotypical cartoon-tier evil.
  • Lingerie removed and turned into cash shop item. Replaced with regular bra and panties, default poses also changed.
  • Surnames are being erased by mashing them together with given names (example: Bruce Wayne becomes Brucewayne, Do Chun becomes Dochun)

Localization Related

  • Memes have been added and in many cases it turns a situation meant to be taken seriously into a comical one.
  • Story being dumbed down. Removal of foreshadowing is resulting in a confusing/inferior experience.
    Game lore is being altered or changed outright because they feel it doesn't make sense.
  • NPC personalities changed or randomly swapped around with other NPC's for no discernible reason.
  • Titles are replacing names entirely in some cases.

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Some of these changes sound like bugs, others like the lingerie change are no big deal, but as someone who actually enjoys reading the lore and storylines in MMORPGs its a shame that NCsoft has chosen to 'dumb down' the story experience.

For a more complete list of changes and ongoing debate on these issues, check out the original reddit thread and the official Blade & Souls forums. It should be noted that Blade & Soul is still in Closed Beta and many of these issues may yet be resolved.