You have a very good point. It is largely up to the viewer to consume YT/Reddit/Wiki/etc. content in a healthy way, which doesn't stifle their own critical thinking. However, I do think that these content creators have a big responsibility when they decide to put out these things, especially when citing interpretations as fact.
You're probably right about my beef. If one guy was just shouting in the street "Cleric Beast is Ludwig! Ludwig I tells ya!" then we could all laugh it off and shake our heads. But the fact that Vaati has a mass following who will take his word as gospel without a second thought...that's the real kicker. I think he needs to respect that more, and take more responsibility. Instead, in every video of his I watch, he seems to play up to his audience and dangle random speculations in front of them like carrots on a string. A little more humility and self-deprecation wouldn't hurt.
You are definitely right about that. It is much easier for him to separate speculation from stuff the game can confirm than it is to convince his thousands of followers to look at it more critically. So it is not only acceptable but natural to ask this of him, even if it's not totally his fault.
And he does seem to be changing torwards that, even if not completely or very quickly. It was a very pleasant surprise to see him showing the item descriptions in his Bloodborne Lore video. I would never expect that from him a couple of years ago.
I'm the other way around. I haven't seen his videos, but The Paleblood Hunt is a fantastic read. You don't have to agree with all of it, but it's very well put together, and he makes it clear every step of the way what is fact pulled from the game, and what is his own reasoning. His stance is a very healthy one, and I hope he gets all the exposure he deserves. It also makes him out to be a very genuine and intelligent person, which makes his work all the more appealing.
You should definitely check his videos. From what you describe it seems very much in the same vein of his written work. It's not overproduced or anything, just a dude talking to the camera.
The most interesting and important part of his videos, in my opinion, is that he's dedicating himself to "The Little Things in Yharnam", talking about stuff that is very important, but ends up getting pushed aside because it's not nearly as important as, say, Mergo. So people don't focus on it as much as they should.
It's the kind of content I'd only expect from ENB, if he was still making videos on Bloodborne. So it's very welcome and refreshing to see Redgrave doing this.
He's also a surprisingly cool guy, watched a couple of streams he did, without expecting much, thinking it would maybe be too intense with deep lore talk all the time, but he was just chillin, talking shit and running Chalice Dungeons (for whatever crazy reason, he really enjoys them).
Obviously Vaati wasn't implying that Rom should have been labelled "Stupid".
"Vacuous" isn't some bit of abstract lore that's found in Wikis and analysed by Redditors. It's a word. Anyone can look it up in the dictionary. Google it, and immediately you get:
The original Japanese is 白痴 (hakuchi), which is a compound noun that can literally be divided into "white" or "blank space", and "foolishness" or "absurdity".
When translated normally, it can also mean "profound mental retardation"...
In my opinion, they chose the perfect English word. It conveys all of that, especially the nuance of a massive, empty space. It reflects the area in which you find her, and what she represents. Scholars in the game wish to "cleanse themselves of idiocy", and while Rom's origins are unclear, she has something to do with their attempts to "line the brain with eyes". I'm just rambling now, but it all fits together so nicely when you consider the context.
In many instances, some will naturally be curious about the original Japanese, and what sort of liberties were taken with localisation. But I think this goes back to your previous point about Vaati, that his audience will lap it up because they don't first try to think for themselves. This is where, again, he has the responsibility to get his sources/facts straight, be honest with his audience, and choose his own words carefully.
Wow, thank you very much for this, it was very, very informative.
About Vacuous, the reason I brought it up is because I actually saw a few people on reddit using more vague possible meanings of vacuous to talk about Rom's origins. I'm not sure if he changed his mind on this, since I didn't read his document, but Redgrave himself once used the possible meanings of Vacuous to say that Rom was a child, if I recall correctly from a reddit thread. This is the main reason I find the retranslation to be incredibly useful, it tells us "don't read too much into it, vacuous is supposed to mean exactly what you'd expect". My english isn't very good, and I don't think I've ever even seen the word vacuous before Bloodborne, and yet, I understood what it was supposed to mean the moment I saw it. I think when people start to reading too much into specific words as the base for their whole interpretation, it's always good to keep in mind the game was written in japanese and then localized, so, unless it's obviously ambiguous, it's probably best not to read too much into particular word choices.
As you mentioned yourself, given the context, "vacuous" was the absolute perfect choice, because Frognation is fucking awesome and know their shit. Because the "deeply retarded spider" would sound fucking ridiculous, even if it could be an accurate translation. And, going back to reading a lot into particular word choices, that becomes possible (and WAS done by Frognation) when you consider not only the original japanese writing, but even the particular characters chosen. That part of the work was already done during localization, if you do it again to the already carefully selected word, you start to lose the original meaning. The lore is already mysterious enough without having to doubt every single word we read. Which I guess, in the end, could even be used to understand why people were bothered by that video. Huh.
Absolutely. If I started my own channel, there's no way I would attract the same user base, in terms of interest or numbers. I suppose, if I was really considering it, I'd need a fresh angle? I will happily concede that if the majority of his audience had no interest in the story aspect of Souls games initially, then it's a great thing that he's managing to convince them. But ONLY if he also encourages them to seek answers themselves, and make up their own minds.
Yes, indeed, you absolutely managed to convince me on his responsibility on this. Not sure if he read GAF, but if he's lurking here, I bet he appreciates elaborated feedback like this. It's understandable that most of the time, feedback is kept to the bare minimum "this is great", or "this sucks", no one has an obligation to elaborate on their feeling every time they voice an opinion, but as far as actually making a difference to improve that content, it is very much necessary.
Thank you for humouring me in this discussion, by the way! Hopefully I'm making sense.
Much more than making sense! It's my pleasure. I swear, I have a big, dumb smile on my face right now. I love talking about this series so much, probably as much as playing the games. I don't think I've been as captivated by anything before in my life as I've been for these games. It's incredible, really. Usually, when people talk about things changing their lives, they mean how it helped them improve, become a better person. I can't really say Souls did this to me, but I see no better way to define it other than a life changing experience. I can say for sure that I wouldn't just be obsessing over something else if I never played Souls, I guarantee I would never dedicate myself so much to any other game.
Hell, we've been expecting Final Fantasy XV for almost 10 years now, I'm still very excited, and I'd be lying if I say I care about it nearly as much as a series I started playing in 2013. It's also the reason I can't really feel this Souls fatigue, at least not yet. I can't possibly not be interested in all new content to the series when I'm still thinking about Bloodborne daily.
That game came out almost a year ago, can you believe that?
I don't even know what I'm talking about anymore, sorry.