Support NeoGAF

[Tajaz2426]

OP here. Read my post again. I admitted this wasn't that big of a deal nor it was a deal breaker. It did, however, deserved a mention and a slap in the hand of the developers. It's something so simple and should be as standard as the ability to invert the camera in every game.

It wasn’t you OP, I should have stated that and I thought I should have. It is simply some of the more “ out of right field” replies. I stated I didn’t understand how someone could be upset like that, but I won’t ever try and tell someone they shouldn’t say and talk about the things they feel.

Everyone has that right.

 

[Maintenance]

Agreed 100%, imperial is garbage.

 

[marmoka]

Related and also worth mentioning:

 

[Kiriku]

Good podcast episode about the history of imperial vs metric in the US I listened to recently: http://www.stuffyoushouldknow.com/podcasts/why-isnt-the-u-s-on-the-metric-system.htm

And I agree with the OP (although I don't really run into it much in games).

 

[hydrophilic attack]

Imperial units are fucking dumb

One would have thought you'd have gotten rid of them when you overthrew the English

 

[Joeku]

As a Canadian I'm going to need:

1) weight in pounds, except for sporting weight divisions
2) height measurement and small distances in feet and inches, but greater lengths in kilometers
3) environmental temperature in celsius but cooking temperature in farenheit
4) liquid measured in cups for small amounts but liters for larger amounts
5) any time you're speaking to anyone over the age of 55, all units should be in imperial and they should think that anyone under the age of 25 only knows their height and weight in meters and kilograms when they really have no idea.

That is all.

This, but when it comes to cooking preparation at least you typically get both right next to each other. 1 cup being close enough to 250ml for recipes to say "eh, fuck it, go ahead" is fine by me.

 

[Alebelly]

Related and also worth mentioning:

Orange is always right, that's a saying, isn't it? Pretty sure Orange means good a blue means bad and scary.

 

[Joey Ravn]

If that's how you want to take that, then whatever. This thread would have a point if we were talking about games where the measurements actually mattered (like Arma for example.) But really...BoTW and FFXV are causing a stir? That's just lame and petty arguing.

You're unapologetically saying that having options to accommodate everyone is a bad thing. If anyone is being petty here is you.

 

[Tajaz2426]

You're unapologetically saying that having options to accommodate everyone is a bad thing. If anyone is being petty here is you.

I’d say that, except the people in this very thread saying, “imperial is retarded” and many more colorful ways of stating that if your not like everyone else, you are wrong. I’d say that is more petty than anything that poster said.

Like you said, there shouldn’t be a reason for developers to accommodate both, but I have never had an issue, as these are video games. I don’t see it as a big deal, but everyone has their opinions.

 

[Keihart]

I’d say that, except the people in this very thread saying, “imperial is retarded” and many more colorful ways of stating that if your not like everyone else, you are wrong. I’d say that is more petty than anything that poster said.

Like you said, there shouldn’t be a reason for developers to accommodate both, but I have never had an issue, as these are video games. I don’t see it as a big deal, but everyone has their opinions.

But even further, why even use imperial EVER, is not practical EVER.

 

[WadeitOut]

Related and also worth mentioning:

The orange one is the one that has been the leading super power of the world for most of the last century right?

Just want to make sure I'm reading this right.

 

[marmoka]

Orange is always right, that's a saying, isn't it? Pretty sure Orange means good a blue means bad and scary.

Blue sucks!! XD

Just in case somebody gets mad, I'm European and fan of the metric and celsius systems.

 

[Jangowuzhere]

I’d say that, except the people in this very thread saying, “imperial is retarded” and many more colorful ways of stating that if your not like everyone else, you are wrong. I’d say that is more petty than anything that poster said.

Like you said, there shouldn’t be a reason for developers to accommodate both, but I have never had an issue, as these are video games. I don’t see it as a big deal, but everyone has their opinions.

I think that's the reason why I find these threads complaining about the use of Imperial systems to be irritating.

The discussion is never about why it matters. It just turns into a dumb debate of metric vs imperial. Why does it matter in the actual game? Well, it doesn't, especially when the OPs main examples are FFXV and BoTW.

 

[Joeku]

I think that's the reason why I find these threads complaining about the use of Imperial systems to be irritating.

The discussion is never about why it matters. It just turns into a dumb debate of metric vs imperial. Why does it matter in the actual game? Well, it doesn't, especially when the OPs main examples are FFXV and BoTW.

Can't remember enough about FFXV and BotW to say whether it mattered to me (and that I can't remember probably means it doesn't), but in any game where you drive, absolutely. Gotta switch from MpH to KpH immediately to at-a-glance help me feel out how long I have before a turn or whatnot.

 

[gingerbeardman]

Agreed.

 

[dofry]

Related and also worth mentioning:

I like that it's orange, like that guy shitting in the oval office.

 

[Alex_Mexico]

Blue sucks!! XD



Just in case somebody gets mad, I'm European and fan of the metric and celsius systems.

Nevermind how the American organization (NASA) that put a man on the moon uses Metric almost exclusively.

 

[duckroll]

Here's why imperial is garbage: Measurement units should be standardized because it makes it easier to understand what you are measuring, especially when sharing or communicating information. Standardization is literally the point of having units in the first place. Saying "just because everyone else does it one way doesn't mean my way is wrong" is a stubborn, selfish, and nonsensical mentality to have when approaching this. There's no reason to stick to something when the rest of the world has decided on a standard other than stubborn pride. It doesn't have any advantage.

 

[Jangowuzhere]

Can't remember enough about FFXV and BotW to say whether it mattered to me (and that I can't remember probably means it doesn't), but in any game where you drive, absolutely. Gotta switch from MpH to KpH immediately to at-a-glance help me feel out how long I have before a turn or whatnot.

Absolutely, it matters 100% in driving games. I would be puzzled playing a driving game and not having an MpH option.

That's my point that I mentioned earlier though. Yes, when the measurement system matters, then it's absolutely needed as an option.

I'm playing Watch Dogs 2 right now, and that game uses meters for distance on the GPS system. That makes zero sense for a game set in America, but it's not even worth thinking about. You're never counting or doing math in when traveling. The absence of a yard/miles measurement doesn't affect anything.

 

[WadeitOut]

Nevermind how the American organization (NASA) that put a man on the moon uses Metric almost exclusively.

So do most Americans when dealing with things related to math and science.

The War of 1812 declared that America gets to use both whenever we feel like it.

 

[Kaze Kyou]

Whole-heartedly agree with the OP. While we're at it too, can we also make sure that seasonal events also take the Southern Hemisphere into consideration?

Nintendo seems to be especially bad at this - Animal Crossing seasons are in accordance with the north, and there's no option to switch it. Mobile games like Pokemon Go and Fire Emblem Heroes have recently celebrated "summer" events, although to be fair they've got to keep it consistent for all players and Australia/New Zealand ain't big enough as a market for them to care. :/

 

[Hypron]

So do most Americans when dealing with things related to math and science.

The War of 1812 declared that America gets to use both whenever we feel like it.

You should tell that to your manufacturing industries and tons of mechanical/civil/etc. engineers that still work using US customary units.

 

[jipewithin]

I don't really mind either way, it's just a counter for me.

 

[Merc_]

lol deal with it

 

[Markitron]

The UK is such a mess with its mix of imperial and metric units, including units that no-one uses outside of the UK (weight in stone, used exclusively for the weight of people!)

My GF is German and she has a really hard time dealing with street signs that refer to '20 yards'. Even MPH she still has to convert to km/h.

I'd be happiest if we just all switched to Metric by law. The only time I want to deal with 'pints' is when I order a 570ml glass of beer.

It's sort of like this in Ireland, but not as bad. We use stone here as well, and miles are still quite a common unit of distance. Officially we are all metric now, street signs, speed limits etc, so what little imperial units are used are slowly dying out. Not fast enough for my tastes though, if someone quotes me a distance in miles, I'll usually tell them to use real units. I'm a bit of a prick like that.

 

[WadeitOut]

You should tell that to your manufacturing industries and tons of mechanical/civil/etc. engineers that still work using US customary units.

Why? Id imagine most if not all of them are familiar with the metric system. But that'way different than some universal knowledge base like math and science. If you are just using it for design measurements it doesnt really matter. Use what your more familiar with.

Then again no one in this thread has actually gave an example lf it mattering in a video game either lol. Two pages of a straw man argument.

 

[failgubbe]

Why? Id imagine most if not all of them are familiar with the metric system. But that'way different than some universal knowledge base like math and science. If you are just using it for design measurements it doesnt really matter. Use what your more familiar with.

Then again no one in this thread has actually gave an example lf it mattering in a video game either lol. Two pages of a straw man argument.

How the fuck does it not matter? One being the obvious example of you don't know the distance.. In an open world game maybe its 0.4 whatever away In imperial and you think thats not long I'll just walk but It turns out its several kilometers

Like another poster said I and 98% of the world knows that if a distance is 500m and the next is 1km it will take twice as long.

It does not matter if the game has its own system that It converts since you STILL don't know what 0.4 yards is

 

[KORNdoggy]

imperial system is shit and needs to go away in video games much like it needs to go away in life

 

[Nitpicker_Red]

Pretty sure my copy of BotW uses celsius no matter which language setting is used. Problem in your case is probably that you're playing the U.S. version which defaults to imperial when you choose English.

Can someone with the game in PAL confirm for temperature?
Here is a video in English of the Bird-Man research with the counter in m (meters).
Did they chose to give the PAL version International English, or is it UK English instead? It makes sense that they gave the US version American English by default, but I guess not let you choose between them for simplicity?..

To OP: maybe this is your solution: create an european account to load up the PAL version of the games using either UK English or International English.

 

[dofry]

Why? Id imagine most if not all of them are familiar with the metric system. But that'way different than some universal knowledge base like math and science. If you are just using it for design measurements it doesnt really matter. Use what your more familiar with.

Then again no one in this thread has actually gave an example lf it mattering in a video game either lol. Two pages of a straw man argument.

I drive cars in racing games using meters. You judge the distance based on what you see on the screen posted in signs next to the road. It it's in meters, I know fairly well how far a corner is going to be. If it's and adventure game like FFXV, then the distance is just what I am used to and I can estimate accordingly e.g. "an egg is hidden within 10 meters" or "100 meter radius". Even though, it might be cosmetic in the game and not that accurate, it is easier to understand. Same goes for speed, or date/time display data.

It's not rocket science. Just offer the measurements people are using in their respected locations.

 

[Caayn]

Metric all the way. I honestly prefer made up/fantasy units over the nonsense imperial system.

 

[Markitron]

Can someone with the PAL version confirm for temperature?
Here is a video in English of the Bird-Man research with the counter in m (meters).
Did they chose to give the PAL version International English, or is it UK English instead? It makes sense that they gave the US version American English by default, but I guess not let you choose between them for simplicity?..

To OP: maybe this is your solution: create an european account to load up the PAL version of the games using either UK English or International English.

Here in Ireland, which is usually considered the same region as the UK, the temperature was Celsius. If it wasn't, I would have created this thread myself on launch day so I could have a good moan.

 

[Jangowuzhere]

How the fuck does it not matter? One being the obvious example of you don't know the distance.. In an open world game maybe its 0.4 whatever away In imperial and you think thats not long I'll just walk but It turns out its several kilometers

Can't you just open the map and just figure it out right there and then? Pretty much all open world games do the math for you and show a number counting down, it's not difficult to adapt when you don't even need to bother with actually counting the units.

 

[Nitpicker_Red]

Here in Ireland, which is usually considered the same region as the UK, the temperature was Celsius. If it wasn't, I would have created this thread myself on launch day so I could have a good moan.

So it's confirmed that even in "English" setting the measurements are still region-dependent, even when they give access all other langage options, and that if you want "PAL" measurements, you load up the "PAL" version if the game.
Nearly a /thread, but it's about other games as well and how they could use some transparency/options.

The Metric vs Imperial posts should slow down, it's just localisation : you use both and adapt the content to the country as usual.

 

[danm999]

I think that's the reason why I find these threads complaining about the use of Imperial systems to be irritating.

The discussion is never about why it matters. It just turns into a dumb debate of metric vs imperial. Why does it matter in the actual game? Well, it doesn't, especially when the OPs main examples are FFXV and BoTW.

I dunno, I found it a little distracting when I couldn't figure out how fast the Regalia was going. I don't know how fast 70 MPH is.

It doesn't matter to you, doesn't mean it doesn't matter.

 

[Hypron]

Why? Id imagine most if not all of them are familiar with the metric system. But that'way different than some universal knowledge base like math and science. If you are just using it for design measurements it doesnt really matter. Use what your more familiar with.

It does matter because people in the US use equipment and parts made in other countries and vice versa. This will always lead to some hurdles (heck, a spacecraft crashed because people were careless with their units). We deal with it (you'd be a shitty engineer if you couldn't), but it's still a waste of time and money (having to have doubles of all your tools, having to integrate imperial-sized parts in a metric design and vice versa, etc.).

Furthermore, it's also a hurdle when it comes to sharing information. My father is an engineer that works in renewables (I've got a mechatronics degree myself) and frequently has to convert entire reports' worth of data because people in that industry in the US use customary units.

The reason to use metric in engineering is the same as the one to use it in science. You want to have a common language with people from all around the world. There are some strong financial incentives to keep on using customary units in the US (since they are so ubiquitously used already), but let's not act like there are 0 issues with using a different system from the rest of the world.

 

[Tajaz2426]

Here's why imperial is garbage: Measurement units should be standardized because it makes it easier to understand what you are measuring, especially when sharing or communicating information. Standardization is literally the point of having units in the first place. Saying "just because everyone else does it one way doesn't mean my way is wrong" is a stubborn, selfish, and nonsensical mentality to have when approaching this. There's no reason to stick to something when the rest of the world has decided on a standard other than stubborn pride. It doesn't have any advantage.

So what your stating is that, because the majority of the world at over 1.2 billion speaks Mandarin, the rest of the world should standardize and speak that language? That way when sharing and communicating information, it will be easier? When countries have a set method, especially over a certain amount of generations, it isn’t as easy, as just changing the system to everyone else.

Countries run on their communication, whether it be language, or mathematics. Changing that communication style just by one generation, can be a severe disadvantage. That means communication becomes a barrier and that doesn’t help anyone.

Stating that it is stubborn pride is being disengenious, as I am sure you are aware of what I just stated. Just because it doesn’t fit into what you thing is normal, doesn’t mean it is abnormal to the people that use said commutation styles.

 

[failgubbe]

Can't you just open the map and just figure it out right there and then? Pretty much all open world games do the math for you and show a number counting down, it's not difficult to adapt when you don't even need to bother with actually counting the units.

So I have to open the map and evaluate the distance by my self anyway then. No need for the game to tell me how long

 

[SmokedMeat]

Totally fucking agree. I facepalm every time a game uses the redneck imperial system.



I personally wouldn't be friends with a tool who prefers imperial over metric.

Thank the British. It's their system.

 

[BetterThanNothing]

The metric system would be preferable and I imagine it would be easy to implement considering they most likely use the metric system itself in order to measure the world on an engine level.

The reason for this is probably just that no body cares about any English speaking market that isn't America.

 

[Hypron]

Thank the British. It's their system.

Technically they are based on English units, but US customary units were developed by Americans and are actually not the same as Imperial units.

Edit:

From the link above:

The customary system was championed by the U.S.-based International Institute for Preserving and Perfecting Weights and Measures in the late 19th century. Advocates of the customary system saw the French Revolutionary, or metric, system as atheistic.

Of course religion had to be the reason lol

'murica

 

[dofry]

So what your stating is that, because the majority of the world at over 1.5 billion speaks Mandarin, the rest of the world should standardize and speak that language. That way when sharing and communicating information, it will be easier? When countries have a set method, especially over a certain amount of generations, it isn’t as easy, as just changing the system to everyone else.

Countries run on their communication, whether it be language, or mathematics. Changing that communication style just by one generation, can be a severe disadvantage. That means communication becomes a barrier and that doesn’t help anyone.

Stating that it is stubborn pride is being disengenious, as I am sure you are aware of what I just stated. Just because it doesn’t fit into what you thing is normal, doesn’t mean it is abnormal to the people that use said commutation styles.

Not communication as language communication with words, but communicating in the same standards of scientific language, in this case units of measurements, numbers.
And, using metrics would be better, not subjectively better, but objectively. Numbers are the same in any language and choosing which units to use benefits everyone. But, this is off-topic.

Edit: This was a bit silly explanation from me. Of course you use words to convey methods and the basic knowledge but switching units is totally different from e.g. Switching a total spoken language.

 

[danm999]

So what your stating is that, because the majority of the world at over 1.2 billion speaks Mandarin, the rest of the world should standardize and speak that language? That way when sharing and communicating information, it will be easier? When countries have a set method, especially over a certain amount of generations, it isn’t as easy, as just changing the system to everyone else.

Countries run on their communication, whether it be language, or mathematics. Changing that communication style just by one generation, can be a severe disadvantage. That means communication becomes a barrier and that doesn’t help anyone.

Stating that it is stubborn pride is being disengenious, as I am sure you are aware of what I just stated. Just because it doesn’t fit into what you thing is normal, doesn’t mean it is abnormal to the people that use said commutation styles.

There are advantages to having multiple languages though. There are also not just two languages. Languages are also extremely complicated and there are certain ideas in some that do not strictly exist in others, which is not true of measuring systems which are just measuring the same things in different intervals. There is also no language with anything like the ubiquity of the metric system. There is also nowhere near the difficulty required learning the metric system compared to Mandarin.

etc etc

 

[Wiped89]

Basically, yeah. We're in MERICA! To quote a line from Fury, "You wanna talk Mexican, join a Mexican tank."

I understand what you're saying and I'm fine with that. My concern is that some developer will eventually just leave out the US option and that would catch on. Maybe it'll be patched in later, maybe it won't. I wouldn't want that. Just let me keep mine. You know what you can do with yours.

See this is everything I hate about Americans in one post.

Americans actually want to limit options that make other people's lives easier because they dont understand and dont want to understand. It might threaten precious AMERICA.

Talking about Mexico seriously. You realise the world doesn't revolve around what America wants.

As OP states, it hurts nobody to have the ability to toggle metric/imperial when it is already in the game.

 

[faridmon]

As an Architect, Fuck imperial

seriously why are we stuck using these outdated systems?

 

[ggx2ac]

So what your stating is that, because the majority of the world at over 1.2 billion speaks Mandarin, the rest of the world should standardize and speak that language? That way when sharing and communicating information, it will be easier? When countries have a set method, especially over a certain amount of generations, it isn’t as easy, as just changing the system to everyone else.

Countries run on their communication, whether it be language, or mathematics. Changing that communication style just by one generation, can be a severe disadvantage. That means communication becomes a barrier and that doesn’t help anyone.

Stating that it is stubborn pride is being disengenious, as I am sure you are aware of what I just stated. Just because it doesn’t fit into what you thing is normal, doesn’t mean it is abnormal to the people that use said commutation styles.

Strawman.

Duckroll is talking about standardisation of Scientific measurements.

Everyone the world over uses the metric system even in America if you are a Scientist.

Scientific communities from different countries are able to communicate to each other using standardised measurements especially when it's important for running experiments to disprove something.

 

[duckroll]

So what your stating is that, because the majority of the world at over 1.2 billion speaks Mandarin, the rest of the world should standardize and speak that language? That way when sharing and communicating information, it will be easier? When countries have a set method, especially over a certain amount of generations, it isn't as easy, as just changing the system to everyone else.

Countries run on their communication, whether it be language, or mathematics. Changing that communication style just by one generation, can be a severe disadvantage. That means communication becomes a barrier and that doesn't help anyone.

Stating that it is stubborn pride is being disengenious, as I am sure you are aware of what I just stated. Just because it doesn't fit into what you thing is normal, doesn't mean it is abnormal to the people that use said commutation styles.

If the majority of countries in the world speak Mandarin, then yes, it would be the standard language of business and commerce. There are still more people in the world currently who understand English than those who understand Mandarin, so it isn't a majority. More importantly, there is distribution to consider. The majority of Mandarin speakers are made up of people in China. That's a single country. English speakers are distributed all over the world - including China. If you want to do business in China or Taiwan, learning Mandarin will help a lot. If you want to do business in most places in the world, English is essential.

The vast majority of countries all over the world use the metric system. This isn't up for debate. It is effectively the universal measurement language, except in the US. It is comparable to English, not Mandarin. Again, distribution of use, not just pure number of users.

 

[Nezzhil]

Empires uses imperial
Metric is for peasants

This made my day. Thanks.

 

[Imperfected]

If you'd like, we could just use malms or Teemos instead.

They're honestly all completely arbitrary measurements in games, anyway.

 

[Grampasso]

Imperial units are fucking dumb

One would have thought you'd have gotten rid of them when you overthrew the English

Eh, they're called imperial for one reason after all...

BTW, I agree with OP. I'm Italian so I don't have problems with my English version of BotW showing °C (like OP, when I was young I hadn't any language option beside English so I always play English no matter the game even now), but I would definitely have problems with Fahrenheit. Just a few days ago I found myself doing a conversion to check the F/C rate and it seems like... completely illogical? There must be a reason for it though.