Thanks a lot, we really appreciate it. We actually have an Italian in the team, but he's from Alto Adige, so his Italian is special. Upon talking to our Italian translator (from Milan) the "Dio Scoria" topic came up and she said: "Oh do not worry, only a slightly drunk wordsmith from Tuscany would use that as a curse." Dioscoria being an island of heretics makes this actually quite funny. But maybe also a distraction, so we'll keep this in mind.
Again, thank you so much for this feedback and for testing the game!
P.S.: Is Sine Requie still a thing?
Viewing post in The Hidden Isle - Playtest Version comments
How dare she call me a slightly drunk wordsmith from Tuscany?
Jokes aside, while it might not be used for swearing in that specific form, that doesn't mean it doesn't sound like a curse. "Dio scoria" would roughly translate to "God is toxic waste", anyway, so you can see how that sounds (it would also feel like the isle is called "God's dross/refuse", by the way).
Again, I think it's a minor inconvenience at best, but it sounds a little ridiculous in Italian, and it clashes with the game's tone, in my opinion.
About Sine Requie, while it's not my kind of game, and I don't follow it very much, another roleplayer I asked told me, and I quote: "Sadly, yes, it still is."
Yeah, Sine Requie never really caught on in our central European realms, because of its unsavory take on the region ...
Thanks again for providing detail on Dioscoria. While God's Refuse would be spot on, I get what you mean. We had someone in the team that just wouldn't play Germany's highly popular "Das Schwarze Auge" TTRPG, because the title's Spanish translation was just so obscene and hilarious. We will definitely keep that in mind.
It's interesting how the perception of names can vary significantly across languages and cultures. In the case of "Dioscoria," the word can remind Italians of a blasphemy because of the recognizable root "Dio" (God). Using "Dioscoria" can distract an Italian reader and make the context seem less serious. It would be better to suggest alternative names like "Disoria" or "Discoria."
A similar example is the German word "Fahrt," which means "journey," but in English, it sounds like "fart."