Hi, is there any possibility that u will be translating this game to another language? I am from Czech Republic so i dont expect you will be translating this game to my language, because we are small nation. So my main question is if we (fan) can translate it. I translate a few US serial and i love to translate this game to my language.
Problem is that if they translated the game to czech, they would probably have to pick other languages as well, and we would soon have 10+ different languages. Then the fun part would begin: tons of grammar and spelling errors, having to translate all new content before it's published, finding new volunteer translators because the old ones disappeared, etc. It could quickly turn into a total nightmare. Also are you sure you are not underestimating the time it would take to translate everything? Card Hunter has tons of text. It would take days to translate everything. It would probably make more sense to translate only parts of the game, like for example tutorials. This way people could more easily get into the game.
SLG I'm not sure what the problem would be with fans translating stuff. BM would only need to give players a language setting with the disclaimer that translations are fan-made and possibly incomplete. Then whenever text is displayed, display the text for the player's language setting—if there's no translated text in that instance, degrade gracefully to English. I'm sure BM could implement this without too much difficulty but I doubt it would be a high priority.
Hypothetically, I wonder what kind of work would be involved in setting up a browser game to squish all the visible text through Google translate before displaying it to you? It seems to me that even in worst scenerios, you can just have Translate open in a separate tab and use it to solve a lot of the more common translation mysteries, but every once in a while I wonder why games that frequently alter their verbage regularly don't offer some sort of quick-and-dirty instant translation option just to be more user-friendly. I'm sure it would lead to some funny misquotes, but it would probably be better than nothing.
Well, I did mention some of the potential problems in that earlier post. I've been involved in a similar project in the past, and let me tell you that it's easier in theory than in practice. While fans translating the game to different languages might sound like a win-win situation at first, there are downsides to it as well. For example from a marketing standpoint, the problem would be brand image related. If Card Hunter had tons of typos, grammar errors and missing text, the brand would take a huge hit. Disclaimer or not, it would look very unprofessional and unfinished. In my opinion if translations were done, they should be done right, which means very little to no grammar or spelling errors, and absolutely no missing text. I doubt it could be done without any professionals involved, especially since Card Hunter has tons of lore text. Anyone can translate things like software menus, but fantasy lore is a whole different thing and requires much more skill, otherwise it might look like crap. Reason why this kind of thing is not done more is probably what I said earlier. It looks very unprofessional to have a product or a service with spelling or grammar errors. Some people might not think poor translations are a big deal but others would reflect it on the quality of the product or service. Would be cool though, filtering all text through Google translate.
Fair enough SLG though I think the potential problems are not showstoppers, especially if the translations are presented in the proper way (as a 'beta feature' or something that players can turn on if they want).
Yes, it could work if they could somehow make it 100% clear that these translations are not official and the developers have nothing to do with them. For example games like Skyrim have mods. Some mods are terrible and broken but don't really hurt the Skyrim brand because everyone knows the mods are user-made. Similar system could work for Card Hunter as well: you could download translation files from the forums and install them in your game. But anything that would be pre-built in the game, even if it was called "beta", would probably hurt the brand if it was poorly made. But I don't know how the masses would react, I only know how I personally look at things. Maybe translations would be a good thing, regardless of some errors and whatnot.
With this amount of flavor text and exposition between adventures. I doubt any fan translation can do a good job capturing the humor in another language. Making sure to hire the right translator/writer for the job is a massive undertaking. The part I love about Card Hunter is precisely the setting, nostalgic and humor. Having to experience these elements translated from original language would be painful and I would rather enjoy the gameplay without understanding anything else instead. (Same way I feel about most translated media) Since the game is a card game, its rule and gameplay are all based on number, colors, icon, card art, etcc ... All these elements of the game are universal across language barrier. I don't see any needs for a client translation. However, a translation of this How To Play page it would be very helpful for the purpose of introducing new players to the game. OP can actually start working on that right away if he wanted.
@SLG: Why do you spend 3 posts opposing a project that has no effect on you? Obviously you're either an English native speaker or at that level. It's easy to be against something when there is nothing in it for you, but there are enough potential players out there who don't speak English at the necessary level to enjoy this game. They would massively benefit from a translation, and they would be much more likely to buy pizza if this game was translated into their native language. I'd like to politely ask you to step out here. もしこれは日本語のゲームだったら君は必ず翻訳が欲しいんじゃない？ (If this game was in Japanese you'd definitely want it translated, right?) Now put yourself in the shoes of a Japanese gamer who doesn't speak English.
First of all this is an open forum and I am allowed to discuss about anything as long as I follow the forum rules, even though the subject in question does not effect me directly. I do not need your permission to post here, nor will I listen any wannabe-moderator requests of leaving the topic, no matter how "polite" they are. I think I made my case pretty clear earlier so I'm not going to repeat everything. If you didn't get my point after reading what I posted earlier, I doubt you would get it after a 1000 posts either. I am not opposed to translating the game. I think it would be great if people were able to change the language. I mean why would anyone be against that? But using random non-paid volunteers from the internet for a huge and difficult project like this would be in my opinion both a waste of time and ultimately detrimental to the game. I just don't think the quality of the translation would be up to par with the rest of the game. Like progammer said: The reason the game is in English is very simple. Not only is English the native language of the developers (it's not mine btw), but it's also a kind of common language among people of the earth, especially on the internet. For example we are writing in English right now, not Japanese. If this game was in Japanese, it clearly wouldn't be meant for global markets. Lets say BM wants to hit the Japanese market big time, and they have two choices: 1. Ask newly joined forum user RandomPwner69 to translate everything in Japanese. 2. Hire a professional translator to translate everything in Japanese. Now from a business standpoint, which one makes more sense?
Well, I think I just found my new username. Seriously though martin, what's the deal with asking someone to stop posting? A. it almost always achieves the opposite. B. makes it look like you can't handle arguments the old fashioned way - counter arguments. At the end of the day it's a matter of the devs' vision to where this game is going. If it's due to go mobile as I heard is the plan, then surely they will go for a proffesional. I think we are still very far off on such decisions though as the game still has some unimplemented features and fixes that need to be addressed first...
@SLG: I appreciate your active participation and your enthusiasm. My previous post was meant as friendly advice. I apologize if it didn't come across that way. Written words often don't transfer intentions well. This sort of attitude works in Australia / UK / US / Canada (except Quebec) / India / maybe Hong Kong, Singapore, Scandinavia, Netherlands, parts of Africa. Outside of these areas, you'll find that your audience is rapidly shrinking if everything is in English. Even in Germany movies are always dubbed and the most popular RPG is native German. Let's look at the customer reviews for Baldur's Gate on the Mac App Store: https://itunes.apple.com/jp/app/baldurs-gate-enhanced-edition/id515114051 (All 3 translated) #1 "I want Japanese support" #2 "... I couldn't really get the story because it's English, but with the help of a strategy guide I could play it to the point that I understand that there is in fact a story." #3 "I think there are a lot of people waiting for the Japanese version..." Fans started a BG Japanese translation project. http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/5554/baldur-s-gate-enhanced-edition-公式有志翻訳プロジェクト-10月に入り本格稼動 For BG II, Japanese seems to be ready and released, for BG, I don't know. Here's an interview about it: http://www.pcgamer.com/2012/11/16/b...fan-translations-helped-the-enhanced-edition/ There already is a strong Japanese gaming community: http://wikiwiki.jp/cardhunter/ Whether they are willing to support such a project or not is a different question. Speaking as someone who did Japan market entry as a paid job... Fan translation, hands down. I don't know if you've ever hired a Japanese translator, but they are expensive. Even at only a few cents per word, you'll easily get into the thousands of dollars. You'll also have to rehire them everytime you add content. As much as I wish Card Hunter widespread success, I don't think they'd recuperate the costs of a professional translation unless they multiply their player numbers by a few orders of magnitude. Sure, fan translations do need supervision and they do require manpower on the developer side, but it's work that you can pay with pizza, a currency that you can generate for free. Sure, it could be that you get complaints about the translation quality, but this is the Internet. If it exists people will complain about it. Ask those people to pitch in and help improve it.
