Thread: An open letter to the Dev`s regarding German/French localization and support.

Ok, 3-4 pages now of (justified) complaints and so far, absolutely no answer…of course…
Turbine, you ‘re so predictable…cannot say I am disappointed. I’m just sad for all the German/French people who keep on staying on Middle Earth because they still believe in changes.
These people ask for minor changes and you do NOTHING.
I’m now tired of this rubbish policy. You will NEVER EVER see a cent getting out of my pocket for you.
On the other side, keep on not investing on communication, do not worry, I will do it for you.
There are plenty of other good MMO’s and I will certainly not recommend Lord of the rings online.
MMO community is a small world.


TBD yours

Originally Posted by Trekkerfahrer

And now to Turbine directly: We are customers too, even if we have another language. A lot of people have left us because they felt cheated by Turbine. Since Turbine launched their "Global Service", its getting worse with our localization/support.
CM times were better! Additional you should hear on the localized community managers, if you do not so, you will kill your game in Europe!

man, you gotta be very pleased with what u have here, there is people in cold country named Russia, who still playing in 3.3 version of LOTRO, and hoping to even see Isengard, ask them if they wanna change their perfectly localised client with yours? i'm sure they will without doubt

everything is comparatively, so be good and thank Turbine for their awesome work, you playing your favourite game, on your native language (ye with some mistakes), and on servers with latest build of this awesome game

/signed

I personnaly switched the game to English language as all the translation errors became a drag.

Legendary item legs not corresponding to actual skills, same for armour set bonuses, and even traits apparently (depending on the class).
I can't imagine raiding if i have to be sure that everyone in the group knows what the 'real' effect of a skill does instead of how it's translated...

And of course, mylotro still not fully processed ... what can I say ?? APPALLING

+1, don't forget French / German Version please.
Thanks

Greetings everyone,

About LOTRO (and a life devoted to the Heroic Fantasy), I think it is currently the BEST mmorpg. Of course, this is a personal opinion, but I think his main strength is related to the scenario and the *maturity* in the texts. Do not neglect the translation, which is very important for the majority of us. Don't forget that the players are not necessarily english and others, french and german, want to continue to play with a game of quality. The items named "TBD" and a rough translation will not serve your long-term interests. We deserve the same consideration as the english players, no more, no less !

For the next contents (update 6 and the next expansion), please try to respect your non-english players in providing a quality translation as before with Codemasters. Do not forget the translation of the audio commentary too !!! Thank you ^^

/sign +1

Best regards, Dwilaseth (french community of Estel ^^)

/agree with all the above.

I'm French, I've been playing the French version for nearly three years, I recently switched to English as I was getting tired of all the mistranslations, missing translations, localization bugs, incorrect legacy names, incorrect translation for armour set effects, for skills, and many other things related to localization (or lack thereof).
The French and German communities are big enough not to be simply ignored like they seem to be at the moment: lack of communication regarding localization issues, lack of reactivity, etc.
I'm on a life subscription, but somehow I feel all the other European players on a monthly subscription end up paying for all the services provided to US players only. Like they're being treated as cash cows.
The current state of the localized versions is appaling. Feels like they're still a work in progress after so many years. Surely you must be able to do something about it, improve it, invest some of the revenue generated by the lotro store to improve the localized versions and make them more appropriate? The question is (and it's something I'm sure players would really like to know), are you willing to make the effort? Communication on that particular point would be greatly appreciated.

I know quite a bit about localization, I myself work in the localization industry and have worked on the localization into French of other big MMOs, so I understand what the issues, restrictions and requirements are. But I have never seen a development studio deliberately ignore player communities they way you are doing at the moment.
When you publish a MMO and decide to have it localized, one of your main concerns should be to make sure the game is actually properly localized so that players can really enjoy it. But instead of a player oriented approach, it seems your only concern is to shun and ignore player complaints and make sure everyone spends their Turbine points in the store.

I hope you realise you're slowly killing your game in Europe, and I'm not sure losing a great part of the French and German communities is something you can afford.

/signed

Thanks Turbine to improve French and Germans Localisations...Make an effort and we will love you again

/signed

Thanks Turbine for a better translation German and French.

Agree and of course...


/signed

/signed

And I don't even speak German or French! Please give our friends across the Atlantic all the support they deserve!

/signed.

Do it Turbine. There's no reason for people who're paying the same amount as English-speaking people to receive a worse product. It surely can't be that hard to find translators? Put some of your RoI money into this.

I might not be German or French. But I have to agree with the others. This issue needs to be fix.

/Sign

/signed, of course.

And as a first step, would you please please please avoid having incomplete locale files full of TBD on every release?
We can forgive errors in translations, we can laugh at improbable accents (dwarves from Mexico, Saruman with a german accent - at least in French), but we really feel like leftovers when we get a release with half the names missing...

And as a side proposition, would it be possible that a topic, or even a sub-forum, was dedicated to translation issues? We used to have such a topic back in Codies times, and many issues/mistranslations were reported in that way, which is much lighter than filling a bug file (and thus much more used. When asked to bug transllation issues, most of us prefer mourning on the bad translation....)

Regards,
Skro

Good idea Skro-Noleth. I also support that idea. + rep to you.

This could actually work.
We could even try to correct false (or create missing) translations there, so that Turbine just would have to c/p them ingame.

Sounds ridiculous, I know, but it could work.

Originally Posted by Eulrich

This could actually work.
We could even try to correct false (or create missing) translations there, so that Turbine just would have to c/p them ingame.

Sounds ridiculous, I know, but it could work.

It is a good idea, but firstly Turbine need to get a decent translation team in place. Blindly copying and pasting is simply not an option, as doubtless some hilarious comedy genius would think it terribly funny to put incorrect translations, obscene language and similar nonsense, in the hope of it getting copied into the client. Player input is a great idea, but the translations would need to be checked before inclusion - and that means employing translators.

Originally Posted by Celt_Ainvar

I might not be German or French. But I have to agree with the others. This issue needs to be fix.

/Sign

Thx a lot for your statement and aid.

I'm a German player and really love to play a Healer in MMOs, but the German community told me it is impossible to play a healer with the German client, because of...... ah you know why..... Okay, so I thought I should play the healer with the English client, but there was no fun for me (and surely for a lot of other German/French players too), because I'm not so good in English and so I couldn't follow all the explanation of the NPCs and the very probably exciting story of the game. After all I deleted my healer...

/sign

/signed

Les traductions laisse vraimnet à désirer.

/toutafait
Commande Inconnue
/ouieffectivement
/<string table error; tableDID +1
/signer
TBD need a TBD to TBD, because you are a TBD , you can't TBD

/signed
you aggree!

It's a shame.

Turbine have to do his job.

I have to say that even though I am an American I find it deplorable that a company that offers services specifically for French and German speakers has done such an awful job of it. There is no excuse whatsoever for this. As far as I am concerned it is pretty insulting to the French and German players. If services are going to be offered in other languages then they MUST be done correctly and if there are errors they must be corrected immediately.

Hopefully Turbine will wake up and see how terrible this situation is and take steps to fix it.

My Apologies to the French and German speakers. My German is limited to a few words better not said on a forum and I have forgotten most of the French I learned 20 years ago to disuse. Hence I will not even try to translate my post.

oh and

/signed

...I'm signing this also. I would really appreciate an improvement of the translations, by that I mean to have complete translations and also consistent translations. Spells or skills should not suddenly have a different name in descriptions, for example... that's kinda confusing...

About the German support, I can only say that I don't use it. I'm in the lucky position to be able to contact the American customer support, and they are great. Not all of my friends are in that position though, and I've heard many stories about unanswered tickets and unsolved problems when using the German customer support.

I can't say anything against German speaking gamemasters, so far I've had good experiences with them, and I'm glad they are there and reachable ingame, even though they may not be able to or allowed to solve all problems. Thanks to them for their help and explanations so far!

"signed" for a better support (German player)

/signed

or try read this:

Nur weil´s ihr alle kein Deutsch und Französisch könnt´s, könnt´s auch net gescheit übersetzen.

Google Translator say:

Just because it's not all German and French's can, can translate net's also smart. (huuh????)

Google Translator English -> German:

Nur weil es nicht genug Deutsch und Französisch zu können, übersetzen kann net ist auch klug. (wuhahaaha wus that?) ;D

greetings 2 all friends @ Lodi, Ca

/sign

Support my Language or I go somewhere else. Other MMOs support German!

Signed!

This is not a minor bug that annoys people, this is a major obstacle to French and German speakers' ability to play the game. It's going on for a full year since Turbine took over the EU servers, surely that should be long enough to keep the promise made to those gamers that they would continue to have service in their languages.

/signed

Not all people can speak english.. especially young french people. And when you have to contact support team... you have to speak english

Originally Posted by Solitudo

/signed

or try read this:...

Thats unfair, your sentence isnt real German to begin with :P

We shouldn't forget this...

Originally Posted by Solitudo

/signed

or try read this:

Nur weil´s ihr alle kein Deutsch und Französisch könnt´s, könnt´s auch net gescheit übersetzen.

Google Translator say:

Just because it's not all German and French's can, can translate net's also smart. (huuh????)

Google Translator English -> German:

Nur weil es nicht genug Deutsch und Französisch zu können, übersetzen kann net ist auch klug. (wuhahaaha wus that?) ;D

greetings 2 all friends @ Lodi, Ca

Oh joy.
Here is the Google translation of the original sentence if the author would have actually written it in correct German.
"Just because you all can not speak German and French, ye can not translate properly."

Dialects and slang are no good if you want to make a statement.

/signed as well (we need Spanish translation too)

I don't know if it has been said before, but at the moment there is a particularly embarassing mistake in the screen announcing Update 6.

Instead of "Ufer des Großen Flusses" it reads "Ufer der Großen Flusses" - it is only one letter but makes the grammar and sound in German simply wrong and really bad... especially since someone who is good in German would never make that mistake. And it's not some quest text... it's in the launcher, over the whole screen while loading...

I've noticed that too, Arannir, and thought that this was quite embarrassing actually... Hopefully no merchandise has been created with that mistake in it...

/sign

I too think that the localisation is terribly poor these days.
And compared to the loca on e.g. Swtor, you really see how bad the loca is on lotro (independently of the games themselves)

The worst is clearly bugs is the descriptions of things.
Take e.g. a Runekeeper leg to reduce the power cost of combat, which once extracted from your legendary object, is labeled as a leg to reduce the power cost of healing .... :/ (french client)

/signed

Granted I am an native English speaker, but I do believe that everyone should get the same service for the money they pay. I do not really believe that it would be hard to put a translator into this game either, would save the "English Speaking Rightists" the effort of whining in chat when someone else isn't speaking English. Toggle translator on --- BOOM!! Less fighting, more fun.

Come on Turbine, give us some feedback.

/signed

As it was said/discussed in another thread about the "Ufer der grossen Flusses"

http://forums.lotro.com/showthread.p...he-Great-River
http://forums.lotro.com/showthread.p...wishlist/page6

I am not playing for very long (started playing at the beginning of this year)

I really like the game, I am really keen on this game - overall you do a great job BUT the localisation and translating issues are simply poor!

As I wrote in the the other tread the community of German and French players would be proud if they could help to improve this game, there are enough players who are able and willing to help to fix the translation problems - you only had to hire one translation checker and the game would be a more comfortable game for all and if it would work properly I think more players would be ready to spend more real cash to fully enjoy the game. So what your are doing now is mining your own grave and it is contraproductive.

Please, LET US HELP YOU. And please show some sign of respect and interest to your paying customers and make an statement about the massive input you get from the community here.

best regards from Germany

Applying for localization support and coordination.

References: Native German speaker, aged 50
Learned English for 40 years and never stopped.
Much time at hand.

This would help avoid situations as the following which I experienced in the treasure hunt.

I opened a chest with an emote inside. It was called 'Nachahmung' (imitation)
When I activated it, I was told that I had learned the 'Muenzbiss' (coin biting) emote.
When I tried to use this emote, it didn't work. Neither Nachahmung nor Muenzbiss would provide any effect.
I browsed the Emote list and finally found out that it was actually called 'Faelschung' (fake)

Who for heaven's sake did this? Three terms for just one emote? In our language there is a proverb about 'the left hand not knowing what the right hand does', but you seem to have even one more hand, or was it a foot? Please fix these goofs before they drive your German customers away.


Greetings, Polymachos

Ouch... Good that you found out what the emote was really called!

I think they fixed the login screen though in the meantime... or I got so used to it by now that I didn't notice the error anymore when I logged in last night.

I would imagine having a web access, editable by certified users, readable by all others, would be helpful.

All standard expressions like fervour, focus, skill & legacy names, locations etc. should be listed with their official translation.
That way anyone translating something new can refer to the approved translation, so warden and guardian dont get confused with each other when translated (these two are similar in their meaning) or rivendell remains bruchtal etc..

Also all individual texts like quest textes, written text output, messages, Skill description etc. should be listed, in their original and translated versions.

Like in a wiki, some certified people could operate as master users, responsible for certain areas like shire or bree, or topic-wise, like quests, or items, or current promotion activities etc.
Everyone could edit the translations, but the master user would have to proof-read and approve of the changes.

Every two weeks or so turbine could take that database and include the changes in a new patch, improving the individual language experience for everyone.
That way, with a massive effort by the users, even other languages could be offered, as long as there is an active community supporting the work (spanish anyone?).
On the other hand, correcting translation errors etc is all handled via the community, reducing the cost and strain on turbines resources (something less to care about, if the export/import of these texts is automated).

To reward this effort I wouldn't offer direct benefits, perhaps only for the master users having to proofread lots of text, but for all other contributors, having their translations approved, there could be special lotteries offering fluff rewards (or actually useful stuff).

Of course that totally depends on how the current NLS system works, how easily texts in their original form and translation is included into the game client.
But I believe after an initial effort it would work in favour of Turbine: they only would have to care for the english texts. All other cost-intensive effort for translation etc. is placed on the shoulders of the community.
If all of a sudden there wouldnt be enough users contributing, it obviously means there isnt much demand for that native language. If turbine would simply keep on offering french or german support, that would be money wasted.

As a new VIP I've been already a little bit obset. I began with a bard, and the skills aren't working at all as they are written in the german description. I will stop to pay my monthly payment, in reason of the missing european service. If you don't "care" about us, why should we give you our money?