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Posted - 2008.10.15 14:53:00 -
[1]
 Originally by: CCP Caedmon
Thanks for the welcome Dmian and thanks both of you for your suggestions!
From the outside localization might seem like a trivial thing but for a MMO game with over 2 million words and new content released regularly it is anything but simple. We have worked with volunteers on translating the client in the past and while we love the fact that the community is so enthusiastic we found the results to be patchy. Volunteers don't have professional tools with things like translation memory, in-built glossary and style guides which help to ensure quality and consistency.
Hello Caedmon, you are right!
In the past, I did professional translations from english to spanish for a USA software company whose product I used to sell in MFxico and indeed translation is not simple nor easy. It seems a simple task from a bird eye point of view, but at the time to cope with it well, details come out. It`s not only the words but also the best word to use that conveys the true meaning of what is being said and very important too, is the fact that words are different sizes in spanish. For example in EVE GUI, "asteroid belt" would translate to "cintur=n de asteroides". 13 spaces in English versus 21 in Spanish. We had all the tools needed to change the software user`s interface because we had to change also the size of the pulldown menus. If the spanish pulldown menu was longer, we had to go into the software`s GUI and modify accordingly.
With over two million words plus new content added often, a CCP spanish translation team director or at least a supervising position is needed permanently or for the duration of the translation. Obviously it cannot be changed by just about about any user that grabs a text list of English words. Popular Spanish differs from country to country, some words in Spain are not common in MFxico or Argentina, not that these are not known, only that are not commonly used. Yeah, some computer slang is now universal, ie; the word "chat", but these are exceptions not rules.
To translate EVE GUI is no simple task, that is evident, but I have met several EVE enthusiast that ask -in game- the meaning of this or that word. This is not often, but happens. Spanish speakers in the world amount for a very good sized market, no need to talk about it, surely CCP knows about it. The computer literate Spanish market is growing by leaps and bounds and EVE has proven to be a good place to be at, but because it`s not a simple shooters game localization is important.
I do hope Spanish localization matter is taken by CCP, being the size of the task a two million word job, sooner than later.
Take Care
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