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Are you using Google Translate? German translations are worse
Hi BHVR,
I just played on PS4 after the current update and saw different translations which are actually worse than before.
Would you spend a couple hundred Euro please to just have a registered translator make the translations for you instead? It looks very poor and unprofessional
Greetz
Comments
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Can you give an example?
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You know Google Translate isn't perfect, ya know? It just gives you a rough estimate of what a different language is saying in your language. As a proficient French and native English speaker, I see the flaws of Google Translate.
Example:
Qu'est-ce que tu faire?
Google Translate:
"What you do?"
What it's supposed to translate to:
"What are you doing?"
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I don't understand German, I'm not even an English native speaker, that's why I asked for an example.
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@NMCKE Nobody said that the devs should use Google Translate. They most likely worked together with non-certified translators who didn't do a good job. (If you take a look around here, the German translation isn't the only one people are complaining about.)
@Pirscher Besides that DbD should have proper translations: If you don't like the translation, you could play the game in English. It's what I do.
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German speaking here. Its not only that most translations sound like Google Translater, its also that many things in-game plain and simple read the wrong effects. Nurse add-ons confuse "slightly", and "moderate" alot for example. Or the Windstorm add-ons for Wraith read like his movement is decrased while being uncloacked, while its only while uncloacking.
I dont know about other translations, but they seriously need to step up their game in the German version. Many explanations are simply wrong, or worded in a confusing matter.
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I'm saying that Google translate isn't a good tool to translate between languages (See Below).
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@NMCKE Yeah, everybody knows that Google translate doesn't make perfect translations?
I mean, every player who is complaining here about the quality of a certain translation is probably a native speaker of that specific language and has in addition a good command of English.
The op asked the devs to hire a certified translator and jokingly asked whether the current translation was done by Google (since it is so bad). I just don't get why you would start explaining in seriousness why Google translate isn't a good choice for a professional translation.
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Because it isn't a good choice.
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@NMCKE Waaaah... everybody knows that. The op simply made a joke. Let's leave it at that. ^^
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Not everyone, and that's the reason why I felt like I needed to further explain why it's so bad. Most people may think Google Translate is pretty decent when in reality, it's not very comprehensible. It's okay to use it in a pinch, but not in the long run. Therefore, I hope the developers aren't using Google Translate because I been hearing the translations have been very, disappointing.
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@NMCKE Everybody who speaks a 2nd language knows how low the quality of Google translate is.
And in Europe, it's normal that people speak 2-4 languages. People who aren't speaking anything besides English aren't complaining about the translations.
I'm sure the devs aren't using Google translate. As I wrote above, I assume that they hired a non-certified translator.
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Yeah, you're right, they probably are using non certified translators, but on the bright side, at least it's something right? I would rather have something than nothing.
PS: Sorry if I seemed rude earlier. I was really tired (which means I'm usually mean) until I drunk a ton of Starbucks coffee!
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It is the same case with chinese translation as well.
Most notable translation error is selfcare, which they translate as '照顧自己', which means take care of yourself, as in when someone is going somewhere far and you ask them to 'take good care of yourself'.
What strange is that, this translation error just pop up out of nowhere around Legion update. Before that, it was translated as '自我療愈', which correctly translate as healing yourself.
Leader also got translation change from '領袖' to '引領群雄', both also mean the same thing but the latter is a more fancy way to say leader, which perplex me because they can get a more difficult translation right but get a simpler translation wrong.
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I think lots of Japanese folks got a good chuckle out of the "First Cut" trailer for The Spirit also, not just for the really awkward translation, but the very evident foreign intonation as well. I still wonder if they weren't able to find one native speaker for it.
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I’m a certified translator and I created a ticket once to mention that Spanish versions of perks and item descriptions were wrong and offered to help, but I got a “we will look into it”. \o/
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@Gorgonia I wish the devs would accept the help of the community, when there are certified translators like you. A certified translator knowing the game is an ideal situation.
@NMCKE You didn't came across as rude, no worries. I know you are a nice one. ^^ The thing with the translations is that a lot of them obviously got worse than before. The devs probably switched the translation agency they were working with and now the quality is suffering. However, that might not be the case for all languages. I've only seen complaints about some languages so far, so there might have been improvements for other languages.
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A certified translator wouldn't do this for free. Nor should he.
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Translating a couple of words or phrases wouldn’t take long. I would honestly do it for free, if that means the game gets to be decent on my language.
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Hello everyone!
Thank you all for your feedback, I have sent your concerns to the localization team!
Thanks!
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Have them take a look at DeepL: https://www.deepl.com/translator
It's a very high quality translation tool that produces near-human levels of quality
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Writing here because translations still have not been corrected =(
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There are several totally wrong written addons. I am not sure if they got fixed by time cuz I am playing the english client for over a year now but I remember that the wraith silent bell addon was written as:
Verringert moderat den klang der Glocke.
Which means:
Moderatly reduce the sound of the bell.
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Exactly. There are many misleading things.
And it just looks wrong and ugly
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Agree the German translation is really bad up to decent. Most of the words are simple translated and alot of words are used there that NO German would ever use in the language. If you play this game in German it feels like you are reading a instructions to a technical device. Everything sounds soo... strict and unnatural. The devs really need some natural German speakers to translate that, its necessary!
Some examples for unnatural words that no German would use:
Stufe (Level) - most of these words are really old, German has been adapted with time and many english words are now very common such es "Level".
Wahrnehmung (Perception) - sounds very weird, noone uses this word its way too informative. You would say this in instructions or informations but not a game or text xD. My suggestion: Aufmerksamkeit (Alert or keep an eye)
Talent (Actually translation is gift, flair or talent) - Its perks in english, Talent doesnt fit at all? Imo a really flawed translation without any thinking behind. My suggestion: Also a word that got common in German, should also just stay at "Perks".
Wiederherstellungsrate (Recovery rate) - Wiederherstellung is usually something that you "rebuild" or "heal" for medical themes but not recover from a fall, stun or ability. The translation is also not good and doesnt fit. My suggestion: Aufladezeit or Abklingzeit, that reffers more to a "ability".
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Yeah it would be best for a native speaker to translate.
Wiederherstellungsrate and Abklingzeit are both actually being used too which is very inconsistent and annoying!
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Actually its not better than nothing lol
If I didnt know english, then this game would be unplayable for me, tralslations are THIS bad.
And Steam page says that this game is available in my language... Well its not a lie, but it also is...
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Could you please provide some examples? I am legitimately curious, I am trying to learn german trough this game and I would like to know which translations are defective
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I personally think that mettle of men is translated weirdly. From what I have seen "mettle" can indeed mean "Eifer" but it just sounds so weird. "Courage" seems to be a synonym for "mettle", which could be translated to "Mut" which would sound a bit better in my opinion.
But I get that this is a minor issue compared to wrong perk and addon description, BT for example had still the old description months after the nerf, if I remember correctly, so it is best to just play in english, imo.
(I tried the deepl-translator, that @Madjura linked and it suggested "Besatzung, Besatzung der Männer, Männerschädel and Männerschreck". Idk, those do not sound right either, so I'm kinda lost what the correct translation for mom would be)
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@Spannungsstoß descriptions are often translated wrong into German. Either the words they have used are outdated or incorrect, or there are grammatical errors, or its a combination of all of these things.
@SunaIIanu yes of course you can play in English but we shouldnt have to - the German player base for this game is huge so surely its worth the investment to fix the text. I think French is probably the most complete version of this game as they are a French speaking studio
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This.
Some translations are really weird. And as you've already pointed out, either outdated or unintuitive.
Rancor is translated as "Hass". "Hass", however, rather translates into "Hatred" or "Hate", signifying a strong aversion or intense dislike whereas "Rancor" refers much rather to "malignity" which would equal "Verbitterung/Groll" in German. Which, conicidentally, would be much closer to the French "rancœur". I know that's an incredible pedantic detail, but it's the sum of those little things that build up to this 'weird' feeling towards many translations into German in the Game. I've been playing the game mostly on English, that's why I rarely come across any weird translations. If I do, it's mostly because friends of mine talk about them.
@BHVR: I'm a native speaker of German and proficient in English and French. Hit me up if there's anything I can help you with. :D
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Ich wollte nicht sagen, dass jeder in Englisch spielen soll, ich meinte eher: "Ich hab aufgeben, dass die Übersetzung jemals korrekt sein wird, also spiele ich jetzt in englisch." Du hast natürlich Recht, dass es Sinn machen würde, eine gute Übersetzung zu machen, aber ich glaub einfach, solange sich da nicht super viele Leute beschweren, passiert da nix.
Sorry for writing in german, I just specified what I meant in the other comment and it is easier to avoid missunderstandings in that way.
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Hey, can I ask you a question?
How would you translate mettle of men?
As I mentioned, I think "Eifer der Menschen" sounds super weird, but I'm not sure, what a correct/better translation would be.
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You know, when it comes to translating stuff, you have to always ask yourself whether you want to stay as close to the original as possible ('literal fidelity') or if you want to strive for equivalence ('equivalent effect'). Throughout a good translation of a text, one is constantly moving on a spectrum between those two extremes.
Now here, Mettle of Man is a tricky phrase to translate since 'mettle' in itself is fairly vague in its meaning I think. Also, I'd deem a literal translation into German such as "Eifer der Menschen" as inappropriate because a) - for me - it carries a political or economical if not spiritual connotation and b) it doesn't feel natural at all and most certainly does not equal "Mettle of Man" in English as the phrase "X of Man" in itself is much more common in English than in German.
So, why not translate it simply into "Eifer" or "Mut"? :)
@SunaIIanu While I was writing this text, I got your notification. I think I've answered your question, haven't It? In this case, I'd simply translate it as "Mut" or "Eifer", the latter being way more formal (such as mettle). It might be even possible and most certainly legitimate to translate it as "Hartnäckigkeit" since mettle refers to one's "ability and determination when competing or doing something difficult" and "an ingrained capacity for meeting strain or difficulty with fortitude and resilience". (Cambridge/Merriam-Webster)
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Oh look, another year old necro.
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I think that would sound pretty good, despite not being literal.
I checked dictionary entries for "mettle" and they said something along the lines of "your ability to deal with a difficult Situation", "stuff of which a person is made", "Courage, Spirit etc" so "Mut" probably comes close to that. And I totally get your feeling for "Eifer der Menschen" is sounds political and unnatural for me too.
I didn't know that "X of men" is a common phrase in english, but that might explain why it sounds so weird in german^^.
Thank you very much :)
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I have to disagree with some of your points. Talent for Perk makes sense. Normally Talent is used to translate skills and skill trees in RPGs. This goes back to the big German PnP-RPG DSA (Das schwarze Auge) or the the Dark Eye in english. I personally think Talent is probably the most fitting term for perk here. Otherwise I would use something like Meisterschaft. But even though the playerbase adapted to the term perk. I wouldn't stick with the english term. Similar with Stufe for Level is a quite common translation. You might think it's oldfashioned, but it's used correctly. So why go back to Denglish? Wahrnehmung is also quite a common term in German PnP RPGs for Perception. But I would say it's a little bit unfitting, because Wahrnehmung/Perception refers more to your general ability to sense things in your surrounding. Fitting more to something more passive than this perk.
But to add something with bad translation: Spalt for the Rift is just wrong the way Rift is understood and used in context. Spalt refers more to natural rifts in landscapes or to describe general gaps, while a Riss fits more to something which opens up for a certain time. And I also heavily dislike how Myers/The Shape is referred as Der Wandler in German. A Wandler would be a shifter, which misdirects and doesn't fit to his ability. A better translation would be "Die Gestalt"
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Just a quick update about the German translation by switching quickly to it: Nothing has changed.
Wraith windstorm add-ons still say his movement speed while uncloaked is decreased.
The decription of Nurse's cooldown add-ons actually makes no sense. They use the phrase "Verlängert die Ladegeschwindigkeit der Teleportation", which means something like "Extends the chargespeed of the teleportation". Complete nonsense.
Deathslingers short description says he shoots arrows ....
The words "Killer", "shop" are not translated at all.
Gearhead's translation is cut off. Apparently its supposed to be called "Ausrüstungsspezialist" (which is acceptable in my opinion), however it only reads "Ausrüstungsspezi".
I could go on and on, but my conclusion is that the German translation is simply not worth it. Its lackluster, often factually wrong, and reads like it got translated by a machine. I will switch back to the English version, because it actually tells me what power, perks, add-ons, etc do.
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German translations still havent been fixed..
Also, the Deathslinger has two names in the game for us: in his profile and on the character select screen he is called 'Der Todesbote' but on his perks and in the cosmetic store he is called 'Der Sammler'.
It is very sad and lousy.........
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