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Russian localization and regional prices.

Just in case, I would like to remind to all that the Russian language is one of the 5 most spoken languages ​​on the planet. Many developers have already made the mistake of ignoring this fact. True, many do not even know this. But it is enough to look at Warcraft and TECO, and compare them with other games without the Russian language.

Comments

  • I really would advise you to have a read of the wiki:

    "Ashes of Creation will be initially available in English, French, German, and Russian.[2][3]

    Italian, Polish and Spanish localization will then be added.[3]
    Spanish will be added in the near future.[4]
    Other languages are being considered.[2]
    "
    https://ashesofcreation.wiki/Languages
    This link may help you: https://ashesofcreation.wiki/
  • I don't have any special knowledge on the subject other than counting to five and using a google search.
    https://www.statista.com/statistics/266808/the-most-spoken-languages-worldwide/
    I'm not saying that Russian isn't one of the fifth most spoken languages, but I am reasonably sure it isn't in the top four and there may be contention between several languages claiming that they are in fifth place.

    I am happy to see that Russian will be supported in the initial release so that we don't have to investigate further.

    Cue complaints from a billion Chinese and Hindi speakers...
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  • edited November 2021
    Go raibh maith agaibh - thank thou (plural) :)
  • VoidwalkersVoidwalkers Member
    edited November 2021
    McMackMuck wrote: »

    Cue complaints from a billion Chinese and Hindi speakers...

    Chinese support is probably something they shouldn't worry about until much, much, much later.

    The language is rarely ever the problem. It's usually the politics, regulation, culture, and a gigantomajestic nuclear mindfield so huge, dense & deadly that you have to navigate with extreme caution.

    The subtlest mention (or lack thereof) of anything remotely related to China or its ppl / culture in anyway they dislike could instantly land you an infamous deadly conviction known as "Insult on China". And any hope of succeeding in the (mainland) Chinese market vanishes with it.
  • KarthosKarthos Member, Braver of Worlds, Kickstarter, Alpha One
    I'm glad to know "not reading about this game and then making declarative statements about what it should do, while not realizing it already does this" is not just an NA/EU thing.
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  • VhaeyneVhaeyne Member, Alpha One, Adventurer
    Not that I have a dog in this fight, but if they are prioritizing Russian over Spanish like this quote implies:
    There's localization that will be present in the German and French Russian languages to start; and then we intend to also localize in Italian, Polish and Spanish. So servers will be allocated within the region as being one of those language type servers. So it's not going to be per country per se as it might be per language

    I am pretty sure you have no worries. I would have picked Spanish over Russian. Not out of bias, but just trying to cast a larger net.
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    If I had more time, I would write a shorter post.
  • unknownsystemerrorunknownsystemerror Member, Phoenix Initiative, Royalty, Kickstarter, Alpha One
    McMackMuck wrote: »

    Cue complaints from a billion Chinese and Hindi speakers...

    Chinese support is probably something they shouldn't worry about until much, much, much later.

    The language is rarely ever the problem. It's usually the politics, regulation, culture, and a gigantomajestic nuclear mindfield so huge, dense & deadly that you have to navigate with extreme caution.

    The subtlest mention (or lack thereof) of anything remotely related to China or its ppl / culture in anyway they dislike could instantly land you an infamous deadly conviction known as "Insult on China". And any hope of succeeding in the (mainland) Chinese market vanishes with it.

    Steven has addressed their plans for the Chinese market in the past. They will allow them to VPN into the game if they so choose, thus eliminating the whole "appease Pooh or your game gets blacklisted!" argument.

    My feeling on the Russian thing was that it was a requirement of them publishing in EU and Russia with the My.Games deal. Now that is dead and long buried they are still stuck with that customer base. I wouldn't be surprised that after they run into the mafia mentality that plagues publishing in that region that the Russian and connected region players get shuffled into the EU publishing.
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  • @unknownsystemerror
    Chairman Pooh. Titles are important. Oh, and don't think 'Pooh' is actually the correct name either. :p
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  • McMackMuck wrote: »
    @unknownsystemerror
    Chairman Pooh. Titles are important. Oh, and don't think 'Pooh' is actually the correct name either. :p

    I dunno. I've found that unknownsystemerror is generally right about things on this forum. You might want to just take their word for it. :p:D
    This link may help you: https://ashesofcreation.wiki/
  • No need to complicate. I was just talking about the Russian language for the game, at least the translation of texts. No one requires is for anything.
  • NoaaniNoaani Member, Intrepid Pack
    No need to complicate. I was just talking about the Russian language for the game, at least the translation of texts. No one requires is for anything.

    Keep in mind, events that have transpired since this thread started may have changed Intrepids plans for a Russian version.

    In fact, I would be shocked if they haven't at least reconsidered.
  • CROW3CROW3 Member
    Well, supporting the Russian language and supporting a regional Russian server are two very different things. I have a number of friends stateside that speak Russian as their primary language.
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  • NoaaniNoaani Member, Intrepid Pack
    CROW3 wrote: »
    Well, supporting the Russian language and supporting a regional Russian server are two very different things. I have a number of friends stateside that speak Russian as their primary language.

    The problem with this is that a Russian server would have to have a Russian based server time (for events and such).

    I really don't see Intrepid setting up a Russian language server with a US time zone.
  • CROW3CROW3 Member
    Fair point.
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  • forLelielforLeliel Member
    edited June 2023
    As you mentioned, games like Warcraft and TECO have recognized the importance of including the Russian language in their efforts with a myriad of software localization tools. By doing so, they have been able to expand their reach and appeal to a broader audience.

    Acknowledging the linguistic diversity of the global population is a crucial aspect of creating inclusive and user-friendly experiences, and it is always beneficial for developers to consider providing localization options for widely spoken languages such as Russian.
  • JahlonJahlon Member, Intrepid Pack, Alpha One
    Just in case, I would like to remind to all that the Russian language is one of the 5 most spoken languages ​​on the planet. Many developers have already made the mistake of ignoring this fact. True, many do not even know this. But it is enough to look at Warcraft and TECO, and compare them with other games without the Russian language.

    Uh nope

    English – 1,121 million speakers. ...
    Mandarin Chinese – 1,107 million speakers. ...
    Hindi – 698 million speakers. ...
    Spanish – 512 million speakers. ...
    French – 284 million speakers. ...
    Arabic – 273 million speakers. ...
    Bengali – 265 million inhabitants. ...
    Russian – 258 million speakers.
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    Make sure to check out Ashes 101
  • Chaos_LegionChaos_Legion Member
    edited June 2023
    Uh nope again:

    1. Chinese — 1.3 Billion Native Speakers
    2. Spanish — 485 Million Native Speakers
    3. English — 373 Million Native Speakers
    4. Arabic — 362 Million Native Speakers
    8. Russian — 154 Million Native Speakers

    Lol numbers are all over the place anyway. Prolly Intrepid will look into monetization value, not most spoken language stats anyway. I know I would. ))
  • NoaaniNoaani Member, Intrepid Pack
    edited June 2023
    Uh nope again:

    1. Chinese — 1.3 Billion Native Speakers
    2. Spanish — 485 Million Native Speakers
    3. English — 373 Million Native Speakers
    4. Arabic — 362 Million Native Speakers
    8. Russian — 154 Million Native Speakers

    Lol numbers are all over the place anyway. Prolly Intrepid will look into monetization value, not most spoken language stats anyway. I know I would. ))
    So, two points here.

    First, I would be wary of anything at all to do with languages that lists "Chinese" as a language.

    Are we talking Mandarin, Cantonese, Hunanese, Wu? (there are more, I just can't remember the less common ones off the top of my head). If it is Standard Chinese (note that Standard Chinese is Standard Chinese, it is not just Chinese), the number is just wrong.

    Second, the OP is talking about most spoken languages, not languages with the most native speakers. These are different things.
  • Are we talking about spoken languages or written languages? Because write now we are not speaking english technically. )))
    Lol good point on Chinese dialects. So AoC should be written in Chinese (all variants) and translated to Engrish before release.
  • Are we talking about spoken languages or written languages? Because write now we are not speaking english technically. )))
    Lol good point on Chinese dialects. So AoC should be written in Chinese (all variants) and translated to Engrish before release.

    he means people who natively speak the language and people who speak the language as a 2nd+ language
  • VoidwalkersVoidwalkers Member
    edited June 2023
    Since Chinese was mentioned, I think I'll just fill in a few details as a native cantonese speaker.

    There's a difference in "Chinese text" (written) and "Chinese dialects" (spoken).

    There're only 2 types of Chinese text that are actively being used:
    Traditional Chinese - used in Taiwan & Hong Kong.
    Simplified Chinese - used in Mainland China & Singapore.

    And unless you want to do localized voice acting, those two are all you'll ever need to care about. Although be warned, for historical, political, and emotional reasons, both the Traditional & Simplified Chinese community will feel offended if you only do the other Chinese version but not theirs.

    Spoken Chinese, meanwhile, is a much more complicated thing:
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varieties_of_Chinese

    - There are hundreds of localized varieties
    - Phonology's completely different, vocabs differ to a lesser extent, while the underlying character set is more or less the same (just the traditional vs simplified difference). e.g. Cantonese & Mandarin speakers usually cannot understand each other if they just talk, but if you let them text each other, they can communicate just fine. This is why when you put Mainland Chinese, Taiwanese, and Hong Kong players in the same game you can often see them engage in heated political arguments in public channels :#
    - Mandarin is the most widely-used version, coz ccp basically forces it upon all of the mainland chinese population. If a mainland chinese person is educated enough to know how to play mmorpg on a PC, he knows mandarin anyway. (i.e. you can safely ignore the "hundreds of varieties" ...)
    - Cantonese/Yue is only used in Hong Kong & China's Guangdong province. But nobody here would ever expect an English-based, international game to have a localized version with Cantonese voice acting (sure some of us may *appreciate* it, but none of us would *expect* it). Many of us grew up playing English/Japanese based games, and will gladly just play the English version.

    In short, if you want to localize the text for Chinese, do both Simplified & Traditional. If you have money to throw away and want to add localized voice-acting, do Mandarin.

    Anyway, back to Russian.
  • Noaani wrote: »
    No need to complicate. I was just talking about the Russian language for the game, at least the translation of texts. No one requires is for anything.

    Keep in mind, events that have transpired since this thread started may have changed Intrepids plans for a Russian version.

    In fact, I would be shocked if they haven't at least reconsidered.

    I think this is the major point in this thread, right now.
    This link may help you: https://ashesofcreation.wiki/
  • NiKrNiKr Member
    daveywavey wrote: »
    I think this is the major point in this thread, right now.
    I won't be playing it in russian, but pretty much all my friends will play Ashes in russian, if there's a choice. Same goes for the majority of CIS citizens. So while I would understand if Steven would decide not to have a russian translation - they would definitely lose a good 1-3 full servers of players from CIS countries. Ashes is really close to L2 in design, and there's still hundreds of L2 servers here with each having at least several hundred players.
  • NerrorNerror Member, Alpha One, Adventurer
    As things look currently, I wouldn't be placing any servers in Russia in the nearby future. Just from a purely business point of view. Too much uncertainty. But if the russian speaking playerbase is big enough close to release, sure, it makes sense to still have a localized version and some servers in a stable part of the CIS region.
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