Validation process

[fzerorubigd]

Recently, I checked the BGA persian translation, and to be honest I was surprised, there are some very good and some very bad translations.
I double checked with the translators, it seems that by having some translation you can get a gift and convert it to premium subscription, then some abuse this, by using google translator to copy and paste strings, and get the points. later on, good translators don't want to fix that translation because there is no point for doing a fix.

So it is a race to post these translations, and nobody wants to fix them later. I want to ask if there is a screening somewhere, somehow? since this is annoying, I like to use my language, but the quality is really bad.
If there is, how someone can participate in screening process?

Best

[Een]

There is no pre-screening, but when the translation community is active for a language, bad translators are spotted and reported (there is a specific category for that) and if the report shows a clear case of abuse, these translators get banned.

The incentive is small by design, as the main motivation should not be the incentive. Also for languages used by few players, this incentive has been limited to the translation of the main site and most popular games. Beyond the initial incremental translation process (the string is validated after 30 days) there can be no more incentive (other than the desire to improve the translation), as otherwise some shady users could change perfectly valid translations just because of the incentive (it's sad, but it happened).

All in all yes, this is a community process, and for languages with a less active community, it can be a mix until the community takes of with a sufficient number of translators willing to improve the overall quality.

Also note that some initial translations may have been automatically populated with machine translation by BGA. In that case, these translations can be modified or confirmed by translators with the same incentive as for other translations. You can refer to the FAQ about the process https://boardgamearena.com/faq?anchor=faq_translations

[fzerorubigd]

I understand all the points. the problem here is a little different, because of so many factors, Iranian users can not get the premium account easily. (the sanction is real, I live abroad so it is easy for me) one of the easiest way of getting this is to get it using translation that it leads to the problem that I explained.
The incentive here is much more motivating than the normal situation. I am not sure if there any viable solution here, but, I get the point.

Thanks

[cigma]

some abuse this, by using google translator to copy and paste strings, and get the points. later on, good translators don't want to fix that translation because there is no point for doing a fix.

I would like to clarify this:

After someone translated a text (or checked a machine translation), there is a waiting period of 30 days. If the text was not changed in these 30 days, the translator will get 1 gift point. But if the text is changed, another period of 30 days starts, and so on. Only if a text was not changed for 30 days, it is "validated" and the last translator / corrector will get the gift point.

A validated text can still be changed by 'seasoned' players, but without getting gift points.

[fzerorubigd]

some abuse this, by using google translator to copy and paste strings, and get the points. later on, good translators don't want to fix that translation because there is no point for doing a fix.

I would like to clarify this:

After someone translated a text (or checked a machine translation), there is a waiting period of 30 days. If the text was not changed in these 30 days, the translator will get 1 gift point. But if the text is changed, another period of 30 days starts, and so on. Only if a text was not changed for 30 days, it is "validated" and the last translator / corrector will get the gift point.

A validated text can still be changed by 'seasoned' players, but without getting gift points.

You can fix the translation, for sure. but there is no reward for fixing a translation, that's the main problem.

[cigma]

You can fix the translation, for sure. but there is no reward for fixing a translation, that's the main problem.

This is not true. There is only one reward for each text. If you fix the translation within 30 days of the original translation, it is you who gets the reward, not the other one.

[Woodruff]

This is not true. There is only one reward for each text. If you fix the translation within 30 days of the original translation, it is you who gets the reward, not the other one.

Hi,
I think fzerorubigd point here is that there is no point AFTER 30 days have elapsed without a change on the string (hence the translation is marked as confirmed).

This is usually not an issue where the translator community is broad. But for the target language, persian, it can be, because there is low chance that a "serious" translator is here to fix the bad translation, and when they arrive after 30 days, there is no more incentive to fix that (except of course if they are willing to fix it out of passion).

Take care,

Woodruff

[fruktansvärt]

Yes, but Een's point is that, if you get a gift point every time you change something, what's to stop people from continuously change validated translations (whether for good, bad or inconsequential) just to get the points?

[Dorian Gray2]

This is usually not an issue where the translator community is broad. But for the target language, persian, it can be, because there is low chance that a "serious" translator is here to fix the bad translation, and when they arrive after 30 days, there is no more incentive to fix that (except of course if they are willing to fix it out of passion).

I see your point. I have also been in a situation, where I changed a 4 year old translation by removing a typo. I am not sure if I should get the full reward for fixing a typo. That could also be abused by changing a translation to something that is merely äquivalent to get points.

[Woodruff]

I see your point. I have also been in a situation, where I changed a 4 year old translation by removing a typo. I am not sure if I should get the full reward for fixing a typo. That could also be abused by changing a translation to something that is merely äquivalent to get points.

Indeed. We could imagine some fair system to give good incentive, for example some kind a pair review for this case.

• A fix of on old translation (> 30 days) would be possible and applicated as soon as the new string is submitted. But that would not give its translator who made the fix a gift point.
• From this point on, another senior translator (a peer) could confirm that the fix is legitimate. When this is done, then the gift point could be awarded to the translator who made the fix.

This could prevent abusive changes "just to get gift points".

Still a bit complex though, but the idea resembles the "english to english" translation review, to proposes changes to the original strings on which translations into other languages are based on (no gift points are awarded for that though).