another unbearable translator behavior : the scavengers

[Hagardunor]

I have raised some time before the issue of serial translators. I have found another unbearable translator breed : the scavengers.

They roam in the game list, looking for a weakness in translation, and mercyless change one word or expression, often ridiculous changes, to get the benefit of translation.

Generally they are not fair enough to make a comment on how the change makes sense and is important, because it is most of the time just a trick to get credit for the translation.

Let me know if you have already met some of that kind.

[ufm]

Found many of them. Reported when enough evidence had been gathered as it is an obvious sabotage to translations.

[Wintersweet08]

Hi, I was accused of such a beahviour...
When I have time, I try and translate some lines.
ONCE, and only ONCE, I saw a serie of mistakes in the use of the article in my language. Some lines with the same mistake.
In the past, I worked as a professional translator, so it was normal for me seeing and correcting those kind of mistakes and I did not comment...as in my view if I correct something, that's because I find it wrong, as simply as that,

Well, I was contacted by the first translator who asked not to do that (never again!), in a very rude way. I explained why I corrected but he/she continued accusing me.
Only after some moments I understood that some translators here just help to gain something and not for the platform's sake.
I am not one of them (and the small number of translated lines shows this) but I was accused in any case.

That is to say....maybe they are not "scavengers" but only people who see mistakes. Just to give you another "point of view"

[fruktansvärt]

i often change translations, if they are bad or inconsistent. and i mostly don't leave a comment (i just can't be bothered).
my view is, if the translation is incorrect or badly written, then it needs to be changed.
often the translation was already validated, so they've gotten the gift point anyway…

[ufm]

In fact it's a different subject: https://boardgamearena.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=32153
This topic is talking about players who intentionally steal the translations just to gain points, like damaging the translation and then reverting to their incorrect translations when someone corrects it.

[cigma]

Let me know if you have already met some of that kind.

I have translated and corrected a lot of texts into German, but this is generally not my experience. I regularly check my translations some days before they are validated to learn about my mistakes. But my translations are rarely changed afterwards and if so, generally for the better.

Instead, I might look like a scavenger to you sometimes.

In some cases I change translations without commenting in order to standardize (translating one specific word in a game always the same way). This might look like a ridiculous change if you don’t recognize the reason why I did this. But the translation system is not very helpful to do that: either I can copy and paste the translation multiple times, or the comment. If I want to comment afterwards, I have to trick the system in order to make it possible. This multiplies the effort. That’s why I might not give a comment for this kind of change.

Another case is if some translations can be understood, but don’t sound like proper German (in fact, I find this very often and are wondering if these translators are really original German speakers). Sometimes this refers to word order. Sometimes this relates to „false friends“ (i. e. we have a German word which sounds like an English word, but has a – sometimes slightly - different meaning). And if we have a word of English origin and a word of German origin for the same thing, I prefer the expression of German origin for the maintenance of our language. Or we have a specialist term in the gaming community which wasn’t observed. All these can be hard to „prove“ or explain, so I hardly ever comment on them.

But as these translations are not overwritten and I don't get any comments for them, I think these changes are accepted by the German community.

So if some translations bother you, why not contact that person and ask for their reasons doing so? Maybe they had a good reason you couldn't figure out on your own.

[Hagardunor]

Hi, I was accused of such a beahviour...
When I have time, I try and translate some lines.
ONCE, and only ONCE, I saw a serie of mistakes in the use of the article in my language. Some lines with the same mistake.
In the past, I worked as a professional translator, so it was normal for me seeing and correcting those kind of mistakes and I did not comment...as in my view if I correct something, that's because I find it wrong, as simply as that,

Well, I was contacted by the first translator who asked not to do that (never again!), in a very rude way. I explained why I corrected but he/she continued accusing me.
Only after some moments I understood that some translators here just help to gain something and not for the platform's sake.
I am not one of them (and the small number of translated lines shows this) but I was accused in any case.

That is to say....maybe they are not "scavengers" but only people who see mistakes. Just to give you another "point of view"

Of course, it is sound that the first translations be reviewed, the second, the fourth etc... as well. I spoke before about serial translators whose translations often need strong reviews.

What I am speaking of are those whose corrections of translations have no interest but trying to be credited of the translation. Some examples (in french) :

• change "elle présente" by "elle a"

• change "lignes et colonnes" par "colonnes et lignes"

• - changed by : although - is present in the english text

[Hagardunor]

Let me know if you have already met some of that kind.

I have translated and corrected a lot of texts into German, but this is generally not my experience. I regularly check my translations some days before they are validated to learn about my mistakes. But my translations are rarely changed afterwards and if so, generally for the better.

Instead, I might look like a scavenger to you sometimes.

No you don't for the reason you give below. I also change former translations very often for the same reasons. My remark is about those tricky little changes that have absolutely no consequence that i described above

In some cases I change translations without commenting in order to standardize (translating one specific word in a game always the same way). This might look like a ridiculous change if you don’t recognize the reason why I did this. But the translation system is not very helpful to do that: either I can copy and paste the translation multiple times, or the comment. If I want to comment afterwards, I have to trick the system in order to make it possible. This multiplies the effort. That’s why I might not give a comment for this kind of change.

Another case is if some translations can be understood, but don’t sound like proper German (in fact, I find this very often and are wondering if these translators are really original German speakers). Sometimes this refers to word order. Sometimes this relates to „false friends“ (i. e. we have a German word which sounds like an English word, but has a – sometimes slightly - different meaning). And if we have a word of English origin and a word of German origin for the same thing, I prefer the expression of German origin for the maintenance of our language. Or we have a specialist term in the gaming community which wasn’t observed. All these can be hard to „prove“ or explain, so I hardly ever comment on them.

Fully agree

[But as these translations are not overwritten and I don't get any comments for them, I think these changes are accepted by the German community.

Here is my recommendation : although putting a comment for your translation may be a burden, try to put some as often as you can. This is the same as a smiley in regular text and it is some way to be kind with the preceding person for changing their translation. I do not put comments on all my corrections, but as often as I can.

So if some translations bother you, why not contact that person and ask for their reasons doing so? Maybe they had a good reason you couldn't figure out on your own.

I do that sometimes, not very frequently I must admit, probably not frequently enough.

[cigma]

I opened a suggestion report, based on a suggestion made by nessi: https://boardgamearena.com/bug?id=102233 Pleaase vote for it!