Wuxiaworld Ending HJC Translation...

By golly! I am the OG villain around here and no one can top me! Fee fie foe fum, I am [okay this would be really bad, I'll stop].

In general it's really bad to have multiple translators on one novel @Fermi. Case in point -- Doomed to be Cannon Fodder had eight translators (give or take) on it and I was the master translator in charge of making sure all names were correct, writing style was similar, terms translated consistently, etc. It was absolutely painful work, something I don't want to repeat again, and that was only 293 chapters with a team of really good translators. Multiple translators is only possible when someone is running the ship with a steady hand, and even then it's a mind numbing task for the person in charge.

 

Gotta up your game @etvolare. Get on EFT's level.

 

They must have read the wuxia dream versions. oh wait! they hired those idiots

 

I know right? I had to stop and think who the group was prior to remembering they got hired by them.

Edit: if I actually used their forums I'd totally point out that fact to them...

 

Probably during their initial "we don't use mtl here" phase, then decided it was close enough probably

 

I disagree. I think it's okay if there's more than one. Maybe not eight like in etvolare's case, but it definitely can work. And I say this as someone who has worked both as a solo translator and as a team translator. I think the key is to have a good editor that will smooth out the discrepancies and to have a glossary that will keep terms consistent. I also think more complicated novels will have a tougher time, since there's more to keep track of. It would need the right conditions to work, but I don't think it's a terrible idea all around.

So many novels get dropped without even being completed. Personally, I'd be willing to sacrifice a bit of literary consistency if it means that the novel I'm reading at the very least gets completed. I say this especially as someone who prefers reading more niche novels, which have a more unreliable release rates than novels on sites like WW or Volare.

Yes, I have worked on online group projects. They can be a horror if you don't have a good leader and good communication. If a member is slow or inexperienced, I'd lessen his burden. Instead of having to translate 1 chapter every week, I'd shorten it to 1 chapter every two weeks or whatever is appropriate. Then pace wouldn't be that big of a problem. But yes, you hit diseconomies of scale when you have too much people.

Massive respect for that. Eight translators is a lot to manage, and Doomed to be Cannon Fodder turned out really well. You took on a lot by both translating and running the ship.

 

To be honest now that I remember WD, i'm amazed they aren't the translator poaching HJC to begin with.

 

1 chapter per week? That isn't enough for me to put up with all the problems that managing a group makes. I normally publish 4 chapters per week. It wouldn't make sense to get a translator and manage him or her for a mere 1 chapter per week. The time I spend chasing that 1 chapter would be better spent just doing the chapter myself. Also, how would you split the Patreon money when some people contribute a lot less than others?

But the real problem is that there are very, very few people who will consistently put out even one chapter per week. Just take a look at all of the inactive projects. I'm guessing that projects with inconsistent/slow updates are much more numerous than the fast, consistent ones, especially if you don't include the big guys who make a lot of money.

Edit:

Just realized that you probably did mean the big websites with lots of money, lol.

They probably just can't find a lot of really good and really consistent translators.

 

Somehow I feel like the whole shenanigans with QI, really is them acting out the stories they publish.

It's like, "As the Notable Villain, we have every right to misconstrue words and agreements we make; past, present and future for any profit, pleasure and ultimately for reputation self-destruction."

It's almost as if, they wanted to go down a villainous route full well knowing the outcome.

But as we've seen countless times with their words and actions, they fail to grasp that the western community, doesn't really conform to eastern logic(specifically whatever their business model is).

 

Sorry if I didn't write clearly. That 1ch/week was just a hypothetical example trying to illustrate my point. I wanted to show that if the burden is too much for someone, I'd just lower the burden on them to keep the pace up.

That's a good point you bring up about Patreon though. Maybe split it by how much each person translated? Or split it evenly if everyone meets the quota they were supposed to translate? I'm not too sure, and I think the decisions will vary between groups.

I agree with what you said in the last paragraph.

 

So.. Qidian is posting three parts as one chapter at once everyday... while WW are posting two parts everyday.
This is WAR, and I like it.

 

There's something interesting you might want to note about splitting income from Patreon or any other source. A novel's readerbase (and consequently, patronage) grows only when there are frequent releases, so splitting income based on weekly chapter quota alone is a little unfair to the one doing more of the quota.

E.g. say a translator does four per week and the other only does one. One might be tempted to say that the second translator should receive a fifth of the income, but it's harder to decide on a proper figure in actuality, as without the first translator's huge effort in 'carrying' the novel (essentially building up its readerbase through heavily increasing weekly release frequency), the overall patronage wouldn't even grow substantially to begin with the one-per-week update frequency the second translator is contributing. It's not a simple matter about the amount of work, but rather, the significance/impact of the amount of work.

I hope I'm making enough sense here. XP

 

Zen or WW can actually post HJC at such a fast rate. So QI actually made it a good situation for HJC fans? Or am I seeing this situation in a wrong view?

 

In wuxia world we trust! Screw QI and their crappy translations! Lets end it!

 

What did Qi do?