Discussion Bad translation ruined novels, what to do?

I'm not talking about a specific novel in particular, but imagine this situation:

1. A translator decided to halfheartedly MTL a novel and they did a terrible job of it. (I'm not against MTL itself but halfhearted and bad MTL is a problem)
   
2. The novel got a bunch of 1, 2 stars rating because of the bad translation.
   
3. The translator bailed.
4. Because of the bad translation, the novel got a low rating, but the story itself wasn't properly evaluated.
5. Other translators looked at the rating and decided it isn't worth their time, so it never gets a better translation. Even if someone did pick it up, no one would read it because of the rating. A could-be-good novel ended up dead without ever seeing daylight.

That's why I think the first translator of a novel is very important, if they did a bad job, it will end up dead. But there are surely novels out there that deserve better evaluation but didn't get a chance to.

So my question is, what do you think about that situation? Shouldn't these novels get a 2nd chance to prove themselves? Why is it that protagonists die and get a 2nd chance in a different world but novels don't?

I'm thinking about 3 solutions:

• Delete the bad translations and reset the reviews/ratings.
• Secretly create a duplicate entry for that novel but with slightly different name and start from there. Until the mods find and merge them.
• Add a restart series function to NU, it allows you to create a new separate version of the same series with its own ratings, reviews and chapter list (only work if you translate from chapter 1), you can switch view between versions at any time. I think this will be useful for series like Kumo Desu ga, Nani ka?

Of course, none of these ideas are perfect, but that's all I can think of.
So what's about you guys, what's your take on this?

EDIT: If I wasn't clear enough, I'm talking about a new chance for the series to start afresh, that is to say, for the translator who decided to pick it up, not as a reader.
EDIT2: Another use case that need improvements as well. When a series was greatly revised (example: Because There Were 100 Goddesses in Charge of Reincarnation, I Received 100 Cheat Skills) and the translator decided to translate the revised version as well, I believe it would be better to be able to create a different branch with its separate chapter list, rating and reviews in that case.
EDIT3: I made a feature request concerning this problem: Replace the 5-stars rating system!

 

Personally, if I read a novel machine translated so poorly that it gets me confused and gives me headache, I will swear off that title forever. I don't care that people say the novel is good or whatever. First impression is very important to me.

 

Remembering Void, back in 2015.........

 

I am a bit more forgiving, I will just boycott the series until a good TL comes along.

 

Simple solution for CH novels. Block Wuxia Dream

 

I don't think it´s that much of a loss if a semi-good novel never gets translated. If the story is super but badly translated it shows in the reviews. I think it´s a bigger problem when some group hogs a good story but only releases one chapter a year. Besides that, we English readers have just started to reach the point where there is more to read then what we want to read.

 

Personally, I would give it a shot for a few chapthers even if the grammar is bad. I would trust the TL to learn bit by bit after chapthers to become good in the long run and go back to edit the previous chapthers. Sure, the TL can just give up and be done, but for the ones who try their best to become better at translating, I would say they learn from experience over time.

 

As somebird who contributed to that problem, this bird says that if a project is really actually good, it will eventually find its way to a good translator

 

I remember this one group *cough* No*** Sa** *cough*, and they honestly did the worst job I have ever seen on some of their things (I wasn't always sure I was on the english version of the novel, the grammar and spelling were so bad. The problem is, they are STILL translating those series. I don't know if they have gotten better by now, but I simply don't trust them to even be accurate to the raws so I just don't read anything they translate. I wish that another group could pick up those series, unfortunately that would be illegal

 

Personally, I think the review system needs some work. Right now, it's just flat ratings and I think a more in-depth system needs to be introduced in order to help people get a better idea of the novel in question.

 

Now lets talk about bad novels with bad translators. Prime example of this are QI and The translator of Naruto System.

 

The things that happened when novelsaga takeover TTNH from walkthejianghu..

 

It just needs an option to rate the translation. People will automatically re-evaluate how they look at the novel

 

well there is also the option of contacting the mtler and telling him you wanna do a clean up of his work and use it as basis to apply lots and lots of TLC desu~

 

What group are you talking ?

 

I agree, I think most people think so as well. But that's the problem here, a bad MTL render a series dead.

The question is whether a super story could be transmitted by a bad translation. Personally, I don't think so.

People wouldn't bother to translate a novel with a low rating, and no one would post a pick up request for it either, so chances are slim here.

 

Congrats, NU has its own version of Godwin's Law!

EDIT: Straight to my signature.

 

well i feel like the translator is the one that determines if the story is gonna be good or not
after all when i'm reading a novel, wording/style is very important to me. it determines if it's gonna be my favorite or not

i try to give a translator group a chance and if they suck i don't generally read anything from them ever and if a different translator picks it up it's a bit difficult to go back to the translated novel

 

I have never and will never jugde a novel base upon the quality of translation. If the gem is ill-polished, i will just wait for the a better translator. First impression is importnat but should focus on the story like plot, mc actions, world building, etc. For the grammar and such, my brain would automatically correct it as i read. It is a natural thing to do...or is it just me? Don't just drop it forever, why would you throw a hidden gem when you can just hold off and read other novels? :v it is not like our brain limited the amount of novel we can hold off.

 

This has the down side of hitting the motivation of translators who are aiming to improve.

If I'm not mistaken, there was someone who copy-pasted from google translate and blatantly asked for editors. Would you volunteer in that case? Editors are not omnipotent.