Discussion Please Give Me Your Translator Drama, Gossip, or Just Interesting Stories/Facts

I'm not putting names since I'm not going to give free publications for current shady group.

So there was a series and 2 team coincidentally start at the same time. 1st team posted the series few hours before 2nd team but not posting the release on NU. 2nd team take the series as side project. They posted it later on their site and NU. The next day 1st team post 2nd chapter and 3rd chapter post release on NU. 2nd team pissed off and release unedited ch 2-4 that he stacked. 1st team contact 2nd team and resolve this problem. After few release main translator for 1st team are having health problem and got exam so she stopped tling.

1 month after this the 2nd teams drop his main project because its racist. I was laughing since the disputed series are in online gaming genre and it got war with other nations part. Even if he continue that side project it will hit "nationalism , patriotism , Chinese superiority" trope later. 4 months later 3rd group take the baton and do 2 more chapter before missing.

Now the juicy part. Almost 3 month after 3rd team missing there is 4th team taking this series. This 4th team are start from beginning and re-editing a little bit one of the translation and claimed as their translation. The translation are 100% same on the game terms and 90-95% on rest. Theres no way someone can coincidentally translate several weird job name with exact same result. We are talking about something like 刺客 (assasin/murderer) , 刺杀 (to assassin/murderous) , 杀手 (killer/murderer/hitman) , 金牌杀手 (gold medalist killer).

Since he/she shamelessly putting ad.fly link and ask for donation on slightly re-edited chapters , I posted a comment if he already got approval to re-edit the previous translator work. He/she didnt reply and my unapproved comment gone while other thanks comment after my comment approved. Since that comment he/she trying to edit more on leftover of 1st and 3rd team already translated chapter. After he/she translate 1 more chapter that dont have already translated version , he/she shows sign of giving up to continue the project.

 

That's how I found mangascan too. I only found mangascan translator group sites after someone commented on a certain download aggregator site that the latest chapter haven't been uploaded, so I went googling and...tada, found the original group site.
Sadly, the novel community now going that way.....

 

Did someone say Empyrean Overlord?

Here's some fun info about that. The guy who originally made a thread on Reddit and called out the author of Empyrean Overlord is a guy called Wizoftime. Wizoftime is also an author, and after finishing his first major project the sequel to that project started to get hosted on Fictiongrill, a newer site that hosts English originals, and they claim to be very particular about quality.

The sequel that Wizoftime was writing he ended up dropping after around 30 chapters, instead Wizoftime started writing a new project. A new project that isn't hosted on Fictiongrill.

And now according to the author of Empyrean Overlord, Empyrean Overlord is moving to Fictiongrill.

 

Can I talk about the time when I antagonized two entire fanbases in two separate moments? It's not to boast (never a good thing to boast about them), but just to share, I feel, and ask what would you have done in my stead. (I still haven't gotten over them)

 

feel free to tell us~ some gossip is good for know what happen on translator world for someone who rarely search for it
like me~

 

If 3L3R drama is the second, none will be the first.
Any dramas/conflicts mentioned above is a child play when compared to 3L3R drama.

BTW, Stunning Edge is pretty stunning!

 

Okay, here we go. (The second one would have far reaching consequences that is felt even till today)

Allow me to state beforehand that I don't want to (at least intentionally) badmouth anyone except for myself, and whatever I would say next would be a Pandora's box that will be revealed.

Some of you guys will know me as Teh_ping of Baka-Tsuki, aka some random guy who went crazy and started translating since 2009. Right now, I'm scaling back, trying to be a hermit, and still in PTSD over being de facto leader of Baka-Tsuki from 2012-2014. Back then, the site owner TLG could only be summoned by the seven dragon balls, and the deputy Onizuka-gto was off busy with work. So here I was, having translating, managing BT and the Facebook page, while handling my studies.

Under my charge, there were a few controversies, and these two, I feel were the bigger ones.

1. Accel World removal

One of BT's policies is that none of the work uploaded is to be commercialized. It was in 2013, and back in 2012, I already charged at a certain foreign language site (which I shall keep anonymous for some reason), and demanded that printing and selling of our translations would not be allowed. After some issues, and realizing I couldn't come up with a better alternative, I let things slide.

In this case, a certain site has been hosting Accel World translations on his personal site (with donations). It was highlighted to me, and I made an ultimatum to the site, that either the site removes the stuff, or the Accel World translations would be deleted from Baka-Tsuki.

Ultimately, my decision: https://baka-tsuki.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=59&t=4530&p=159908

Thinking back, should I have went with the hardline stance on that, or should I have left it alone? We know that fan translating is a grey area by itself, but deep down, I have this nagging feeling that I should have done better.

2. SAO licensing (and AW, but by then, only a few bothered with that series)

I have to be honest about this.

This is going to get me killed. (but what is dead can never die anyway)

When the announcement was made by Yen Press that Sword Art Online was licensed (August 23rd, 2013), there was a furious discussion amongst me and the few other active mods.

Back then, there was no clear guideline on removing a series. The only times we did so were when there were official translations out (like Kino volume 1), or when a Cease and Desist was sent (like Haruhi).

There were tough calls to be made, and I was the guy everyone looked up to. That was where I made the final decision to remove the series. The reasoning for that was that, by hook or by crook, we would die with the philosophy that was set by TLG, who hoped that the site would be used as a place to promote novels, and when they were promoted, let them go happily. (Took me a long time to accept when Shana was removed back in 2010). And so we did.

Then came a whole lot of discussions from people who disagreed with the decision. In hindsight, we didn't realize how determined Yen Press was in selling LNs in the US, and how it would end up on the bestsellers column, which boosted their spending power and willpower. After that, new series were being announced every 3 months, and it was obvious that they were targeting the popular series on BT (we had a page view counter back then). That was then where I had to draft an abandonment policy which came into play...and will have to be updated because of the DMCAs that happened later on.

We made our bed, and we would lie in it. Ultimately, that bed ended up breaking our backs. It didn't help that the servers were originally based in Texas. We ended up pillaged as hard as China did by the 8 countries back in the 1800s. I wouldn't be lying if I say I felt like Cameron post Brexit-result (and that was in 2014), and I do feel some responsibility in making that decision, but I made it, and I can't regret over it.

...But, just but, somewhere in a corner of my heart, I feel that I could have done better. The regret still lingers.

 

ah right I do remember SAO heat debate back then which I not really care since I already drop it
oh well ty for the share

 

I personally think you handled the affair as best you could. Kickstarting the lightnovel industry is an undeniable feat, and stepping down honorably should carry no shame. Rather, I think YenPress handled the matter quite poorly. Your compliance shouldn't have been taken as a sign of weakness but instead a sign of cooperation. BakaBT was well known in the community, and its roots were spread far. I can't help but feel that if Yenpress had instead worked with BakaBT, since it was apparent that you had the interests of the industry in mind, things could have turned out better for both parties.

 

So true. I hope that day will not happen. It would be disaster, like going back to the Stone Age T_T

I think you've done the best you could do in the circumstances. Often, the flow of time doesn't allow us to do anything but be at peace with changes, no matter how good or bad it is. Salute, wish you all the best.

 

Over the next few years from 2013-2015, several prominent series were licensed and taken off Baka-Tsuki.

In no particular order, SAO (Progressive later on), Accel World, Mahouka, Index, Oregairu, Another, Hidan no Aria (which was restored back. DMG messed up), Danmachi, Asterisk, Seraph, DRRR, Overlord, Strike the Blood (even though there wasn't much translation), Black Bullet, Bake, Kizu, Nise,

As I would say, the DMCA is a different matter altogether because it was sent from the original publisher in Japan. I would say that mutilated BT more than the licenses, but it's more unpredictable than the weather, so I'll just think of it as a one-off thing.

Back when we didn't have any policy in 2007 (I wasn't a member, but I was briefed on it once), Haruhi was licensed by Little Brown under the Hachette label (shared with Yen Press). The staff back then opted for a wait and see approach, and was only sent what is called a 'Cease and Desist' in January 2010, where the entire series was ordered to be taken off. That was the only other option, I feel, so I was wondering if I could have followed that decision rather than come up with a different one (being compliant).

In a sense, our decisions were made on imperfect information. It was either to wait and see, or act decisively (and alienate the translators who were fans of the series, who wouldn't work on any other series. On BT, translators just choose whatever project they want, and there's no check on their progress, or anyone to push them to do something else)

As I may describe myself, I'm akin to Kusla from Magdala in personality. Ever so restless

I wouldn't say that it was just Yen Press. Over the years, there were a few things to take into consideration.

-Fanbase increasingly exponentially.
-Meta shifting to the reincarnation stories
-Elitist translators (hoooo boy)
-Stuff being hosted on other sites due to fear of licensing (want to retain control), or(and) due to disagreement with BT policies.
-No proper structure in organization (roles were undefined except for translators who just did whatever they want)
-Sudden boom in web novels thanks to the 'pioneers' like Mushoku Tensei and 'Shield hero'
-Lack of interest in decent stories to replace the stories that were being licensed (I hate that we live too much in the moment)
-People seeing fan translating as an opportunity to earn and take donations (and have the gall to call it not for profit), and more importantly, to build their egos.

And then there was the two DMCAs.

Yeah, I guess that's kinda why I decided not to get myself too involved in such stuff nowadays.

Well, thank you all for the feedback.

 

*bump*
anyone know new gossip?

@Parth37955 you like stalking translator do know some new gossip?
come share some will ya