Discussion Welcome to the new era

Hi everyone! MangoGuy here!!

I like to look at web translations, be it CN or JP or whatever, as a continuously evolving scene. And I feel that this scene has now entered a new era.

First, what were the previous eras? The first era that I recognize, is the era of spcnet and baka. That was the era where translators did what they did just as a hobby, for fun. They released releases whenever they wanted to. When more people commented, they worked harder. Heman is a perfect example of this era: He does good translations but is carefree..he can leave translations whenever.
This was the time when people stalked blogs for weeks for just the odd update. It was before the dawn of civilization, if you think of an analogy. I like to think that this era ended with the completion of the translation of Coiling Dragon, as it was then noticed that translators can also earn from their hard work.

Next comes the era of professional translators, for a lack of better term. Essentially, this was the time when people started donating to translators. TLs got more and more better, and the dollars got bigger and bigger. During this time, however, there was something else that was, atleast on the surface, give high importance.
Face.
Honor.
I think of Ocean's Eleven trilogy, where the main characters are considered to be these thieves of the old world who still have honor and charisma, while the other thieves are just for the money.
If a TL did some work, other people respected it. They honored the TL. They took permission before using it, and definitely went to great lengths to smoothen out a transition period when a change of translation takes place. This was the period of DB and RWX. This was the time when one of the best JP, Rakuin no Monshou, was left alone because everyone honored the TL who promised that he was working on it. This was the time when the efforts of the TL was praised on a humane level.
I believe that this era came to an end with the arrival of Qidian International.
And that is the new era I am talking about: The era of commercialism. The era where translators are required to have more legal expertise than linguistic abilities. I feel that the moment which heralded this era was the acquisition of GT by QI. And I hope that this era has come to a peak with the dishonorable hijacking of HTJ.(DISHONORABLE)
Yup the difference is quite evident with the shift from more honor to more money.

I am no one to judge, I am just an observer. And this what I see the eras as:
The Primordial Era of No Rules and Certainities
The Era of the Samurai and the Duels
The Era of the Snipers and Espionage

Peace and Mangoes

 

So, the new era is already going on for months? So, QI is probably the future for chinese webnovel translation, but what about Korean and Japanese webnovel?

 

Ehh too long to read

 

Jolly Roger. . still going strong since . . . .
well. . .long time ago?

 

So

• The era of the unripened mango
• The era of the ripened mango
• The era of the rotten mango

 

nah they are good. they are the americas. while the rest of the world is getting fucked, they are still all about gold

 

you turned into a complete upvote whore these days didntcha?

 

This should be the TL;DR

 

How about the era of yen press before qidian?

 

*clap *clap *clap

This speech needs a finishing touch. <insert BGM: Code Gease; 'Continued Story'>

 

Didn't like what they do to HJC, that was like umm kind of backstab

 

@Lswarmruler you got your answer? before the americas took take off, the flu came to them!!

 

I kinda dunno what are u talking about... i actually kinda like qidian as their translation speed is stable and pretty fast... as long as there is no paywall, i kinda support them, and hope it could happen to japan and korean webnovel... as i start lose interest to most webnovel because the translation always suddenly stop in the middle somehow...

 

as i said, am just an observer.

but essentially, yenpress dmca kinda struc a big blow to JP TL and all, so they kinda went into non cooperation with them...dont quite see a legal web translation imo

 

When machine translation apps reached the level of a skilled translator, it would be known as the Era of Terminators, I guess? Then that day will forever be remembered as the Independence Day.

 

The era of Japanese novel translation is in decline right now. Translation of popular series is monopolized by yen press or j novel club that prefer to paywall them. Translator can only translate less popular series in syosetsu.

Meanwhile, chinese novel is doing good, because the big man, qi and ww, prefer to give free chapter to the reader. With more stable release than before. Only locked some advance chapter that free reader can unlock in the future.

 

I agree, in 5-10 years maybe?

 

Pfft.Nah. I was writing something serious and the joke suddenly came to me.Couldn't resist.
Also upvotes are meaningless in the face of trophy points.

 

the new era of webnovels will be the rise of SJW themed novels where Yun Che Jiang Chen Chu Feng Liu Yi etc will be portrayed by STRONK FEMALE PROTAGONIST or other some douchebag agendas......