Why Fan Translators Will Betray You

I expected nothing from the start and i take someone who did fan translation for nothing as a generosity. Which is why i find no fault to stolen series (to translate) or monetizing translator like you. But i can see and agree how vicious it can dampens the altruistic spirit of fan translators of said two cases above and bad/toxic/ungrateful commenter in their boards.
All in all i believe it should be better for fan translators to realize that they do not have the obligation to keep doing it and it should be better for readers to understand they didn't entitled to get anything as well. If anything they should work together as a fans should to spread the appreciation to the series. Contributing to the task both of them.

 

The only real "betrayal" I can think of is "whoops, we spent money on a server and domain and now that we aren't doing this anymore and we aren't getting any money to keep it up we'll just let the translation be gone from the internet".

And that's only because textfiles (and if you are not doing textfiles then you are doing something wrong) don't really take that much space and sharing them is as simple as uploading them to pastbin.

 

Now that i think about it i never felt betrayed when translators stopped translation the novel i read. Like the thought of betray never crossed my mind. I mean why would fan translators betray the fans when they are reading free.

 

Well, to be fair, I saw this thread earlier today
https://forum.novelupdates.com/threads/lesyts-novels.65064/
and that played a part in me starting my thread

You seem to be arguing with me just for the point of arguing..
Fan translations are not sustainable
I think that single sentence is easier to understand

 

L

I'm really speechless. I can understand the point your trying to make and it is extremely flawed since your basing your argument on emotions rather than logical fact. Tirirism also pointed this out in his/her post.

Allow me to put this in a modern day context with your three scenarios:

FanTranslator: A person who spends their own money to making fruit cakes for free because they love fruit cakes and are generous
Reader: A homeless bum getting free fruit cakes

• Readers have complained that a translator joined webnovel: i.e. FanTranslator decided to get a job at a company making fruit cake and cannot to give out free fruit cakes anymore.
  
• Translator did not complete novel: i.e. FanTranslator decided to stop making and giving out free fruit cakes
  
• Fan translation becomes a company and paywalls chapters: FanTranslator decided to start their own business selling fruit cakes and cannot give out free fruit cakes anymore.

If the Homeless Bum (Reader) feels betrayed, well hell, go get a job (learn the language).

I see not betrayal here, just some people being taken advantage of; and yes, I am a reader so I am a useless bum.

 

You are reading this thread, I am sure you have seen a lot of readers who feel betrayed by me.
I think I proved my point already

 

Oof!That one must've hit home,gotcha real good huh.

 

Hahaha I dropped a lot of novels recently, can't blame them.
You have to cut costs to have longevity.
Emotions don't pay the bills, I had to cut novels that I like.
Since I have to give my translators raises and bonuses, I have to ruthless.

 

Then go change the title of this thread since it's misleading or just delete it. It's instances like these that irk me since your propagating fake news and misleading information using click bait; something I have to constantly teach my children, as an educator, how to recognize. By creating this thread, you are perpetuating a culture where fan translators are not recognized for their work or their choices in life. They have done no wrong since everything they have done up until then has been done for free. I doesn't matter how the reader feels. In short, its not a betrayal.

If you want to be an arse to your readers, that's your deal; but when you clearly do not know what you are talking about with your chosen diction and try to drag others in the gutter, then your being an arse to the internet community. It's instances like these that has caused the internet culture to devolve into the uneducated mess.

I truly respect the fan translators found on baka-tsuki and dreams of jianghu, as well as all other fan translators. If they have decided to create a business or move on from translating, then I wish them all the best and hope they are successful.

 

I agree with the point “just learn the language”
Probably because I can understand Japanese, I wouldn’t be hurt a bit if someone stopped translating; I would just read straight from the raws anyway.

Plus, the whole reason why I started translating was to improve my language skills. If anyone wants to learn Japanese, I’ll be completely willing to help them get their start, and that way, they could continue the translation when I eventually burn out xD

 

This is an incredibly flawed analogy and I can't even start to explain why.

Wujigege premise is also flawed in a way that can be explained more easily:

Fan translations are not sustainable only if you think about them as a business and if you are thinking about them as a business I don't think that's really a fan translation.

For a fan translation you don't need a fancy site powered by wordpress with a bunch of widgets to do all kind of wacky shit. You don't even need a fancy translation name, and you definitively don't need to pay yearly for a domain that you are going to be using just for your translations.
There are plenty of sites like blogpost and wordpress, or even tumblr, that let you have all that you need to post your fan translations without paying a penny for it.
If you want your own customizable site you can use jekyll or hugo and get some free hosting site, or in the case of jekyll, use github or gitlab's built in jekyll generator to host them.
Or as I have already said, if all you want is to share them all you have to do is post them to pastebin or any other similar site and just share the links here.

And if you really think you deserve money for what you have done just remember that once you have someone else's money in your hands you have a responsibility with them.

 

This is not an educational forum and it is not meant to be taken too seriously, if you cannot see that, well I cannot help it.
You have your own opinion but the opinions I point out do exist.
And to be honest, your double standards and posturing are quite pathetic.
I hate to break it to you, contrary to your opinion, I am not an arse to my readers, regardless of what you choose to believe.
I find it laughable that I am being equated to fake news.
You just seem deluded.
Well unlike you, I actually care to study this community, talk to translators, actual research instead of posturing and relying on emotional arguments.

Over and out.

Hahaha, I don't understand why you all seem to ignore the elephant in the room which is speed but since you are at least polite, I will address your point
It has nothing to do with money.
MTL crap are faster and you have companies like Webnovel that are now much faster.
You have fan translators getting drowned out on novelupdates by anyone who can post 50 MTL crap chapters.
If you choose to believe that the issue is money then you are very wrong

 

Amen.

 

I think that the underestimate the value that people attach to getting loads of comments.
Not everyone with lots of followers on social media platforms make any money off it.
Humans can be very vain.

You know for some reason, that learn line always pissed me off and sounded elitist.
It probably played a part in why I was pissed enough to start a translation website.
I know my strengths, hiring people to translate was much easier for me that picking up the language and translating.

And you are right, burning out is normal, even authors use ghostwriters

 

???

I understand what your trying to say, but your missing the point and your argument is flawed. This was never a money issue, but more of a logic/moral issue. The purpose of my example was putting Wujigege's argument of betrayal into life context and showing how it wouldn't hold in an argument. You could change to scenario to be less money intensive or just change money into time, but it wouldn't change anything with how the argument would not hold logically and in society.

And about your argument, why did you bring up money and free ways to host? Fan Translators can do whatever they want, so if they want to spend money they can. The result is that the content they provide is still free, and we as readers don't have a right to complain.

Elitist? My parents were refugees escaping from a genocide without a penny to their name and they decided to learn a different language not for the sake of novels but to better their life. They succeeded. People who complain about learning sound lazy and spoiled. Like right now, you and I could be off this forum and learning how to read/speak a different language. Why don't we? Cause we lazy, don't feel motivated, and would rather do something else more entertaining, like type hundreds of words on this forum for not good reason.

 

I'm not the one making this about money, Wujigege is, because comparing Fan translations with startups, talking about how they aren't sustainable, saying that at the end of the day they are going to sell out, is talking about money.

And to turn around and say it's not about the money, it's about how often you post your translation, or how much comments your get, and the value people put in that is just moving the goal posts.

 

I'm trying to figure out why you've brought me back here for a couple of question marks when you could've just scrolled up to see who the comment was directed at and the reason for it,not to mention it wasn't related to you at all.Sigh,common sense really has ceased to exist.

 

This is not an educational forum and it is not meant to be taken too seriously, if you cannot see that, well I cannot help it.
I'm not trying to be educational, that was just a side note. You made a claim, with evidence, and they you say don't take it seriously. Are you trying to make a point or your just talking garbage? Like I asked, whats your point? I can assure you that I didn't take this seriously since it was illogical. If it helps you any, your not a fan translator if your trying to make money.

You have your own opinion but the opinions I point out do exist.
I'm not making an opinion, I'm stating facts. Your argument is an opinion. This is what is frustrating. Find me a business model, a judicial case, or anything that involves non-emotional standards to prove your case and we're free to end this.

And to be honest, your double standards and posturing are quite pathetic.
Explain

I hate to break it to you, contrary to your opinion, I am not an arse to my readers, regardless of what you choose to believe.
I don't believe anything. I don't know you and apologize if you are not in the eyes of your readers, an "arse." However, looking at the forum content you and others have provided, (i.e. dropping titles when saying you would provide two chapters a month), and your own personal comment about yourself is what led me to this assumption. If this is not the case then I apologize.

I find it laughable that I am being equated to fake news.
Your claim found in the title isn't true.

You just seem deluded.
Explain

Well unlike you, I actually care to study this community, talk to translators, actual research instead of posturing and relying on emotional arguments.
There has been no emotional argument, though my diction may make you emotional. I use it to make my arguments more dramatic. I also do see where you are going with research, translators, and community. Stick to the main topic: Fan Translators will Betray You; they don't.