Translate FFXIV into Spanish

[MorfineCeres18]

We need more people to coment in the forums if we want this to go somewhere, but sadly spanish community barely uses the forums due to language barrier
At least the new videos of the Shadowbringers creation are translated in spanish!

[rxantos]

The reason is it cost money to translate.
French and German got a translation because their countries have laws preventing the sale of a game if it doesn't have their language.
Meanwhile Spanish speaking countries are nicer and do not have such laws. Is one of those things that being an a-hole pays. While being nice gets you screwed.

[Sooru]

Please translate the game to Spanish, a lot of my friends refuse to play the game because it's not available in Spanish.

[Breakbeat]

+1

I don't see the issue, to be honest. English -> Japanese or vice versa, I get how difficult that is. These are two very different languages, with very different roots, and some things just do not translate across - therefore the translator needs to be intimately involved with the original writers, so that when there is no direct translation, the writers can come up with a similar sentiment in the destination language.

However, since an English translation already exists, there are very, very few things that won't translate directly across from English to Spanish. A few, sure, but a pittance compared to the things that won't translate directly across from Japanese to English.

So, then, the work amounts to not a whole lot more than translating a popular English novel into Spanish. That's done all day, every day, and the people that do it don't really make loads of money. I mean, the money is good, but it's not costing anyone millions of dollars to translate the latest Stephen King into Spanish. The one or two people that do it probably make a good five figures a year, not more. (And Googling this, I was almost right, the top pay exceeds $100k by a smidge, but the average is around $75k, and starters can earn half of that.)

As to the European vs. Latin American Spanish, I'm afraid that LA would win out, just by the numbers. However, once someone has an LA Spanish translation in hand, further localization to European Spanish would be that much easier.

Solo mis dos centavos. Hablo Espanol como un guero (LOL), pero es porque lo aprendi todo con solo vivir 30 anos en Los Angeles, y casado con Mexicana durante treinta anos tambien. Y... un poco de DuoLingo. Jejeje.

[Stepjam]

So, then, the work amounts to not a whole lot more than translating a popular English novel into Spanish. That's done all day, every day, and the people that do it don't really make loads of money. I mean, the money is good, but it's not costing anyone millions of dollars to translate the latest Stephen King into Spanish. The one or two people that do it probably make a good five figures a year, not more. (And Googling this, I was almost right, the top pay exceeds $100k by a smidge, but the average is around $75k, and starters can earn half of that.)

Well for starters, there's a LOT more text than the average Stephen King book to translate, even compared to like The Stand. This is a nearly decade old game with all sorts of text to be translated from story to incidental quests and NPC dialogue to item descriptions. On top of that, you have to get and retain a pretty good sized cast of voice actors to voice all the various characters throughout the game which likely isn't cheap either.

That said it certainly would be cool if they did translate it. I wonder if it's an issue of comparing costs to potential gains or what.

[Breakbeat]

Yeah, agreed on both counts, there's probably more like a 'series of novels' worth of text, and I hadn't thought of the voice acting. With text translation, it's simply a matter of time for the person to be done with the job. Aside from clarifying things that don't directly translate, the bulk of the work can be done by the translator alone. But with voice acting, there will need to be a lot of involvement between the actors and writers, producers, and directors, so that the voice and persona - the essence, if you will - of the character match the artist's vision.

Definitely, cost vs. return would be major consideration, if not the deciding factor. So, unfortunately, as easy and/or cheap as I or anyone else thinks it would be, there's a simple formula of costs vs. returns, and if the gaming market in country X doesn't make that bottom line light up green, it's not happening.

I say there's hope, though. WoW has a Spanish version, and I am sure Blizz' formula for "do we localize to country X?" is reasonably similar to SE's. We're growing by leaps and bounds here, and we might soon hit the mark where they greenlight more localization. I am sure Spanish is near the top or at the top of that list.

[rxantos]

France and Germany have law prohibiting the sale of software that does not have a translation to their languages.
Unfortunately Spain does not have such law. So Square didn't bother with a language that a lot of countries speak.

Want the next FF to have Spanish translation? Push for Spain and Mexico to add a law requiring software to have a Spanish translation in order to be sold in the country. Until that happens Square doesn't care.