D&D 5E WotC will not allow translation of D&D NEXT.

[Morrus]

In Germany since the 80s the RPG market has been DSA, a long time nothing, then simply "rest" Pathfinder has taken over D&D's old place (with D&D all but dying out after losing too many grognards - who happened to provide most of DMs and Organizers and then adding insult to injury by having the plug pulled from the German translation which all but killed recruiting of new players to make up for the people having left to Pathfinder). That means second place or from time to time third place if some temporary fad gives some other RPG it's "five minutes of fame". In any case second place means barely seeing the rear lamps of DSA so far ahead.

I really can't nail it down why it's this way, just somehow DSA hits some special German nerve or mentality that makes it so hugely popular in Germany but bombing everywhere else.

I can't speak for anyone else, but I assumed it was in German. Thus it's gonna bomb with anybody who doesn't speak German. I never assumed I would understand the game.

If that perception (that it's in German) is wrong, maybe the bombing issue lies is the international marketing which failed to communicate that fact.

 

[Loki-lie-Smith]

Ah yes, that's the one! Looks like they are being translated and sold in English now, slowly. The first box is already available, the second is out soon, and the other two are planned for next year.

Soon is relative. I backed the original KS and I'm still waiting for the Blue Box beta. Like I said great game. That said I may end up using the Blue Box (that's the setting book basically) with 5e instead of the red box (although I may switch back once/if the Green box becomes available).

 

[Mirtek]

I can't speak for anyone else, but I assumed it was in German. Thus it's gonna bomb with anybody who doesn't speak German. I never assumed I would understand the game.

If that perception (that it's in German) is wrong, maybe the bombing issue lies is the international marketing which failed to communicate that fact.

They tried an english version and I think there was also a french version, but both failed to sell and are long since cancelled.

BTW, this topic made me check out DSA on the net which I didn't do since a long time ago and I found this: http://sprylab.com/de/blog/das-schwarze-auge-jetzt-als-app

Sorry that this is in German, the quintessence is that they now have a DSA augmented reality app, which allows you to do some "LARP light" with your smartphone and tablet. Sadly it only seems to work in a certain public park in Berlin.

I think that would be a gread idea for D&D too.

 

[Morrus]

They tried an english version and I think there was also a french version, but both failed to sell and are long since cancelled.

I didn't even know an English version existed. Sounds like the issue was marketing budgets, not the game itself.

 

[Mirtek]

I didn't even know an English version existed. Sounds like the issue was marketing budgets, not the game itself.

According to Wikipedia the englisch version (The Dark Eye) was in 2003. Before that there were versions in French, Italian and Dutch in the mid-80s. All foreign language editions have been officially stopped in 2008, but I think they pratically stopped with new foreign releases quite some time before officially setting it in stone

A practical use for DSA for all German RPG players is using it as a meassurement how the German market is doing. During it's heyday they sold 50k+ copies of their major boxes. Nowadays they are happy selling 5k-10k with all competiting systems selling significantly less units (be it in German or English).

When WotC out of the bluw dictated their new expectations to their current partner who had already done the first few 4e books and was quite happy with the results (after paying translation costs and then current fees to WotC) and already planning the next few books, they honestly told them that it just couldn't be done on the German market. Then WotC just dropped them without giving any chance to reach a different agreement.

WotC then went canvassing from door to door with the few other Germany RPG publishers who could handle D&D and were just laughed at when they explained their expected number of units to be sold and that was the end of decades of there being a German translation, which even in this day and age is still very important to recruit new players.

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

They tried an english version and I think there was also a french version, but both failed to sell and are long since cancelled.

The French version didn't fail to sell, it was one of the best-selling RPG of all time in France. It failed to reach the publisher's expectations, however.

 

[aramis erak]

I can't speak for anyone else, but I assumed it was in German. Thus it's gonna bomb with anybody who doesn't speak German. I never assumed I would understand the game.

If that perception (that it's in German) is wrong, maybe the bombing issue lies is the international marketing which failed to communicate that fact.

DSA had an English translation. Not a very good one, by most of the accounts I've seen, but it did happen.

 

[MasterTrancer]

DSA had an English translation. Not a very good one, by most of the accounts I've seen, but it did happen.

It also got some videogames porting, which are generally well received (at least, two over three are...)

Here's the Steam link: http://store.steampowered.com/sub/44166/

 

[Gilbou]

The French version didn't fail to sell, it was one of the best-selling RPG of all time in France. It failed to reach the publisher's expectations, however.

Yes. I was in primary school in France (around 12 or 13 or age) when a friend showed me "L'oeil noir". He had brought a book at school but he had the whole box at home. He lended it to me for a day, and I've been playing RPGs since

 

[edutrevi]

I'm from Brasil (here we speak portuguese) and I've learned a lot of english reading D&D/RPG books.