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

[Boarstorm]

I suspect one (or both) of two things:

1) They're waiting on establishing their version of the OGL before they make any contracts; or
2) They found a lower bidder on the translations. They don't have the manpower to do it in-house, IMO. BUT they might want to have someone do translation and layout, and then print it themselves.

 

[MasterTrancer]

In fact, there are fans translating the rules even now.

View attachment 62473

(You can click on the image for bigger resolution.)

Which language is that? Can't enlarge properly...

 

[Plaguescarred]

IIRC Mike Mearls answered on twitter that they currently had no plan for translation.

Someone with better search fu could probably find his exact words on this topic.

 

[ShadoWWW]

@MasterTrancer It is the Czech version.

 

[_sheepy_]

IIRC Mike Mearls answered on twitter that they currently had no plan for translation.

Someone with better search fu could probably find his exact words on this topic.

I found a quote in a blog and posted it in #14:

http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?356352/&p=6325000#post6325000

 

[Iosue]

I really don't understand what the issue with some folks is unless its just to Drama up some noise.

They said they are not ready to let anyone publish D&D at the moment,maybe not until next year.

Then someone asked"Can we publish in Japanese? No?"

"WOTC will not let Japanese Publish! The sky is falling!Everything is ruined!"


So the issue is that WOTC isn't letting foreign publishers go ahead of the English ones or what?

They are not ready for ANYONE at this point,chill pout and wait along with everyone else.

I'm pretty positive that once the game is released and they have worked up exactly how they want to control their product and what hoops everyone will have to jump through they will be more than happy to let everyone with the wallet and determination needed to go ahead and make WOTC more money regardless of language.

Uh, no. If this was a matter of "Hey, we're still getting things worked out, please wait a bit longer," their long-time Japanese licensee would not feel the need to make any announcement other than "We haven't heard anything yet."

This is not that. This is their long-time Japanese licensee explicitly saying, "WotC has decided to not do translations. Not just in Japan, but everywhere." This is not, "Nothing to announce yet." This is not, "Still working things out." It's not even, "We're going to license to someone else." This is "Not licensing translations in foreign countries." And this is not Hobby Japan's first rodeo. They've been WotC's Japanese licensee since 2003.

I'm not assuming that WotC is totally withdrawing from foreign markets. But HJ would not be making this announcement if it was just business as usual.

 

[Plaguescarred]

I found a quote in a blog and posted it in #14:

http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?356352/&p=6325000#post6325000

Ha i missed it wonderful thanks

 

[Alzrius]

Uh, no. If this was a matter of "Hey, we're still getting things worked out, please wait a bit longer," their long-time Japanese licensee would not feel the need to make any announcement other than "We haven't heard anything yet."

This is not that. This is their long-time Japanese licensee explicitly saying, "WotC has decided to not do translations. Not just in Japan, but everywhere." This is not, "Nothing to announce yet." This is not, "Still working things out." It's not even, "We're going to license to someone else." This is "Not licensing translations in foreign countries." And this is not Hobby Japan's first rodeo. They've been WotC's Japanese licensee since 2003.

I'm not assuming that WotC is totally withdrawing from foreign markets. But HJ would not be making this announcement if it was just business as usual.

That's what I took away from this too. I've been a fan of Hobby Japan for several years now, and they're not some amateur outfit that was put together to only deal with foreign translations of games. If they're saying that there's no translation license for any foreign company, then that's almost certainly what's happening.

Now, anything may happen in the future, but at this moment we've been told by a reputable source that WotC has nixed all non-English versions of the game, and there's no similar source telling us that any in-house translations are going on (other than fans presuming that it must be so).

 

[Blackwarder]

I really don't understand what the issue with some folks is unless its just to Drama up some noise.

They said they are not ready to let anyone publish D&D at the moment,maybe not until next year.

Then someone asked"Can we publish in Japanese? No?"

"WOTC will not let Japanese Publish! The sky is falling!Everything is ruined!"


So the issue is that WOTC isn't letting foreign publishers go ahead of the English ones or what?

They are not ready for ANYONE at this point,chill pout and wait along with everyone else.

I'm pretty positive that once the game is released and they have worked up exactly how they want to control their product and what hoops everyone will have to jump through they will be more than happy to let everyone with the wallet and determination needed to go ahead and make WOTC more money regardless of language.

Imagain that D&D was a German game and that even though you know German and can speak read and write it fluently, your friends, young cousins and kids don't, now think about how would you feel if you were to find out that there will be no translation to English for the forseeable future...

I can, and have, been playing with English books for more than a decade, but a lot of the kids and young adults who play here don't, not letting us translate the books into our language in a timely maner will essential realy hurt out community, it will fracture it into this who play with English books and those who remain with other game systems that are translated.

We have here a small D&D convention a week before Gen-Con and I've been translating VotDL for our launch event for 5e, but when players will ask when they can buy the new translated books we won't be able to tell them anything.

I don't mind if the translation will come out 6 months after the books, but give us something to go on. The fact that several local distributors, including the one here, say that they go a massage that WotC won't be giving translation rights to them is very concerning to me, the player who go a non-English speaking gaming community that he wants to see grow.

Warder

 

[Klaus]

Perhaps they're working on localizing (re: translating) the Neverwinter MMO beforehand, and building a translation glossary out of that, so the terms are the same when the time comes to translate 5e.