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

[Aloïsius]

So, has WOTC decided that dirty fureiners don't need no D&D ? I haven't read the slightest bit of news about a translation in any language, except maybe Planescape cant. Did I miss something ?

 

[aramis erak]

So, has WOTC decided that dirty fureiners don't need no D&D ? I haven't read the slightest bit of news about a translation in any language, except maybe Planescape cant. Did I miss something ?

Hobby Japan is still listing the 2014 announcement that Hasbro isn't letting them on their D&D page.
http://hobbyjapan.co.jp/dd/news/next/index.html

 

[Fabio Andrea Rossi]

When I was a child, I started playing D&D in Italian (red box). It was a magical game, better than the other few RPGs in the market.

But, most importantly, it was in a box, which in my child mind meant it was a game and not “only” a book.

I soon started wanting more, more than was available in Italian…today I can read and speak English in no small measure thanks to RPGs.

Last Saturday I went to an hobby store to look for a present for the young child of a colleague of mine and…look, there’s a D&D Starter Set over there!

It’s cheap, it’s a darn good adventure, and it could, just perhaps it could mean one more dreamer in the world.

But…it was, of course, English only. I bought another present, a Lone Wolf deluxe edition Gamebook, which I hope could spark the same fire but alas, I believe a dungeon explorer somewhere in the Multiverse in that precise moment just stepped on a dangerous trap…

 

[Valador]

As an American who's lived in Europe for the last 3 years and been to about 10 countries here, I really don't see this as THAT big of a deal. I imagine the countries D&D is sold in have English as at least a secondary language. In quite a few European countries that I've visited I usually stumble across a gaming shop/games workshop out on the economy and they usually have a good sized D&D selection on display. Hell, just around the corner from Notre Dame in Paris there's a gaming shop that comes to mind instantly with people buying D&D 5e books...

 

[S_Dalsgaard]

I can't imagine many Danish players wanting a translation. The terms we have been used to hearing/reading in English, most often sound very weird or even horrible when translated. In any way, I doubt that it would be financially feasible to translate the game into other languages (with a few exceptions).

 

[Fabio Andrea Rossi]

As an American who's lived in Europe for the last 3 years and been to about 10 countries here, I really don't see this as THAT big of a deal.

Well, for English speaking people surely isn't

 

[aramis erak]

I can't imagine many Danish players wanting a translation. The terms we have been used to hearing/reading in English, most often sound very weird or even horrible when translated. In any way, I doubt that it would be financially feasible to translate the game into other languages (with a few exceptions).

The Japanese and Chinese markets are the ones most likely to benefit from translations... and Hobby Japan keeps older editions in print until the new one is translated or the IP owner forces them to stop. The Japanese version of MegaTraveller is VERY pretty...

In any case, the Japanese market clamors for a native-language D&D edition. Wizards is literally throwing away potential player base by not having a translation - whether Wizards or Hobby Japan does it. But, given HJ's issues with claiming credit, I can see not letting HJ touch it ever again. Still, it's a significant market and one that has long been served by its own translations.

The Chinese market is almost untapped, but has already produced unlicensed translations of 5E basic, or so I've read.

 

[Alzrius]

But, given HJ's issues with claiming credit, I can see not letting HJ touch it ever again.

Can you expound on this? What issues do you mean?

 

[Umbran]

The Chinese market is almost untapped, but has already produced unlicensed translations of 5E basic, or so I've read.

China does not have the best reputation for respecting IP laws.

 

[MasterTrancer]

As an American who's lived in Europe for the last 3 years and been to about 10 countries here, I really don't see this as THAT big of a deal. I imagine the countries D&D is sold in have English as at least a secondary language. In quite a few European countries that I've visited I usually stumble across a gaming shop/games workshop out on the economy and they usually have a good sized D&D selection on display. Hell, just around the corner from Notre Dame in Paris there's a gaming shop that comes to mind instantly with people buying D&D 5e books...

Well, for English speaking people surely isn't

Sadly, as [MENTION=67378]Fabio Andrea Rossi[/MENTION] recounted, here in Italy the market for english-written books (or, for the same account, any non-italian book) is quite a niche.

What makes things sadder, is that RPG market is a niche, and as we all know a niche of a niche results in...nothing gets ported nor translated.