Re: HW Translations

From: Mark Galeotti <hia15_at_...>
Date: Sat, 05 May 2001 11:03:11 -0000

> This is agood advice, either. One which is especially viable with
the
> HeroWars system IMO: it is so flexible and the sheets are so free
and
> light of definitions and terms (as opposed to the RQ3 sheets) that
it
> is much more easy to play an Italian HeroWars than an Italian
> RuneQuest.

Exactly - as HW depends more on consensual interpretation of words between players and Narrators, it's much less language-specific.

> But the introductory/light book (possibly the HeroPlayer book by
Mark
> Galeotti) should be translated in many languages; or you could sell
> it along with a CD that retains the translations.

What a fine idea! Seriously, getting translation done *right* can actually be a very time-consuming and potentially expensive process. It's also difficult to manage. One of my - non-gaming - books was translated into Czech for example, and I regularly write for a Japanese magazine. Given that I don't even have Czech or Japanese 6, how can I know how faithful the translation? The answer is, you have to trust the translators to know what they are doing and saying, and my bet is that Issaries would rather follow the route they have already taken with French and German, licensing firms to handle non-  versions, than do it themselves.

But yes, the more languages into which HW and Glorantha can penetrate, the better!

Mark