I just need to have several friends enjoy it. Multi -play Dungeon Crowl RPG NeverGrind Online developers & translators interview [From the field of volunteer Japanese]

Volunteer Japanese language has many people who take care of them when playing a PC game overseas. This time, we asked two developers and translators, NeverGrind Online of the online multiplayer dungeon Clowl RPG NeverGrind Online, which was officially adopted by volunteer Japanese. Attention is also paid to the criticism of the American game industry that strengthens political colors that happened to jump out.

• A terrible coincidence
• Relationship between games and politics
• Message from the site

Japanese is to make foreign games play in Japanese. Among them, unofficial Japanese translation by users, which is not an official Japanese language by developers and publishers, is called volunteer Japanese translation . It is generally performed by volunteers and is distributed free of charge.

Volunteer Japanese translation can be performed within the range that developers and publishers are permitted, and those that are unauthorized. Recently, there have been cases where volunteer Japanese language is adopted as an official Japanese version, mainly indie games.

In the 21st serialization, we spoke to Joe Leonard, a developer of Online Multiplayer Dungeon Clowl RPG NeverGrind Online, and Japanese translator Ban-chan.

A terrible coincidence

--Please introduce yourself.

This is Joe Leonard, the developer of Joe Leonard (hereafter, honorific title). Please call it JOE. He has developed NeverGrind, the previous work of this work, and FirMAMENT WARS.

Ban-chan (hereafter, title omitted) is a Japanese translator. He is a strange person who distributes and posts play videos of games that they have been translated into Japanese on a YouTube channel called Ban-chan's Game Room. In addition to this work, chronicon and Hellslave have been translated into Japanese.

―― Please tell us the charm of this work.

Bin-chan NeverGrind Online is an online RPG that takes care of the field movement from MMORPG and makes a dungeon crowl easily. Up to 5 people have a party, and each player plays the role of tanks, damage dealers, healers, and buffers. There is no need for difficult operations that are commonly referred to as rope jump. You can enjoy the excitement of defeating many enemies in the dungeon and getting the strongest equipment.

JOE What emphasizes is the battle, treasure hunting, and interaction within the party. There will be no other games that can experience like this work.

――In Japan, it is often compared with Wizardry.

JOE Everyone says so, but I have never played Wizardry. NEVERGRIND ONLINE was affected by Evar Est, Phantasy Star Online, Darkest Dungeon, and World of WarCraft.

――When, why did you adopt a first-person perspective?

Joe budget constraints needed to use low-cost avatars. I really wanted to animate the players. The simple way of moving, which only goes through the aisle, is also useful for simplifying the game. If the game becomes too complicated, the problem will increase.

Ban-chan is popular in Wizardry-style games, and on Twitter, this work is similar to Wizardry. On the other hand, in the Japanese Discord of this work, you can see many players Final Fantasy XIV. In any case, JOE knows what Japanese gamers are looking for because they hear the impression of this is fine from those who are playing various games.

――What did you get to be involved in volunteer Japanese?

It is a Japanese language of CHRONICON. Initially, I started my own Wiki site while playing with the help of a translation support tool called PCOT. It was at that time that for the first time when I was playing a game, I thought, Can you translate it into Japanese so that everyone can enjoy it? I happened to see those who started Japanese on Twitter and said that if I could translate it into Japanese, I would like to help myself.

-What kind of help did you help?

In addition to the work of modifying the text translated by the machine, we used videos to publicize Japanese language procedures and progress. The information on the Japanese language procedure was played 5,500 times, so I think it was useful for that. Another person gave us preparing for a translation workplace using a spreadsheet and making the translation rules.

――Why are you working in volunteers?

I had little experience in Japanese language, and I never thought that my poor Japanese would be money. What I am doing is not a translation but a Japanese language, and I thought I had to be a translator to get money.

――What is the difference between translation and Japanese translation here?

Bin-chan Translation is an image of a translator, and is a job of those who are familiar with English. The Japanese translation is a machine translation like DEEPL translation, adjusts the ending, modifies where the machine cannot be translated well, creating an environment where you can play at least in Japanese. It is work. If there is a developer who pays money in Japanese, I would be pleased.

――Is it because of your mind? I remember having exchanged the same exchange before. Did you know the previous interview with the previous tomato juice?

Ban-chan no. I know the tomato juice in the Japanese language of CITY OF GANGSTERS, but I do not know the interview.

---The fact that they distinguish between translation and Japanese translation, the fact that they actively utilize machine translation, and that they do not deny the rewards for Japanese translation are brilliantly consistent with Tomato juice. I am.

I read it now because I was worried about it, but I said almost the same thing and got goose bumps. I didn't know that tomato juice was like this.

-I also got goose bumps. It's a coincidence that you don't think it's a coincidence.

Bin-chan's driving force in Japanese is I just need to have a few friends enjoy it. They are not particular about the quality of translation, so there is no problem with machine translation, and they understand my work. I published it with a video because I wanted to have other people play it if it was translated into Japanese, but if I haven't distributed or posted videos, I still have a small community only for my relatives. You would have worked in.

――What do you think is the most necessary ability for volunteer Japanese?

Is it a Japanese ability that can correct the machine translation properly so that it doesn't mean what does it mean?

-Do you need English skills?

Bin-chan I almost don't need it. If you use DEEPL translation, I think that English proficiency is 5%and Japanese proficiency is about 95%. I compare the English sentence and the translation, but I don't check it carefully, but I feel like I'm going to check it quickly. So, if you are learning junior high school English, anyone can challenge Japanese, and in fact I have only that much English.

Relationship between games and politics

――When you look at the exchange on Twitter, you've made your name in Japanese since you don't have a game.

Bin-chan originally cared for this work as a game with a treasure hunting element, but I couldn't get to the purchase because it was only English. However, if you tell JOE that you do not have a game, a Steam key (a product code for enabling the game on Steam) was sent, so Then, will it be Japanese? have become.

―― In that sense, did you get rewards?

Ban-chan is so. After that, we received 20 keys for missionary teaching, focusing on those who have a lot of Twitter, distributing and posting videos.

――I also bridged developers and Japanese influencers.

In addition, I searched to JOE, searching for a site of a major Japanese game media and a channel with 10,000 units on YouTube on YouTube.

I am very grateful for JOE Bin-chan's help. It is thanks to him that NeverGrind Online has dramatically succeeded in Japan.

――What did you think when you first contacted Mr. Ban-chan?

I was impressed to find someone who helps Joe translation. There is a way to use Google Translate, but the quality of the translation is reduced (if the native person is not involved in the text check). Bin-chan was taken care of in terms of translation. He created a introductory video and cooperated with public relations, and also created a Japanese Disquord community. The Japanese community is bigger than the English community!

ー ー Mr. Ban-chan is also a coordinator in Japan.

JOE Bin-chan helped to steer in the Japanese market. The success of this word-of-mouth played an important role in working on Automaton magazine, which is also his idea. Until then, I didn't know about Automaton.

――What was the impact on Japanese support and sales?

I was really surprised at the response from Japan. The favorable reaction was overwhelming and really surprised! (smile)

Until then, sales in the United States were reasonable. I didn't cover the media. Seeing is a belief, so let's first show the change in sales.

The article (link below) was published in JOEAUTOMATON on July 14th. I was shocked that the number of sales numbers exceeded immediately after the start of early access. On July 19, the game distributor 2BRO. Started the distribution of this work, and the numbers were further raised. This is the graph that cuts out only last month. As you can see, you can see that Automaton and 2BRO. Has a huge impact on sales. In addition, 87%of the sales in the past two weeks were from Japan.

Developer reports that Hakusura Dungeon Search Multi RPG NeverGrind Online is selling especially in Japan. The heat of the user who is surprised by the developer (Automaton magazine)

In the distribution of Ban-chan 2BRO., A younger brother said, I have the game system I wanted to do here. I also played and felt like that.

Joe I made NeverGrind Online for the same reason. I am honored to have a compliment, even though it is still unfinished in early access.

――What did the surge in the user affect?

If the size of the JOE online games expands so far, you must overcome various technical issues to support many players at once. The server of this work is managed by the developer on the Amazon web service, but it was necessary to take a rest for a month to deal with the rapid increase in the number of accesses.

— Did you plan to support Japanese from the beginning?

JOE, of course, was planning. The previous work, NeverGrind, was successful in Japan, and I knew that dungeon crowl like Wizardry was very popular in Japan, so Japanese is the best in supporting Japanese. It was at the top. I thought this work was perfect for Japanese players.

――Is the previous work popular in Japan?

Joe's first NeverGrind was a browser RPG that can be played for free. There is a thread with more than 600 comments on the live door blog. Eight years ago, I also used Google Translate to participate in the thread.

――In the thread seems to have many critical comments, what did you read?

It's good to be able to get involved in any form. There is no bad criticism. The worst thing that the media can do is to have no existence itself. Although Discord of this work is always criticized, if you are not interested in the game, you will not bother to waste time. For example, Elden Ring is a great work, but has been criticized. I can't believe that the rating is 90%in Steam's user review. It should be higher! (smile)

――What were the reasons for adopting volunteer Japanese as the official Japanese version?

Joe is a small American indieveropper, so you can't spend a huge budget for professional translation services. In fact, I do another job in full time, and my development budget is only $ 15,000 (about 2 million yen). So we accept all help. In Chinese, the Chinese Chinese translated free of charge because they seemed to be interesting. Various people helped translate Portuguese, French, Russian, and Polish. They translated them not for financial motives, but because they would be happy if they could contribute to the project.

―― Are you satisfied with the quality of volunteer Japanese?

JOE is satisfied overall. In fact, most of the translation issues are my fault. It was a mistake to program based on English syntax. In the future, we must strive not to rely on English syntax.

――Do you assume that you will support other languages when you program?

I put it in JOE, but I couldn't foresee all problems. The past work Firmament Wars was translated into various languages and became a good example of this work. Nevertheless, there are few games translated into eight languages in just one month like this work.

――How did you realize that speed?

JOE It will be more familiar with that.

When I first talked, JOE was in a hurry to implement Japanese. So he told him that it would be possible in a week in Japanese-style translation of 1400 lines. I worked only at Japanese translation at least in Japanese, and worked at the speed first. The original text was 1400 lines, 150,000 characters, and 90,000 characters after the translation over 8 hours. As a result, I was able to contribute to the sales of this work, so I think it was a good speed.

――You-focus on speed and gave priority to Japanese translation instead of translation.

Bin-chan, of course, the beautifulness of Japanese is a few than those who ask the translator. The quality is checked in test play while listening to the opinions of other players, and each time the correction is performed. I would like to complete Japanese translation by the official release, along with the text added in the future.

――What technical issues did you have in supporting Japanese?

There were two JOE issues. One is to make the text easier, and the other is to avoid English syntax. I used to use some elaborate English, which made translation difficult. I don't want to write Shakespeare separately, so I rewrote it with a simple sentence and solved it.

――What does it mean to say I don't depend on English syntax mentioned earlier?

Joe, for example, instead of writing Bob Left The Party (Bob has passed the party), write Left The Party: Bob (Bob). It is a big mistake to try to configure sentences based on English syntax. I avoided writing sentences unless I need it, and replaced all sentences with a form of label: effect. This format can be translated well in any language.

――What are the other examples?

There is a sentence called Restore Health that represents the effect of the Joe potion. Initially, two words, Restore and Health were used separately, but they could not be translated well in Japanese, so we solved them by collecting Restore Health.

In the Japanese translation before Ban-chan, it was health to return. I changed the syntax with the advice of an acquaintance on the Internet, and it is now a natural translation. There were other problems that would be a line break at the space of the space, but I have JOE telling the symptoms and improving them.

―― Have you ever had a hard time interacting with each other?

Bin-chan talked about Google translation and DeepL translation, but there was no particular difficulty in Japanese language work. On the other hand, after the support of Japanese, the number of players increased rapidly and the server became unstable. The peak time in Japan comes during the time when JOE is sleeping, so I care about what the person in charge of Japanese does not need to worry about, How do I tell JOE when there is a problem? I was. I found a fatal bug during the distribution of 2BRO. I sent a direct SMS to JOE, but it was a laughing story that I couldn't notice until the next morning.

Joe exchange was very smooth. I use a tool called Qtranslate to simulate Discord, YouTube, and Twitch texts. The language barrier is not a big problem. I needed to learn Japanese slang. For some reason, the server is translated as mackerel... Saba is a kind of fish, right? Then I had to learn the meaning of grass. Aside from that, it's fun to work with Japanese players. They are optimistic and aggressive and send a lot of constructive feedback.

――The Japanese gamers looked optimistic, aggressive and constructive. Why did you feel so?

JOE Japanese focus on purely high-quality games. On the other hand, the American industry is very political. I guess that trend has appeared what kind of games are developed and recommended. In fact, most of the negative feedback to this work is from Americans.

――― Why are American gamers negative to NeverGrind Online?

This is probably because JOE American media has a grudge to me and does not try to take this work. It is the postscript of this article that can be clearly understood (the quotation part below). It is written that I will stop taking this work because I was involved in the advertising of anti-vaccine conspiracy theory. Actually, I don't really like the new Corona vaccine. Having a Christian worldview is also a cause of being beaten. Former game developer Scott Cawthon is also persecuted for similar reasons. The Western game industry is openly hostile to Christians like us.

Update: An MOP reader pointed us to the history of this particular solo developer, which appears to involve publicly promoting anti-vax conspiracies (among other things). We do not support and will not be covering this game further.-Eds.

The JOE Western game industry is struggling because of too political. He does not focus on making good games, but continues to select people with ideas. I don't think there is such a problem in Japan, where culture is not as small as Europe and the United States. So I'm happy to be able to work with Japanese people. I have never felt politically negative with Japanese. Games and politics don't matter.

Message from the site

――In Japanese, what kind of ingenuity did you do to maintain the atmosphere of the game?

Ban-chan This work is a medieval fantasy world view, so I devised it to be a little hard, old Japanese. In addition, I received advice on the unification of basic endings such as Da and Da from an acquaintance on the Internet. Thanks to that, I think the story can be read smoothly.

――How did you verify that Japanese language is correctly reflected in the game?

I think this is a problem unique to online games, but if you pass the text file to Joe and update JOE, the fix is applied for the first time. Therefore, it was not possible to verify before the update. It was the most difficult part of this work in Japanese. We continue to run the game, submit the modified textbooks if there is a strange place, and check after the update.

— Have you changed your perspective by working on official Japanese?

For those who play Van-chan, it turned out that they were developed by the development side when they were officially adopted, whether Japanese translation was paid or free. Do you say that your collar is a little correct with your usual behavior, or you have a little backstood. Regarding Japanese, the difficulty of myself has dropped a little in terms of official Japanese translation, as the ending is well-organized and the world view does not break the world view. 。

―― Please tell us what I was happy about through the Japanese language of this work.

What I was most happy with was that I was able to contribute to the sales of NeverGrind Online. I am proud that I was able to sell more than 5,000 copies in Japan because it was translated into Japanese. The second is that two people, 2BRO. If you compare it, do you feel like a favorite singer sang the poem I wrote? For the first time, I visited the place where the two were delivering, but I was impressed.

―― Please give advice to those who want to be volunteered in Japanese.

Ban-chan, I jumped into the world of volunteer Japanese from the Japanese language of games I want to play and the games I want to recommend to friends. I am still active just by that thought, so I recommend that you take action anyway. If you don't know, tweet on Twitter may help some1. I heard a voice saying, I'm happy to play in Japanese!

Participating in a small game project will open the way to cooperate with all game development operations. In other words, you can experience not only translation work but also cooperation with the community and get internal information. There is also a chance to create your own content on YouTube. In fact, Ban-chan succeeded in many videos thanks to the internal information and ideas I provided. This cooperation is Win-Win for each other. This composition will also be for those who are looking for a similar cooperative relationship.

—What would you like to tell the game developers and the game industry?

After reading an interview with Ban-chan tomato juice, I came to think that there would be a place to connect indie developers and volunteer Japanese. I don't have the idea that I'm volunteer and I have to be free, so if the development side is looking for a translation, if you want a environment where you can play at least in Japanese, become volunteers. I want a place to bridge so that I can request. Once the place is in place, I would like to ask the development side to prepare a text file to make it easier to translate.

-Thank you for your valuable time today.