declined Request to Add Italian Language to Tanki Online

[pasqualenz 1]

Dear developers and members of the Tanki Online community,

I am a passionate Tanki Online player for many years, and I have noticed that despite a growing Italian player community, the game does not yet support the Italian language. I would like to propose the addition of the Italian language as a language option in the game to make the gaming experience more accessible and engaging for all Italian players.

Here are some reasons why I believe adding the Italian language is important:

Growing Italian Community: The number of Italian players is steadily increasing, demonstrating significant interest in the game in Italy.

Long-standing Gaming Experience: I have been a long-time player of Tanki Online and have witnessed the game's evolution over the years. Adding the Italian language would make the gaming experience even more special for those of us who have dedicated so much time to Tanki Online.

Improved Gaming Experience: Adding the Italian language would help Italian players better understand instructions, statistics, and game dynamics, enhancing their overall experience.

Community Engagement: This step would demonstrate the developers' attention and commitment to the Italian community, encouraging further participation and involvement from Italian players.

Game Promotion: Adding the Italian language could help promote the game in Italy, attracting new players and contributing to its continued success.

I am willing to offer my assistance in translating the necessary texts and resources to add the Italian language to the game. I know that there are many other Italian players willing to contribute in this way.

I hope you will consider this proposal, and together, we can make Tanki Online an even more inclusive experience for the Italian community. Thank you for your attention and commitment to your players.

Best regards,

pasqualenz

[Maf 32,300]

Declined

While I agree that more language options would be great, unfortunately we do not accept ideas for translating the game into a new language, as that decision is solely up to developers to make.

Translating the game is a significant investment, because it involves employing someone fluent in the language and having them translate every element of the game, including the whole UI, all of the descriptions, all hints, the EULA and Game Rules, etc. This person will then have to remain employed in order to make changes as the game gets updated. Therefore developers choose to add new languages based on an increase of players from those regions. The lack of new players in recent years explains why we haven't been getting any new languages lately.

[krokorok 838]

At this point in time, I think there is not even a need to run separate Polish and German communities that for some reason still exist, yet alone adding Italian one. I think this game can pretty much exist with just Russian (game origin language) and English (International community). Frankly dont see this game expanding to facilitate adding separate language options other than English and Russian .

[pasqualenz 1]

While I understand the challenges associated with introducing a new language, and the fact that the Italian community may not be growing at the moment, I firmly believe that this move could bring numerous benefits, especially for Italian players who are already part of this fantastic community.

Currently, there are many Italian players dedicating their time to Tanki Online. We should not abandon them or make them feel excluded, including myself—I feel excluded. The addition of the Italian language would not only enhance the gaming experience for them but also demonstrate our commitment to supporting long-standing players and making the game accessible to everyone.

Furthermore, consider this as a step to attract new Italian players. Even though the Italian community may not be expanding at the moment, adding the Italian language could be the first step in reversing this trend. New Italian players might be more inclined to join if they find the game in their native language.

I am still willing to offer my assistance in translation and help in creating the necessary resources for adding the Italian language to the game. Additionally, it would provide support for Italian players who currently struggle due to the language barrier and don't know whom to turn to if not in English.

Please consider this proposal as a sign of our commitment to the Italian gaming community, both existing and potential members. Thank you for your attention and dedication to your player community.

Best regards,
[pasqualenz]

(Opening the online public chat on tanki, I noticed that some Italians were very angry... that after returning after 2 years they still hadn't found the Italian language.)

[Dridrien 157]

It's a big mistake not to translate the game into several languages. The translation makes it possible to bring in new players. Players feel concerned and get involved in the game, even spending money. Italy has 60 million people including 60% of the population between 15 and 65 years old = a significant number of potential players who spend money.

In addition, a number of games have a translation made with "google translate". No need to have a perfect translation. You don't have to be a genius to know that translation is fundamental in a game.

 

The developers don't want to, that's all. It's not a question of money. Moreover if he trusted the community! The community could translate the game for them into their language.

 

[alkyng 3,080]

Although I may agree with developers' reasoning here, but I just liked your writing and your formation /style. This is why I wrote my comment!

[krokorok 838]

On 9/29/2023 at 10:32 PM, Dridrien said:

It's a big mistake not to translate the game into several languages. The translation makes it possible to bring in new players. Players feel concerned and get involved in the game, even spending money. Italy has 60 million people including 60% of the population between 15 and 65 years old = a significant number of potential players who spend money.

In addition, a number of games have a translation made with "google translate". No need to have a perfect translation. You don't have to be a genius to know that translation is fundamental in a game.

 

The developers don't want to, that's all. It's not a question of money. Moreover if he trusted the community! The community could translate the game for them into their language.

 

Translation itself does not guarantee any substantial increase in playerbase from that particular community. For that, you either have to see a really massive increase in server population from that community to be interested in translating it, or you need to extensively promote your game and be fairly competitive on the market place in that particular country. As much as I sympathize with the idea of communities having their own languages, there have been bigger communities like German, Spanish, Brazilian/Portuguese, French ones that  have much bigger populations/ language users than Italian does, and we cant really say that Tanki is performing well in those either. Just look at German community. With Germany, Austria, and Switzerland counted,  German is possibly used by more than 100 million people, but despite them having their separate community and language, you cant really say they are doing really well.

The problem isnt in making the translation, the problem is that Tanki isn't a big, relevant game to facilitate the usage of resources for what seems like a community of couple hundreds, at best thousands users (which I am very skeptical there are many thousands of Italian speakers left playing this game).

 

[alkyng 3,080]

On 10/1/2023 at 12:53 AM, krokorok said:

Translation itself does not guarantee any substantial increase in playerbase from that particular community. For that, you either have to see a really massive increase in server population from that community to be interested in translating it, or you need to extensively promote your game and be fairly competitive on the market place in that particular country. As much as I sympathize with the idea of communities having their own languages, there have been bigger communities like German, Spanish, Brazilian/Portuguese, French ones that  have much bigger populations/ language users than Italian does, and we cant really say that Tanki is performing well in those either. Just look at German community. With Germany, Austria, and Switzerland counted,  German is possibly used by more than 100 million people, but despite them having their separate community and language, you cant really say they are doing really well.

The problem isnt in making the translation, the problem is that Tanki isn't a big, relevant game to facilitate the usage of resources for what seems like a community of couple hundreds, at best thousands users (which I am very skeptical there are many thousands of Italian speakers left playing this game).

 

In real, the only community / language on Tanki is Russian. Because English is just gathering the rest of 190+ countries in the world. In example, me.

[pasqualenz 1]

I remain of the opinion that if the developers had at least included a less than perfect translation. but even with automatic Google Translator we and other players from other countries would have liked it, and we would have found the game more professional and appreciated the work of the developers. At least just to understand the news. We almost feel excluded... and the work that developers do to involve players through missions and events... becomes increasingly difficult for these players to understand... and they almost ignore them because they have to translate. even though I speak English... but I have to force myself every time to understand the news. So I would also appreciate the automatic addition of google translate at least many players will understand.

[Evert 110]

While I agree that more languages would be great, I agree with Maf that there is not enough capacity for that, but on top of that i think that the ideas mentioned in the development plans section in the wiki are much more important. 

secondly, the english language is accepted worldwide, and playing the game in english can be a great way to become comfortable with the english language. I grew up with the dutch language and this game helped me learning the english language.

3. I dont expect google translate to be accepted for translating the EULA, which i assume has to be in the languages that the game is available in.

On 10/1/2023 at 10:54 PM, pasqualenz said:

I remain of the opinion that if the developers had at least included a less than perfect translation. but even with automatic Google Translator we and other players from other countries would have liked it, and we would have found the game more professional and appreciated the work of the developers. At least just to understand the news. We almost feel excluded... and the work that developers do to involve players through missions and events... becomes increasingly difficult for these players to understand... and they almost ignore them because they have to translate. even though I speak English... but I have to force myself every time to understand the news. So I would also appreciate the automatic addition of google translate at least many players will understand.

4. There are many more players from around the world that don't have the game in their own language, like me

[JustBlackWolf 875]

better not do it, me and my friend risk to get back playing just for the void shells meme, right @2shots2kills?

Jokes aside, the IT translation was originally planned but never made it into the game idk for what reason, still, i'm actually glad that it never happened, i don't particularly like to play games in my own language and would rather keep them in english.