The issue is a bit more complicated than that. Right now, you have about half of the pages translated to Russian. If a Russian-speaker wants to read the story but doesn't speak English, they are going to find this translation - a number of people I've spoken to were led here simply because they wanted to see if there was a Russian translation of the story. Since you are the only Russian translation available, your audience extends far beyond the people who comment here, or who are even familiar with this website or its culture. People are led here simply because they are looking for a Russian translation of the story.
Someone who wants to read the story isn't going to ignore a translation if one is available. However, they /will/ judge the story by what they read. If the story doesn't have enough humor, shows a complete misunderstanding of Elder Scrolls lore, or doesn't make proper sense, they are going to quit reading it - and they're not going to suddenly try again if a better translation comes out. First impressions are very important to establishing a large and interested readerbase, which is why most writers - myself included - want to make sure the first version of the story people are able to read is as high-quality as possible.
Right now, you are basically determining the first impression that Russian readers have of my work. It doesn't matter if you tell them it is a low-quality translation, since it is still going to be their first experience with the actual story and what will set their attitude toward it. Now that this translation is created and out on the internet, however, you can't really "take it back". The only way I can now ensure people have the good first experience with the story is by making my own Russian translation so that they never find this one. It is going to take up a lot of time I would have rather spent working on new updates, but it is very important to me that people have the best possible experience reading my work.
I understand that, right now, this translation may be getting me more Russian readers than I had before. What I'm concerned about, though, is several years down the line when I have the time to start making official, professional-grade Prequel translations. I want to do a very good job, and make sure foreign readers have a great first experience with the story. I don't want them to look at it and say "oh, I tried reading that back on JoyReactor. It wasn't that good".
I know the translators' intentions were good; you just wanted to share a story you enjoyed with a Russian-speaking audience. However, this is /really/ the sort of thing you have to ask permission for before doing. My education is in psychology and human behavior, and I work very hard to ensure that in the long-term my comic reaches the largest audience possible. It is going to take me a very long time and a lot of work to undo the long-term damage caused by the existence of this translation. If you stop creating the translation now, it will make it slightly easier for me to handle this. If you continue making it, it is only going to slow down new Prequel updates for everyone as I try to create my own, better Russian translation as quickly as possible.
Which is why I'm asking: please, please stop making this translation. Not only is it a wasted effort, since you have already put me in a position where I have to make my own Russian translation, but it slows down the production of new updates as I undertake this new, unwanted side-project. If you stop making this now, then at the very least I won't have to hurry my translation as much to bypass you.
You probably will. If I can't persuade you to stop this, then my only option will be to outcompete your translation to the point that no one sees it :\
It's not just the two people who commented on my site, it's every native Russian speaker I ask who is fluent in English. I've been going out of my way to get a lot of opinions on this, and the general consensus is that it misses a lot of the idioms and jokes, and that your understanding of English seems to be about par with what the average Russian student would learn in school. As in, it's better than Google Translate, but it's still not something I'd want people viewing as an accurate representation of my work.
When using Google Translate, people understand that there will be errors and a lot of missed details. With a human-led translation, though, they expect you to catch all of that. If you miss those details, it just looks like I'm a bad writer. It represents me poorly to others, and the fact you are doing it openly against my wishes makes it even more disrespectful.
Since Russian copyright law has no equivalent to the DMCA, the best I can do is ask you to please stop making this translation. I know your intentions are good, but your English understanding is not suffiicent to pick up all the content. Any Russian-speaker who sees your translation and turns away because the story isn't funny or nuanced enough isn't going to give the story a second chance if I ever make a better, official translation. This translation may get me a small number of Russian readers from this site, but it risks alienating potential readers who have higher standards.
Wow, was the poorly cropped bazooka effect really necessary?
For the record, I really do not approve of this translation. I've been asking a number of Russian speakers, and they've pretty much confirmed my fear that it represents the story poorly and misses most of the jokes. I'd really prefer if the translators would stop making this, but I'm not sure there is any way I can enforce that short of asking nicely.
Nikita, if you see this message, could you please send me an email ata@foxmage.com ? I have a question, and JoyReactor apparently doesn't let you send private messages to someone unless they friended you.
I figured the law did not affect Russian sites, yeah. I am still obligated to try and get it taken down, though. It is nothing personal, it is just to help me maintain legal protections in the US.
I do feel like a lot is being lost in communication here, though. It would be very helpful to converse with someone who is fluent in English (or a native speaker).
I am not worrying, merely saying that I have a legal obligation to respond to this :). I have to treat it the same as I would treat any other translation, or I may lose my legal ability to take down the bad ones. I hope to get a message from you soon, but I will still ned to progress with a DMCA takedown attempt if it does not come today.
I understand that this is not negatively affecting my traffic; I am mostly pushing this issue for legal reasons. I either have to officially endorse you or at least ATTEMPT to get your translation taken down =P
I do not mean to ruin anyone's good mood! =P but please understand that if I can't negotiate changes with the translator then I will have to attempt a DMCA takedown for legal reasons. Joyreactor may or may not care, depending where they are located. If they don't care, there is nothing I can do to stop you. But if they do care, this translation could be taken down.
I am mainly just telling you this so you can save what is already translated in case they do take it down. I would not want any work to be lost if this could eventually become an officially endorsed translation.
Hello! I am the author of Prequel. Please forgive my English message; I do not speak Russian. I will try to keep my sentences here simple.
In the past people have translated my work very poorly. They translated it without my permission, and changed the story and writing so it was much worse than the original. I was able to get these bad translations removed from the internet using a law called the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).
Because I do not speak Russian, I do not know if this translation is good or bad. But if I do not at least try to stop this, I might not be able to use DMCA to stop actual bad translations. A bad translator could say "you let the people on Joyreactor.cc translate to Russian without your permission, therefore I can translate without permission too".
I understand the translators here are trying to do me a good favor, but this is a complicated legal problem. Because they did not ask permission, I need to treat them the same as any other translators who did not ask permission. If I don't, I may not be able to use DMCA to stop the others.
Hopefully you understand! I appreciate that you like my story enough to translate it, but I need to maintain the legal protection of my work. If the translators would like to discuss this with me further and try to come up with an agreement, my email isa@foxmage.com. Otherwise I will have to report this to JoyReactor and try to have it taken down.
Someone who wants to read the story isn't going to ignore a translation if one is available. However, they /will/ judge the story by what they read. If the story doesn't have enough humor, shows a complete misunderstanding of Elder Scrolls lore, or doesn't make proper sense, they are going to quit reading it - and they're not going to suddenly try again if a better translation comes out. First impressions are very important to establishing a large and interested readerbase, which is why most writers - myself included - want to make sure the first version of the story people are able to read is as high-quality as possible.
Right now, you are basically determining the first impression that Russian readers have of my work. It doesn't matter if you tell them it is a low-quality translation, since it is still going to be their first experience with the actual story and what will set their attitude toward it. Now that this translation is created and out on the internet, however, you can't really "take it back". The only way I can now ensure people have the good first experience with the story is by making my own Russian translation so that they never find this one. It is going to take up a lot of time I would have rather spent working on new updates, but it is very important to me that people have the best possible experience reading my work.
I understand that, right now, this translation may be getting me more Russian readers than I had before. What I'm concerned about, though, is several years down the line when I have the time to start making official, professional-grade Prequel translations. I want to do a very good job, and make sure foreign readers have a great first experience with the story. I don't want them to look at it and say "oh, I tried reading that back on JoyReactor. It wasn't that good".
I know the translators' intentions were good; you just wanted to share a story you enjoyed with a Russian-speaking audience. However, this is /really/ the sort of thing you have to ask permission for before doing. My education is in psychology and human behavior, and I work very hard to ensure that in the long-term my comic reaches the largest audience possible. It is going to take me a very long time and a lot of work to undo the long-term damage caused by the existence of this translation. If you stop creating the translation now, it will make it slightly easier for me to handle this. If you continue making it, it is only going to slow down new Prequel updates for everyone as I try to create my own, better Russian translation as quickly as possible.
Which is why I'm asking: please, please stop making this translation. Not only is it a wasted effort, since you have already put me in a position where I have to make my own Russian translation, but it slows down the production of new updates as I undertake this new, unwanted side-project. If you stop making this now, then at the very least I won't have to hurry my translation as much to bypass you.
When using Google Translate, people understand that there will be errors and a lot of missed details. With a human-led translation, though, they expect you to catch all of that. If you miss those details, it just looks like I'm a bad writer. It represents me poorly to others, and the fact you are doing it openly against my wishes makes it even more disrespectful.
Since Russian copyright law has no equivalent to the DMCA, the best I can do is ask you to please stop making this translation. I know your intentions are good, but your English understanding is not suffiicent to pick up all the content. Any Russian-speaker who sees your translation and turns away because the story isn't funny or nuanced enough isn't going to give the story a second chance if I ever make a better, official translation. This translation may get me a small number of Russian readers from this site, but it risks alienating potential readers who have higher standards.
For the record, I really do not approve of this translation. I've been asking a number of Russian speakers, and they've pretty much confirmed my fear that it represents the story poorly and misses most of the jokes. I'd really prefer if the translators would stop making this, but I'm not sure there is any way I can enforce that short of asking nicely.
-Kazerad
I do feel like a lot is being lost in communication here, though. It would be very helpful to converse with someone who is fluent in English (or a native speaker).
I understand that this is not negatively affecting my traffic; I am mostly pushing this issue for legal reasons. I either have to officially endorse you or at least ATTEMPT to get your translation taken down =P
I am mainly just telling you this so you can save what is already translated in case they do take it down. I would not want any work to be lost if this could eventually become an officially endorsed translation.
In the past people have translated my work very poorly. They translated it without my permission, and changed the story and writing so it was much worse than the original. I was able to get these bad translations removed from the internet using a law called the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).
Because I do not speak Russian, I do not know if this translation is good or bad. But if I do not at least try to stop this, I might not be able to use DMCA to stop actual bad translations. A bad translator could say "you let the people on Joyreactor.cc translate to Russian without your permission, therefore I can translate without permission too".
I understand the translators here are trying to do me a good favor, but this is a complicated legal problem. Because they did not ask permission, I need to treat them the same as any other translators who did not ask permission. If I don't, I may not be able to use DMCA to stop the others.
Hopefully you understand! I appreciate that you like my story enough to translate it, but I need to maintain the legal protection of my work. If the translators would like to discuss this with me further and try to come up with an agreement, my email isa@foxmage.com. Otherwise I will have to report this to JoyReactor and try to have it taken down.
-Kazerad