I’ve played countless free MMORPG games and I’ve noticed that almost every single one has something in common; garbage translations. Free MMORPGs released in the United States and Europe avoid this problem but it’s upsetting that so many good MMORPGs are plagued with poor translations. Games like Holic Online and RF Online would be a lot more fun in they had better translations, as both games try to incorporate some sort of plot within the game, but the broken English makes users want to skip it. When I played Holic Online, I would find myself trying to decipher the NPC dialogue, as it was so poorly worded.
The single best example of a game with poor translations is Magic World Online. There are so many things that got lost in translation that I don’t know where to begin. Two of the final job advancements for a Magician are called “Dragonbaking Master” and “Freezing Uranus”. What in the world is a Dragon Baking master? Is it supposed to be some sort of chef that specializes is preparing dragons? I can’t remotely fathom how that class title could at all be intimidating or even sensible. I’m not even going to start with “Freezing Uranus”. If you go ahead and pick “Freezing Uranus” you’re going to be ripped on by both your friends and everyone in the game. I’m not even joking; these are two different job advancements from Magic World Online.
The fun doesn’t stop with the classes in Magic World Online; the game also has some ridiculous quest dialogue. The game definitely has the most absurd dialogue I’ve seen in any other game.
Actual Quest Dialogue:
NPC Name: Mysterious Beggar
Let me get this straight. This BEGGAR is offering to trade me a “GOD’S created stone” for a piece of fried chicken? How on Earth did a beggar manage to get his hands on a gem created by god? If this guy can find a God’s Gem, he shouldn’t have too much trouble selling it and buying his own fried chicken! Couldn’t the developers have spent an extra minute and rewrite the quest dialogue so it doesn’t sound so absurd? They should have just called the gems something like “attack stones” or something else that wouldn’t make the quest dialogue sound so silly. Please publishers, if you’re going to spend millions bringing a game to the United States, please don’t cheapen out on the game’s translations!
lol your so right