Many of the older players who i've interacted with all seem to have something in common; they all seem to use a sort of translation device. The translators are capable of translating the native languages of every race, and are small enough to fit right into your ear. At one point, I believe it was standard that every character in the server had a translator. However, seeing as I have very little experience with these translators, I may be incorrect or too vague about them. Hopefully one of the oldies who know about these can help out with the specifics, but I digress. The real topic to be discussed here is, do we want to use universal translators or not? Personally, I feel like translators are a lazy solution to a problem and that they also kill the element of language. With translators, everyone can understand you no matter what, meaning no private conversations using other languages. It also means that characters who may struggle with speech or language simply can't exist, and I don't like limiting options in that way. One solution I can offer is a common language, but that comes with so many problems of its own as well. For one, people have to learn a whole new language just to be able to interact with others. So, should we use translators? If so, where are people getting them? Can people afford them? If we don't want to use translators, then what will we use? If we use a common language issues start to arise, such as: how are people going to learn to speak this language? Who has declared the language to be the official common language? Lastly, remember that this thread doesn't solely exist for people to try to answer the questions I put forth. Bring your own ideas and theories to discuss them, as my ideas are likely rather weak. I simply wanted to bring this to the attention of the more knowledgeable players, who can do some real debating and iron this out.
The universal translators are a lore thing; But ancient Avian hieroglyphs isn't translated by it, nor is binary, nor is the language of the Agarans etc... Afaik it should translate probably English, whatever the Apex, Avian, Floran, Novakid and Glitch /spoken/ languages are. Hylotl caligraphy and binary are only decipherable by the Hylotl characters and Glitch & Floran characters respectively... They're probably standard Protectorate equipment, considering the new lore in the coming update makes your character a member of the Protectorate faction, and therefor would probably be pretty easy to acquire via grand colonies, corporations or governments like the council.
How I see it, translators are fairly common. Anyone really could have them if they could afford them, but there is a spoken language that I have planned out. Common is a language combining bastardized English, Mandarin Chinese, and a small amount of the various racial languages. I took inspiration for it from the Space Station 13 in-game language also called Common. It's not really a fully fleshed out idea yet, and I would like feedback on the proposal. Translators would be able to translate English (or any human spoken language), Apex, Avian, Floran, Novakid, Glitch, possibly Morse and Binary Code, but probably wouldn't be able to translate anything written. Also, the Terran Protectorate will not be used as a faction/administrative body in server lore. The United Systems is still keeping that spot as the main Human government and military body.
Doesn't really matter, that wasn't the point I made. Also, there's no reason to decide on that as of yet, since we don't know the specifics behind it in the lore. Just because you're a fan of the US(CM) and dislike the idea of the Protectorate doesn't mean you can just discount it alltogether.
Egh. The Titty Pinchers are literally the worst lore idea Chucklefish has come up with. I think ya should discount it all together, man.
Honestly this is a double edge sword. Having the translator are causing the issue you are describing Haplap. I think they are fine, but I also feel that it should be the players to use them as a crouch then a positive or just an as is thing. However not having them create problems as well. Specie/Race isolation in RP. Not having them will cause players of the same races to just rp with other of the race only. Their will be maybe a handful characters the will/have the ability to speak other languages to communicate with other race/specie. Here is another question. How many of each race can truly Rp in groups? I can name a few races/species that can't due to well reason. I am sure you understand those same reasons.
I think that this would, as most of the other lore suggestions do, overcomplicate it and potentially scare away new players due to having to worry about roleplaying out "sorru, I don't understandu your apexu shite" or such. It's not that it's not a good idea, if I knew everyone was on the same level of dedication to quality roleplaying as I was I'd encourage this certainly. But I simply know it's not the case, and so this will cause more problems than create engagement IMHO.
I think Britton is on the right track here. Translators being available without being forced on every character is a nice medium between the two options. Along with a common language, it would balance out nicely. You can have characters who never took the time to learn common, and use translators to communicate with others, while still having the option for bilingual characters as well. It also keeps the option open for language-challenged characters to exist. There's always going to be a few bad apples, but does that really mean we should base ideas off the notion of being idiot proof? Knowing every language is rather unreasonable, and i'm fairly certain most of the players here would let someone know how ridiculous that is. It's not as though we let obvious asspulling slide. I don't see it as too complicated. Perhaps a character creation guide would be in order sometime soon, to help newer players with that. It would be helpful to explain information such as spoken languages and translators, along with other character things. Let's not shy away from progress just because things might seem too complex. It really takes up a much smaller part of RP than you would think, however, I understand the concern. I think that we should flesh out the idea more fully here before determining if we want to make this official.
Some people aren't commited enough to actually visit the forums and read through our rules, what makes you think they'll read any guides?
Okay, in that case, let's just dumb down everything to cater to the lowest common denominator. I refuse to lower the quality of our RP and lore solely based on the idea some people won't bother to read it.
I was going to throw in my two cents, but you guys seem to have come to the reasonable conclusion. The translators translate the primary dialect for each species. Additional languages are required for you to have knowledge. Language is cool because we can actually roleplay it, and during my time here I've seen French, Russian, and Spanish pop up. Sometimes characters that spoke English (The Framers, Raideck, Duke) could be difficult to understand just because of the way they spoke. I think back in the day, all of my characters used dual translators, to modify their input and output. I've since let the detail slide since it's fallen into disuse, but I distinctly remember having Ion explain that she employs a language translator since her natural dialect was difficult for Antarans to understand, since she's not from Earth. Ironic considering how formally she speaks. It's nice to see though that a lot of the oldies here still remember that we use translators.
All in favor of Apex speaking Pig Latin say aye. Actually though, I think a common language could create some interesting language RP. Perhaps one sanctioned by The Council? Universal Translators could be an expensive luxury for the wealthy.
Universal translators just make more sense to me, mostly because a lack of communication is the exact opposite of RP. If you can't communicate with others, that just means you are limited or entirely incapable of RP asides from "man I dunno what any of you are saying" which just seems unnecessary. Everyone having a translator means everyone can talk to each other, which removes unnecessary hurdles.
Greg has always used a translator, he doesn't even speak English (or whatever the common language is IC). Without it, I'd have been unable to RP him at all because he'd be the only person speaking his weird regional dialect in the whole sector. That said, I've seen some people RP the language barrier really well. So I guess it can be done, just most people won't bother because it isn't something they want to be integral to their character. Like Doc said, RPing being unable to understand people is generally considered an unnecessary thing and really just hinders RP in most situations.
Honestly it would be nice if server lore wise that certain species could only speak their dialects like Awe stated and that upon arriving at a colony. They had to register in council space to get a translator, unless they were born in council space. It is a thought.
