Shadowrun Shadowrun: Hong Kong - Extended Edition

[Agesilaus]

It's been a long time since I played Dragonfall, but I remember that the first time I played it I quit after a handful of missions. The game railroaded me into making certain decisions that I didn't like; it felt like the C&C was very weak or even meaningless. Why even bother with an RPG if you're going to be railroaded, unless there's a good sandbox mode that allows you to avoid the main plot. I came back ages later and finished it, though.

I generally like the Shadowrun series, but I prefer HK because whatever railroading occurred was less offensive to me.


EDIT: I also enjoy Battletech with the Extended 3025 CE mod, but I stopped playing because (A) the loading times are not acceptable, and (B) too many bugs/crashes. If they can fix those two issues it would be a great little robot pokemon simulator.

 

[Joni Odin von Hassenstein]

... because I can't justify playing something that isn't in German atm, ...

Huh?

 

[GarfunkeL]

HBS said back when they were doing the Kickstarter for BattleTech that they would be happy to come back to SR after BT but with a new engine, as they had pushed the old one to a breaking point. But then they got bought by Paradox and Microsoft bought Obsidian, so at this point, it's likelier that Obsidian will make any SR RPGs rather than HBS.

 

[Lacrymas]

... because I can't justify playing something that isn't in German atm, ...

Huh?

I'm learning German because I moved to Germany last year, a lot of people here were butthurt about it. And since I'm going to a German course + I'm ~working, I have to use my limited play time to get used to the language as much and as fast as possible, as opposed to playing stuff in English, which is basically my second native language and kinda pointless in this context. I've gotten to a level where I can read and understand spoken German comfortably (reading is still easier though), but using the language is a different skill and requires more time and exposure. So, yeah, I'm triggered DF and HK weren't localized in German because they are one of very few RPGs in a modern setting where more modern vocabulary and slang are used. It's kinda weird to read and hear "seid gegrüßt, Ihr habt meine Aufmerksamkeit. Was sind Eure Befehle?" constantly.

HBS said back when they were doing the Kickstarter for BattleTech that they would be happy to come back to SR after BT but with a new engine, as they had pushed the old one to a breaking point. But then they got bought by Paradox and Microsoft bought Obsidian, so at this point, it's likelier that Obsidian will make any SR RPGs rather than HBS.

I doubt they can justify anything that isn't like Outer Worlds anymore, because surprise, surprise, PoE2 was a flop. Great, we'll get Outer Worlds but in a fantasy sci-fi setting, booooo.

 

[Delterius]

Why? Is it such a sales powerhouse? What are they doing with it? Is there something in the world which won't be owned by Microsoft or Disney at one point?

I look forward to becoming a Disney citizen in the future of 2050.

 

[V_K]

Why? Is it such a sales powerhouse? What are they doing with it? Is there something in the world which won't be owned by Microsoft or Disney at one point?

They got is as a package deal with other FASA properties (Battletech, Mechwarrior, etc.). And you know how corporations and IPs are - they don't need it and not gonna use it but they're also not gonna let anyone else use it unless they are getting paid disproportionate amounts of money.

 

[Zombra]

Why would you think, even if they did make new games, that they would suddenly go back to adding German translations?

 

[Agesilaus]

Why would a company translate games into a niche language like German? If it's a fan patch, great, but any continental who can appreciate RPGs will already be fluent in a normal language like English. Official patches would focus on translating the game into languages like Chinese and Spanish.

 

[Lacrymas]

Why would you think, even if they did make new games, that they would suddenly go back to adding German translations?

The German thing is vestigial, I'm asking for more Shadowrun games, especially with a better engine if possible.

 

[Lady_Error]

Why would a company translate games into a niche language like German? If it's a fan patch, great, but any continental who can appreciate RPGs will already be fluent in a normal language like English. Official patches would focus on translating the game into languages like Chinese and Spanish.

You think the Spanish or Chinese (lol) RPG market is bigger than the German one? A niche language would be something like Dutch or Danish.

 

[Agesilaus]

Why would a company translate games into a niche language like German? If it's a fan patch, great, but any continental who can appreciate RPGs will already be fluent in a normal language like English. Official patches would focus on translating the game into languages like Chinese and Spanish.

You think the Spanish or Chinese (lol) RPG market is bigger than the German one? A niche language would be something like Dutch or Danish.

Germany had barely any colonies and was/is a vassal state, so the language lacks any international status or value. The country and population is insignificant compared to the Chinese or Spanish speaking world. Anyone who speaks German and has at least an average IQ will just play the games in English. There's no future translating games into every little regional dialect/forgotten tongue.

I have nothing against fan patches or companies/devs that wish to do it as a courtesy, of course. If I spoke a fading ethnic dialect, I would probably want to include it in a game that had the appropriate theme, but I wouldn't expect it to be a common practice.

 

[Lady_Error]

Again, do you think that the Spanish or Chinese market for RPG's is bigger than the German? The 100 million German speakers have more spare change to waste on games than Latin America or China. In fact, the German market for RPG's has been always the second largest one, based on revenue. Whether Germany is a vassal state or not is completely irrelevant in this.

 

[Lacrymas]

German is a global language that is not contained only in Germany/Austria/Switzerland, and like Lady Error said, the German market for RPGs is the second biggest in the world. GameStar, Germany's largest gaming publication (afaik?), always namedrops classic RPGs, many of them 'Dex favorites, when talking about a lot of things. I don't like GameStar for unrelated reasons, though. Gaming retailers are also everywhere in Germany. Basically all AAA games are translated into German and many non-AAA games as well. Out of the 250ish games I own, almost none of them AAA, 150 of them are translated into German.

 

[Agesilaus]

Again, do you think that the Spanish or Chinese market for RPG's is bigger than the German? The 100 million German speakers have more spare change to waste on games than Latin America or China. In fact, the German market for RPG's has been always the second largest one, based on revenue. Whether Germany is a vassal state or not is completely irrelevant in this.

Germany's historical lack of significant colonies and status as a vassal state has everything to do with this. The language didn't spread across the world, and whatever ethnic Germans are left understand that they must be bilingual. If a good game comes out, they will play it in English. Translating it into German is not commercially necessary, same goes for any of the less popular languages still spoken in parts of Europe (with perhaps Russian being an exception, assuming we call them European).

German is a global language ...

German is only included as a courtesy. Devs are free to ignore the German language, and Germans will just play it in English. Because all continentals understand that they need to speak English these days, it is just the practical reality of their situation. The only exception are those living east of Germany which, assuming we are considering them European, might opt for Russian instead.

 

[Modron]

Something like 50% of Germans have fluency or near fluency in English doesn't really make sense to translate your game to German if isn't some autism sim with few words that appeals to German tastes.

 

[Agesilaus]

Something like 50% of Germans have fluency or near fluency in English doesn't really make sense to translate your game to German if isn't some autism sim with few words that appeals to German tastes.

Exactly. Translating to German is a courtesy; companies may do it if they wish, and there may be fan patches, but it is simply not necessary or a good use of time. Germans will play regardless, because they have adapted to an English speaking reality. Like the great English statesman Thucydides said, the weak suffer what they must. Germans have adapted to their situation as have all Europeans, by becoming bilingual and accepting absolute anglo linguistic domination.

 

[Lacrymas]

German is a global language ...

German is only included as a courtesy. Devs are free to ignore the German language ...

Yet they don't. I wonder why. Simple courtesy isn't enough to justify the costs of translations, especially when you have to pay voice actors.

 

[Agesilaus]

German is a global language ...

German is only included as a courtesy. Devs are free to ignore the German language

Yet they don't. I wonder why. A simple courtesy isn't enough to justify the costs of translations, especially when you have to pay voice actors.

If people are paying for German voice actors, then the Germans must have a cheap hourly rate or else the companies are burning good money. Again, Germans speak English, they will listen to the English dialogue and like it. In doing so, they will also become better people because their English language skills will improve naturally. Win / Win

 

[Lacrymas]

That doesn't make any sense. AA studios and below MIGHT do it only for the courtesy and expectation, but AAA-studios can't justify paying voice actors and translations if they can get away with only doing it into Chinese and Russian. They won't burn money on this only to be courteous. Yeah, the German voice actors likely aren't as highly paid as the most popular and sought after English ones, but they still get good salaries. The entire Dragon Age: Origins is translated and voice acted into 4 other languages besides English (German, French, Polish and Russian) and has no voice over for 4 more.

 

[Agesilaus]

That doesn't make any sense. AA studios and below MIGHT do it only for the courtesy and expectation, but AAA-studios can't justify paying voice actors and translations if they can get away with only doing it in Chinese and Russian. They won't burn money on this only to be courteous. Yeah, the German voice actors likely aren't as highly paid as the most popular and sought after English ones, but they still get good salaries.

Nah, inefficiencies exist everywhere, especially in large institutions. It requires a certain degree of perception, economic savy, and quick, decisive thinking to recognise that Germans are a subject race who will simply consume the product in English or Turkish.

 

[Lacrymas]

I'd think a whole market is hard to be inefficient about. I'm pretty sure they've done their homework. At least one of the AAA-studios would've done that and noticed it's not worth it, yet all of them continue to localize in German.

 

[Modron]

It's worth it if it is cheap to do but it's not exactly the highest priority of languages.

 

[Lacrymas]

I'd think German would be the first choice after English, if what the games I own have something to say about it. Out of 250ish games, 150 are translated into German, 125 into French, 80 into Russian, and only 35 into Chinese.

 

[V_K]

At 4.4 billion euro in 2018, German video game market equals that of the whole of Latin America. So yeah, if Spanish is in, so should be German. If anything, Russian is a courtesy language, because Russian market is only worth 1,5 billion euro.

 

[Zombra]

I won't be playing through the others now, even though I want to, because I can't justify playing something that isn't in German

The German thing is vestigial, I'm asking for more Shadowrun games

If you don't care about "the German thing" then you already have two more (and better) games to play fool