Translation Strategy and Terms of Acceptability in a Dungeons and Dragons Translation

Abstract

Gaming has become increasingly popular in the past few years, with many games originating in foreign countries bringing unfamiliar terms within them. With their global releases, a game would usually come with localized terms which are sometimes inaccurate and leave the players scratching their heads in confusion. This study examines the acceptability of translation containing fantasy and gaming terms in the translation of "Dungeons and Dragons" and identifies the difficulties which arose from the interpretation of the unfamiliar terms. The study used two theoretical frameworks to answer the research questions; the first one was Cortales’ (2012) translation strategies, and the second was Nababan et al. (2012) acceptability assessment. The strategy employed aimed to observe the subject from several angles. The local translation from the narrator (Dungeon Master) was examined alongside the interpretation and their acceptability. The data was collected in three steps. The first one was recording and observing a session of gameplay of Dungeons and Dragons. The second step was to interview the player discussing their translation strategy as well as the results of their translation. The last step was to hand out a translation acceptability questionnaire to the players which they then filled out. The data collected was analyzed based on the theories and concluded to synthesize the overall research process.

An Analysis of Cultural Adaptation in Video Game Localization --A Case Study of Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty

“…Additionally, poor localization constantly reminds players that the game was not originally intended for them . Scholars such as Hasibuan argue that successful game localization must ensure that the translated text feels natural and that idiomatic expressions are translated in a way that does not disrupt the player's immersion in the game [16]. Yang Yingbo et al suggest that translators must be native speakers of the target country/region and familiar with its slang, idioms, and gaming terminology, which is crucial.…”