VNAer: think a weekly/monthly summary post on what projects are recruiting would be useful?

[Zakamutt]

As (the only non-ded) blog author for Fuwanovel's blog (Visual Novel Aer), I'm currently doing VNTS reposts and localization / sometimes OELVN related news. Just news isn't necessarily all we need though; I'm thinking of stuff that might help fan translation projects.

 

If you look through the ongoing projects forum, you'll see a decent lot of threads... but it'll take a while to process all of them and find out what they're recruiting, etc. I see there are proposals for things to simplify this (tags, etc), but I still think a free-form description is going to be more... descriptive in general.

 

The general format would be something like:

 

• Project Name
• Brief summary of the VN, trying to make it attractive to readers
• Positions needing more members, specifying what demands are made of the people (English, Japanese skill level, time/line commitment etc.)
• "Apply here" and a link to the thread / site where this is done.

I can see this taking up a decent amount of time (depending on speed and ability to focus, anything from two to four hours most likely; possibly down to an hour and a half or less with project leaders sending me all the info I need.) Obviously, I wouldn't want to spend my time on something useless.

 

There's a few more problems I can think of. Some project leaders might not want to be featured in a blog post due to a potential swarm of less-than-capable applicants (I have no idea if this would actually happen.) Some might have other reasons.

 

Also, the posts would probably become too bloated if I included art samples as well; for some moege quite a lot of the appeal might actually be lost.

 

My questions are:

 

1. Do you think this would be useful?
2. Do you think project leaders would mind if I posted their recruitment info without their explicit consent?
3. Should I look for more inactive projects that still might be non-dead and list their info as well?
4. Should I do all the research myself, or can I leave that up to project leaders contacting me?
5. If project leaders do start contacting me, will my PM inbox get ignobly capped?
6. Would it be a good idea to cross-post this to this forum as well?

 

Also, improvements on the format for each listing etc. are welcome.

[solidbatman]

I think the old authors should simply be weeded out and new ones appointed to help you out Zaka

 

This would be a useful project, but you should ask for permission before handing out recruitment info. You will likely need to take the initiative and ask the project leaders about the projects as most are busy and likely won't think to ask you about VNAer. 

[Rose]

1. Do you think this would be useful?

Probably, I don't really know about the blog popularity but it's worth a try.

 

2. Do you think project leaders would mind if I posted their recruitment info without their explicit consent? 

I don't think so, if the recruitment is open then it means they need people. You mentioned that there might be a swarm of less-than-capable applicants but it's better than having nothing at all, if 1 out of 10 applicants turn out to be a capable one, it'd have been worth it for them.

 

3. Should I look for more inactive projects that still might be non-dead and list their info as well?

It's a good idea, but I think that in this case it would be better to contact the project leader to see if they're planning on continuing it.

 

4. Should I do all the research myself, or can I leave that up to project leaders contacting me?

Both maybe? Project leaders should contact you since it's mostly for their benefit, but if you see a project struggling due to the lack of members, you could do it yourself. However, you might end up having to take the initiative since it's a new project and all, most of the leaders won't know about it.

 

5. If project leaders do start contacting me, will my PM inbox get ignobly capped?

If the project becomes really successful and popular, it might.

 

6. Would it be a good idea to cross-post this to this forum as well?

I think so, there are lots of people who don't know the blog but access the forums, there are even lots of people who just lurk around here, it might get someone's attention.

 

[Zakamutt]

And I who used to be ded as well, lol. Anyway, I got a suggestion for an addition to the format by thexyz:

 

<thexyz> add current project status to the list
<Zakaaeru> uhh what do you mean
<Zakaaeru> oh
<Zakaaeru> you mean like, is it alive or dead or somwthing?
<thexyz> is it alive, how much is translated, what positions are already filled

 

(Note: I use Zakaaeru on IRC as well as Zakamutt)

 

I'd definitely appreciate more people working for the blog, but I haven't had any success in recruiting them so far. I kinda need Tay to be on board with that too, I feel.

[Okami]

1 - Probably yes.

 

2 - Don't think they would, true it might be better idea to try contacting them first.

 

3 - Definitely should contact someone from that group first to see if there is anyone who still wants to continue with a project.

 

4 - Probably better to let project leaders contact you, true it can't hurt to do a research and send them an offer either.

 

5 - Probably yes.

 

6 - I don't think this one is a good idea, some of the translation groups might be bothered by it.

[corntastic]

1. Do you think this would be useful?

• Sure, depending on how up to date you can keep it.

2. Do you think project leaders would mind if I posted their recruitment info without their explicit consent?

• Probably not. More applicants is always nicer than none, even if the quality is possibly lower.

3. Should I look for more inactive projects that still might be non-dead and list their info as well?

• I think in this case it would be better to contact the leader

4. Should I do all the research myself, or can I leave that up to project leaders contacting me?

• I wouldn't look too hard. There's a lot of projects, right? Maybe post them as you see them.

5. If project leaders do start contacting me, will my PM inbox get ignobly capped?

• I don't think there are THAT many projects wanting recruitment, but if so, negotiate with fuwa for more space or use a different messaging system (like this thread, perhaps!)

6. Would it be a good idea to cross-post this to this forum as well?

• No reason not to

[krill]

id be happy to help with this maybe i can devote some of my free time combing threads for ones in need of members and grabing the info i come across and get it to you zaka let me know if you could use my help.

[Darklord Rooke]

I would like to see a Community section on the front page of this site, part of which could be a 'noticeboard' page where community members involved in projects could advertise for participants. And these wouldn't be limited to translation or development projects either. The section could also showcase completed projects of the community, and other stuff. 

 

I tend to see the blog as a place for news, so maybe not the most appropriate place for this.

 

TL;DR: The main site needs an overhaul.

[Zakamutt]

Decided to go ahead and send out PMs to some project leaders, we'll see how it goes.

[OriginalRen]

Zakamutt,

 

Your ideas here play a lot on my idea to start the highlight videos for the community. We should discuss some stuff and work together.

[Zakamutt]

I highly dislike the video format, so I don't know. I'll talk to you at some point though I guess

[OriginalRen]

The reason I mentioned it is because while it isn't bothersome to me if we work together or not, I don't want to have repetition in the projects, essentially making it sort of just a repeat of it itself.

[Mephisto]

Not sure how much use it would be, since the problem is not as much outreach as talent pool. 

[Decay]

I've seen some people post in the skills registration thread but not end up in any project. I wonder how many project leads actually reference that thread. I mean, a lot of the people who post there are just posting as a proofreader or some other various minimally useful skillsets, but the latest post was from someone who actually has a college degree in Japanese, I wonder if anyone got in touch with her. It sometimes seems like the prospective translators aren't aware of the projects currently in demand of translators, and the project leads aren't fully aware of the talent available. I guess one more tool to get the two to meet together wouldn't be a bad thing.

[Mephisto]

One of the most valuable things required to succeed in fan translation is motivation, and chance of success is related to how much a translator cares about getting that game released. 

 

I really have no faith in the "job bulletin board" concept, and don't think it applies at all to a field where there is no incentive except for one's personal motivation. It may have some lucky hits here and there, but as a whole is kind of outdated. The minimum requirement to get this kind of concept to work is to create some kind of demand for wanting to be a translator that is not immediately overwhelmed by the supply of things to translate. 

 

I'd even go as far as argue that this very "job bulletin board" model is also why there are so many failed translation projects. (Of course, I can't argue that it increases the amount of failed translation projects, since the reason there would be less would be because there are less translation projects in general, and a translation project not started is technically a dead project) 

 

Well, enough ranting. The state of fan translation is pretty difficult to change, and I don't think it will ever get to the level of anime/manga simply due to how much harder and less rewarding translating a VN is. 

[morisummer]

Quite frankly, I don't see this going anywhere. On the one hand, it really is extremely hard to find good applicants, and a central hub for applicants to apply to groups would be a dream come true. On the other hand though, the market for TLs and editors really is just too small to make it worthwhile. The only way your efforts will be made worthwhile is if people actually visit your hub, which they probably won't. Most competent people that want to apply for positions already have a good idea of which groups they want to join or what they want to do. I'm not trying to be a downer, but I really just think it's a waste of time.

[Zakamutt]

I'll try this out for a bit, see if anything happens (how do I measure that? No idea. Planning might not be my strongest point.) Truth is, you might well be right; I can see a few benefits to the bulletins though. It's certainly taking more time than expected, so I might just run it once or twice. It might actually help in some cases: I'm not sure if anyone's aware that the EH project needs a hacker, for example (granted this is inside info lol.) Arguably this is more a problem with lazy project leaders, but what can you do?

 

Anyway, the post is mostly finished and I'm doing a final revision right now.

 

If nothing else, I might try to get a picture for each VN the next time. Considering how many moege we're getting, it feels like the art might be one of the main attractions for some of these.

[Novel21]

Hello Zakamutt you forgot to add one thing on your list and the are this one https://forums.fuwanovel.net/index.php?/topic/5945-sukisho-series-translation-project-seeking-tltlc-qc/

So can you Please add this one?

[Zakamutt]

Next Week

[Novel21]

Okay I can wait

[oystein]

1. Do you think this would be useful?

   A: Yes, it's a different ways of spreading the message of projects being done compared to only doing 1 forum post. Fills out more spaces, thus leading to more publicity.

    

2. Do you think project leaders would mind if I posted their recruitment info without their explicit consent?

   A: Well, I personally would not mind if some random site or perhaps someone here in Fuwa started talking about our project or spreading it. It all depends on the context on how it is spread in this case It's quite positive.

    

3. Should I look for more inactive projects that still might be non-dead and list their info as well?

   A: I would generally think this would be a waste of your time, if you feel like you need to do this go ahead but I would say focus more on projects that show progress and activity.

    

4. Should I do all the research myself, or can I leave that up to project leaders contacting me?

   If a project wants publicity and possible new members to their team they should do some work in actually creating opportunities for their project and team. It should be their job to contact people to spread their projects, not your job.

    

5. If project leaders do start contacting me, will my PM inbox get ignobly capped?

   You might be getting a few messages here and there, but I don't think you'll get spammed... right?

    

6. Would it be a good idea to cross-post this to this forum as well?

   Yes and no on this subject, you might end up with too many posts related to each project. 1 in the project board and 1 in your bulletin project should be enough.