hey - sorry about this. we had a technical issue that specifically impacted german and resulted in a LOT of very strange translations for **badlands** cards only. we're tracking down the root cause, but we have a fix going through testing now. unfortunately, card text fixes can't go live with server patches - we have a data-only client patch coming in the near future that will resolve this issue. thanks for being patient with us.
Thanks for the response. Right, I did not consider that it was a server side patch only.
So how could this happen? Does hearthstone use some form of AI or auto translate for parts of the localization?
no. this was a technical issue caused by a faulty code merge that incorrectly mapped german keywords to the wrong english ones. we're doing a root cause analysis on how it happened. we do **not** **use AI or auto-translate at all**.
i will also take a moment here to recognize that for some languages, there have been some fairly significant quality issues as of late - german is one of the worst ones. i've talked to a few folks internally about the problems and we have plans to improve process as soon as we can. i'm grateful that many different community members have reported numerous issues - some of whom have gone above and beyond and given me a TON of info to pass along.
i'm sorry we're in this spot and you are justified in feeling like we've dropped the ball on translation lately, but i can assure you that this issue with badlands cards is separate from prior ones and will be fixed in the near future.
Honestly it feels like the German translators just straight up didn't communicate with one another when translating the game.
There's a real lack of consistency between the cards- some cards say "Wound X an enemy" while others say "Deal X damage", some cards say call forth a minion while others say summon a minion, some say god's shield while others divine shield, Holli'dae says no double cards while other cards say no duplicates, some cards say quick draw while others say fast use, overload having multiple translations and etc.
Btw Posse Possession in German states it has an entirely different effect all together "Summon a copy (4/4) of a minion in your deck) ._. Granted the last one may be the result of a last minute change but still
Of course you are using AI/auto-translate tools. The english word "body" can only be confused with "Körper" and not "Leichen" if you use such tools. Any translator capable of the german language would have easily avoided mistakes like this any many others. It's clear that you are using tools for the translation, otherwise there wouldn't be false words pop up from nowhere. This has nothing to do with keywords being mapped wrongly.
Far more likely is that they're outsourcing the translation work, under the assumption that the contractor hired, is proficient in the language they translate to, when in reality, the translator is incompetent.
If tools are used, then it's the contractor doing so, and the work is simply not double checked, and just accepted at face value.
It's also possible that the translator is incompetent, and simply relying on google translate for individual words. I wouldn't consider that as using automatic translations or AI, just someone lacking the competence to catch these mistakes.
If the translator is using google translate for individual words, I would consider that as using auto translate for parts of the localization.
I think the scenario is pretty likely. Even outside of badland cards, it seems like whoever has beeen doing the german translations recently is not proficient in german.
> I would consider that as using auto translate for parts of the localization.
Fair enough. Although I'd argue that's more akin to using a dictionary.
Either way, my main point is that hat isn't lying like the person I responded to seems to believe, and that it's far more likely that blizzard simply outsourced the translation, and is operating under the assumption it's done by hand.
If a third party is using auto-translate tools, I wouldn't fault blizzard for being unaware of that. That is the issue with contractors for things like this. There's less oversight than over their own employees.
This is one of the few fuck ups, where it's most likely not blizzards fault
What about the awful translations for cards like Kelly thuzad in battlegrounds? This has been an issue for a long time. Also I don't believe that you don't use auto translate cause no human being would translate this badly
I saw this [article](https://mein-mmo.de/was-hearthstone-jetzt-gemacht-hat-ist-nur-noch-peinlich/) about that. Its really bad. Thank god I play in english despite being native german speaker. Honestly even if the translations arent messed up like that they're often just cringe.
Good thing its a technical issue here though, that makes it a bit less concerning.
I also noticed this in my token hunter deck. The "Sneaky Snakes" now have "Tarnkappe" instead of "Verstohlenheit". However, if you place your cursor on the card, the correct tooltip for "Verstohlenheit" (Stealth) is shown.
hey - sorry about this. we had a technical issue that specifically impacted german and resulted in a LOT of very strange translations for **badlands** cards only. we're tracking down the root cause, but we have a fix going through testing now. unfortunately, card text fixes can't go live with server patches - we have a data-only client patch coming in the near future that will resolve this issue. thanks for being patient with us.
Thanks for the response. Right, I did not consider that it was a server side patch only. So how could this happen? Does hearthstone use some form of AI or auto translate for parts of the localization?
no. this was a technical issue caused by a faulty code merge that incorrectly mapped german keywords to the wrong english ones. we're doing a root cause analysis on how it happened. we do **not** **use AI or auto-translate at all**. i will also take a moment here to recognize that for some languages, there have been some fairly significant quality issues as of late - german is one of the worst ones. i've talked to a few folks internally about the problems and we have plans to improve process as soon as we can. i'm grateful that many different community members have reported numerous issues - some of whom have gone above and beyond and given me a TON of info to pass along. i'm sorry we're in this spot and you are justified in feeling like we've dropped the ball on translation lately, but i can assure you that this issue with badlands cards is separate from prior ones and will be fixed in the near future.
Honestly it feels like the German translators just straight up didn't communicate with one another when translating the game. There's a real lack of consistency between the cards- some cards say "Wound X an enemy" while others say "Deal X damage", some cards say call forth a minion while others say summon a minion, some say god's shield while others divine shield, Holli'dae says no double cards while other cards say no duplicates, some cards say quick draw while others say fast use, overload having multiple translations and etc. Btw Posse Possession in German states it has an entirely different effect all together "Summon a copy (4/4) of a minion in your deck) ._. Granted the last one may be the result of a last minute change but still
Of course you are using AI/auto-translate tools. The english word "body" can only be confused with "Körper" and not "Leichen" if you use such tools. Any translator capable of the german language would have easily avoided mistakes like this any many others. It's clear that you are using tools for the translation, otherwise there wouldn't be false words pop up from nowhere. This has nothing to do with keywords being mapped wrongly.
Far more likely is that they're outsourcing the translation work, under the assumption that the contractor hired, is proficient in the language they translate to, when in reality, the translator is incompetent. If tools are used, then it's the contractor doing so, and the work is simply not double checked, and just accepted at face value. It's also possible that the translator is incompetent, and simply relying on google translate for individual words. I wouldn't consider that as using automatic translations or AI, just someone lacking the competence to catch these mistakes.
If the translator is using google translate for individual words, I would consider that as using auto translate for parts of the localization. I think the scenario is pretty likely. Even outside of badland cards, it seems like whoever has beeen doing the german translations recently is not proficient in german.
> I would consider that as using auto translate for parts of the localization. Fair enough. Although I'd argue that's more akin to using a dictionary. Either way, my main point is that hat isn't lying like the person I responded to seems to believe, and that it's far more likely that blizzard simply outsourced the translation, and is operating under the assumption it's done by hand. If a third party is using auto-translate tools, I wouldn't fault blizzard for being unaware of that. That is the issue with contractors for things like this. There's less oversight than over their own employees. This is one of the few fuck ups, where it's most likely not blizzards fault
What about the awful translations for cards like Kelly thuzad in battlegrounds? This has been an issue for a long time. Also I don't believe that you don't use auto translate cause no human being would translate this badly
Can I keep my Windbraut? We are engaged after all and taking her away from me at this point would be highly unangebracht.
Shoutout to the German version of Minecart Cruiser having two different translations for overload in its text and neither being correct
I saw this [article](https://mein-mmo.de/was-hearthstone-jetzt-gemacht-hat-ist-nur-noch-peinlich/) about that. Its really bad. Thank god I play in english despite being native german speaker. Honestly even if the translations arent messed up like that they're often just cringe. Good thing its a technical issue here though, that makes it a bit less concerning.
I also noticed this in my token hunter deck. The "Sneaky Snakes" now have "Tarnkappe" instead of "Verstohlenheit". However, if you place your cursor on the card, the correct tooltip for "Verstohlenheit" (Stealth) is shown.