Curse

Undivine · Aug 14, 2006, 11:23 PM // 23:23

Let's get a few things straight.

There is only one server for all of the Americas (North and South America, which includes far more than the United States). It may be that there are not enough players in South America to justify putting in a new server but there may be enough Spanish speakers to justify putting in a Spanish option.

Regardless of whether or not ANet should cator to Mexican immigrants in the US, there is a rather large audience of Spanish speakers in the Americas. You are playing an international game.

Much of South America is far from 3rd world. Many people live very comfortably down there.

And if you yanks don't watch your tongue, you will be recommended for a ban. Keep political comments out of this forum! That also includes discussions of Bush. I don't care which side of that debate you are on, do not bring it up on this forum in the first place. And no more political discussion on immegration; that isn't the point anyway.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rathcail

...Which I suppose is not a problem in the case of French and Spanish (or do they differ much from what they use in Europe?).

I think the spanish is slightly different but I'm not sure. I know that Quebec french is actually more old-fashioned than France french. Imagine thou speaks thusly and thou shalt begin to comprehend the difference. But Quebeckers can understand France french easily.

BahamutKaiser · Aug 15, 2006, 02:22 AM // 02:22

No hablar espanol. That is all the spanish I bothered to remember after 8 years of spanish classes. Just because public schools throw down spanish as a nearly required course doesn't mean that all those american children are speaking it. If your including Mexico as part of "America" and technically it is, than maybe that figure is somewhat accurate, even Including Canada (overpopulating mexicans....) But in the U.S.A. alone, I doubt 80% speak legitimate spanish.

The random "Holla, Hasta la Vista, and Por Favor" do not count as speaking Spanish, and other spanish words which have been naturalized into the english language, just like thousands of other words from cultures all over th world, do not count as Spanish speaking citizens. And nor does mimicing lyrics from Shakiras latest album.

I too Believe there should be South American support for Spanish and Portuguese players. Note Spanish speakers can understand about 1/3 of Portuguese, and Portuguese speakers can understand about 2/3 of Spanish, they are just a bit further apart than American English is from British English (oh yeah it is different). But I think they belong in their own Realm, not in North American Realms. Im sure there are plenty of players in South America, and plenty more who speak spanish. Any who wish to play in a Spanish community can switch to South American realms the same Way American Korean players can switch to Korean realms to speak Korean.

And feel free to group Mexico with the South American servers as well.

Sli Ander · Aug 15, 2006, 03:28 AM // 03:28

Sigh. Where to begin.. where to begin...
1. It might help if you edit your post to read 'The Americas' or something like that. If you say America, most people assume you're talking about the USA. We are referred to as Americans after all. People from Brazil are not, they are considered Brazilians, etc. I consider myself reasonably intelligent and it still took me a bit to understand that you meant both North and South America. For the guy that called us ignorant, thats simply insulting. What I just said about America being a confusing word in this context had already been posted. Some people just don't bother reading thoroughly.
2. English is swiftly growing as the international language of trade and commerce. If you were in an airline, no matter the country, you are required to speak english so you can fly. At least international pilots, I suppose(local flights probably have different regulations). It is hardly the least spoken language out of the major ones. There is a reason people are learning it as their second....
3. Whether or not English is the official language(I haven't kept up with the Senate story on it, so I'll take that posters word on it), studies have found that most immigrant parents prefer to have their children learn english, rather than be taught classes in their own native tongue. I don't see Spanish becoming the native language of the U.S. anytime soon. And I live in the south, I see spanish speakers, portuguese speakers, etc. on a daily basis.
4.If you really think there is a need for a language specific server, then think of the consequences. Be prepared for every language to want one. Oh and...
5. Its like rping, if you make your own district then people will just go there to flame you. Though personally I've not seen any non-english on the server in a couple months. If you want a server to get away from flamers, it won't work. If you just want to see nothing but your language scrolling the !All chat, you're going to also have to deal with the complications of splitting servers like that. For instance, what do you do if half your friends list wants to get together?; its harder to get together with your buddies if suddenly your guild is on 6 different servers.

I personally don't see much non-english on the servers. I'm not against the idea, I just don't see the need at the moment. And I'm not speaking from ignorance. See my guild tag? I was in that guild for months, pretty much from starting this game. I was the only person who spoke nothing but english. 2 people were bilingual, so they helped translate for the other members. Language can be worked around because English pulls from so many languages that a lot of the words are similar. Its a Romantic language that, like spanish, comes from Latin.
Thats the second reason English is mainly used on the American servers, the first being that everybody seems to know it. I even bought a spanish dictionary to be with my guild and learned from what they said certain words meant. I'm fluent by no stretch of the imagination, but I could get by. My guild of perhaps 20 people is the only group of non-spanish speakers I have seen in almost a year of playing. Either they are using international or english.

It may seem convenient to have a spanish server(and it would probably be nice for some to be able to type their native tongue), but at what cost will that convenience come? If you divide an international game like that, you'll lose out on the chance to play with people from countries everywhere. I can go out on my street if I want to play with other Americans. If I'm online I want to meet people from everywhere, and your idea might take part of that experience away. What better way for Americans to come out of that supposed 'closed mind' then to play with people from everywhere?

I'm not flaming, I'm not trying to be argumentative or insult you or anything, but rather consider me devil's advocate. These are the reasons it won't be happening anytime soon.

Vermilion · Aug 15, 2006, 03:47 AM // 03:47

I tried reading this thread..but..I phailed at it. Theres just one thing though..

European Servers have Spanish Districts. If American servers had Spanish districts, wouldn't that make sense? They don't have to be "South American", they can be for anyone who wants to be in a Spanish-speaking dominant district on American Servers.

If you live in the Americas, you shouldn't have to play in European servers, nuf said. I played for a while on European servers, and it is a pain when you can't get a run/group/item for anything, because Europe is asleep when you're on.

/sign I guess.

bigwig · Aug 15, 2006, 06:20 AM // 06:20

ugh, most of the arguments are basically nonsense.

the truth is anet should take a look at the population numbers, sales, from latin american countries and if the numbers warrant a spanish or portuguese, or even french canadian district, then theres no reason not to.

2ndName · Aug 15, 2006, 06:21 AM // 06:21

I dunno, I am against this idea of yours. First the prompts for 1800 numbers forces me to stay another few minutes to listen for the Spanish commands, now, I am going to bend over to someone wanting their own district.

In regards of your "Pirating" comment, they should not have been pirating games to begin with. So ANet is suppose to reward users who used to be pirates with their own district? What about the people who buys game legitly from the get-go, what do we get? I better get my own district! See where this going? If you get your district, eventually everyone will ask for their own district.

C'mon man. I speak both my native language and English. You don't see me fighting for my own district. You speak English well, what is the difference?

Relambrien · Aug 15, 2006, 07:44 AM // 07:44

Sorry it's late so I couldn't read the whole thread so excuse repeats but...

The American server is designated for both North and South America, as the continents share the "America" name. I could go into a long discussion about how this name came to be, but I won't.

If the American server was designated only for the USA, there would be no need to add a Spanish district as all legal immigrants are required to have a working knowledge of English. Enough to communicate necessities and hold a conversation in which you can be easily understood. However, the server is NOT only for people from the U.S.A. And just so you guys know, I am from the U.S.A., I was born here and love this country. So don't misjudge me.

A Spanish district is an arguable suggestion, as it is the most common language in Central and South America. However, as most people there also speak English, this is likely to be considered unnecessary.

In Europe, however, the number of English-speakers as a second language isn't nearly as much. This is because in the Americas, there are few well-developed countries. USA and Canada are the most-developed and the most powerful, so most people learn English in order to communicate. In Europe, however, most of the "language nations" are fairly well-developed. Germany, France, Spain, any other countries I didn't think of, they're all developed quite well. Therefore, there is no need to learn another language to communicate with the powerful country, as each country is powerful and developed in its own right. Thus, the number of English speakers is far less, creating need for districts of each language. In the Americas, this isn't a problem as the majority of people speak English somehow.

So while Spanish districts would have enough people to fill them, most of those in the Western Hemisphere can still speak English, therefore the district isn't needed.

Great suggestion, but unlikely to be implemented due to a lack of necessity.

NeHoMaR · Aug 15, 2006, 02:57 PM // 14:57

America is a whole continent with a lot of countries, 90% spanish (only USA/Canada/Brazil don't speak spanish) IMO it's really WRONG believe America = USA.

And in the name of God, please understand that I (and all latins) want to play with people that 100% understand me, my language, my culture, INCLUDING PUGS in missions, HA, etc., not only my guild. It's that so hard to understand?

What's wrong in adding Latin Districit option? Anet don't need buy anything, the servers will be the same, the Americans one; And we will be fighting for America in HA. It's as simple as rename American District 7 to Latin District 1, that's all!

About that stats, I am talking about America (the whole continent) not all world; Remember we are talking about American server.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigwig

nehomar may have made some ridiculous, obnoxious claims about the number of people speaking spanish in the states....

OMG! "the states"? You ovbiouslly not reading all thread.

NeHoMaR · Aug 15, 2006, 03:15 PM // 15:15

This thread is NOT about politic, immigration, statistics, culture, power, money, education, .... This thread is not about buying new servers nor if profitable or not add latin district ... This thread is about 5 minutes of coding by any GW developer to add 1 line of code for rename the last American District to Latin District.

Relambrien · Aug 15, 2006, 03:25 PM // 15:25

I don't know very much about how the GW servers work, but if I'm correct then it really is just as simple as Nehomar says to rename a district.

Now, I've never played on Europe servers so I don't know how they're organized there. I don't know if they're all selectable under the "Home Districts" option or if you have to select a certain language category. If it is the former, then I see no problem renaming a district. It wouldn't hinder gameplay; all it would do is move those who would rather speak Spanish to that district.

However, as I said before, this is unlikely to be implemented because almost everyone who plays on American servers can also speak English. Renaming a district would be some more work for Anet to do, no matter how little. Not to mention they would have to allocate a certain number of Latin Districts and English Districts to appear at once and when to add another, which is actually quite a bit more coding they would have to do. And I'm sure they're busy working on other things that we would ALL like to see. For instance, making a good game out of Nightfall, improving the trade system, etc. So while there is no harm in adding this suggestion, it is still some extra work Anet would have to do, and they're already swamped with everything else they're doing.

EDIT: Wording, added some stuff.

rollntider · Aug 15, 2006, 03:26 PM // 15:26

not all disctricts have 7 districts. Some are only one district. Is there a spanish server? I havent even tried to change my server, but is there a spanish server? Or even a Europe spanish speaking server? If so whats wrong with going there? I understand the dialects may be different, but the disctricts are thinning out to far, if you go into some areas there hardly even 5 people in the town. The mission where you have to save the singers? I had to wait 30 minutes the other night to even get 8 people to join the mission, and that isnt even one you can hench.

I have no problem with someone wanting a language specific channnel, but why thin out a already thin population? Some areas are hard to find people, others are easy....thinning em out further is a bit ridiculous.

Lex Talionis · Aug 15, 2006, 03:39 PM // 15:39

Seems we all forgot about the international disticts... No offense but if Anet made spanish speaking districts, then next they'll have to make french. chinese, russian, and the list will go on and on. The reason you have different disticts on the euro servers is because europe speaks a variety of languages. Europe as a whole, does not have an offical language like the United States and certain provinces of Canada do. As the saying goes, you can't always please everybody. Learn to live with it.

Stupid Shizno · Aug 15, 2006, 04:45 PM // 16:45

i dont agree that american servers should have mulitple laungages. my reason is simple, i am an american living in southern italy. do i know italian? yes, not perfect but i can get a round, why? because i live in that country, its my obligation to learn the native tounge. its italys choice wether or not to have english translations on menues or whatnot. not mine. and when i was playing on the EU servers, i found the simple fact that most people dont see. almost everyone is in the "english EU" servers anyways, why? everyone in EU knows some english, atleast enough to say "Monk LFG". and you dont need to know a language to know when to attack, or when to heal.

when switching from italian servers to english youll see even cities like LA almost empty in italian servers. if you do this for the american district, you will create the same problem, all the spanish speaking people will flock there, then realize shit, not enough people, "switch to the english district" will happen. it will be the exact oppisite of HA. everyone is in ID1-3 why? more people.

tomcruisejr · Aug 15, 2006, 04:57 PM // 16:57

imho, they should add French, Portuguese and Spanish Districts.

Canada, South America, Mexico belong to the Americas.

Griev · Aug 15, 2006, 04:59 PM // 16:59

Don't divide people. Force them together and make the understand eachother, lol.

/notsigned.

Sir Mad · Aug 15, 2006, 06:02 PM // 18:02

I think if people forget the word "America" in this thread and use either "USA" or "american continent" depending on what they're refering to, 80% of the flames / stupid posts or comments or more generally the negative energy would disappear...

sykoone · Aug 15, 2006, 06:52 PM // 18:52

In regards to the ORIGINAL TOPIC here, I think it's a good idea to split the American servers into different language districts. When you are trying to form a group, and get a handful of people that don't have a good grasp of your language, it makes forming a plan difficult. It would be easier for Spanish speakers to form groups and understand whats going on if they were in a district that catered to them. Same goes for the French Canadians, and any other language with enough of a support base on the American servers to warrant a seperate language district.

/signed

Relambrien · Aug 15, 2006, 07:17 PM // 19:17

Alright I feel obligated to say this yet AGAIN as there was yet another post that forgot this...

When the OP says "America" he is referring to the CONTINENTS OF NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. Sorry for caps and bold, but maybe it'll be easier to see now.

The OP compares how since there are many languages in Europe and each language has separate districts, why not do the same for the Americas since there are various languages here? He presents a valid argument that non-native English speakers are forced to speak something other than the language they're most comfortable with if they wish to play on American servers. Also, the European dialects of these languages often differ incredibly from the American dialects, eliminating the option of moving to European servers.

American language districts would solve this problem as the native speakers would gather in their native language's districts.

The only problem is that this would take quite a bit more coding, as Anet has to decide how many of each language district to keep open at once, when to open another, and then code this, which is harder and longer than some might think.

So, to clarify MY opinion...

Yes, I believe these language districts would be beneficial to some, and detrimental to none. However, I do not believe they will be implemented, at least not for a couple of months.. Why? ArenaNet has other things to be focusing on, such as Nightfall and upgrades to various systems within the game (the trading system comes to mind, I think it needs a total revamp).

erick5876 · Aug 15, 2006, 07:48 PM // 19:48

Flamewar aside,

To the OP: / Not signed because that would further separate the community. I understand that you wish to have a district for your own language, but that would only serve to compicate things (strictly in a trade and PUG sense). With one common language, all participants on that server are able to trade and find groups easily. The game may be "international," but it is NOT global. The two American continents play separately from the rest of the world, and are joined only by the international districts. You are able to comfortably communicate in spanish within your alliance, so why further separate?

Numa Pompilius · Aug 15, 2006, 07:50 PM // 19:50

Spanish-speaking district in the US seems a logical & reasonable thing to add, so...

/signed.