Curse

Deemer · Jun 22, 2005, 01:55 PM // 13:55

Hello;

I think it'd be a great idea for the devellopers to create a Benelux-district, for the Belgian/Dutch/Luxemburg players in Europe. We're in the heart of Europe between France and Germany and yet we don't have our own district.
I've heard lots of belgian and dutch people complain about this, so maybe the Guild Wars Team should consider creating this for us. We are after all also a part of Europe, and at the moment we have difficulties to find players of our country, because we have to talk english in the english districts.

In short; a Benelux-District could really be a wonderful addition.

Please consider it.

Thank you!

/Deemer [DoD]

Gonzo · Feb 21, 2006, 09:38 AM // 09:38

Was about to make a topic to root for a dutch language district.

I don't really need it for one, but however the most common language spoken in the English district is either English (which is perfectly fine, because it's the English district) or dutch. This doesn't bother me (I'm dutch, so I speak both) but I can understand that other people can find this annoying.

However, I have mixed feelings about this. The times when I have done a mission with a PUG and we found out (somewhere near the end) that we're all dutch always struck me as funny.

But, nonetheless:

/signed because I can understand that all the dutch in the english district can be irritating.

William Stark · Feb 21, 2006, 12:34 PM // 12:34

But I love having you guys around!

If you got your own district I'd hardly see any of those fun and funky Dutch folk any more, which I estimate would cut the number of people willing to tell jokes during missions by more than half.

Sorry to stereotype you, but most of the Dutch players I've met have excellent senses of humour, so my vote goes for you staying with us, if only to entertain me!

Traveller · Feb 21, 2006, 01:46 PM // 13:46

I just wish people would speak English on those English districts. But not, it's VAN ITT MAGYAR or ONK SUOMALAISII after another with the odd dutch and czech conversations to "spice" things up. Really, do we want separate districts for every language group in Europe? To me, that would take away from the whole point of the game and would probably lead to the point where the language groups would just hang around in their own district and occasionally just popping to English to spam WTS.

Personally don't feel that I would particularly want to form parties with exclusively just Finnish players because I'm Finnish - part of the fun of the GW game for me is to meet different kinds of people from different nations around the world.

So I guess this is /not signed then.

milan · Feb 21, 2006, 03:22 PM // 15:22

I'm English and generally happy whenever I find a Dutch person in any pug that I'm playing in, they just tend to be able to work as a team better than many other people.

While I agree that you should have your own district my only concern is further diluting the european players through yet more areas.

Lexar · Feb 21, 2006, 03:54 PM // 15:54

I don't think there would be quite enough people to fill districts, even english districts in europe can be quite empty at times, and if for example we'd take a third of them (which would be a lot) to make dutch speaking districts, it would be 3 times as empty as the english districts are now. Sure, HA, LA and ToA would be able to pull off a fairly full district, but the regular missions and quests will never have enough people.

Not to mention that for all the language districs there's also translations in the game, so to make it fair they'd have to make dutch translations for the game too, even though none of the dutch people would want it, because dutch translations are always corny.

I'd love to see it happen, but it probably won't work.

Ijs Konijn · Feb 21, 2006, 07:13 PM // 19:13

Don't many luxemburg people speak French?

Lexar · Feb 21, 2006, 07:28 PM // 19:28

Are there even many people in luxemburg?

Sagaris · Feb 21, 2006, 07:37 PM // 19:37

Rofl @ Lexar. I'm going to not sign. I am Dutch but I'm perfectly content with speaking English. Maybe that's because I'm half-English, so I can't speak for the rest of 'those wacky Dutchies (

)'.

I can really understand the urge to create a Benelux district, 'cause there are a lot of Dutch people who can't speak English good enough to fit in with the rest of the English districts. I can see them having difficulties getting into a PUG or selling items 'cause of their lack of English skills.

And as Lexar said, do we really want to spread out the European population? That would be funest for our sense of partnership, I hardly dare to step into the French/Italian districts because I can't understand them. And it looks weird, all those weird words in the chat, that's not right? :P

SirJackassIII · Feb 21, 2006, 07:38 PM // 19:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lexar

Are there even many people in luxemburg?

The population is about 400 000 people IIRC...

But I don't really feel the need for a seperate Benelux district. It's also quite dificult to do. In the Netherlands, the language is Dutch, so that's easy. In Belgium, the official languages are Dutch, French and German. In Luxemburg, it's French and German.
Most people who speak Dutch are running around in the English district already, and they're not that hard to destinguish, seeing as some names are obvious violations but since nobody gets them, we can laugh at them :P
From my personal experience though, I haven't seen a lot of Flemish people, but a lot of people from the Netherlands, and it must be said, they're generally amonst the more mature and experienced people I teamed up with.
Also, I think the districts have been split in the languages GW is translated, and the people who speak Dutch (official language only in Holland, Belgium and Suriname) is too small for the added work that would be needed.
Of course, they could hope for volunteers to translate everything for them

But /notsigned

Ijs Konijn · Feb 21, 2006, 07:54 PM // 19:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by SirJackassIII

The population is about 400 000 people IIRC...

But I don't really feel the need for a seperate Benelux district. It's also quite dificult to do. In the Netherlands, the language is Dutch, so that's easy. In Belgium, the official languages are Dutch, French and German. In Luxemburg, it's French and German.
Most people who speak Dutch are running around in the English district already, and they're not that hard to destinguish, seeing as some names are obvious violations but since nobody gets them, we can laugh at them :P
From my personal experience though, I haven't seen a lot of Flemish people, but a lot of people from the Netherlands, and it must be said, they're generally amonst the more mature and experienced people I teamed up with.
Also, I think the districts have been split in the languages GW is translated, and the people who speak Dutch (official language only in Holland, Belgium and Suriname) is too small for the added work that would be needed.
Of course, they could hope for volunteers to translate everything for them

But /notsigned

Flemish? so that's how its spelled..

Ontopic: like you said, the only country in Europe where Dutch is the only official language is The Netherlands, it's absurd to make a district only for The Dutch and some Belgian people
(I'm belgian and almost all my characters are named in Dutch, everyone who speaks the laguage notices you, it's fun

)

Yanman.be · Feb 21, 2006, 07:59 PM // 19:59

<= flemish ( belgium )
i'm on euroservers, but i heard alot of flemish guilds are on american servers...

another question:
dutch districts, ok , but do you want your game translated? all districts have translations of the game

Gonzo · Feb 22, 2006, 08:48 AM // 08:48

No way! I hate translations.

But it seems that people dont mind all the dutch talking in the english dis. because they like to team up with dutchies. So therefor I'm changing my vote back to /not signed.

I found, that no matter where I was, there are 2 dutch people talking dutch to each other and thought this might annoy all those non-dutch peeps.

Lady Lozza · Feb 22, 2006, 09:11 AM // 09:11

Actually what really annoys me is the American players running around on the European server. I've nothing against US players, don't get me wrong, but I do have issues with those (mainly Americans and - to my shame - Australians) who go on about how foreign speakers shouldn't be speaking their language in the English district.
Europe is a multi-lingual, multi-regional, community. Of the top of my head I can think of 15 languages that are spoken in the west half of Europe alone. It simply doesn't make sense to have a district for each of these.
I do think however, that it would be nice if GW supported cyrillic and other special scripts so gamers of these nationalities don't have to make ridiculous substitutions.

Cirian · Feb 22, 2006, 09:34 AM // 09:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sagaris

I am Dutch but I'm perfectly content with speaking English. Maybe that's because I'm half-English, so I can't speak for the rest of 'those wacky Dutchies (

)'.

I'm English but half-Dutch :P Sadly, I grew up in England and never learned Dutch, which is really frustrating when I'm in Holland and my Dutch family is speaking in perfect English to me! xD I like having the Dutch in the English district, they're a good lot

Numa Pompilius · Feb 22, 2006, 09:41 AM // 09:41

There's a lot of dutch-speakers, but seriously, who cares what language people are talking in the ALL chat?

Also I wonder if there's really enough dutch-speakers to support a whole district, or if one'd end up with another "ghost district" (like the italian district has been the few times I've visited it).

Personally I never saw the need to split into language districts to begin with - English is the language everyone use when they want everyone to understand, the native language is what everyone use when they want to talk only to people speaking their language.

I'd rather have all the districts smacked together again than break things up into even more districts. There's a buttload of languages in Europe, that's just something everyone need to learn to live with.

Daena · Feb 22, 2006, 09:47 AM // 09:47

I'm Belgian (Flemish) and on American Server

I dont mind speaking English at all. Mostly you see just English on US Server, so basically I have never had language problems.
As for the Dutch district in European Server: /notsigned:
First, like Ijs Konijn said, only The Netherlands has Dutch as it's only official language.
Second, most people don't seem to mind that Dutch is spoken on local chat.
Third, what about all the Eastern European countries, like Poland, Bulgaria etc. should they ask for a district too? Because I am sure that most Dutch people CAN speak English, however, I am not so sure about the Polish, Romanian and other players from Eastern European countries. And I also don't know if they receive the same tolerance when they speak e.g. Bulgarian on local chat.
So basically, if you CAN speak English and you get tolerated when speaking Dutch, why ask for your own district?
Anyway, this is just what I think..

Makkert · Feb 22, 2006, 10:38 AM // 10:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by William Stark

But I love having you guys around!

If you got your own district I'd hardly see any of those fun and funky Dutch folk any more, which I estimate would cut the number of people willing to tell jokes during missions by more than half.

Sorry to stereotype you, but most of the Dutch players I've met have excellent senses of humour, so my vote goes for you staying with us, if only to entertain me!

Please stereotype away!

~ makkert,
Funky Dutchy

[sorry for thread hijack, couldn't resist]

neoteo · Feb 22, 2006, 11:01 AM // 11:01

/not signed

i play in american territory , but i think europe should have only one district like america , put everyone in the same place , much more fun , more social ... language problems ? its like making a interrail trip = fun

edit : there was a bug they corrected after the factions preview event , that was sending everyone to international in the pvp island . i was all happy about it before , i didnt think of it as bug at all , for me it was a improvement ... sad they change it back.

i think all towns besides temple of the ages and heros asecend , should be international by default.

globalize