Players across the globe often question how exactly Riot Games, the creators of the widely popular game, League of Legends, manages to translate not only the game’s UI and dialogues but more importantly, the unique names and phrases inherent in the game’s rich lore and gameplay mechanics.
Summary
- Translating names depend largely on the phonetics of the language, attempting to recreate the similarity of sound.
- Some language adaptations incorporate existing grammar into English words to create new terms.
- Names of characters and regions may maintain their original form unless they possess an awkward or negative connotation in the target language.
Importance of Phonetics
As noted by user helloimapickle, the phenomenon of phonetic adaptation is key in translating character names. This process involves tweaking names to ensure a close resemblance to the original pronunciation, as seen by the user’s referenced translation of the character name “Rumble” into “rambeul” for Korean players.
Syntax Meets Slang
While proper names undergo phonetic adaptations, community-coined phrases often merge English terms with the respective language’s grammar forms. Our friend helloimapickle explains how in Portuguese, verbs such as ‘to gank’ and ‘to feed’ morph into “gankar” and “feedar” respectively, artfully showcasing the unique blend of English game terms and native grammar structures in international gaming communities.
Preserving Original Names
Contrary to the phonetic adaptations for character names, places often retain their English monikers unless the words have a significant term in the target language, as highlighted by user helloimapickle. This observation is echoed by user spiritpsk who noted that translations might occur to avoid awkward or negative connotations.
Relatable terms and Globalisation
League of Legends players all around the world use English words as global terms, as mentioned by user EvelynnEvelout. The appeal of English terms in the game might just be a testament to the game’s global popularity – a universal lingo bonding players, regardless of their geographical locations.
All in all, localisation for any video game, especially one as globally popular as League of Legends, is a complex process. It involves much more than direct translation, with a focus on preserving the essence of the game’s unique names, phrases, and terminologies, catering to the cultural nuances of each region. The practice incorporates phonetics, grammar structure, and even cultural sensitivity, which truly makes League of Legends a game of global unity. Champions of the world, unite!
