Anyone who looks into Hearthstone might rub their eyes in disbelief. For Blizzard’s card game has never had so many errors – but only in the German version.
Several months ago, I wrote a column about the translations in Hearthstone. I was outraged that the developers were making more and more mistakes while translating the cards. My theory back then was: No human is doing this translation; it’s all done by “Google Translate” or some AI.
Now, several months later, I don’t even believe that anymore. Whoever or whatever is responsible for the translation has no clue about the game or its terminology.
In the meantime, keywords are being used completely incorrectly, in different variations, and even if a sentence is grammatically correct, you still have to check if the words are accurate.
I brought a series of examples. And these are just the ones that caught my eye last night.
The first example is the “Wandelnder Berg” (“Wandering Mountain”). A large elemental that supposedly has “Charge” and “Mega Wind Fury” and “Overload: 2”.
- Charge is incorrect. The card has “Eager”. A very sensitive difference.
- “Wind Fury” is a funny translation somewhere, but it really has little to do with a bride.
- “Overload” does not exist – that means “Overcharging”.
As a second example, we take the “Minecart Cruiser”. An elemental that, according to the card text, has “Charge”, comes with “Overload: 2” and says as a Battlecry: “If you’ve played one last round elemental, don’t get overloaded.”
Nothing about the text of this card is correct. Nothing at all.
- Charge is incorrect. The card has “Eager” and not Charge. Those are two very different things.
- Overload does not exist. It is Overcharging.
- Aside from the grammar of the sentence, the Battlecry does not ensure that you are not “overloaded”, but that you do not get “overcharged”.
Let’s take another spell, the “Sunset Valley”. Apparently, when they came up with the name for the card, they thought: “Oh, let’s not even try.” Odd, because the original card is called “Sunset Volley” – so they even slightly altered it. It just doesn’t make sense.
The description then really takes the cake:
“Wound 10 random enemies. Requires a random 10-cost minion.”
Absolutely nothing about this is correct. One does not “wound “10 random enemies.” One causes 10 damage that is distributed among random enemies. It’s not even possible to have 10 enemies at the same time in Hearthstone.
And what on earth does “Requires a random 10-cost minion” mean? Who am I requiring it from? From the opponent? From Blizzard? From my old English teachers, who are now rotating in their graves or beds?
In reality, the card summons a random minion that costs 10 mana.
But don’t worry, it gets even better. Much better. How about a little riddle? The “Thirsty Desperado” says as a Battlecry:
“If you have rolled a spell while holding this, let your hero attack +3 this round.”
Yes, have fun deciphering that. I’m going to “roll my spells”, of course “while holding this”, so my hero can then attack “+3” this round. Logical.
Another riddle? Here, how about the “Ogre-Gang Rider”. It now has the easily understandable and content-perfect text:
“Charge 50% chance to give your hero +3 this round to attack instead of attacking.”
Of course, it does not have Charge, but Eager. As in all previous cases as well. But the rest is also complete nonsense, which only needlessly kills brain cells if you think about it for too long.
Just to make it clear: These are not exceptions. About 50% of the cards from the last expansion “Showdown in the Wasteland” are affected by these errors. It’s mostly complete gibberish.
Hearthstone was a game I really, really enjoyed playing a few years ago because of its charm and attention to detail. Blizzard games have always been known for their fantastic localization. But now I no longer have the impression that any resources are being used for that.
If cards not only have small content errors but are wrong in several places, then no one can tell me that this is not avoidable. These are not small lapses in judgment.
It’s just embarrassing.
But Blizzard has gained experience with embarrassing translations by now.
