Hi all, as most forum users know, the forum is only in English, and this is part of the forum rules. However, I've been noticing that quite often German is spoken instead, mostly by newer players. This poses a difficult question. One the one hand, I think that there might be a need for a German subforum aswel, as Germans make up a large section of the playerbase, and not all of them speak English (and somewhere I do believe it is a bit weird to just expect them to, would you learn German just because the TSW forum is in German?). Perhaps a German subforum would help draw these people closer, and be more active in the community. It would offer them a place to express their interests, in a langauge they actually speak. On the other hand, it might split the community up, which is entirely not what I want to do with this suggestion. Moderation might also be an issue (if not the biggest one), as DTG doesn't have (m)any German speaking moderators. Therefore I'd like to hear your thoughts on this.
As a Dutch person who can speak English pretty well, but also learned a bit of French and German in school, I think Germans should just learn English. Or use Google Translate, which I think does a decent job. :P I don't care much about a German subforum. I won't use it, I do wonder if I still get to see the German (or Austrian/Swiss) route suggestions here in the suggestion forums. It may split the community, as you say. Plus there may be demand for other languages as well. French? Italian? Czech? Russian? Anything except a Dutch forums, because Dutchies speak English well enough not to need their own subforums. We're awesome like that :P
The issue with this argument is that German is not the language commonly accepted for international communication. English is. Besides that, I see two major issues with your suggestion. First of all, as you realised yourself, this would needlessly split up the forums into an English and German part when it has already been shown by some German members that even the often ridiculed Google translate can be enough to communicate in English. Second, all this would lead to is most major languages wanting their own subforums. If the Germans got one, why don‘t we get one? I‘m sure no one wants to end up with a few dozen subforums in different languages. Besides, isn‘t there a German train simulation forum in which the likes of Maik Goltz are even more active than this forum? If the language is such a huge barrier, I‘m sure they‘ll be happier over there anyhow where there already exists a large German-speaking user base.
As a german speaking user I don't want a subforum. English is something everyone learns at school, and if I wirte something or have a problem, I want to talk to the whole community
Id hate to see a split of posts due to lanuagage and Google translate means that the English only rule isnt required IMHO. Let people post in their native tongue, everyones point is valid.
Absolutely needed and why not also make one for French which is used in Switzerland Belgium France & Luxembourg
