Guild Wars 2

Tom Gore.4035:

marnick.4305:

Windu The Forbidden One.6045:

Justdeifyme.9387:

most of the EU population is german.

Do you have any evidence to support this?

Only personal experiences.

1/ Germany speaks German (duh)
2/ Austria has German as the sole official language
3/ In Switzerland and Belgium, German is a minority language
4/ In the Netherlands, Poland, Hungary and Denmark, German is the most important second language. In Belgium it’s the most important second language after French.
5/ Everyone who works in automation, steel industry, green energy, … on a technical or higher level has to know German to one degree or another since it is the primary language in those industries.

Which means that German is the most important language in Europe, whether you want it or not. But hey, I’m a polyglot Belgian. I just try to accommodate. No one in the world knows my mother tongue, no one even bothers. Most in the world don’t even know Dutch is the majority language here. and just speak french for some reason.

Your example fails because the great majority of the German speaking people in those countries also know quite a bit of English aswell.

If there was one language you’d learn to be able to communicate with people all over Europe, which one would you choose?

I’ll give a hint. It’s not German.

Protip: it’s not English either. For Europe, French would be the most likely candidate after German. Worldwide, try Spanish, Russian or Chinese if you really want a vast group to talk to with just one language.

The vast majority in Germany doesn’t speak a word of English. Same goes for France, Spain and Italy. If you don’t know the local world language, you’re simply out of luck.

English merely has a few very visible niches, such as the worlds largest economy and being a de facto norm in IT. But in absolute numbers and outside those specific niches, other languages will help you more.

marnick.4305:

Isn’t refusing to learn a few other languages being a little too selfish? Especially since a lot of French/Spanish/German people speak exactly one language they consider to be a world language just as much as you consider English to be one. In fact, more people speak Spanish or English at home than English. That’s the primary reason why French/Spanish/German servers exist but no Dutch, Polish or Hungarian.

Marnick,

My native language is ~ twice as much spoken than german or french (Portuguese). That don’t mean i should be selfish and close myself in my native language. If i want to interact with the rest of the world, i should take a form to communicate the best i can and to the best understanding. Same principle applies!

Advocate of the devil here. The tool should have a language filter, but at no point should you consider English to be the main language on a multi-language game.

Currently, we have in EU – 14 English Spoken servers, 7 German, 5 French and 1 Spanish. We have more players speaking English (although many aren’t English native) than any other language. And we are not counting the 24 English spoken servers in NA side. So, based on this, we could well assume that English is the main language if a “CROSS-SERVER” tool is released!

LHound.8964:

marnick.4305:

Isn’t refusing to learn a few other languages being a little too selfish? Especially since a lot of French/Spanish/German people speak exactly one language they consider to be a world language just as much as you consider English to be one. In fact, more people speak Spanish or English at home than English. That’s the primary reason why French/Spanish/German servers exist but no Dutch, Polish or Hungarian.

Marnick,

My native language is ~ twice as much spoken than german or french (Portuguese). That don’t mean i should be selfish and close myself in my native language. If i want to interact with the rest of the world, i should take a form to communicate the best i can and to the best understanding. Same principle applies!

If everyone did that, maybe there would be world peace. But as it currently stands, a lot of people don’t speak the same language. Arena.net gave people German/French/Spanish only servers. One can’t expect these people to use English in the LFG tool, mostly because these people don’t understand one word of English.

Currently, we have in EU – 14 English Spoken servers, 7 German, 5 French and 1 Spanish. We have more players speaking English (although many aren’t English native) than any other language. And we are not counting the 24 English spoken servers in NA side. So, based on this, we could well assume that English is the main language if a “CROSS-SERVER” tool is released!

I don’t think it’s as easy to assume as you might think. Do you really think that people who went to a French server because they don’t speak English at all, will volunteer to not use the tool? Come on, what do you expect?

Yeah I love how I still get quoted even after I pointed out that I meant the Population of the Guild Wars 2 EU Servers, not Europe as a continent. I didn’t write that clearly enough, my bad, so you could do me a favour and stop quoting my mistake.

Justdeifyme.9387:

Yeah I love how I still get quoted even after I pointed out that I meant the Population of the Guild Wars 2 EU Servers, not Europe as a continent. I didn’t write that clearly enough, my bad, so you could do me a favour and stop quoting my mistake.

And yet that population doesn’t allow for discriminating in the LFG tool when accommodations have been made for other languages elsewhere. Even if 80% of the population spoke bork bork and only 20% French, the mere fact that Spanish is a recognized language in game would mean that German people have a right to use the LFG tool in their language.

An inclusive fix has to be made, not an exclusive one.

In Europe, you’ll find that many English productions for television and even movies will be dubbed in the native tongue. This is certainly the case for German and French. Many people in these countries will not have an elaborate English vocabulary.

Some other countries like the Netherlands and Belgium however, where they speak Dutch, usually find such dubbing horrible and will have none of it. They generally have a better grasp at English.

However, make no mistake, the business language of the EU is most certainly English. It’s not German, it’s not French, it’s not Spanish.

As for the situation at hand, if they promote their party in a different language, don’t join them. You will most likely not understand each other which will just end in frustration.

Mind you, the argument works both ways. It’s also very frustrating to start an English group and have someone join who speaks some language none of you understand and doesn’t understand English themselves.

when YOU cant understand it they are clearly not looking for YOU so dont understand the problem

and seriously i feel offended from this thread – i am german and when i look in lfg right now there is ZERO german

so stop this bull…

thx

If you don’t like seeing LFG in german, then start one in english instead of making other people do it.

LHound.8964:

My native language is ~ twice as much spoken than german or french (Portuguese). That don’t mean i should be selfish and close myself in my native language.

English speakers are selfish and close themselves in their native language all the time.

Granted, I say this as a francophone who lives in the US currently, but back when I was in my native province, it was about 50% anglos and 45% francophones— but the anglos still expected everyone to only speak english and got mad if you spoke in french around them, even though there were TWO official languages there. So anglos insisting everyone speak THEIR language has been the case for a long, and annoying, time.

Especially if you’re on a non-anglo server, there’s no point in advertising in english. English is not the default setting for language, and just because it’s used in international business doesn’t mean it’s required for people messing around in an MMO.

Sorry but why is this really a problem? If you see a listing in German, then you have the choice to either join it and don’t speak, or look for another/start your own.

I listed a group the other day and had 3 Germans and 1 French guy join me, all 3 of the Germans spoke English the whole time, while the French guy didn’t say a word (Guess he didn’t speak English)

It’s not like you’re being forced to play with German players.

Yes UK-boi, English is not the only existing language. What about learning some other languages yourself?

And you should give it some time

germans have german client french have french and spain have spanish and i bet alot ppl on this server dont read forum and dont even know this lfg tool is complete EU … so just ignore it when cant understand and stop trieing to split the comunity (we dont need^^)

thx

Whitey.6185:

I listed a group the other day and had 3 Germans and 1 French guy join me, all 3 of the Germans spoke English the whole time, while the French guy didn’t say a word (Guess he didn’t speak English)

He might’ve been able to read it, but not speak it fluently. I’m like that with portuguese, or I was back when I always ended up in portuguese guild groups on AION— I got most of what they said but mine was limited to NAO and a few cusswords.

There were a few moments of, ‘Did he just insult my mom?’ “No, he said ‘good heals!’ lol!” “Oh!”

The arguments here are trivial at best! If someone types a LFG in German, as an English speaker I can only assume that theyre only looking for fellow Germans to join. Its just like when, for example, a Russian guild advertises in map chat. I dont assume that they’ll accept pure English speakers. Theyre looking for Russians and there’s nothing wrong with that!

If indeed they are looking for players that cannot understand German and are advertising in German then theyre just bad advertisers! Everyone needs to stop being so touchy!

I guess when it comes to language, us English people are lazy I’ve seen plenty of Germans, Russians, French and other people from around the world speak mostly English when communicating with other people, yet English people only seem to want to speak their own language, or can’t speak any other.

There are so many false truths in this thread that it can not be seriously taken as “interesting feedback”. My personal top 4 :

The winner !

The only “national” servers you have are French, Spanish and German, because of legal issues.

Close second !

It’s just that most of the EU population is german

English the most spoken language in the EU

4/ In the Netherlands, Poland, Hungary and Denmark, German is the most important second language. In Belgium it’s the most important second language after French.

Those threads can only exist on english-speaking forums, where english natives expect the world to use their language exclusively. Guess what : no.

However, you can’t deny that English is the business language of Europe Ouroboros. You will find that even the European president, who happens to be Belgian like myself, and speaks both French and German too, will always address Europe in English with that horrible, horrible accent of his.

He could very well use any other language, but it seems it is still expected that any European citizen can understand English instead of French or German.

I will agree that English seems to be a language that a lot of people know and use. It is quite common for Germans and others to speak English, however you rarely see people in England speak German, French or another language.

English is thought pretty much everywhere, the only language that was taught in schools when I was there was French.

Evans.6347:

He could very well use any other language, but it seems it is still expected that any European citizen can understand English instead of French or German.

The problem is, what people expected! The most time, i don´t expected everything.
Yesterday, I used the tool first time and my groups were different at all. I never joined in a german group, it doesn´t matter. I had a really good time and my english is worst.

Off topic: So may i can looking for “native english speaker” to explore gw2 and help me to speak english better. I am a german player, so please pm me, like you want.

We should all learn Esperanto.^^

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esperanto

Lukrezia Borgia.1369:

Evans.6347:

He could very well use any other language, but it seems it is still expected that any European citizen can understand English instead of French or German.

The problem is, what people expected! The most time, i don´t expected everything.
Yesterday, I used the tool first time and my groups were different at all. I never joined in a german group, it doesn´t matter. I had a really good time and my english is worst.

Off topic: So may i can looking for “native english speaker” to explore gw2 and help me to speak english better. I am a german player, so please pm me, like you want.

Lukrezia, your understanding of English is clearly more than sufficient to cooperate with other people. You don’t have to worry about these things, least of all spend your entertainment time studying English. It’ll better just by using it.

I learned most of my English from video games. Back in the old NES age, and following on, games were in English (or Engrish is some occasions ) and if you wanted to play you had to adapt.

I’m kind of into languages in general. Speak 5, can write in 4. Some more sentences, cusswords, counting in 3 more. I don’t care from what country my fellow players are, but I do prefer to be in a group in which one can communicate.
Not everyone speaks english, or wants to. I don’t mind people posting in any language, if I don’t get it I just don’t join. You can’t expect everyone to be able to communicate in english. Trying to make everyone to write every lfg post in an international (!) tool in english is… well… a mixture of lazy, ignorant and bordering racist.
Just ignore the posts you don’t understand, it’s not that hard. ^^

Anjhouli.7049:

Trying to make everyone to write every lfg post in an international (!) tool in english is… well… a mixture of lazy, ignorant and bordering racist.

This

also this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_languages_by_number_of_native_speakers

get out of your bubble OP.

Evans.6347:

However, make no mistake, the business language of the EU is most certainly English. It’s not German, it’s not French, it’s not Spanish.

Make no mistake. This only counts for specific sectors. In other sectors it’s German all the way, especially in heavy machinery and green energy. Good luck finding in depth documentation for certain international standards in any language bar German. I’ve been there.

And trying to sell anything in France by an English-only sales manager is a recipe for disaster. If you want to become big in France, you’ll need a native French salesman.

What i mean is that IF they want german people only it would be easier to have a filter like “Germans only” (no hate towards germans! But like we have in servers. We have german specific servers, so i think it should be in the LFG tool aswell.)

And the germans have to remember: They are not the only one using the LFG tool… Seeing more german posts than english makes me sad tbh. Why do they post in german and not english? They could just write “Germans only please”

I don’t really understand why everyone is getting mad at the OP. I didn’t read that post as asking everyone to post in English. I read it as, “Can I filter it so I only see the English LFG’s” because the OP specifically does not want to join a group that s/he would not understand. Sure, you can just ignore, but it’s not such an unreasonable request. Just as maybe someone who only speaks German wouldn’t want to see a bunch of English LFG’s, or a bunch of French ones. If the OP is, however, suggesting that only English should be spoken in the LFG… Then yeah, that’s a problem. A filter should be added, but people should also be allowed to speak what they want.

Also, I don’t think people who speak English are too lazy to learn another language. I think language classes in the American education system just suck lol.

ShadowMaster.5708:

What i mean is that IF they want german people only it would be easier to have a filter like “Germans only” (no hate towards germans! But like we have in servers. We have german specific servers, so i think it should be in the LFG tool aswell.)

And the germans have to remember: They are not the only one using the LFG tool… Seeing more german posts than english makes me sad tbh. Why do they post in german and not english? They could just write “Germans only please”

because if they made a posting saying in English- German players only- you would have some sod who TLDR and join the group and then complain because they spoke in German.
Making the post in German sends a message that it is a German party.
It is not that hard to understand really.
If you don’t speak the language it was not meant for you.
I see all sorts of guilds recruiting in their native language on my server- it is meant for those communities.

Tom Gore.4035:

If there was one language you’d learn to be able to communicate with people all over Europe, which one would you choose?

I’ll give a hint. It’s not German.

But if I want to adress the majority of gw2 players on EU servers in their first language, I would choose German, because more than half of all copies sold in in the EU were sold in Germany and Austria.

Morrigan.2809:

ShadowMaster.5708:

What i mean is that IF they want german people only it would be easier to have a filter like “Germans only” (no hate towards germans! But like we have in servers. We have german specific servers, so i think it should be in the LFG tool aswell.)

And the germans have to remember: They are not the only one using the LFG tool… Seeing more german posts than english makes me sad tbh. Why do they post in german and not english? They could just write “Germans only please”

because if they made a posting saying in English- German players only- you would have some sod who TLDR and join the group and then complain because they spoke in German.
Making the post in German sends a message that it is a German party.
It is not that hard to understand really.
If you don’t speak the language it was not meant for you.
I see all sorts of guilds recruiting in their native language on my server- it is meant for those communities.

Well yes, but when i go to the LFG tool i like to see what people are doing. Like Path 2, story etc. but all i can see now is “Weg 2” etc. And some other stuff i can’t read.

I don’t understand why its so hard to type in English so everyone understands

ShadowMaster.5708:

I don’t understand why its so hard to type in English so everyone understands

It’s as hard for others to type in English as it for you to understand what Weg 2 means.

Your lack of understanding of this basic concept stems from an attitude that is both selfish and lazy.

ShadowMaster.5708:

Morrigan.2809:

ShadowMaster.5708:

What i mean is that IF they want german people only it would be easier to have a filter like “Germans only” (no hate towards germans! But like we have in servers. We have german specific servers, so i think it should be in the LFG tool aswell.)

And the germans have to remember: They are not the only one using the LFG tool… Seeing more german posts than english makes me sad tbh. Why do they post in german and not english? They could just write “Germans only please”

because if they made a posting saying in English- German players only- you would have some sod who TLDR and join the group and then complain because they spoke in German.
Making the post in German sends a message that it is a German party.
It is not that hard to understand really.
If you don’t speak the language it was not meant for you.
I see all sorts of guilds recruiting in their native language on my server- it is meant for those communities.

Well yes, but when i go to the LFG tool i like to see what people are doing. Like Path 2, story etc. but all i can see now is “Weg 2” etc. And some other stuff i can’t read.

I don’t understand why its so hard to type in English so everyone understands

2 means the same in german as it means in english.

Wanze.8410:

ShadowMaster.5708:

Morrigan.2809:

ShadowMaster.5708:

What i mean is that IF they want german people only it would be easier to have a filter like “Germans only” (no hate towards germans! But like we have in servers. We have german specific servers, so i think it should be in the LFG tool aswell.)

And the germans have to remember: They are not the only one using the LFG tool… Seeing more german posts than english makes me sad tbh. Why do they post in german and not english? They could just write “Germans only please”

because if they made a posting saying in English- German players only- you would have some sod who TLDR and join the group and then complain because they spoke in German.
Making the post in German sends a message that it is a German party.
It is not that hard to understand really.
If you don’t speak the language it was not meant for you.
I see all sorts of guilds recruiting in their native language on my server- it is meant for those communities.

Well yes, but when i go to the LFG tool i like to see what people are doing. Like Path 2, story etc. but all i can see now is “Weg 2” etc. And some other stuff i can’t read.

I don’t understand why its so hard to type in English so everyone understands

2 means the same in german as it means in english.

Also, with the simple web based translators available it’s hardly an issue anymore to understand anything that is simply written as phrases. Of course, if you want to be understood by a larger number that’s on you.

Wanze.8410:

2 means the same in german as it means in english.

This made me smile. See