Opinions on "sniping" (remember to be civil)

[ImperfectPurity]

Hello everyone!

I usually don't dip my toes in the community around the fan translations, and maybe this is why I don't completely understand the concept of "sniping" and why is so badly taken by many.
I was of the opinion that translating a work would be done for yourself first and foremost and then released for others, not multilingual, to enjoy as well, whatever the reason may be (to track their work, to share, ego boost, etc.), because we are all... "on the same boat".

Recently, however, I came across a little bit of drama about a group releasing translations before someone else and all hell came loose: someone got offended, someone got less then civil, and the whole thing became a bit of a mess.

What I find difficult to understand, and I'm asking others point of view about for, is why this all happened.
Why would a group care about someone else working on the same project? How does this priority system work? How is a group supposed to know who is working on what? Why groups cannot coexist, or, even better, help one another release faster and improve themselves? Why the readers are not just grateful to whoever is working their butt off to translate, modify, and share a work that without them most would not be able to enjoy?

Thank you to whoever would like to share their thinking on the subject, obviously in a respectful of each other manner, so that an old fart that live under a rock like me could understand the matter more.

I apologize for so-so english.

 

[mistke]

$$$

 

[BzzBzz]

There's 2 major reasons:
1 - Just for fun. Because drama is always fun!
2 - $$$

Edit: there's even more fun if you can get 20+ pages shitstorm instead of simple drama 😎

 

[sterven]

My opinion on sniping? Everything is fair game. If the group translating the series is doing it out of enjoyment for that particular series then they'll keep doing it regardless.
If they're doing it for money then step up your game if your profits are suffering.

 

[DANDAN_THE_DANDAN]

Most of the time snipers snipe just for drama which is rude, that or the chapters the snipers upload are so bad that people rather wait for the other group to upload their high quality version.

 

[dreminh]

Cmon non translator have a right to keep title / ID for them self but the official , everybody can work on it as they like , bring competition . i remember there was 1 time the first translator keep hostage their scan and released it weekly . after that there was 1 one army scan who say "Fuck this shit i release it all "
sorry for bad english tho

 

[hazzack]

i wish there are more snipers so i can absorb the drama to my wound and flesh, so God bless to be me

as a side note:
if someone suddenly published a project that i worked so hard, but worse than mine. i'd be pissed.
do better goddamnit

 

[Kamikoto]

From a scanlator's perspective: You'd probably feel discouraged to continue working on the series. Why scanlate something that's already scanlated? Seems like a waste of time and effort. And quality scanlation takes a lot of time. As a scanlator myself, I wouldn't be pissed about getting sniped, I'd just drop the series and move on. But I get that a lot of groups aren't happy about it.

From a reader's perspective: I hate sniping when it happens to a series that's being actively scanlated by a good group. It ends with the first group dropping the series, so we're stuck with the sniper group's scanlations for all eternity, which are usually of lower quality so they can release faster than the first group. Sniper groups often don't stick around for long either, so we end up with another dead series.

 

[Xavieraltvs]

Well, in my opinion as a reader. Sniping wouldn't that bad if the first group not release it at least frequently (Once in a week). I know that translating is 'take some time' . But, as you know. Reader aren't force you to do scanlating. If you're busy with your own life, why you should burdening yourself and waste your time with scanlating?

If you're want to translate it, then translate it properly. But, if you can't (busy to) translate it and think that's waste your time, don't translate it.

Iam thankful to the scanlator who want to 'waste' their time to scanlating. But if you can't, it's ok! Just pass it to others who want to do it!

Thanks~

 

[Warm_N_Moist]

As a former scanlator, do I find it annoying when someone snipes a series I am working on? Yes, I would, but it's not like I own exclusivity to the title so it's fair game. That said, I would also try to contact the sniper and offer to work on the title together, if the sniper wants to continue doing it on his/her own, I just hope snipers can learn put up at least a readable or decent product since there really is nothing we can do, plus there are always readers who prefer to get their manga fix early even if quality suffers. The problem really is when a quality scanlator drops the project due to sniping, and then the sniper loses interest, the one that suffers are the readers.

 

[Kujot]

All this discussion is missing three aspects, digital and paper edition, the quality of the original work whether the original is complete.
Poor quality productions that are completed digital are the most vulnerable to sniping leading to the abandonment of the series. In very deep productions, where art is the biggest advantage, there is a small difference between good translation and poor.
And this aspect where the translation starts when the longer series is finished. For me it is strange to complain about "sniping" when the translation is slower than publishing the original, which for years has been on the "shelf" finished, too poor quality of the original work to interest translators when it was in production.

Additionally, you can see the advantage of mangadex over the competition, where if "sniping" appears, readers can ignore it.