[UPDATE] So, Minecraft (Isn't actually...) racist.

[latiasracer]

Update: It seems that language packs are handled by fans, and some troll thought it funny. Jeb has apologised and it should be fixed by the next update!


Well, as we all know Jeb is releasing weekly updates. One of the latest features was language packs, with some amusing ones such as pirate.

But... In the latest release (12w04a)Go onto south african on the latest pre-release and your single player bar is replaced with a rather insulting

"You are a ******"

So.. What do you guys think about this?

How could this happen is what im confused about... Surely they at least check these things?

 

[gigastrike]

Which one's the South African one?

Nvm, I don't have the pre-release anyway.

 

[Wolfram23]

Well, as we all know Jeb is releasing weekly updates. One of the latest features was language packs, with some amusing ones such as pirate.

Well I didn't know that so... there goes that lol.

But... In the latest release (12w04a)Go onto south african on the latest pre-release and your single player bar is replaced with a rather insulting

"You are a ******"

So.. What do you guys think about this?

How could this happen is what im confused about... Surely they at least check these things?

Where did this image come from? That would be exceptionally easy to photoshop.

Plus, South Africa is full of white people.

And pretty sure South African isn't a language. Maybe Zwahili?

 

[latiasracer]

I Saw an image of it on the minecraft forums, and then tried it for myself. It's on the top of the language list.

It's not on 1.1, only on 12w04a



It's titled in game as "Afrikaans (ZA)

EDIT: This is my Screenshot btw

 

[Wolfram23]

It's not on 1.1, only on 12w04a

I don't really know what this part means... Well, I can guess that "12w04a" is a beta patch or something. Is it official?

Anyway, assuming this is all real and actually from the devs, that's pretty bad. I can't see them having thought it was funny unless they are 11 year old twats.

 

[Tips_of_Fingers]

Where did this image come from? That would be exceptionally easy to photoshop.

Plus, South Africa is full of white people.

And pretty sure South African isn't a language. Maybe Zwahili?

Although there are a lot of people in South Africa, it has a strong history of racism...ie: Apartheid.

Also, Swahili is spoken in Swaziland.

They speak French, English and Afrikaans in South Africa.

OT: Could be photoshopped as a (rather tasteless) parody of South Africa's history of Apartheid. But who knows?

 

[latiasracer]

It's not on 1.1, only on 12w04a

I don't really know what this part means... Well, I can guess that "12w04a" is a beta patch or something. Is it official?

Anyway, assuming this is all real and actually from the devs, that's pretty bad. I can't see them having thought it was funny unless they are 11 year old twats.

The "Snapshots" as they are called are like the pre-releases that came before 1.8 and 1.0.0.

This has been the latest one, and yep it's official. Jeb (Lead Dev) releases them directly from his twitter feed

 

[LilithSlave]

Oh my, are the Minecraft folks 4channers or something?

 

[latiasracer]

http://kotaku.com/5880007/racial-epithet-shows-up-on-minecraft-menu-developer-apologizes

It's true but it was some twat who helped with a fan translation

Ahhhh, that sheds some light.

I Didn't know that fans did this, i thought it was the devs who did the language packs...

Still, Major dick move

 

[smearyllama]

Man, I thought this was gonna be about the whole killing pigs thing. Then I was gonna make a joke about how Notch simply hates the police.

OT: Well, looks like we've gotten our answer about how/why it happened.

 

[krazykidd]

I am completly offended , i really hope this is fake, because , as a black gamer , i shall not support this company is this is true . I really hope that if this is true , it blows up in their faces and they get runned into the ground . If this is fake then meh , i'm used to stupid ,imature , racist people on the internet and i take solace that their lives are so miserable that stupid racist stuff is what get them off .

 

[Kahunaburger]

stupid ,imature , racist people on the internet

This one. It was a fan translator who put that in there - apparently Mojang didn't check before they stuck it in their product. Oops.

 

[boag]

Oh my, are the Minecraft folks 4channers or something?

Yes, yes they are, /v/ was very vocal about minecraft in the begining.

 

[MrTub]

stupid ,imature , racist people on the internet

This one. It was a fan translator who put that in there - apparently Mojang didn't check before they stuck it in their product. Oops.

How are they suppose to check stuff that is in a language that they do not understand?
I guess they could skim over the text so too see if they can notice any english/swedish insults but I could imagine that it could be quite a lot of text (never played Minecraft so I might be wrong)

 

[ResonanceSD]

Wow, wtf. Mojang dont check these things?

stupid ,imature , racist people on the internet

This one. It was a fan translator who put that in there - apparently Mojang didn't check before they stuck it in their product. Oops.

How are they suppose to cheak stuff that is in a language that they do not understand?
I guess they could skim over the text so too see if they can notice any english/swedish insults but I could imagine that it could be quite a lot of text (never played Minecraft so I might be wrong)

There is almost no text in Minecraft.

 

[MrTub]

Wow, wtf. Mojang dont check these things?

Again, how are they suppose to check something that is in a language that they do not understand??

 

[ResonanceSD]

Wow, wtf. Mojang dont check these things?

Again, how are they suppose to check something that is in a language that they do not understand??

Im pretty sure that word is a universal no-no. Just skimming the start up screen would pick it up.

 

[MrTub]

Wow, wtf. Mojang dont check these things?

Again, how are they suppose to check something that is in a language that they do not understand??

Im pretty sure that word is a universal no-no. Just skimming the start up screen would pick it up.

And what if the insult was in French? or in Spanish?
People would still complain.

So is it better that they do not release language packs until they have had time/money to hire a professional translator? or should they take the risk with having som fans translate it for them?