Etkileşim alanları olarak bağımsız oyun yerelleştirme toplulukları

Bağımsız video oyun, küçük gruplar tarafından geliştirilen çoğu zaman düşük bütçeli olan oyunları ifade eder. Bu oyunlar uygulama marketlerde görünür olmak ve daha geniş oyuncu kitlesine ulaşabilmek adına yerelleştirme uygulamalarına ihtiyaç duyar, ancak, bu uygulamaya ayırabilecekleri bütçe genellikle sınırlıdır ya da mevcut değildir. Bu bağlamda hayran yerelleştirme pratiklerine, gönüllü yerelleştirme pratiklerine ya da düşük ücretli yerelleştirme pratiklerine yönelirler. Bağımsız oyun geliştiricilere yönelik topluluk sayfaları da düşük ücretli ya da ücretsiz emek arayışındaki geliştiriciler ile gönüllülük temelli çeviri yapan, hayran topluluklarında çeviri yapan çevirmenler, serbest çevirmenler, küçük yerelleştirme işletmelerini bir araya getiren etkileşim alanları olarak işlev görür. Bu alanlarda gerçekleşen etkileşimin irdelenmesi bu mübadele alanına üst bakış sunacaktır. Bu bağlamda bu çalışma, ağ üzerinde Indie Game Localization Group sayfası özelinde katılımcıların profilleri, gönderileri, tartışma ve paylaşımlara katılımlarının izini sürmeyi, elde edilen veri ışığında bağımsız oyun dağıtımında yerelleştirme alanını bir mübadele olanı olarak betimlemeyi, benzer nitelikteki çevrimiçi toplulukların sınırlarını çizmeyi, eyleyenlerin niteliklerini betimlemeyi ve nihayetinde çevirmen, aday çevirmen, yerelleştirme işletmesi ve geliştiriciler arasındaki çevrimiçi ilişkiyi açıklamayı hedeflemektedir .

Indie game localization communities as spheres of interaction

An Indie game may be described as a game developed by a single person or by a rather smaller community often with a minimal budget. An indie games requires localization to be more visible on the market and to access a wider audience, however, they generally allocate minimal budgets (if available) for the localization practices, thus, the developers tend to depend on fan - volunteer localization practices or low-budget localization by freelancers. Online communities of indie game localization bring developers who tend to make use of “free” or “cheaper” labour and translators of fan or volunteer localization communities who wish to attend a career in localization industry, freelancers, smaller localization or translation agencies together and serve as a medium of interaction. The analysis of interaction and exchange, the nature of the communities would provide insight into the aboıvementioned field of exchange. This paper aims to trace the footprints of “agents” through their profiles, posts, discussions and and produced content on the web with a specific focus on Indie Game Localization Facebook Page and based on the data gathered, to define the limits of online community, to describe nature of the agents and to draw the borders of the “online” mutual relationship among translators, translator candidates, localization agencies and gama developers.

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