I have a question about Patreon (etc) paywalled titles and their "official" free release schedules. I hope I am not in the wrong thread. Is it ok for the translator site to advertise that they have 10, 15, 20 chapters available if you pay while not maintaining a regular release schedule for the "official" free chapters? I know some sites do make a concerted effort to maintain a reasonable schedule but I have noticed some that claim to have in excess of 10 paywalled chapters and their free release schedule is virtually non-existent. I have tried to read a number of webnovels with releases that are frankly almost impossible to predict and in some cases that can be a chapter a month if we are lucky. Not all of us on here have much in the way of spare money so surely maintaining a regular schedule is a fair ask? Please note that I am asking this specifically about translations, NOT original works.
Patreon/Paywalled Releases
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Xiaoshen
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Money trumps fairness for most people, though, so... Like, why wouldn't it be ok? It's not like these people owe anybody anything, they could release the translations for free, they could put it behind a paywall, they could do whatever, and you'd just have to either deal with it, google translate your own machine translations, or wait for some official brand to start translating it... and then you'd still have to pay up.
Ace_Arriande
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Is it okay to do? Pretty much, yeah. They're not breaking any rules, laws, or anything. Now, is it ethical to do? That depends on what they're promising their free readers (and also your personal opinion). If they're not promising a consistent release schedule of free chapters, and instead using the free chapters as a sort of "sample" to hook people, then I wouldn't really call that unethical. If they're promising a consistent release of free chapters while neglecting that only for paywalled chapters, which might have people read the series that they otherwise wouldn't since they believe they're going to get a continuous stream of new, free chapters, then that is unethical, in my opinion.
So basically, if they're not advertising to free readers that there will be a consistent schedule of free releases, then they're in the clear as far as I'm concerned. But if they're advertising to free readers a consistent schedule, and then taking that away to try and get more people to spend money, that's fucked up.
It's like giving somebody a drug. The first case is giving somebody a drug and telling them that if they like it and want more, they'll have to pay. The second case is giving somebody a drug for free, promising to continue giving them a supply for free until they get addicted, and then telling them that they have to pay up if they want more. Considering how many web serial readers I know who treat online reading like a drug, I think that's a fair comparison.
So basically, if they're not advertising to free readers that there will be a consistent schedule of free releases, then they're in the clear as far as I'm concerned. But if they're advertising to free readers a consistent schedule, and then taking that away to try and get more people to spend money, that's fucked up.
It's like giving somebody a drug. The first case is giving somebody a drug and telling them that if they like it and want more, they'll have to pay. The second case is giving somebody a drug for free, promising to continue giving them a supply for free until they get addicted, and then telling them that they have to pay up if they want more. Considering how many web serial readers I know who treat online reading like a drug, I think that's a fair comparison.
Zoey
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Translators provide a service and if they want to be paid for providing it I can't really blame them. So long as their product is of good quality and consistent releases they're not in the wrong to want money for it, there's a lot of work that goes into them after all.
There's also a difference between a free translation and a paid one, for example if a free translation releases at a snails pace you really can't complain, and even if you do the translator has no obligation to listen. But on the other side of the coin paid translations have an obligation to maintain a consistent quality and release pace as they're being paid to do it.
There's also a difference between a free translation and a paid one, for example if a free translation releases at a snails pace you really can't complain, and even if you do the translator has no obligation to listen. But on the other side of the coin paid translations have an obligation to maintain a consistent quality and release pace as they're being paid to do it.
Ace_Arriande
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I should also probably mention that in regards to my above post, it's only okay to do if the translations are legal with author consent. If they don't have legal permission to be translating the works, then they shouldn't be paywalling it at all.
ForestDweller
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Speaking of that, I think my work is being translated with a paywall in some Russian site.
Quite flattered actually, that someone would bother doing that. Then again, he might only be doing it for the money.