Why do old games always have very few english speaking players? Why do all the old games get filled up with mexicans/Latin-Americans and russians?

[germanboo hispanic]

I've played dozens of old (7 - 20 years) games recently and i've noticed that after a certain point in a game's lifetime, all of a sudden, there will be no english speaking servers in the server browser. No matter where you go, english speakers will be a rare sight and all voice chats will be primarily russian or spanish. Sometimes they'll be french or german (rarely).

This is especially noticeable here on steam with:
* Counter Strike 1.6
* Half-Life (1998)
* Half-Life 2 Deathmatch
* Counter Strike: Source
* L4D2 (Although noone uses voice chat...)
* Team Fortress Classic
* Grand Theft Auto IV

But it's not just those games, It seems to be older games in general.

For instance, as TF2 is dying, I'm noticing an increasingly large number of russian and spanish servers in the server browser combined with a decrease in the number of english servers.

Garry's Mod is starting to feel this effect as well, but it seems much slower.

On other platforms, this has happened with:
* Gears of War (Original, XB360)
* Star Wars: Battlefront II (PS2)
* Phantasy Star Online (Dreamcast) (This is a case of french and german dominance)
* Unreal Tournament (PC, Non steam version. I don't own it on steam so idk about it there)
* Quake III Arena (Non-Steam, PC & Dreamcast)

ALSO

If you play any Illegally-obtained games with special multiplayer cracks, you will notice the same effect, but instead of a transition away from english, it will simply not occur. I've only ever pirated games for old consoles (Let's face it, nobody cares) but I've heard from friends that this also happens to pirated games on PC.

Why does this happen?

P.S. Piracy is bad, don't do it. Also, the non-steam games i have are physical copies. So i'm not a pirate.

[Gallifrey - CSSC Gaming Founder]

Hi Chav,

There's a simple explanation that doesn't involve pirating. Generally the incomes in those countries are far lower than in the USA or Western Europe. So £40 for GTA V is UK equates to £200 - £250 eleswhere on planet. But this means that games that sell for £5.00 equate only to £20 - £30. More affordable.

Summary - they're cheaper.

S.x.

[germanboo hispanic]

is gravity different somewhere else on the planet?
why would things weigh differently somewhere else?
if GTA V Weighs 40 lbs in the UK (in the US it's only a couple ounces) why would it weigh 250 lbs somewhere else?
and what does weight have to do with income, anyhow?


Jk, thank you. I thought this is as well.

[cinedine]

More affordable prices is one reason. Another one would be consolidation of servers. One MMO I used to play became unplayable when they transferred language-/region specific servers all into "international" servers. Where you once only got your own language, you know had a hard time finding anyone still speaking it ... or English for that matter.

The Chosen Chav님이 먼저 게시:

is gravity different somewhere else on the planet?
why would things weigh differently somewhere else?
if GTA V Weighs 40 lbs in the UK (in the US it's only a couple ounces) why would it weigh 250 lbs somewhere else?
and what does weight have to do with income, anyhow?


Jk, thank you. I thought this is as well.

Well, I was about making a post about how he should start using some real life currency for once. I bow to you, good sir/madame. :P

[FaeStar]

And what makes you think that those people don't speak English? I'm Latina, and while my home is not really a country, they speak Spanish there but officiall docs are in both.

[cinedine]

Vid님이 먼저 게시:

And what makes you think that those people don't speak English? I'm Latina, and while my home is not really a country, they speak Spanish there but officiall docs are in both.

The fact that they don't "speak it". Not in the meaning of "not knowing it" but "not using it".

[FaeStar]

cinedine님이 먼저 게시:

Vid님이 먼저 게시:

And what makes you think that those people don't speak English? I'm Latina, and while my home is not really a country, they speak Spanish there but officiall docs are in both.

The fact that they don't "speak it". Not in the meaning of "not knowing it" but "not using it".

So, do you go to every single one and ask if they do, or just assume they don't because they prefer a different language? I speak both, even if I use one at a time.

Just because I may choose not to use something under specific circumstances (playing with someone who speaks that other language, for example), does not mean I am not capable of responding to you in English if you wanted to play the game with me.

So, your assumption is not a fact and your complaint is mostly your own fault.

[germanboo hispanic]

I assume they aren't using it because they aren't using it, and when i'm listening to my team mates explain the strat for planting the bomb, I can't understand them

Then I ask if anyone speaks english and get kicked with some kick reason written in spanish

[cinedine]

Vid님이 먼저 게시:

cinedine님이 먼저 게시:

The fact that they don't "speak it". Not in the meaning of "not knowing it" but "not using it".

So, do you go to every single one and ask if they do, or just assume they don't because they prefer a different language? I speak both, even if I use one at a time.

Just because I may choose not to use something under specific circumstances (playing with someone who speaks that other language, for example), does not mean I am not capable of responding to you in English if you wanted to play the game with me.

So, your assumption is not a fact and your complaint is mostly your own fault.

I thought it's pretty easy to understand or are you deliberately misunderstanding me?
"Not speaking" does NOT mean "not being able to speak".

If you look at the language specific forums here on Steam, next to no one there is speaking English. I'm not saying they are not capable of doing so. I'm saying they don't do so. At this point in time. In thise specific forum.

Same for some games and forums where people stick to their peers and use their language instead of globally communicating in a lingua franca.

[FaeStar]

cinedine님이 먼저 게시:

Vid님이 먼저 게시:

So, do you go to every single one and ask if they do, or just assume they don't because they prefer a different language? I speak both, even if I use one at a time.

Just because I may choose not to use something under specific circumstances (playing with someone who speaks that other language, for example), does not mean I am not capable of responding to you in English if you wanted to play the game with me.

So, your assumption is not a fact and your complaint is mostly your own fault.

I thought it's pretty easy to understand or are you deliberately misunderstanding me?
"Not speaking" does NOT mean "not being able to speak".

If you look at the language specific forums here on Steam, next to no one there is speaking English. I'm not saying they are not capable of doing so. I'm saying they don't do so. At this point in time. In thise specific forum.

Same for some games and forums where people stick to their peers and use their language instead of globally communicating in a lingua franca.

The bottom line still is, if you want English, you just have to ask if they speak it. It's still on you.