That’s really sad 
I meant it in a funnier way 
Yeah, it’s difficult sometimes, but it’s the job I signed up to do and I usually enjoy it^^ I should really control myself… DON’T BINGE WATCH A DRAMA YOU’RE VOLUNTEERING ON! 
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If I like the drama, I can handle the fact to be the only subtitler otherwise it becomes torture 
The problem for Other Languages is that we have to wait for the release of episodes and it can sometimes take several weeks. As a result, I end up losing my whole team because they went on another project where they could subtitle. Some volunteers come back but it’s rare.
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Since I have become a subber on Viki, there have only been 2 times that I was a moderator for an on-air drama. I’m the type of person that wants to finish the project and if the show turns out to be bad or if I don’t agree with the message of the show, then finishing it would become a chore instead of fun.
For this reason, I watch shows entirely before even deciding whether I want to work on them. I also write down the names of the director and writer(s) of a show I thought was really good. This way I hope to get ‘lucky’ that their next show will also be good.
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That won’t help people who only have one device (desktop or laptop).
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ooh, writing down the names of the director and writers sounds like a good idea!
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Yes that is a problem too.hope viki updates it’s website too!!
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In general, I think there are mainly disadvantages. I subbed indeed a few dramas of 40+ episodes - and currently I’m translating one with 55 episodes.
Especially as a Moderator it can be rather frustrating (POV of a OL moderator from a medium-sized translation community):
- You have to worry consistently that the editors lose interest - and you may wait 1-2 weeks per episode to be released for further translation which turns a 45 episodes drama into a 1-year-commitment at least, even if your team is big enough to translate 3 episodes a week
- You’re depending on the translation releases, and therefore you may have too many projects to be considered if a more interesting project comes around
- Preparation demands lots of efforts in regard of characters, how to address them, formal speech and so on. I hardly moderate historical stuff myself, but my friend puts in looots of effort
- The edit takes forever
- It’s hard to find subtitlers since they rather do a) K- or J-projects b) projects up to 24 episodes c) easy projects
So in the end you translate a difficult, challenging drama of 50+ episodes with 8 people (at least in the German community), commit yourself for a long time and have releases once a week if you’re lucky.
You put in tons of efforts and in the end it’s a hindrance if you want to moderate other projects.
Therefore, from one point of view Viki relies on people doing these historical C-Dramas etc., on the other hand there are tons of disadvantages if you do it. Generally speaking, for me, it is and was a great experience and I learned more while doing it. Sometimes, I’m even happy that I managed to finish a very challenging part with tons of historical quotes and references. Still, the audience is small, and it doesn’t feel as rewarding.
However, I can see why some people only do or moderate short or popular dramas, even if they’re often rather simple in terms of translation. Therefore, I think Viki maybe should find a way to show that they appreciate those who actually dare to go for long and challenging dramas, even if they are not as popular as the most recent K-drama.
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I’d never work alone on on air drama. It’s too exhausting. There should be something interesting in a project. I’ve made subtitles alone in two Chinese dramas - Ever Night, because it’s great drama and should be translated into Polish; and Dive, because during pandemic I missed swimming in my local pool.
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