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For the most part, Once Human has done a great job at taking player feedback into consideration. However, one glaring issue that still exists (and has somewhat worsened) is the localization or translation error in Once Human. It’s something not many people talk about when they bring up the game.
Initially, it seems the Once Human translation issues were limited to weapon descriptions– wrong statistics, Mandarin descriptions, and minor forgivable stuff. But the most recent patch had me worried. Before Patch 1.1 in Once Human, we were all more or less ignorantly content with how the game would handle its seasonal wipes and transfers.
[Update – The red text warnings on Monoliths and Silos regarding destroying mods has been removed and appears to have been a UI error]
Here We Go Again with the Season Wipes
Mods, in particular, were obviously and explicitly being transferred next season. This is crucial for action RPG progression. Most of the endgame combat grinding revolved around getting the right Mods for your build.
For most players, Mods practically determined and enabled the build. But come Patch 1.1, this red warning text from all Monoliths and Silos (basically dungeons) suddenly appeared:
It’s not clear what exactly they’re referring to here, but seeing as it’s on a Mod tooltip and not on a Controller tooltip (dungeon treasure key), it’s easy to assume they’re talking about destroying Mods. This is a huge thing in that case.
If the Mods you farmed from Silos and Monoliths (basically all of them) get destroyed on Season endings, what Mods do you get to transfer next Season then? Or if this is another translation error to be patched out (hopefully), then which official in-game text should players trust to not be a translation error?
Perhaps it could mean that Mods will still get destroyed on that outgoing Season and then forcibly transferred to the incoming Season. But then that would be redundant since Seasons get wiped anyway. Suddenly some Mods will not be transferred? In any case, it’s not clear what the red text meant and what it could mean for the Season wipe.
Such a conundrum has unfortunately put my grind and enjoyment on hold. Because now I’m unsure about my endgame efforts. Were all those spent Controllers in vain? I’m sure many other players feel the same. It also makes you wonder what other translation errors were present.
Weapons Are Also Not Exempt from Translation Issues
Prior to this fresh discourse about Mods, one of Once Human‘s most notorious translation issues was with the text for the Last Valor rifle. It infamously claimed and still claims that the weapon only has a measly 4% chance to trigger its game-changing signature effect.
But community heroes have risen up and tested the weapon. They came up with a more accurate effect description stating that it’s actually 1 out of 4 shots. Effectively, this made it a 25% chance to trigger (not 4%). I imagine anyone who doesn’t watch guide videos or pundits will easily dismiss this Legendary-rarity weapon as weak due to the translation error.
Meanwhile, non-English localizations have it even rougher, but that’s a topic for another time. Once Human translation errors might even turn away some of its potential players simply because of this.
At this point, it’s a waste of time trying to decipher what the developers meant. And like many other players, it seems I have no choice but to wait and see. Will some of my most important in-game efforts carry over to the next Season (as previously stated) or not? A lot hinges on the Season wipes, and it might just make or break Once Human. It’s a complication that could’ve been easily avoided through more accurate communication.
