Pokémon TCG: Sword and Shield—Brilliant Stars

Question about Foreign language cards where English is a Foreign Language

T

THE FT. LAUD. LOUD MOUTH

New Member
Here is the situation: My friend is going to Brazil for the holidays and he might be in town for a CC. So here is the Question: Can he use his English cards OR does he have to use local language cards OR can he use his English version of cards with outside translations of the local language.
 
LOL us foreigners over here and those on mainland Europe don't KNOW the answer either :(

Ask five people and get six answers seems to be what happens. LOL

Hope your friend has fun
 
Mike has given his answer on the POP forum ... and as he closed the topic, you'll find my answer to his answer in the other topic about Cards in foreign languages on the POP forum ;)
 
My opinion would be that he can play his English versions, with a the local language translation handy. My understanding is that the English in the rules should be read as "Local Language." i.e. In Germany, you can play cards printed in any language, but you must have a copy in German handy. In Italy, you would need an Italian copy/translation.
 
Guys, the POP forum is not visible to the world at large, so it's not really fair to reference a discussion in there without quoting it.
So, please do so or don't even mention it.
 
Pop is right. Heck, half of us professors are having trouble receiving are passwords anyways! =x
 
Regardless of what POP /PUI may say in the end it is down to the local organiser/distributor as to what cards you are allowed to play with. This may change in the future but that is the current reality.
 
Sorry NoPoke, but local distributors/organisers are actors of POP like players, TO's, judges, ...

If there are Tournament rules or any other rules published by PUI, these have to be followed, and that by everyone involved in POP.

I know some distributors sometimes change the rules on different aspects of the game, but it's time to stop with that.

Either all the rules published by PUI are followed by everyone, or I don't see why any point of these rules couldn't be changed by anybody (local TO, judge, ...).

If local distributors don't respect the rules about cards in foreign language, why should TO's follow the rule about ID or draw for example ? :p
 
First of all, even the revision lets a loophole for interpretation. The actual version says:

15.1.5. Foreign Language Pokémon TCG Cards
Any player may use Foreign Language Pokémon TCG cards, provided
they meet the following requirements:
• The player’s deck is made up entirely of Pokémon TCG cards that
have the same card back. OR, the player’s deck is comprised of
cards with different backs, and all cards are sleeved with opaque
back sleeves.
• All of the cards in the player’s deck have been released in the
United States and are legal for use at the event
• The player has an English or local-language version of the card for
reference

From the last point I conclude that you are allowed to use English and local-language cards in your tournament and so I will do.

Let us make English cards always allowed and we have no problems. Otherwise, you will immediately lose the majority of players in Germany. The No. 1 rule of Pokemon is: Have fun! Example in Germany: Team Aqua/Team Magma is released in English, but not in German. I have an English Team Magma Deck. Now suppose TATM comes out in German. Then I have to buy German cards only for the reference purpose. That is not making any fun at all. Suppose cards like EX´s. Some people would have to pay 20-30 Euro for a reference German Blaziken ex, if there will be anyone on ebay, which I doubt if every competetive player needs to have one. So you can´t suddenly play your deck if you are not lucky enough to grab such a card. That is killing any fun you could possibly have.

Oh, and Michel, don´t under-estimate the power of local distributors. Amigo-Spiele e.g. has an exception rule for Duel Masters with WOTC, that English is considered a local language in Germany. I think, I will have to make a phone call on Monday...
 
I've just read the Duel Masters Floor Rules, and I must say that I find these really stupid.

'All Duel Masters cards published by Wizards of the Coast, including promotional cards, are legal for tournament play. However, players that use non–local-language cards must have a local-language version of that card (not photocopy or spoiler) readily available outside of the deck for opponents and judges to reference.

If no cards are produced in a local language, the tournament organizer must announce what will be considered the local language for their events. “Local-language” is defined by the tournament organizer as the language(s) commonly spoken in the area where a tournament is held.'


Let's be serious ... most of the documents about games like DM, Pokemon, YGO, ... are in English.
Where can you find OFFICIAL POP Tournament rules in Italian, German, French, ... ?

Kids in Belgium play with English cards since the beginning of the game, and most of them have never had a lesson of English at school !
Are they geniuses ?

I'm afraid the only point is the commercial interest of the local distributors who want to sell their cards in local languages.

Money, money, money ... but for how long ?

There are so many examples of how bad for the game a rule like that can be (card in local language as reference even if the deck is in English) that I will not post it here.

Just one for the week-end : in Belgium there are 3 official languages : French, Dutch and German.
Cards in French are sold in France only, cards in Dutch don't exist, cards in German are sold in Germany and in the area close to the border.
So, as cards in a local language (German, official Belgian language) do exist, we'd have to play with a deck in German or have a German copy of the card as reference. Or in French as about 50 % of the population speak French for 1 % German ? But our distributor don't distribute cards in French but in English. :eek: :nonono: :confused:

And I don't talk about the poor Belgian player who wants to play tournaments in France, Germany and Italy.
And I don't talk about the majority of Belgian players who don't understand a single word of french or German but play with cards in English without any problem.

We're in november 2004, and the European Community is a reality for a very long time now. It would be time that everyone realize that reality.
Circulation of goods is free, circulation of people is free, ... but use of TCG cards in European languages is not free :lol:


Sure Glumanda, distributors have some power. Nice to have power if they don't have players anymore :p

And who distributes DM cards in English in your country ? :D

On the PUI's forum, Mike answered to one of my posts by saying that they would talk about the question at PUI.
Wait and see, but I'm confident in the common sense of PUI for this one :)
 
Ya, there's a big nonsense on that :)
I trust in PUI for resolving this issue and understand that Floor Rules are also for us, and not only for US :p

By the way, official POP documents in italian does exist... they are translated by me, and reviewed and distributed by the distributor :)
 
Michel said:
I'm afraid the only point is the commercial interest of the local distributors who want to sell their cards in local languages.
Click to expand...

I really don´t think that this is true. What is the point to destroy the game by such a rule? Then they are earning nothing. And the distributors are not stupid. They are long enough in the business (with this game, with other games) to know that.

I strongly believe that this rule was not instated because the distributors urged it.
 
Glumanda said:
I really don´t think that this is true. What is the point to destroy the game by such a rule? Then they are earning nothing.
Click to expand...
This is interesting. The actuality that it is shooting the game in the foot (so to speak) if you tell players that they can only play with their local language cards does not seem to actually affect the game.
I heard Pokémon did have an "English only" in the United States policy under WotC a long time ago. The game was still popular though.
Yu-Gi-Oh used to have a very strong "local-language only" policy. It was local-language only, no exceptions. The game only got more popular. The only thing it actually did was make the players on the community level disrespect the distributor. We still bought cards from said distributor though.

The rule is in the distributor's interest. I'm sure they won't object. If you live in the US and buy cards from Japan, the US distributor doesn't get any money.
Now, that hurts the game more than the local leagues saying they won't obey the distributor's rules. If you won't obey their rules but buy cards from the local language distributor, they still get your money. If you buy foreign cards and obey the local distributor's rules, the local distributor doesn't get your money. This shows in their calculations and it makes the game less profitable for the local distributor. If the game isn't profitable there isn't a very convincing reason for the distributor to continue distribution.

So, make such a rule as we are discussing and they earn more. They earn more and they continue distribution. They continue distribution and players are happy.

The only thing it does is make some of the more foreign language enthusiasts a bit grouchy. They have a choice, buy local language cards and keep playing or don't play at all. These people don't love their foreign language cards that much to quit the game over it.

Of course I speak of the situation for the United States. As Michel described it, then this will be another thing for Europe to complain about.

This foreign language rule is changed for the different countries, right? The third part of the rule, the rule in France would say "• The player has a French or local-language version of the card for reference," right? They changed the word "English," I would hope.
 
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ShadowCard said:
I heard Pokémon did have an "English only" in the United States policy under WotC a long time ago. The game was still popular though.
Yu-Gi-Oh used to have a very strong "local-language only" policy. It was local-language only, no exceptions. The game only got more popular. The only thing it actually did was make the players on the community level disrespect the distributor. We still bought cards from said distributor though.
Click to expand...

It is a huge difference between having such a rule from the beginning or having such a rule introduced later after the player have bought their English cards. In the beginning days of Pokemon, I only bought local-language cards becuase of that. After the fall of that rule, that changed dramatically.

You should not mix up the situation with that in Europe.

In the USA, only English cards are officially sold. Everyone using Japanese cards has done something illegal or at least supported it: to grey import Japanese boosters. It is very clear that this is not okay and that lies in the interest of PUI, that is correct.

In some countries of Europe like Gemany, France and Italy however, English AND local-language cards are officially sold. So you have not necessarily done something illegal if you own English cards. Futhermore, when the localized product is released, the English set is around since 6 months or so. And it is not in the interest of that distributors to have that rule because many player will not buy double cards to play and therefore leave the game.
 
Glumanda said:
In the USA, only English cards are officially sold. Everyone using Japanese cards has done something illegal or at least supported it: to grey import Japanese boosters. It is very clear that this is not okay and that lies in the interest of PUI, that is correct.
Click to expand...

Slightly incorrect statement there. While English cards may be the only official sold, it is not illegal nor wrong to have any & use them. I
Did you forget that at Worlds all the main event players were given a binder & there were some Japanese cards in them. That certainly wasn't wrong or grey market stuff.
 
Glumanda said:
In the USA, only English cards are officially sold. Everyone using Japanese cards has done something illegal or at least supported it: to grey import Japanese boosters. It is very clear that this is not okay and that lies in the interest of PUI, that is correct.
Click to expand...

Wal-Mart has, on occasion, sold foreign Pokemon cards. Not Japanese cards, but Spanish, German, etc.... I have also seen foreign cards (including Japanese cards) in some of the smaller card shops.
 
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Mike gives a final answer about the question on PUI's forum.

English cards are always acceptable

Oracle should be posted soon. Then the tournament rules will be adapted to allow English, foreign language cards, and Oracle as reference (the three will may be used as reference).


It seems that there is no problem anymore :clap:

Thanks to Mike and PUI's staff for their quick and positive answer. :thumb:
 
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