Making MYSverse more accessible via localisation

Making our fun, educational, and cultural platforms more welcoming and easier to use for everyone in our community is a key priority for us here at MYSverse. We've been reflecting on how we can better serve our diverse user base, particularly here in Malaysia, and a key part of that is addressing language.

Today, we are pleased to outline our plans for introducing internationalisation (i18n) and localisation (l10n) across our web and game platforms.

Why localisation matters to us

MYSverse has always aimed to be a space where people can connect, learn, and share experiences. A core belief we've held is that language shouldn't be an obstacle to this.

Malaysia, as you know, is home to a wonderful array of languages: Bahasa Melayu, our national language, alongside English, Mandarin, Tamil, and many others. It’s this linguistic richness we want to start reflecting more deeply within MYSverse.

Our goals with this initiative are straightforward:

• Improve accessibility for those who are more comfortable in languages other than English.
• Create a more inclusive environment where more of our users feel truly at home.
• Provide a smoother, more intuitive user experience.
• Strengthen our connection with our Malaysian community by speaking their language, and eventually, extend this warmth to other communities.

Our first step: localising MYSwiki

We'll be starting this process with the MYSverse Wiki (MYSwiki), soon to make its official introduction. This platform will be the first to natively support i18n and localisation. This means that essential information, like getting started guides, how-to-play instructions, feature details, and documentation for our Roblox experiences, will become available in more languages.

Initially, MYSwiki will support:

• English (en)
• Bahasa Melayu (ms)

Looking ahead, we intend to expand the language options on MYSwiki to include Mandarin (zh) and Tamil (ta), helping us reach more of our community members in the languages they use most comfortably.

Future roadmap: expanding our efforts

MYSwiki is an important first step, and our longer-term plans involve extending localisation to other parts of MYSverse.

Web Platforms

• We will be looking at how to best implement localisation for our landing site, the Sentral web app, and this blog.
• These are more complex undertakings, and we'll approach them thoughtfully.

Roblox Experiences

• A significant focus will be bringing localisation into our Roblox experiences.
• We know a large portion of our players are Malaysian, so providing in-game Bahasa Melayu language support is a priority.
• We believe this will make a tangible difference to their experience.

Our approach: community collaboration and technology

MYSverse thrives because of its volunteer spirit, and this initiative is no different. This spirit is truly global, with volunteers contributing from around the world. Our development, content, moderation, and administration teams include passionate individuals from many nationalities, not just from Southeast Asia but from other continents as well.

For a significant period, our head developer was a dedicated individual from the Philippines, whose passion for MYSverse and Malaysian culture was as strong as any Malaysian-born member; a testament to our shared global vision. This international collaboration, with English as our common operational language, allows us to build MYSverse effectively.

For this localisation initiative, we're aware that it can be a significant undertaking for a primarily volunteer-driven project. Our strategy involves a blend of technology and our community's unique strengths:

• Utilising LLMs (Large Language Models)
  • We plan to use AI translation tools as a starting point.
  • This will help us manage the initial workload more efficiently.
• MTPE (Machine Translation Post-Editing) by Malaysian volunteers
  • The crucial next step will involve our Malaysian team members.
  • Their native language skills are invaluable for reviewing, refining, and ensuring the AI-generated translations are accurate, natural-sounding, and culturally appropriate.
  • This human oversight is key to quality.

This practical combination allows us to tackle this significant project while ensuring the translations are genuinely useful and respectful. It also offers an opportunity for our members to engage with different languages, potentially improving English proficiency for some and offering others a chance to contribute their linguistic skills, thereby enhancing both personal development and the international appeal of our community.

Looking forward

This is a significant development for MYSverse, and one we're approaching with careful consideration and optimism. We believe it’s a necessary step in our growth and aligns with our commitment to building an inclusive space that reflects the diversity of Malaysia and our global community.

While our internal, organisational communication will continue to be English-first to ensure our global team can collaborate effectively, our public-facing efforts will increasingly embrace multilingualism.

As we move forward with these changes, your feedback will be important. We'll keep you updated on our progress.

Terima kasih! Thank you! 谢谢! நன்றி!