I feel like there's a lot to unpack on this, but the main point that I have to make (because I just love discussing and I want to procrastinate on studying) is this: This is not THEIR WORK. You start of by saying it's ''theirs'' or ''it's their project'' and I'm like, uh no, get that right first. They are not entitled to it, and I believe that's where all your arguments fall apart.
You want the part of it being ''illegal'' to be ignored, but honestly, that's the very thing that's important here. Mainly, because it's part of the context and we can't ignore context. You lose all rights to complain about people doing what you're doing despite how much effort you put into, because you should have been aware from the get-go that without the legal authority you really don't have a right to tell anybody what to do with works you're not entitled to. All of this is like drama about who gets to distribute the 50 dollars y'all robbed from the cashier. Someone mentioned to me: ''There's even honor among thieves," but really, there isn't. The fact that one's stolen already shows a lack of moral conduct. And logically speaking, there really is no time or energy wasted in this case, because you can still post your work and tell readers where they can find it, like so many people do through discord. This isn't the first time multiple groups translate the same work. And not all readers want faster translation if the quality of the work goes down because of it, just look at this comment section as proof. Many would gladly follow the original translators, so I don't believe that excuse of ''people will go for the faster translators'' at all.
And even if, IF, people are going to go for the current translators instead of the original ones, then the original translators have every right to drop it if they feel their time is being wasted? They're not obligated to stick around. You shouldn't be doing translations of works you're not earning anything from if it's going to cause you more headache and heartache than bring you any form of enjoyment. If the issue is the time that's already been put into it, then it's important to remember that because what they're doing is uncertain (since it isn't legal) that chances of your ''time and energy being wasted'' was always lurking on the forefront (for examples: the story getting picked up by legal translators or the group dropping it for whatever reason because groups drop stories all the time or the author catching wind of the illegal translations and pursuing legal ways to stop it).
I get, really, I get the point that you're trying to make. I just want to say that by their work, I didn't mean that they own the story/project, I just meant the "translation work", so sorry about that (I just used the word 'work' cuz there really is no other word I could think of that fits what they're doing).
Yes I agree, they don't hold any rights since they're doing illegal work. I'm not going to comment or debate about the faster, lower quality updates cuz as you said, it depends on the reader (I was just saying that in my POV and from what I have observed).
continuation (sorry, i pressed the post button even though i wasn't done with my reply)
Logically, everything you pointed out is correct, no doubt about it. As I said on my OP, that was just what I thought about the issue.
Again, this is just me thinking, but I think the translators also felt EMOTIONAL about it. LOGICALLY, they know that they have no rights to anything at all. But it would have been NICE TO KNOW that somebody else was doing 'work' on it so they wouldn't have wasted so much effort. That's why I was talking about 'etiquette' between fellow translators (and why I stressed to forget about the fact that this is illegal work becuz, really etiquette just means polite behavior and what they're all doing, illegal translation, is the opposite of polite). And that's why they reached out with the snipers and messaged them. Idk the content of their message. Maybe they want to absorb the snipers and have them translate this story, or agree to give this up, or agree to post their individual translations in different platforms/sites (idk ╮(￣▽￣)╭). I think the translators just felt frustrated so much becuz the snipers ignored their message/s so that's why they made a 'public announcement' and ranted their feelings.
P.S. I wrote to "forget about the fact that this is illegal work" becuz, as you said, my arguments would fall apart, logically. Somebody already made a logical argument in the previous topics; I wanted to explain about the feelings of the translators.
So, yes, logically, I agree with you 100%. But I also understand the feelings of the translators.
I get where you're coming from about the 'emotional' aspect. I might seem like I'm coming off like I'm hating on the original translators, sorry if it appears like that. I can understand why they're frustrated about it tbh, like if I look at it from a subjective standpoint instead of objectively. I think what annoyed me most about all of this is just the way they've said it. I don't like the tone. This whole "Don't support the snipers" is what annoys me so much about this, because that comes off so entitled. Like we're doing something wrong for enjoying just about anyone translating this work when everyone, translator or reader is guilty. It's not a good look when people act like that over something they really don't own.
Oh yeah, don't worry about it. You made a very sound argument and even if it did come off like hating on the original translators that would be valid too becuz you're right, they do sound entitled.
This is long so don't read and don't reply if you're just gonna be a bitch about it.
If this happened to me and somebody sniped my work, I would be angry too.
This is how I interpret it.
The translators are angry at the snipers cuz they did hard work on the chapters but then somebody else posted it before them. (Just forget the issue about this being illegally translated). Let's say the translators are doing work on chaps 1-5 but then they get news that somebody else already posted it... So their hardwork goes down the drain. Yes, they do better translations than the snipers but the readers want faster updates even with less quality grammar. So even if they do better translations it reaches less readers/audience (becuz readers already went to read the faster updates). Also, there are some translation groups that buy the official raws to pay tribute to the author. Idk, maybe they're angry about that. If only the snipers INFORMED them that they wanted to translate, then maybe the translators group wouldn't have had to buy the raws ( idk if this is the case) or they wouldn't have had to work on the chaps that are the same as the snipers. Do you get what I mean? If it was me, I would have wanted someone to inform me that they were already working on whatev chaps so I wouldn't have wasted so much time on it and instead worked on the later chaps or maybe another webtoon/manga/manhwa/manhua. It would be win-win for everybody: the translators and snipers wouldn't be all over each others' work and the readers get more updates.
Since the snipers said they were treating this as practice, (i'm guessing they're beginners) maybe they don't know the etiquette (i said forget the fact that they are illegally translating this) within translation groups. That's why the translation group is reaching out to them (snipers). So they could talk about it. Maybe the snipers will get absorbed into the translation group and they will work on this story. Or maybe the group will give up on this since the snipers are interested in it. In this case, the translation group can move on to another story.
Now, this is all just how I feel about it. Some of you may think this is all just drama but there's more to this than that. Since the snipers didn't reply to the translation group, that's why the group made a public statement so that the snipers can see it.
I'm just like all of you, I want faster updates too, better translation is just a perk. That's why the best outcome is for the translation and snipers to have a compromise. I don't want different groups working on the same chaps (since duh, they're the same chaps, I'm always gonna read the faster updates). If both work together, then readers would get faster updates and HQ translation. Now, even if they don't get to compromise and the translation grp or the sniper gives up on the story, at least one grp can work on another story instead of wasting time on a story that is already translated by another. That's why sniping is bad, becuz it wastes the translators time when instead they could have been working on another story. And the translators are angry cuz the snipers ignored their messages (we don't know the content so don't assume that the snipers are getting harassed. It could be that the translators are reaching out for a compromise. We all don't know, so don't assume).
TL;DR
This is not as simple as the translators getting angry cuz somebody else did their illegal work. It's about the TIME and EFFORT they wasted translating, cleaning, proof-reading, type-setting a single chapter. All they wanted was for the snipers (or anyone else interested) to tell them that "Hey we're interested in translating this story. We don't have other projects so we can focus on this and provide faster updates. What chapters have you translated? What chapters are you working on? We'll work on the chapters you've not translated yet and we'll take it from there." Instead, the snipers posted chapters that the translator could already have been working on and are ignoring their messages.
Also, it's better not to post illegal translations on social media, especially twitter and insta since the author may get wind of it. The translator may get a C&D or they could get sued by the author.