(Chapter the Last in my exhausting — er, exhaus tive — series of Sword World 2.5 articles, picking the bones of the English version by the Sword World Translation Project. Download their translation , join their Discord , or peruse their sub-Reddit . And gyre and gimble in the wabe.)
Biting the hand
Before TSR released the first Japanese version of D&D in 1985, unpaid Japanese game enthusiasts would receive copies of the English books and painstakingly translate them in their spare time. Bootleg copies of these translations were photocopied and mailed around between college campuses for groups to play this cool new thing from the States.