A Little Help

Genshin Impact Life Lessons 5

Part of Genshin Impact's approach to its artificial scarcity is to bombard you with varied rewards so that, much like real life, there is always another way to progress. However, with that abundance comes complexity.

The game's transparency only goes so far in helping you navigate it. Where else can you turn for help? Who else can you turn to for help?

A lot of what makes the Genshin Impact experience great comes from outside the game.

First: Other Players

Multiplayer is co-op only, no PvP, and while the rule that you are only allowed to join lower-levelled players' worlds may seem limiting, there are incentives to do so. Challenges are easier, allowing you to flex your higher-levelled characters while reaping rewards you may have picked clean in your own world, all the while helping out less experienced players. As one of those low-level n00bs I can tell you that a high-level player one-shotting a tough boss is a godsend, as are those who produce boss-killing video guides.

In short, co-operative behaviour is systematically ingrained. So much so that during a time-limited competitive event, some players turned it co-operative by throwing matches upon reaching the reward cap (their reward being a post-match photo).

Second: the Knowledge Bases

I've mentioned before how fans have publicly dissected Genshin Impact's gacha mathematics with Mihoyo's implied blessing. 

That scrutiny is applied on the Fandom wiki to every other aspect of the game, including characters, weapons, and quests. While the game clearly shows what's required for the next level, the wiki lays out how to max them.

Contributors to Sub-Reddits and sites like Keqing Mains provide in-depth guides to efficient use of characters.

Third: Fan Works

The broad lesson from cases like Walt Disney Co. v. Powell is that drawing Mickey Mouse will end up with trial lawyers arguing over your carcass in court.

Mihoyo throws that logic out the window by welcoming derivative work.

They showcase top fan artists and cosplayers, and run programs for budding content creators.

Video guides and critiques on platforms like YouTube and TikTok abound, and owners of the most popular channels are granted early access to content. These supplement Mihoyo's prodigious output of teaser trailers, soundtracks, and cutscenes.

You as a player are encouraged snap and share screen shots on social media. (You guessed it, you get rewards.) It helps that every few steps brings a view like a landscape painting, making the function to pose your character almost redundant.

Hyping the game is part of the game.

Mihoyo is not just lazily offloading marketing and clarification onto volunteers. There is something unique about seeing how others engage with characters, lore, and gameplay that makes it seem safe to do likewise.

Thrilling Tales of Dragon Slayers

The result of encouraging others to remix intellectual property is not only player engagement but also tens-of-millions of dollars in monthly sales - of a wholly virtual product, mind you - in China alone.

Genshin's ingrained collaboration is evidently just as sustainable as the more familiar competitive rationing of experience behind proprietary secrets or licensing in real life.

Naturally, purely virtual outcomes differ from consequences in the real world. Still, imagine a system which incentivises everyone, from professionals to enthusiasts, to help neophytes pro bono or teach them how to DIY maintenance, health, or finances, as opposed to an agglomeration of systems built around extracting rents from protected niches.

"So why not go live there?"

Yup, theeere it is. As a migrant, I'm used to hearing this every time I point out places which do things better. But let's use it as a starting point for next time.