What do you think will be next if not the drip marketing?
Commentaires
Zephyr_ta2026-01-06 15:12
Leakers got us covered in that case
iorveth12712026-01-06 15:13
NGL, I kinda wish sometimes that drip marketing *wasn't* a thing.
When characters are suggested to have died off in the AQ only to be drip marketed next patch right away, it does kill basically all suspense they could build up in the story.
324Cats2026-01-06 15:15
wait who might have died just to get drip marketed
iorveth12712026-01-06 15:16
Mavuika and Columbina both in just the last year.
wizfactor2026-01-06 15:18
In Honkai Star Rail, >!Robin was drip marketed after she “died” at the start of 2.0!<.
Obvious-Childhood9102026-01-06 15:16
What? Who died in your genshin?
iorveth12712026-01-06 15:18
Mavuika had major death flags for several patches only to get a drip marketing before the patch she was suggested to potentially die in.
Columbina just got thrown into a moongate only to immediately get drip marketed after having massive death flags for a whole region's worth of AQ.
It kills suspense is all I'm saying.
La-Roca992026-01-06 15:55
Lisa had major death flags because of her "research" taking away her lifespan
Childe had major death flags because he would seemingly sacrifice for his brother in his SQ
Kazuha had major death flags because he would seemingly try to parry the Musou no Hitotachi and fail
Collei had major death flags because of been aflicted with Eleazar and experimented on by Dottore
Navia had "major death flags" because of 1 cutscene of falling into water
Mavuika,Xilonen had "major death flags" because dialogue implied so
Columbina had "major death flags" because of so called region worth AQs
Same song and dance every single year, same song and dance about been disappointed about made up theories
iorveth12712026-01-06 15:57
I mean, yes. It happens all the time. And drip marketing isn't the only contributor to that issue, but it is an issue imo all the same.
Unless we get an actual playable character death in Genshin, that kinda marketing inevitably spoils a portion of the story before the story's even out, which really only happens with drip marketing.
And leaks, I suppose.
La-Roca992026-01-06 16:01
There is an unneccesary amount of "x character had death flags" coupled with "I'm disappointed my made up theory about x character dying was ruined by drip marketing" and the fact you dont realize that is the real issue here
They havent killed a single playable character, and the times they have done so on other games, they just bring them back because "Simulation", so whats even the point? Might as well not do it entirely if you cant even commit to it properly, nor expect it to ever happen and point at every single character on every single region with any remotedly red flag attached to it as if it will happen
iorveth12712026-01-06 17:08
I think people are misunderstanding my point here. Maybe I worded it badly.
My issue is to some extent that Genshin has built that idea that playable = will not die. It undermines their entire storytelling imo, and the suspense they try to build within it, because the moment you get official confirmation that a character will be playable (leaks notwithstanding), that suspense is gone. It's practically a spoiler. You know "that character is fine." You might have "known" before. But the marketing effectively hard confirming it means now you *know* before the story's even out. It's a difference.
Now does it ruin the story? Not really, no. But it hurts it. Unnecessarily so, in my opinion.
Take, for instance, Kazuha blocking Raiden in 2.1. That shit was teased in the version trailer, BUT Kazuha had already been playable for a few patches at this point. It was an awesome moment and set up a degree of suspense over his fate that made the actual scene itself feel a lot more impactful.
Or Xiao's sacrifice in the Chasm. He got saved, sure. But it was beautifully set up and wasn't even really teased in the trailer, either.
Characters do not necessarily *need* to die for this shit to land better. It's the suspense, the degree of uncertainty, the mere possibility that they *might* that lends certain scenes a lot more weight.
The marketing effectively confirming that certain characters that have been set up to potentially die will 99% chance not die because they will be playable kinda hurts the story's impact in the moment when that story has yet to come out. It's an unneeded spoiler, imo, in a game that so heavily relies on its storytelling to keep players hooked.
Again, it doesn't ruin anything. But it makes it worse than it could be, and adjusting trailers and marketing materials and maybe pushing some characters' release to the second half of a patch, along with the trailers for them, is honestly all it would realistically take to fix that imo.
Anyway, it's a pet peeve. Nothing more.
Oeshikito2026-01-06 15:13
They're never taking away drip marketing. It's literally just revealing the splash art to the players so they know what to expect next patch. It doesn't take any additional resources. What we could potentially lose are the animated drip marketing splash arts but let's hope it never comes to that.
wizfactor2026-01-06 15:28
In fairness, there **was** a time when drip marketing did not exist. Upcoming characters were only revealed during the patch video itself (I.e. just 10 days before the banner dropped).
It all came to a head with the Eula leaks. Hoyo cracked down hard on those leaks, and the fallout caused Hoyo to lose goodwill with some fans.
It was in the aftermath of the Eula leak crackdown that Hoyo realized this legal whack-a-mole just wasn’t worth it, so they created drip marketing precisely to mitigate the market for leakers.
La-Roca992026-01-06 15:51
> Upcoming characters were only revealed during the patch video itself (I.e. just 10 days before the banner dropped).
Or basically 2 days before the banner released like Hu Tao lol
Neospanner2026-01-06 21:49
One reason they might pull it is that drip marketing gives players the ability to plan ahead with their pulls - and this CAN affect whether they pull or not. To give one personal example, I was contemplating pulling for Skirk's weapon, but I decided to wait and see what was coming up for the next patch - and wouldn't you know, it was Ineffa. I shelved my weapon plans, and saved for Ineffa, instead, since I'm a sucker for robot characters.
This is almost certainly the reason that they MOVED drip marketing. It used to happen before then end of the previous patch - and that gave players TWO patches worth of foreknowledge to plan around. Hoyo may have lost quite a few FOMO pulls of folks who were on the fence about snagging a second-half 5-star just before the banner ends, only to decide not to pull after seeing what was on the horizon on the patch after the upcoming one.
All that said, I doubt drip marketing is going away. What it loses in terms of player planning, it likely more than makes up for in the way that it drives up hype.
Stunning_Dealer_92112026-01-06 15:15
They already killed the drip marketing when they changed schedules, gone are the days where everyone (including people who see leaks) see who the next characters are.
Ezzaroth_VII2026-01-06 15:23
yeah but it can be even more dead by not posting it at all
Lipheria2026-01-06 15:15
Ngl, they posted the last ones(Bina, Zibai and Illuga) on the most random days it honestly makes me think they don't care about the thing anymore
La-Roca992026-01-06 15:52
Bina was a full moon day and the other two just followed suit with the usual schedule for part 2 characters
Not sure whats "random" about that
irsyada0072026-01-06 15:18
They already kill it tho?
The point of drip marketing in the first place was to get a head of beta cause leaker (from what i understand)
They always post it week if not day before new patch start, which is next patch beta always start
And now, they post it way after new patch start and the beta start, which break the point of drip marketing in the first place
misterkalazar2026-01-06 15:26
People who are active in communities is a minority. People who look at leaks is an even smaller minority.
So, even though it "killed" off the drip marketing idea for us, it still works on a major part of the playerbase, while also raking in the initial week sales of current patch banners.
It must have been a calculated decision which ended up being more profitable for them.
AlterWanabee2026-01-06 15:27
Surprise surprise, but not everyone follows leaks (even if idiots continue stuffing it down the throats through youtube or twitter). Hell, the majority of Genshin players don't follow leaks.
Pitiful_Feedback_7562026-01-06 15:22
which last character got their web event though? Was it arlechinno?And i'm so sad they removed it...:( it made it more fun
Ezzaroth_VII2026-01-06 15:26
IIRC the last one was Skirk throwing Childe at enemies
Spieds2026-01-06 15:39
I mean, Collected Miscellany didn't get "killed", it became part of the game as they added video tutorials with explanations for characters during trials, which serve the same purpose, but more accessible since not all who play the game will go outside the game to view those
_krays2026-01-06 15:43
Lmao grim reaper is doing a full tour, honestly feels accurate though
Cormorial2026-01-06 15:46
I don’t think they’ll get rid of the drip marketing, since it is marketing after all, I do think they’ll use more and more AI slop though.
Commentaires
When characters are suggested to have died off in the AQ only to be drip marketed next patch right away, it does kill basically all suspense they could build up in the story.
Columbina just got thrown into a moongate only to immediately get drip marketed after having massive death flags for a whole region's worth of AQ.
It kills suspense is all I'm saying.
Childe had major death flags because he would seemingly sacrifice for his brother in his SQ
Kazuha had major death flags because he would seemingly try to parry the Musou no Hitotachi and fail
Collei had major death flags because of been aflicted with Eleazar and experimented on by Dottore
Navia had "major death flags" because of 1 cutscene of falling into water
Mavuika,Xilonen had "major death flags" because dialogue implied so
Columbina had "major death flags" because of so called region worth AQs
Same song and dance every single year, same song and dance about been disappointed about made up theories
Unless we get an actual playable character death in Genshin, that kinda marketing inevitably spoils a portion of the story before the story's even out, which really only happens with drip marketing.
And leaks, I suppose.
They havent killed a single playable character, and the times they have done so on other games, they just bring them back because "Simulation", so whats even the point? Might as well not do it entirely if you cant even commit to it properly, nor expect it to ever happen and point at every single character on every single region with any remotedly red flag attached to it as if it will happen
My issue is to some extent that Genshin has built that idea that playable = will not die. It undermines their entire storytelling imo, and the suspense they try to build within it, because the moment you get official confirmation that a character will be playable (leaks notwithstanding), that suspense is gone. It's practically a spoiler. You know "that character is fine." You might have "known" before. But the marketing effectively hard confirming it means now you *know* before the story's even out. It's a difference.
Now does it ruin the story? Not really, no. But it hurts it. Unnecessarily so, in my opinion.
Take, for instance, Kazuha blocking Raiden in 2.1. That shit was teased in the version trailer, BUT Kazuha had already been playable for a few patches at this point. It was an awesome moment and set up a degree of suspense over his fate that made the actual scene itself feel a lot more impactful.
Or Xiao's sacrifice in the Chasm. He got saved, sure. But it was beautifully set up and wasn't even really teased in the trailer, either.
Characters do not necessarily *need* to die for this shit to land better. It's the suspense, the degree of uncertainty, the mere possibility that they *might* that lends certain scenes a lot more weight.
The marketing effectively confirming that certain characters that have been set up to potentially die will 99% chance not die because they will be playable kinda hurts the story's impact in the moment when that story has yet to come out. It's an unneeded spoiler, imo, in a game that so heavily relies on its storytelling to keep players hooked.
Again, it doesn't ruin anything. But it makes it worse than it could be, and adjusting trailers and marketing materials and maybe pushing some characters' release to the second half of a patch, along with the trailers for them, is honestly all it would realistically take to fix that imo.
Anyway, it's a pet peeve. Nothing more.
It all came to a head with the Eula leaks. Hoyo cracked down hard on those leaks, and the fallout caused Hoyo to lose goodwill with some fans.
It was in the aftermath of the Eula leak crackdown that Hoyo realized this legal whack-a-mole just wasn’t worth it, so they created drip marketing precisely to mitigate the market for leakers.
Or basically 2 days before the banner released like Hu Tao lol
This is almost certainly the reason that they MOVED drip marketing. It used to happen before then end of the previous patch - and that gave players TWO patches worth of foreknowledge to plan around. Hoyo may have lost quite a few FOMO pulls of folks who were on the fence about snagging a second-half 5-star just before the banner ends, only to decide not to pull after seeing what was on the horizon on the patch after the upcoming one.
All that said, I doubt drip marketing is going away. What it loses in terms of player planning, it likely more than makes up for in the way that it drives up hype.
Not sure whats "random" about that
The point of drip marketing in the first place was to get a head of beta cause leaker (from what i understand)
They always post it week if not day before new patch start, which is next patch beta always start
And now, they post it way after new patch start and the beta start, which break the point of drip marketing in the first place
So, even though it "killed" off the drip marketing idea for us, it still works on a major part of the playerbase, while also raking in the initial week sales of current patch banners.
It must have been a calculated decision which ended up being more profitable for them.