Highlights

  • Genshin Impact fans are outraged about the 4.4 Lantern Rite rewards, leading to a drop in social media follower counts and 1-star reviews on platforms like Bilibili.
  • Players are dissatisfied with the perceived greediness of Genshin Impact in skimping on rewards and not listening to player feedback, leading to a loss of hope for improvement.
  • To fix the situation in the future, Genshin Impact should directly respond to backlash, offer apologies and compensation, and involve the community in decision-making to please the fanbase.

Unfortunately, things aren't looking good for Genshin Impact as fans are outraged about the 4.4 Lantern Rite rewards. This isn't the first time something like this has happened to the company when the rewards it offered weren't up to fans' standards, and fans are not entirely at fault. Recently, its sister game, Honkai: Star Rail, received a free 5-star and Genshin Impact fans weren't pleased about that, either.

Over in China, on several platforms—but most notably Bilibili, a YouTube equivalent app—Genshin Impact's follower counts have dropped and reviews are plummeting. Fans are spamming 1-star reviews because of how unsatisfied they are with how Genshin Impact has approached Lantern Rite rewards and previous anniversary rewards. There appears to be disbelief at the thought that players would only get three intertwined fates (the limited rate-up banner wishes) for Lantern Rite for three years in a row.

Star Rail Genshin Impact Mixed Cover Image
Related
Every Feature that Honkai: Star Rail Has and Genshin Impact Needs

HoYoverse’s sci-fi adventure game, Honkai: Star Rail, has several player quality of life features that Genshin Impact could also make use of.

What Went Wrong With Genshin Impact's Lantern Rite Rewards

genshinlanternritebody

Genshin Impact has received continuous complaints about the lack of worthwhile rewards in certain events. The last time people argued about this, fans were able to receive a new pair of wings as well as additional rewards after some time. However, even then, it didn't feel worth it to some people. It's become an expectation and a defeated reality for some that Genshin Impact can tend to be greedier than the other games HoYoVerse owns when it comes to skimping on rewards.

The Backlash of Not Listening to Playerbases

A very simple truth is that fans have been unhappy for a while. Recently, there were Genshin Impact leaks that implied a skin selector would be available during Lantern Rite. They turned out to be correct, but only if players bought the Genshin Impact Playstation 5 Starter Set bundle as nothing else would grant them that skin selector. On top of this, it was only available in China.

Genshin Impact isn't the only one receiving hits, as people have also begun to unfollow other companies that Genshin Impact collaborated with to put more pressure on the game. All of their accounts are losing followers and being review-bombed until the fans' voices are heard. It's gotten so bad that instead of facing the issue with players head-on, it's been implied that Bilibili bots are being bought to subscribe to the plummeting channel in an effort to save itself.

How to Fix This in the Future

Though there is word of fixing communication with fans and upping the rewards to satisfy players, there are many who have already lost hope. Even if the game was to grant them something generous like a free 5-star, it isn't a guarantee that all would be forgiven. This suggests that during these big events, Genshin Impact will only satisfy players after they've caused enough of a ruckus and ruined its follower count and reviews, and it shouldn't take this much controversy to fix a community issue.

Instead, if something like this was to happen again in Genshin Impact's future, there should be a direct response to the backlash instead of a last-ditch effort. Wonderful responses in the future should include apologies and compensation right away. Some fans have felt ignored for years playing Genshin Impact, so making a poll open instead of a survey may help with gathering the community and their emotions so it can figure out the right way to please the fanbase before things get muddy.