Abstract
This paper presents a study of retellings about Genshin Impact, exploring how the game’s narrative design inspires players to create fiction and art based on the game’s universe. A questionnaire sent to players rendered 1606 replies. Based on the findings in this corpus, eight players and creators of retellings were interviewed in-depth. Among our findings were that players were most inspired by the characters, detailed worldbuilding, and regional cultures in the game world. Their motivation to create was often spurred by the gaps and ambiguities in the detailed narrative design, wanting to “fill in the gaps” and, through their creation of fiction, further explore the intricacies of the game’s narrative elements.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
The concept of roundness comes from Forester’s description of ‘round’ characters as rich and complex in comparison to ‘flat’ one-dimensional characters [7].
References
ArchiveofOurOwn: Fandoms (2009). https://archiveofourown.org/media. Accessed 10 July 2022
ArchiveofOurOwn: Terms of service (2009). https://archiveofourown.org/tos. Accessed 13 Oct 2022
Braun, V., Clarke, V.: Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qual. Res. Psychol. 3(2), 77–101 (2006)
Dede, C., Barab, S.: Emerging technologies for learning science: a time of rapid advances. J. Sci. Educ. Technol. 18(4), 301–304 (2009)
Discord Inc: Discord v136607. [Computer Software] (2015). https://discord.com
Eladhari, M.P.: Re-tellings: the fourth layer of narrative as an instrument for critique. In: Rouse, R., Koenitz, H., Haahr, M. (eds.) ICIDS 2018. LNCS, vol. 11318, pp. 65–78. Springer, Cham (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-04028-4_5
Forster, E.M.: Aspects of the Novel. Arnold (1927)
Google: Google Docs (live version spring 2022). [Web Application] (2006). https://www.google.com/docs/about/
Google: Google Forms (live version spring 2022). [Web Application] (2008). https://www.google.com/forms/about/
Greting, M., Mao, X.: Travelers in another world: How game experience in genshin impact inspires retellings. Stockholm University (2022). https://gameresearch.blogs.dsv.su.se/game-related-ba-and-ma-theses-from-dsv/travelers-in-another-world/
Hellekson, K., Busse, K., et al.: Fan fiction and fan communities in the age of the internet: new essays. McFarland (2006)
HoYoverse: Genshin impact [Video Game] (2020). https://genshin.hoyoverse.com/en/game. Accessed 24 June 2022
Hoyoverse: Hoyolab (2021). https://www.hoyolab.com/. Accessed 24 June 2022
Hugh “Jim" Bailey: OBS Studio v27.2.4. [Computer Software] (2012). https://obsproject.com/
Kreminski, M., Samuel, B., Melcer, E., Wardrip-Fruin, N.: Evaluating ai-based games through retellings. In: Proceedings of the AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Interactive Digital Entertainment, vol. 15, pp. 45–51 (2019)
OrganizationforTransformativeWorks: Announcing open beta (2009). https://www.transformativeworks.org/announcing-open-beta/. Accessed 14 July 2022
Soyoof, A.: Video game and culture: a case study of efl student players’ views on their acquisition of cultural knowledge and sensitivity. Int. J. Pedagogies Learn. 13(2), 91–102 (2018)
Stein, L., Busse, K.: Limit play: fan authorship between source text, intertext, and context. Pop. Commun. 7(4), 192–207 (2009)
Steve, H., Aaron, S., Alexis, O.: Reddit (2005). https://www.reddit.com/. Accessed 24 April 2022
Zimmermann, E., Salen Tekinbas, K.: Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals. MIT Press, Cambridge (2004)
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank all interview participants and everyone who answered the questionnaire for dedicating their time and giving valuable and more extensive responses than expected. We also thank professor Hartmut Koenitz for valuable feedback and insights that helped improve the paper. Additionally, we express our gratitude to the reviewers who gave helpful feedback.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding authors
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2022 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this paper
Cite this paper
Greting, M., Mao, X., Eladhari, M.P. (2022). What Inspires Retellings - A Study of the Game Genshin Impact. In: Vosmeer, M., Holloway-Attaway, L. (eds) Interactive Storytelling. ICIDS 2022. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 13762. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-22298-6_16
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-22298-6_16
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-031-22297-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-031-22298-6
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)