regarding sumeru...
hi friends! this is my quick take on what's happening with hoyoverse, the general design of sumeru, and the stream of racism allegations that have resurged recently. i think it's worth trying to analyze why hoyoverse designed sumeru the way it looks like so far (and because i want to add my two cents to the discourse lol).
here are some context:
hoyoverse is a chinese game dev company
sumeru is inspired by the people, religions, architecture, and cultures of south asian countries (india, nepal, pakistan, etc.) and countries in SWANA* (egypt, iran, the UAE, turkey, etc.)
we are only getting a portion of sumeru and 3 new characters in the 3.0 update
here are some of the main problems players have with the current status of sumeru:
the combination of the different countries and their cultures and religions
the lack of diversity
the general lack of effort put into sumeru's design, given the release of the fatui harbingers and the outstanding quality demonstrated in the interlude teaser
in order to address these concerns, i think it's important to think about hoyoverse and the stances its employees have on this issue. this does not mean i am playing devil's advocate or excusing the company's ignorance, but i think it's critical to understand the potential root causes.
because hoyoverse is based in china, their standard of diversity is much, much lower compared to that of other countries, such as the US and canada, which experience decades worth of immigration and are known as melting pots. coupled with east asia's internalized colorism and xenophobia, mainland folks simply do not get much exposure to POC. this means two things. first, they might not understand why global players are so adamant about POC representation and diversity – the developers may not even know how to go about bringing diversity because what they think is diverse is different from our understanding. second, hoyoverse will prioritize its east asian, particularly its chinese, fanbases, and let's be real, any character that's not flour-pale will not be as popular with the latter.**
the lack of popularity then becomes a financial issue for hoyoverse. hoyoverse generates a large portion of its money from the wishing system. it's thriving because so many people whale for 5-star characters and C6-ing them. if hoyoverse's largest community stops pulling for characters, they won't be able to keep up and maintain high quality with future productions (both for genshin and other games).
i promise y'all that there are at least a few designers and staff members in hoyoverse who want diversity in the same way that we do, who want unique characters with intricate lore, and who are willing to put in the effort. but at the end of the day, they are just designers and many of them will be forced to revise darker-skinned character drafts.
besides literal money, another currency that hoyoverse is limited to is time. one thing that i think hoyoverse hasn't disappointed fans in is the consistency of the game. there is always new content, and even during its hiatus in response to the shanghai mass quarantine in may, they provided mini events and extended the banners to make it more accessible for F2P players. while having constant releases is wonderful and retains interest, that means quality will be compromised in other aspects.
in this case, it means the design and intention put into sumeru. to elaborate, by design, i don't just mean character designs (though this is debatable because the community has a pretty bad habit of hating new characters, especially 5-stars, but then growing to love them) but also the geography, architecture, and personality of sumeru.
as sumeru is marketed right now, its concept is that it is a collage of all the aforementioned countries and their respective cultures. unless sumeru is separated into geographical sections to represent the distinct cultural influences, to mish-mash these countries' religions, peoples, and traditions together is disrespectful and reinforces harmful monolithic stereotypes.***
sumeru will be a literal game-changing region because it has so much information to bring: in-depth lore, the dendro element and everything that entails, etc. this is a pivoting point, so that's why it's frankly saddening and anticlimactic for hoyoverse to not put in the effort. i understand that in update 3.0, we will only be getting a taste of sumeru, so while it's hard to judge the production of the region with the limited information we have right now, it's important to push for diversity and representation while we still can and also give hoyoverse time to make the necessary changes correctly.
to summarize: i don't think hoyoverse is being intentionally or actively racist. i think it comes from a place of ignorance, so i personally think it's better to approach this problem with constructive criticism than to send hate messages to hoyoverse staff members who work so hard regardless. if we don't tell them why and what they're doing is wrong, then the game developers won't know how to resolve the concerns. furthermore, sumeru hasn't officially come out yet, and what we have seen in the teasers will be more refined and polished in the released product. i don't think we need to panic or retaliate, i just think we should remind hoyoverse so that they don't put representation on the back burner.
as for solutions, sending messages through different media platforms, emails, etc. has worked in the past (e.g. during genshin's 1st anniversary).**** but it doesn't stop there. just like every other region released so far, sumeru isn't just limited to the 3.0 patch; we will continue getting content for it for the rest of the game, so unless we see results, we have to be consistent with the feedback. that looks like continuing to send messages until we see tangible, permanent change, not being complacent in the lack of POC representation, and more.
i probably missed a lot of great points out there, but this is all my last brain cell can come up with. please repost and add your own thoughts because the more ideas, the better! (if you want to repost this onto other platforms, just make sure you credit me!!)
hope everyone gets their kazuhas, heizous, and yoimiyas in 2.8!!!
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*i recognize that the name "the middle east" has colonial roots, but because the region is so popularly known as such, i'm using it so that no one gets confused. edit: thanks to @najmaviper for pointing this out, but a decolonized term that is often used is SWANA. you can find more information at the initiative's website: https://swanaalliance.com/about#:~:text=S.W.A.N.A.%20is%20a%20decolonial%20word,contain%20and%20dehumanize%20our%20people.
**this is not to say that all individuals from south asian or SWANA are darker-skinned, but it's crucial to push for change to help gamers who are tan, brown, and black. this is especially important to do with games as popular as genshin impact because it can cause ripple effects.
***here's a tweet that states this argument eloquently: https://twitter.com/timelysumeru/status/1546500639970435072
****i know another method that has worked has been leaving a bunch of bad reviews in app stores, but i don't think it's applicable right now since we know so little about sumeru. if the problem persists, sure, but i think sending bad reviews right now just antagonizes the situation even further.
