Genshin Impact has revealed a preview of the coming Version ‘Luna III,’ a.k.a. ‘A Nocturne of the Far North,’ and the players’ reactions have been… at least to say the least, they are having a moment. The game account’s official microblog stated the customary thing: the ‘To Temper Thyself and Journey Far’ event’s fresh cycle came into being on the 1st of December, whereby players could choose a Stella Fortuna for one of the existing 5-star characters by meeting the challenges. Pretty cool, no? A free constellation for a character you already have? That’s a certain win. The reaction from the community has been, however, and this time it’s a mix of excitement, bewilderment, and a large amount of side-eye.
I’ll start with a summary for search engine optimization bots and the readers who are only interested in the facts: Genshin Impact’s next Version 4.3 update ‘Luna III: A Nocturne of the Far North’ will not only bring new events but will also reintroduce a recurring system where players can collect a free constellation for a 5-star character. However, the announcement has instantly ignited player criticism concerning the supposed scarcity of event offerings and the continuity of time-gated story content, thus escalating the online discussion about the game’s update structure.
Whoa, that was a lot to process. Now, let’s get into the chaos. The tweet is pretty much what one would expect from MysteriousHouse—a realistic, promotional, with a link for more details. But the comments? Gamer power with full disclosure. The very first major response was from user Kryozlol who rather harshly commented, ‘We only got two events for the entire duration of the patch without a new map??? what are you doing with the millions you take every patch? poker?’ Ouch. Reactions along this line came in different forms, players were voicing their main concern that this patch would be content-less.
But wait a minute. Players were quickly supportive of their fellow players and straightforward in correcting the misinformation. User KaiserinKai said, ‘This is just the first half, there will be more to come.’ And then gave a list of livestream events such as Dragonspine main event, Finchball, Saurian PvP, and Marvelous Merchandise. ‘That’s more than 2,’ they said, kind of brushing aside the initial alarm. It is this type of back-and-forth argument that one sees so often in Genshin updates—someone sees a preview, thinks the worst, and then along come the lore masters and update experts with the evidence. The ride is always a rollercoaster of excitement.
Then there was the whole story quest controversy. Some comments addressed a statement made regarding a quest featuring Durin, the legendary dragon of the myths. User Silly_spookie was ecstatic at first: ‘WAIT DURINS QUEST WILL BE MULTI PART YAYYYYYY’. But then, in a follow-up tweet, seemed to be perplexed: ‘Also I dunno if I’m just dumb and this was expected or not but nod krai act VI in same context as main plotline and in same patch as act V O_O’. This is indicative of a bigger, ongoing complaint. Other gamers were not so cheerful. User Follow_Robot1 pleaded, ‘Stop with the fear of missing out on story quests jfc’. And SerahKyu77 was even more concise: ‘Plz talk about that, are u serious?… Can’t we enjoy the story in one go? Worst idea.’ Aoi made sure his disagreement was heard as well: ‘we have a new time-fenced quest like wtf?’
The issue here is the time-fencing. Genshin loves to drag story content over real-life days or weeks and that absolutely drives a portion of the player base mad. They want to binge, immerse themselves in the world, and finish the story. Hoyoverse, on the other hand, seems to want to take it slow, possibly to keep daily logins high or to create excitement. The two different philosophies are at play here, and every new patch rekindles the argument. User jeanfourwinds tried to clarify, thinking it was about limited-time rewards, but the core frustration is about the story flow itself.
Of course, no Genshin update discussion is complete without minor character speculations. The pulls are already bothering people. User Pikachumoomoo is in the post-Zhongli-loss despair: ‘I already didn’t get Zhongli so Jahoda better come home 🫤.’ And RealPoi_15 is asking the devs: ‘Can you please put Jahoda on the Varesa banner too? Pretty please? 👉👈🥹’.
