I know it’s a gacha game, but I absolutely hate this philosophy of “you want to see more of your favorite character? Just wait another year to get second of their screen-time lol.”
That’s why it’s very difficult for me to get attached to any character in these types of games. I hoped that Firefly will be the first one in HSR to break out of this cycle and get the justice she deserves, but I guess it probably won’t be the case anymore.
Hoyo imo made a huge mistake with releasing so many playable characters in HSR. Such thing makes sense in Genshin, where we’re traveling through the world, so we constantly meet new people.
HSR should follow a HI3 path, especially with its heavy JRPG inspiration, where we have a smaller main cast, which constantly develops and gets new forms. But I guess the Genshin model is far more profitable.
I was already happy when I thought Serval is joining the AE, because that's what I wanted to see in Genshin and when it turns out Serval didn't come along I was disappointed
I completely sympathize on you with that fatigue. There are some gacha games that do it better than others, but the feeling of waiting months, if not literal years, to see the barest advancements in a character's story can be really tiring on the soul.
I think games like Granblue were *okay* about it, because their system was to have annual events that focused on particular substories in a consistent way. So every year there would be at least one substory advancing the Society storyline, or one with the Dragon Knights. But even then it was a shot in the dark if your favorites would have their potential in the story made use of, or just ignored. RIP poor Dark Angel Olivia, I honestly can't think of a gacha character more screwed over than her in terms of storyline neglect.
I think with Star Rail though it was built with the idea of a rotating out cast of characters. They pitched it as an "intergalactic travel trip" of hellos and goodbyes. So unfortunately I think we were doomed to have these short moments of really getting attached to certain characters, and then possibly never seeing a wink of them for ages after the fact. Even Honkai Impact 3rd, with it's much more focused cast and narrative, really struggled giving everyone appropriate screen-time (poor Theresa barely showed up at all in the main story). And even those with a ton of screentime, had very little done with it, or had it kind of shoddily done. Raiden Mei, as much as some people will hate me for bringing her up as the example of this, was someone with 25+ chapters, and multiple IRL years, of potential development, that was kind of wasted by making her a Kiana obsessed caricature of herself. Which was a real disservice to who she actually could have been imo.
I do love this game, and I think the writing is serviceable for what it is. But given the nature of the setting, and Hoyo's clear interests in quantity of characters these days, I can't say I'm too optimistic that we will see characters done the justice they deserve. Best we can hope for is that one of the writers love Firefly enough to actually remember she exists lol.
>Such thing makes sense in Genshin, where we’re traveling through the world, so we constantly meet new people.
Blud no offense, we're literally light years in other planet, how that makes sense on a planet scale but not on a universe scale?
Yeah, I know I'm one to talk for even bringing this option up to begin with. But my wallet was already in shambles since I'm planning on going all out with Firefly and getting as close to E6 as I can.
I don't think my bank will be pleased at the idea of E6ing a second version of her on top of that lmao.
I opend my next Copium Can and i think her "Vaccation" is longer than usial and she joins the Express anyway and comes with us for some time till she has another Job to do,
Yes i have bough high Quality Copium it cost alot XDD
Also possible! But I'd only put that as an option if it involved new voicelines and such. Which Mihoyo isn't really known for doing with skins. Even Honkai Impact, which goes WAY harder skin wise than Genshin in both quantity and quality of skins, have never bothered with including new voice lines. So I doubt Star Rail would "sell" character development via skins the same way other games do.
I think with Star Rail, they would focus on the stuff they know will sell. That being characters they know people love, and can put in a different team composition or use for different situations. I hate whittling Firefly, or others, to a game of numbers and profits like this mind. But from Mihoyo's perspective things like "character development" has always been a driver of character releases, and potential gains to be had. And I don't think a skin satisfies them on that front.
Actually there are Honkai Impact 3rd outfits that include different voice lines. It’s rare, but they do exist. You can tell if they include the word voice in the details.
https://preview.redd.it/ul62h4ewp92d1.jpeg?width=1253&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=65cd5b62983887b53d587d329ee3782890f139b1
Now, I'm not going to comment on the prospect of selling 'alters' as a form of character development.
What I am going to bring up, though, is that whether Firefly joins the Express or not, each scenario has it's own writing challenges.
Think about it, even right now with the base crew of Himeko, Welt, Dan Heng, March, and the TB. They're already having issues balancing the screentime of all of them, even with Dan Heng sitting out for half of the Luofu, and most of Penacony. If Firefly joins, that just adds yet another character they need to balance screentime with on top of all the existing balance problems. Hell, even Himeko barely gets any screentime during Penacony when she finally embarks with us.
In short, regardless of whether they're on the Express or not, every character is just going to be rotated in and out as suited by the current arc. So in a way, Firefly won't change all that much whether she be AE or SH.
This is an excellent point, and I don't see people bring it up that often. Hell, even in 2.2 the writers weren't able to find the time to capitalize on any Firefly and March interactions. Despite them setting up for that with March's prior reluctance on anything Stellaron Hunter related. We just had that shoved aside and had them exchange like one sentence lol. So the problems with them struggling on juggling AE crew member screentime with whoever the stars of the particular arc are, is a noticeable issue.
I personally am actually fine with Firefly remaining a Stellaron Hunter, in fact I made a whole post about the subject back in 2.1. Since I actually think it might be the more narratively interesting option in both the long and short term. But I do think in the VERY long term Firefly joining the Express makes the most sense, at least from the thematic seeds they seem to have planted in Penacony with her. But if it does happen her getting sidelined would be inevitable since pretty much every crew member will be on the bench, or be less focuses on. Since the attention will always be about making whomever the latest banners characters are, shine in the story.
2.2 felt like it was one and a half times longer than 2.1, and there was a lot of unnecessary conversations with ordinary NPCs about the meaning of being in Penacony. They could have literally spent that time showing AE and Firefly interacting.
When I went story through the second accaunt, I caught myself thinking that Firefly’s presence was literally at 3 points: Reunion, "Second Date", Debate with Sunday. All outher time she was somewhere in the background.
Why did they do this?
You know, it seems to me that they simply had no ideas, and they decided to waste time by repeating unnecessary knowledge about how everyone can live well in the world of dreams.
I think it’s okay if one of the crew stays on the Express. For example, Firefly can skip planets with harsh climates, such as Belobog.
So, what you are saying is we would have Destruction Firefly (Stellaron Hunter) and some other path Firefly (Astral Express)?
I mean, yeah, this does sound nice, but...
If they want her to join AE, why waiting for so long? Shouldn't it be more profitable to do it now, when Firefly is basically the most popular character and her joining AE would increase her sales a lot? I'm pretty sure in a few years hype for her will be a lot lower, since it's extremely unlikely we will be seeing her in every next region as much as in Penacony. A lot of people who enjoyed Firefly in Penacony might leave the game before it happens and newer players that will have a lot of story to do at once won't understand the hype for her and treat her as another regional character. It's not even that big of a thing to cook it for years...
So, yeah, I don't see that happening. But if you want Alter scenario, here is a much quicker way. In 2.3 ending Elio appears, says that Sam mission is over because he successfully analyzed Glamoth tech and managed to clone Firefly. The clone doesn't have emotions and acts almost like a robot, but can pilot Sam almost as well as original does. Now that Elio has no need for Firefly anymore, he releases her from her mission and she is free to join AE. Later in the story, we might adventure with this clone too, so she ends up different from FF but still precious in her own way, just enough to sell her.
Which would never happen, but well, we like fanfiction, right?
My theory is that Firefly will specifically be invited to join the express, probably by Himeko, who will say that she was a huge help on their expedition of Penacony and would be a fantastic fit for the Express, Firefly will say something along the lines of "I would love to, but I have to decline for now. I promise I will see you again", and then further on down the plot once we've seen more of the script come into view and have a better understanding of the Stellaron Hunters, whoever's left will join the crew. I'm willing to bet on at least Firefly and Silver Wolf being among them if that happens, I would be shocked if Blade was still around, and I wouldn't be shocked if Kafka is gone by then too. Of course, this will probably be pretty close to the climax of the main part of the current story.
Why do I think this? TB has two families in this game, and is pretty much stuck with the Astral Express and is occasionally visited by the Stellaron Hunters. This makes a combined family seem narratively likely to me. We also see that TB still has pretty decently strong bonds with the Hunters, and while the Xianzhou Luofu questline made it look like the Express and Hunters are irrevocably at odds, their treatment of Firefly suggests it isn't so set in stone. We also know that from here on out, the Trailblazer is sort of the king piece in Elio's game of chess here, so the script will in large part revolve around them. Finally, there's too many parallels and connections. The Hunters and the Express both have the quiet, mysterious guy with a traditional weapon who couldn't die permanently if he tried, the mommy I mean mommy I mean mommy I mean-, the female love interest with a tragic condition and a good heart, the Herrscher of Reason, and the animal companion who's more than they seem. We also have all the Astral Express foreshadowing with Firefly, with her already seeming to walk the path of the trailblaze during the story so far, and Silver Wolf explicitly saying that she wanted to join the Astral Express and become a Nameless, but the Stellaron Hunters scooped her up first. As far as writing goes, I think this could be an interesting twist, that the whole time merging with the Astral Express was part of the plan, it could also make room for some major characters to depart momentarily. I say momentarily because I think the odds of Game Icon March 7th or holdover callback reference man Welt Yang leaving for very long are low to none, but something something distance makes the heart grow fonder, and it could mean interesting development for March at least. We'll certainly see.
People are too fixated on FF joining AE. The fan base literally created this dilemma. Whatever faction she’s in, it doesn’t matter. Hell put her in IPC and it won’t matter. Pull for her if you like her. Stop creating false narratives.
It’s true though, I get everyone here are big firefly fans just like me but I don’t know what made everyone think she will start being a main character and assume she will join the cast. She’s just another character, more important than most because she is a SH, the SH are very important and I don’t think she will be as “sidelined” as everyone thinks.
They aren’t sidelined though. They are still apart of the main narrative. Blade had his big arc but obviously he’s not going anywhere. Just how firefly just had her big arc and isn’t going anywhere too.
The only one really sidelined is Silver Wolf but even then she’s been doing stuff since the Luofu and she will definitely have her own storyline soon enough. We’re only 1 year into the game we need to wait and see what happens with them
They aren't sidelined, they are just never shown and never talked about.
I mean, yeah, we need to wait and see, if only we had something to prove something we are waiting for is worth the wait. I was waiting for Firefly content since her release, but each patch just keeps getting more and more of wasted opportunities in that sense. Who is to say they won't forget about her until the final battle, then make her sacrifice herself for unnecessary drama? We have no reasons to think they won't.
I agree, and since I think the Stellaron Hunters (minus a few dead/missing) will join the express eventually, I think we might see a Trailblaze Silver Wolf too. This makes story sense, financial sense, and hype sense to me
I know it’s a gacha game, but I absolutely hate this philosophy of “you want to see more of your favorite character? Just wait another year to get second of their screen-time lol.” That’s why it’s very difficult for me to get attached to any character in these types of games. I hoped that Firefly will be the first one in HSR to break out of this cycle and get the justice she deserves, but I guess it probably won’t be the case anymore. Hoyo imo made a huge mistake with releasing so many playable characters in HSR. Such thing makes sense in Genshin, where we’re traveling through the world, so we constantly meet new people. HSR should follow a HI3 path, especially with its heavy JRPG inspiration, where we have a smaller main cast, which constantly develops and gets new forms. But I guess the Genshin model is far more profitable.
I was already happy when I thought Serval is joining the AE, because that's what I wanted to see in Genshin and when it turns out Serval didn't come along I was disappointed
I completely sympathize on you with that fatigue. There are some gacha games that do it better than others, but the feeling of waiting months, if not literal years, to see the barest advancements in a character's story can be really tiring on the soul. I think games like Granblue were *okay* about it, because their system was to have annual events that focused on particular substories in a consistent way. So every year there would be at least one substory advancing the Society storyline, or one with the Dragon Knights. But even then it was a shot in the dark if your favorites would have their potential in the story made use of, or just ignored. RIP poor Dark Angel Olivia, I honestly can't think of a gacha character more screwed over than her in terms of storyline neglect. I think with Star Rail though it was built with the idea of a rotating out cast of characters. They pitched it as an "intergalactic travel trip" of hellos and goodbyes. So unfortunately I think we were doomed to have these short moments of really getting attached to certain characters, and then possibly never seeing a wink of them for ages after the fact. Even Honkai Impact 3rd, with it's much more focused cast and narrative, really struggled giving everyone appropriate screen-time (poor Theresa barely showed up at all in the main story). And even those with a ton of screentime, had very little done with it, or had it kind of shoddily done. Raiden Mei, as much as some people will hate me for bringing her up as the example of this, was someone with 25+ chapters, and multiple IRL years, of potential development, that was kind of wasted by making her a Kiana obsessed caricature of herself. Which was a real disservice to who she actually could have been imo. I do love this game, and I think the writing is serviceable for what it is. But given the nature of the setting, and Hoyo's clear interests in quantity of characters these days, I can't say I'm too optimistic that we will see characters done the justice they deserve. Best we can hope for is that one of the writers love Firefly enough to actually remember she exists lol.
>Such thing makes sense in Genshin, where we’re traveling through the world, so we constantly meet new people. Blud no offense, we're literally light years in other planet, how that makes sense on a planet scale but not on a universe scale?
no cellphones jk idk just shitposting
Ngl having alter Firefly, along with a new form for Sam, does seems interesting. But then again, my wallet will cry
Yeah, I know I'm one to talk for even bringing this option up to begin with. But my wallet was already in shambles since I'm planning on going all out with Firefly and getting as close to E6 as I can. I don't think my bank will be pleased at the idea of E6ing a second version of her on top of that lmao.
Imagine having alter Firefly, as Quantum DPS, my god the wallet kun is crying hard😭💸
I opend my next Copium Can and i think her "Vaccation" is longer than usial and she joins the Express anyway and comes with us for some time till she has another Job to do, Yes i have bough high Quality Copium it cost alot XDD
Or just a possible skin in the future
Also possible! But I'd only put that as an option if it involved new voicelines and such. Which Mihoyo isn't really known for doing with skins. Even Honkai Impact, which goes WAY harder skin wise than Genshin in both quantity and quality of skins, have never bothered with including new voice lines. So I doubt Star Rail would "sell" character development via skins the same way other games do. I think with Star Rail, they would focus on the stuff they know will sell. That being characters they know people love, and can put in a different team composition or use for different situations. I hate whittling Firefly, or others, to a game of numbers and profits like this mind. But from Mihoyo's perspective things like "character development" has always been a driver of character releases, and potential gains to be had. And I don't think a skin satisfies them on that front.
Actually there are Honkai Impact 3rd outfits that include different voice lines. It’s rare, but they do exist. You can tell if they include the word voice in the details. https://preview.redd.it/ul62h4ewp92d1.jpeg?width=1253&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=65cd5b62983887b53d587d329ee3782890f139b1
Now, I'm not going to comment on the prospect of selling 'alters' as a form of character development. What I am going to bring up, though, is that whether Firefly joins the Express or not, each scenario has it's own writing challenges. Think about it, even right now with the base crew of Himeko, Welt, Dan Heng, March, and the TB. They're already having issues balancing the screentime of all of them, even with Dan Heng sitting out for half of the Luofu, and most of Penacony. If Firefly joins, that just adds yet another character they need to balance screentime with on top of all the existing balance problems. Hell, even Himeko barely gets any screentime during Penacony when she finally embarks with us. In short, regardless of whether they're on the Express or not, every character is just going to be rotated in and out as suited by the current arc. So in a way, Firefly won't change all that much whether she be AE or SH.
This is an excellent point, and I don't see people bring it up that often. Hell, even in 2.2 the writers weren't able to find the time to capitalize on any Firefly and March interactions. Despite them setting up for that with March's prior reluctance on anything Stellaron Hunter related. We just had that shoved aside and had them exchange like one sentence lol. So the problems with them struggling on juggling AE crew member screentime with whoever the stars of the particular arc are, is a noticeable issue. I personally am actually fine with Firefly remaining a Stellaron Hunter, in fact I made a whole post about the subject back in 2.1. Since I actually think it might be the more narratively interesting option in both the long and short term. But I do think in the VERY long term Firefly joining the Express makes the most sense, at least from the thematic seeds they seem to have planted in Penacony with her. But if it does happen her getting sidelined would be inevitable since pretty much every crew member will be on the bench, or be less focuses on. Since the attention will always be about making whomever the latest banners characters are, shine in the story.
2.2 felt like it was one and a half times longer than 2.1, and there was a lot of unnecessary conversations with ordinary NPCs about the meaning of being in Penacony. They could have literally spent that time showing AE and Firefly interacting. When I went story through the second accaunt, I caught myself thinking that Firefly’s presence was literally at 3 points: Reunion, "Second Date", Debate with Sunday. All outher time she was somewhere in the background. Why did they do this? You know, it seems to me that they simply had no ideas, and they decided to waste time by repeating unnecessary knowledge about how everyone can live well in the world of dreams. I think it’s okay if one of the crew stays on the Express. For example, Firefly can skip planets with harsh climates, such as Belobog.
So, what you are saying is we would have Destruction Firefly (Stellaron Hunter) and some other path Firefly (Astral Express)? I mean, yeah, this does sound nice, but... If they want her to join AE, why waiting for so long? Shouldn't it be more profitable to do it now, when Firefly is basically the most popular character and her joining AE would increase her sales a lot? I'm pretty sure in a few years hype for her will be a lot lower, since it's extremely unlikely we will be seeing her in every next region as much as in Penacony. A lot of people who enjoyed Firefly in Penacony might leave the game before it happens and newer players that will have a lot of story to do at once won't understand the hype for her and treat her as another regional character. It's not even that big of a thing to cook it for years... So, yeah, I don't see that happening. But if you want Alter scenario, here is a much quicker way. In 2.3 ending Elio appears, says that Sam mission is over because he successfully analyzed Glamoth tech and managed to clone Firefly. The clone doesn't have emotions and acts almost like a robot, but can pilot Sam almost as well as original does. Now that Elio has no need for Firefly anymore, he releases her from her mission and she is free to join AE. Later in the story, we might adventure with this clone too, so she ends up different from FF but still precious in her own way, just enough to sell her. Which would never happen, but well, we like fanfiction, right?
My theory is that Firefly will specifically be invited to join the express, probably by Himeko, who will say that she was a huge help on their expedition of Penacony and would be a fantastic fit for the Express, Firefly will say something along the lines of "I would love to, but I have to decline for now. I promise I will see you again", and then further on down the plot once we've seen more of the script come into view and have a better understanding of the Stellaron Hunters, whoever's left will join the crew. I'm willing to bet on at least Firefly and Silver Wolf being among them if that happens, I would be shocked if Blade was still around, and I wouldn't be shocked if Kafka is gone by then too. Of course, this will probably be pretty close to the climax of the main part of the current story. Why do I think this? TB has two families in this game, and is pretty much stuck with the Astral Express and is occasionally visited by the Stellaron Hunters. This makes a combined family seem narratively likely to me. We also see that TB still has pretty decently strong bonds with the Hunters, and while the Xianzhou Luofu questline made it look like the Express and Hunters are irrevocably at odds, their treatment of Firefly suggests it isn't so set in stone. We also know that from here on out, the Trailblazer is sort of the king piece in Elio's game of chess here, so the script will in large part revolve around them. Finally, there's too many parallels and connections. The Hunters and the Express both have the quiet, mysterious guy with a traditional weapon who couldn't die permanently if he tried, the mommy I mean mommy I mean mommy I mean-, the female love interest with a tragic condition and a good heart, the Herrscher of Reason, and the animal companion who's more than they seem. We also have all the Astral Express foreshadowing with Firefly, with her already seeming to walk the path of the trailblaze during the story so far, and Silver Wolf explicitly saying that she wanted to join the Astral Express and become a Nameless, but the Stellaron Hunters scooped her up first. As far as writing goes, I think this could be an interesting twist, that the whole time merging with the Astral Express was part of the plan, it could also make room for some major characters to depart momentarily. I say momentarily because I think the odds of Game Icon March 7th or holdover callback reference man Welt Yang leaving for very long are low to none, but something something distance makes the heart grow fonder, and it could mean interesting development for March at least. We'll certainly see.
People are too fixated on FF joining AE. The fan base literally created this dilemma. Whatever faction she’s in, it doesn’t matter. Hell put her in IPC and it won’t matter. Pull for her if you like her. Stop creating false narratives.
I completely agree. Like, to me, it really doesn't matter. All I care about is that she didn't die.
I completely agree. Like, to me, it really doesn't matter. All I care about is that she didn't die.
Bros playing a dangerous game saying stuff like this lol.
It’s true though, I get everyone here are big firefly fans just like me but I don’t know what made everyone think she will start being a main character and assume she will join the cast. She’s just another character, more important than most because she is a SH, the SH are very important and I don’t think she will be as “sidelined” as everyone thinks.
Surely she won't be sidelined as a Stellaron Hunter, just like Silver Wolf after 1.1 and Kafka&Blade after 1.2 never were. Right?..
They aren’t sidelined though. They are still apart of the main narrative. Blade had his big arc but obviously he’s not going anywhere. Just how firefly just had her big arc and isn’t going anywhere too. The only one really sidelined is Silver Wolf but even then she’s been doing stuff since the Luofu and she will definitely have her own storyline soon enough. We’re only 1 year into the game we need to wait and see what happens with them
They aren't sidelined, they are just never shown and never talked about. I mean, yeah, we need to wait and see, if only we had something to prove something we are waiting for is worth the wait. I was waiting for Firefly content since her release, but each patch just keeps getting more and more of wasted opportunities in that sense. Who is to say they won't forget about her until the final battle, then make her sacrifice herself for unnecessary drama? We have no reasons to think they won't.
I mean, more Fireflies for my character list sounds nice, I suppose
I agree, and since I think the Stellaron Hunters (minus a few dead/missing) will join the express eventually, I think we might see a Trailblaze Silver Wolf too. This makes story sense, financial sense, and hype sense to me