This article is about the Genshin Impact r/place community. For information on the game's app icon, see Gacha Alliance app icons.
 | |
| Genshin Impact | |
| Name | Genshin Impact |
| AKA | Genshin, GI |
| Description | A community for a open-world adventure game created by miHoYo/Hoyoverse |
| Subreddit | Genshin_Impact |
| Discord | https://discord.com/genshinimpact |
| Website | https://genshin.hoyoverse.com/ |
| @GenshinImpact | |
| Artwork | Genshin logo, App Icon |
Introductory Statement
GenshinPlace was one such community which participated in 2022’s r/place. Centred around the video game Genshin Impact, users from the community gathered together to build large-scale pixel arts inspired by and dedicated to their game. With over 1.3M users in the r/Genshin_Impact subreddit, their community had a considerable presence on 2022’s r/place.
Artwork
Genshin Impact’s Chinese Logo
The community’s first major success (disregarding the chibi Paimon) after the invasion and subsequent takeover of the English Genshin Impact logo, the Chinese Genshin Impact logo was one of the most notable contributions made to the final canvas by the community.
Learning from their previous mistakes, the community chose the Chinese logo on the reasoning that it would be less likely to be identified as Genshin, and would be harder to alter due to the non-english characters.
Initial construction was supported by streamer Tectone, and the community favoured diplomacy over aggression while building. The majority of existing communities in the area such as r/polandball, r/umamusume, and r/NotITG were either relocated or negotiated with, and can be seen surrounding the logo. Notably, the r/NotITG community was allowed to rebuild their arrows onto the Chinese logo on the basis of a project where they would periodically rotate their arrows to show on the replay.
However, 2 communities- r/Halo and r/Nagzz- were invaded and built over. GenshinPlace was never contacted for negotiations, and as such, the moderators never realised the communities were being built over.
The Chinese logo was coloured indigo on a white field initially, but underwent a colour change to blue with yellow highlights on a white field later.
Chibi Paimon
Following the failure in defending the English Logo, the Chibi Paimon was built during the early hours of the first canvas expansion. Bordering it to the left is a pixel art piece made by r/hatsune, a community that formed a close alliance with GenshinPlace. The alliance between the two communities is a notable detail in this art piece.
Both communities lent mutual aid and assistance to the neighbouring artwork, with an turquoise heart detailed with gold created later on to symbolise the friendship between the two.
Genshin App Icon
Built as part of the United Gacha Mural, the Genshin App Icon depicts Genshin Impact’s mascot, Paimon. Plans for the United Gacha Mural were suggested early during Day 2 of r/place 2022, though construction only began on Day 3 during the Third Canvas Expansion.
During initial construction, Paimon’s skin tone was planned to be white/grey on the basis of dithering, a pixel art technique which helps pixel art pieces look better when viewed zoomed-out. However, users who were not in the Discord and not filled in on the plans mistakenly coloured it pink. This led to a civil war of sorts with the community unable to decide on the colour of their mascot’s face. Eventually, a compromise was made with Paimon’s face coloured in beige. Paimon’s face is visible on the heatmap as a bright red, a result of this event along with a streamer invasion.
Later on, Russian Streamer 5okpa invaded the Genshin Icon along with their neighbour Honkai Impact. He directed his community to colour it blue with the intent of framing neighbouring Argentina for the attack. Streamer BTMC who was playing Genshin Impact at the time defended the icon, alongside Genshin streamer Enviosity. With the help of the United Gacha Alliance, the attack was held off.
Polandball X Hu-Tao Crossover
A product of the close alliance formed between r/polandball and GenshinPlace, Polandball-Hu Tao was built as part of the United Gacha Alliance mural. The main motivations behind the project were to thank the r/polandball community for the strong alliance, as well as to represent the WFP (Wangsheng Funeral Parlour) community, who were a Genshin Impact community that contributed greatly to GenshinPlace’s success.
The construction of the art piece was fraught with conflict with other communities, namely r/Maryland. Due to confusion and miscommunication, United Gacha Alliance members believed they had an alliance with r/Maryland, which the moderators from both GenshinPlace and United Gacha Alliance were unaware of.
During the invasion, rumours were spread that GenshinPlace had betrayed the United Gacha Alliance and gone rogue, attacking an ally. Eventually, the invasion was halted, and negotiations were made between r/Maryland, the United Gacha Alliance, and GenshinPlace.
A peaceful resolution was reached, where Polandball-Hu Tao was built behind r/Maryland’s crab.
Boo Tao
Built below the Chinese Genshin logo is Boo Tao, a character in Genshin Impact. Part of the agreement made during the alliance between WFP (Wangsheng Funeral Parlour) and r/genshinplace, a pride flag was added to its hand nearing the end of r/place.
Chibi Venti
Chibi Venti was originally built on the G of the English Genshin Impact logo. Due to constant damage from raids, it was later relocated above the Chinese Genshin Impact logo. Eventually, his hat was replaced with a traditional Dutch hat as a symbol of alliance with r/placeNL.
(Destroyed) Genshin Impact’s English Logo
The community’s infamous original project, the English logo was the first art piece built by GenshinPlace. It was complete for a short duration before being attacked by users who changed the N in Genshin to a T. It is speculated that many of these users were in fact Genshin Impact players who found the altered logo humorous.
The logo was altered many times after that despite attempts from GenshinPlace to revert it to its original form. It finally settled on GenShrek, which lasted for the majority of Day 2.
Eventually, the e in Genshrek was changed to Genshin Streamer Tectone’s icon. The logo was abandoned by the GenshinPlace community not long after to focus on the newly-built Chinese logo, and it was built over by other communities.
Territories
Owned/Heavily Allianced Territories
Allianced Territories
Notable Allies
Allied Communities
Wangsheng Funeral Parlour (WFP)
Wangsheng Funeral Parlour, hereby referred to as WFP, was a preexisting Genshin Impact community before r/place. A community that focuses on providing information on upcoming game content as well as hosting regular community events, it had 250k members during the events of r/place.
WFP was one of the first communities reached out to for assistance by GenshinPlace during the events of Day 2 of r/place, on 4 April 2022. Their server owner, Ubatcha, worked together closely with the GenshinPlace moderator team, and was quickly promoted to one of the lead moderators on GenshinPlace.
With their server owner as a lead moderator, WFP worked in close collaboration with GenshinPlace. Their community members contributed tirelessly to the collaborative projects. 1 projects were built specifically for GenshinPlace, with 2 others being a cross-collaboration with another close ally, r/polandball.
Keqing Mains (KQM)
Keqing Mains, hereby referred to as KQM, was a preexisting Genshin Impact community before r/place. Well known for their “theorycrafting” (theorycrafting refers to strategizing optimal character builds in the game), it had 96k members during the events of r/place.
KQM was another of the first communities reached out to for assistance by GenshinPlace on 4 April 2022. Working closely with GenshinPlace , a strong alliance was formed with mutual defence announcements for both sides being common.
United Gacha Alliance
One of the most notable alliances GenshinPlace made was with the United Gacha Alliance. Comprising 17 “Gacha game” communities with Genshin Impact being its largest, the alliance’s most notable project was the United Gacha Alliance Mural built near the bottom right of the canvas.
Apart from the collaborative art piece, mutual defence and aid was also provided to all member communities.
r/polandball
r/polandball was one of GenshinPlace’s strongest non-Genshin Impact allies during r/place. During the construction of the Chinese Genshin Logo, r/polandball was about to be built over. A diplomat from r/polandball joined the GenshinPlace Discord channel to negotiate a peace treaty, which was agreed to.
Their artwork was hastily relocated below the logo, and a Hu Tao (a character from Genshin Impact) hat was built atop it, strengthening the bond between the communities. By the time the United Gacha Alliance mural was constructed, r/polandball and GenshinPlace enjoyed a close alliance. As a result, GenshinPlace collaborated closely to build a larger art piece depicting the Polandball wearing a Hu Tao hat.
r/umamusume
r/umamusume was another ally made during the construction of the Chinese Genshin Impact logo. As their artwork was about to be built over, a diplomat from GenshinPlace was sent to their server for negotiation of relocation. Though wary of GenshinPlace in the beginning, trust was quickly built and they became a staunch ally.
Due to the proximity of their artwork, they often helped in repairs and defence of GenshinPlace’s Chinese Genshin Logo.
r/Hatsune
r/hatsune was an ally made during the second canvas expansion and the construction of the chibi Paimon. At the time, rGenshinPlace was losing morale defending the English Genshin Logo, and was desperate for allies.
r/hatsune and GenshinPlace worked together closely to create a collaborative artwork depicting Chibi Paimon and Hatsune Miku. Eventually a turquoise heart detailed with gold was built within the artwork to commemorate the alliance and friendship between the communities.
r/GanyuMains
r/GanyuMains was a Genshin Impact community dedicated to the Genshin Impact character, Ganyu. Allying alongside GenshinPlace during the construction of the CN Genshin Logo, Ganyu Mains continued to assist in both the construction and defence of GenshinPlace ’s art pieces.
Notably, they helped immensely in the construction of the Chinese Genshin Logo, and the defence of the Paimon Icon during 5okpa’s attack.
Towards the end of r/place, r/GanyuMains began construction of their own project, which was initially supported by GenshinPlace and allies. However, it was discovered the area they were building on was owned by 4chan. Not wishing to anger 4chan, GenshinPlace pulled out of the project to reconsider, right before r/place ended.
Streamer Allies
BTMC
A notable figure during 2022’s r/place, BTMC was heavily involved in the r/osuplace community. At the time, he was playing Genshin Impact, and thus lent his community’s support to GenshinPlace on multiple occasions.
During the construction of the English Genshin Impact logo, BTMC was instrumental in promoting the project, as well as offering manpower assistance while the GenshinPlace server was still recruiting members.
During the 4th day of r/place, BTMC helped defend against Russian streamer 5okpa who was invading the Honkai and Genshin icons on the United Gacha Mural.
Tectone
A popular Genshin Impact streamer, Tectone lent his assistance to GenshinPlace on multiple occasions. Surprisingly, the first interaction with Tectone was one of aggression. Though initially directing his community to replace the “e” in the Genshin logo with his icon, he soon turned around and allied with GenshinPlace.
Soon after, he aided in the construction of the Chinese Genshin logo, and offered assistance during the initial invasion of r/Maryland.
Enviosity
Another renowned Genshin Impact streamer, Enviosity contributed heavily to the defence of the Honkai and Genshin icons on the United Gacha Mural during Russian streamer 5okpa’s attack, and helped hold off the invaders.
Putupau
A Spanish Genshin Impact streamer, Putupau heavily assisted with the construction of the Paimon app icon, the invasion of r/Yogscast, as well as the original invasion of r/Maryland.
Timeline of Events
The following is an attempt by author Mystichunterz to recount all notable events involving GenshinPlace during r/place 2022. Though every effort has been made to include all events of importance, readers may note that some details have been deliberately omitted for the sake of keeping the document concise.
All timestamps are made in UTC+8(Singapore; Hong Kong; Macau) for the benefit of r/place starting at 12:00AM. EST is around 12 hours behind.
Day 1 (2 April 2022)
Member Count: 1-1174
The first day of the GenshinPlace community. The original EN logo begins construction. Plans are made for a new CN logo, and a chibi Venti is built. An alliance with the streamer BTMC was also formed on this day.
- 12:11AM - Mistake creates the GenshinPlace Discord server. The invite link is posted to the megathread created for r/place.
- 1:27AM - The first project for the community is agreed upon - a 131 x 48 pixel art depicting the game’s official logo, spelling out “GENSHIN IMPACT”.
- 1:45AM - Construction begins on the Genshin Impact logo.
- 2:21AM - User Kirisakura (u/MapoTofuMan) makes a post asking for help on the logo. It gained 5.6k upvotes.
- 4:26AM - BTMC, a twitch streamer affiliated with OSU, joins the server. As he was playing Genshin at the time, he offered help in building the logo.
- 6:27AM - The “GENSHIN” portion of the logo is completed, though rough around the edges. The “Impact” portion of the logo was scrapped due to lack of manpower after communities started forming in the planned area.
- 6:56AM - The N in the logo is slowly turned into a T. It is speculated that this was started by trolls, with some of the community finding it humorous and aiding in the change of the T. 2 unofficial factions are formed, with one faction attempting to change the logo back to Genshin, and the other fighting to keep it as GenshiT. The “T” faction proves to be victorious for the rest of Day 1.
- 12:49PM - The community in GenshinPlace realised the original logo would likely remain as GenshiT despite their best efforts. Plans are made for the construction of a new logo. It was decided that the Chinese version of the logo would be built.
- 9:12PM - The logo is morphed into Gඞnshit followed by Gඞyshit. It is unknown whether these changes were supported by the wider Genshin community, or solely the work of trolls.
- 10:01PM - A chibi Venti is built on the G of Gඞyshit.
- 11:23PM - The Genshin logo is finally morphed into GenShrek. The community finds this humorous and decides to defend it. They also reason it is preventing them from being wiped off the map, as Reddit enjoys the GenShrek meme.
Day 2 (3 April 2022)
Member Count: 1174-1862
During the second day, the server underwent significant reorganisation due to moderators taking more active leadership roles. The chibi Paimon, Boo Tao and CN logo are built, in addition to assisting with the KeqingMains heart. Alliances are also formed, notably with r/polandball, r/umamusume, r/raysfire, and r/detroitlions.
- 12:28AM - The 1st Canvas Expansion
- 1:16AM - A chibi Paimon which had been proposed earlier is hastily built. An alliance is made with Hatsune Miku, which constructs a chibi to the left of Paimon.
- 3:10AM - A collaborative heart is built between the territories of Hatsune Miku and Paimon.
- 4:05AM - The CN Logo Project begins. The general consensus was to simply defend current territories and await the next expansion, as new builds were deemed too difficult and risky. However, Mystichunterz insisted on a new project, and began seeking alliances on their own accord.
- After securing an alliance with OSU, along with BTMC pledging to help on stream, other moderators agreed expansion was a feasible idea and began preparations.
- 6:02AM - Sanaku began creating the template of a CN Genshin Logo, while a message was prepared with intention to be sent to communities servers asking for help with the r/place project. Scouting for suitable building sites also began.
- 8:04AM - The project begins. The first community server contacted for help is KQM (Keqing Mains), who agree to a collaboration. Shortly after, WFP (Wangsheng Funeral Parlor), also agree to help with the project and their server owner, Ubatcha, joined the moderator team.
- 8:07AM - A Reddit post was made announcing the plan and requesting help in building. It soon reaches 7k upvotes.
- 8:08AM - GanyuMains also agreed to help with the project.
- 8:19AM - Tectone, a Twitch Streamer known for Genshin Content, attacks the EN Genshin Logo. Directing his viewers to change the E in Genshin into his avatar, an egg with a toothy grin. However, the high resistance surprises him.
- 8:22AM - He makes a deal with GenshinPlace. Announcing that he only wishes to have his egg up for an hour, he pledges his community to help with repairing and defending GenshinPlace. The community agrees, and allows the egg to be built.
- 8:37AM - Through a link in his Twitch Chat, he joins the GenshinPlace Discord. He is brought into a VC with the moderators, who explain the new build project to him.
- 9:32AM - With assistance from WFP and Tectone, construction begins on the CN logo. The build location was previously cleared by a Turkish streamer who logged off. Other communities were attempting to claim the area, causing builders to face heavy resistance.
- 10:06AM - As the logo grows, it begins to encroach pre existing communities who have built there. Alliances and peace treaties are made with communities, r/Polandball, r/UmaMusume, r/NotITG, and r/Raysfire. However, r/Halo and r/Nagzz, due to lack of communication, are built over and blocked out.
- 10:51AM - XQC launches his purple raid. The server is put on high alert, expecting XQC to target the Keqing Heart in the area. Inexplicably, he never attacks. Some users speculate he was sparing Genshin builds due to a past sponsorship by Hoyoverse.
- 12:02PM - Due to a split in members wishing to defend the old chibi Venti, a compromise is reached where a new chibi Venti is quickly created on the top of the CN logo. The old EN logo is deemed a lost cause and abandoned. It fell and was built over not long after, despite sporadic attempts from users not in the Discord server to defend it.
- 4:14PM - r/placeNL wakes up, and begins cleaning their flag. A peace treaty is quickly agreed upon, where the portions of chibi Venti and the CN logo encroaching on the Dutch Flag are allowed to stay. In return, a traditional Dutch hat is built on Venti.
- 6:10PM - News is received from the Dutch about a possible Turkish invasion of the CN logo. They warned GenshinPlace that a Turkish Streamer with 120k peak viewers had recently cleaned the area, and was planning to build more art when he resumed streaming in 6 hours. Announcements are made preparing for the invasion, which proved to never occur.
- 9:14PM - A colour change for the CN Genshin logo is planned.
- 11:08PM - A possible invasion from r/okbuddyretard is discovered. The server is put on high alert. This invasion never occurs.
Day 3 (4 April 2022)
Member Count: 1862-3019
This day marked the most eventful and frenzied times on the server. GenshinPlace officially joins the United Gacha Alliance as its largest member, and aids in the creation of the United Gacha Mural. A conflict is sparked between r/Maryland and GenshinPlace, though it is resolved peacefully. The 2nd polandball-BooTao collaboration is also built, along with the community heavily assisting with Ayaka’s character pixel art.
Note: The Maryland conflict has been heavily summarised for the sake of keeping the document concise. If the reader wishes to read more of the events regarding the conflict between GenshinPlace and r/Maryland, they may refer to Appendix A.
- 1:05AM - GenshinPlace is approached by the community “United Gacha Alliance”. With speculation of a future canvas expansion, plans are made for a collaborative mural.
- 3:06AM - Upon the 2nd expansion of the canvas, construction of the UG mural quickly begins. Genshin’s icon is the first to emerge, quickly followed by FGO. However, there is infighting regarding the colour of Paimon’s face. Eventually, a resolution is reached with a beige coloured face. Help is lent to the other communities, and the main mural is quickly completed.
- 6:49AM - Project Sekai community representatives, unbeknownst to the GenshinPlace mods, had made an alliance with Maryland. While Project Sekai was offered the background of the Blue Crab in the area, which was owned by Maryland, to build, they declined this as their art required a clean space.
- 7:16AM - GenshinPlace claims an empty spot for their allies, Polandball and WFP. However, Maryland was in the planned build spot, and representatives were sent to negotiate. Due to the earlier alliance with Project Sekai, Maryland saw this as Genshin backtracking on the previous deal, and responded coldly. The miscommunication led to GenshinPlace interpreting Maryland as hostile, and Maryland interpreting Genshin as a rogue element of the alliance.
- 10:12AM - A representative of Blebs was brought into negotiations. The negotiation team consisted of Mystichunterz and Coast from GenshinPlace, Shinoda from UG, and Carbasta from Blebs. It was eventually agreed that Blebs would be allowed to remain in theirspot, in return for an alliance agreement and assistance in invading Maryland.
- 11:19AM - The invasion of Maryland begins. It starts out strong, however, Shinoda, the UG representative encounters difficulty rallying UG to attack Maryland.
- 11:30AM - Unrest grows in GenshinPlace due to lack of support from UG. Some begin spreading false rumours that GenshinPlace has gone rogue and is betraying an alliance member. The invasion is halted.
- 12:10PM - Mystichunterz joins the Maryland VC to negotiate. r/Maryland agrees to an 8 hour truce before any action for their community to vote on the next course of action. They agree that all communities should be allowed to express their art, and express hope to reach a peaceful resolution.
- 1:10PM - A representative from r/AmericanFlagInPlace proposed an alliance, which was quickly accepted.
- 2:36PM - A representative from r/AyakaMains and Tears of Themis reached out, and alliances were formed.
- 4:00PM - Uma Musume makes a deal with GenshinPlace to build a portion of their app icon on the top left corner of genshin’s icon.
- 5:00PM - r/AyakaMains begins construction of an Ayaka pixel art. This is supported by GenshinPlace.
- 7:00PM - A chibi narwhal to represent Childe, a character from Genshin, is added to the bottom left corner of the CN logo.
- 8:10PM - The Maryland vote concludes, and both communities agree to allow r/polandball to build in the background of the Maryland crab.
- It was discovered later that members from the GenshinPlace joined the Maryland Discord, unbalancing the vote.
- 8:20PM - r/AmberMains begin construction of Amber’s Ribbon below Ayaka, assisted by GenshinPlace.
- 8:38PM - A well-known Genshin Impact community member BLANK joins the server and offers assistance. He sends out a tweet to promote the event and attract more Redditors to the cause.
- 11:38PM - Tectone & PuTuPau are attacked by “the Void”, and art is built over them. It happens so swiftly GenshinPlace is unable to react, and decides not to intervene.
Day 4 (5 April 2022)
Member Count: 3019-4101
Day 4 is painted by invasion. The Honkai and Genshin sections of the United Gacha Mural are besieged by a Russian Streamer, 5okpa. With assistance from both streamer and subreddit allies, such as BTMC and Enviosity, the attack is held off. Day 4 also marks the official end of 2022’s r/place.
- 1:41AM - Allies Detroit Lions are attacked. Genshin rushes to their aid and successfully holds off the invaders.
- 2:34AM - Genshin and Honkai’s logos are attacked by a Russian streamer, 5okpa.
- 2:43AM - BTMC notices the invasion and rallies his community to help defend the Paimon icon.
- 2:50AM - Enviosity also notices and rallies his community to help defend.
- 3:15AM - The Keqing Heart is invaded by Romania, but BTMC and r/genshinplace help hold them off.
- It was later learnt that this was an unintentional attack by a Romanian streamer who was new to r/place and was unaware of Romania’s alliances.
- 5:52AM - r/chongyunmains pixel art is invaded by the void, and r/GenshinPlace attempts to aid their ally. Unfortunately, r/genshinplace proves to be no match to the power of the void, and is forced to withdraw.
- 6:06AM - A pride flag is erected in Boo Tao’s hand.
- 6:28AM - GanyuMains begins construction of Ganyu’s namecard, with aid from r/genshinplace.
- 6:40AM - It is learnt that the area being built over is currently being built on by 4Chan. Due to the server’s community being wary of angering 4chan, GenshinPlace pulls out to reconsider.
- 6:51AM - r/Place officially ends.
Afterword
I hope that I speak for everyone involved when I say that r/place 2022 was a truly unforgettable experience. There’s a peculiar nostalgia for those four days I spent with the r/genshinplace community despite how recent it was.
While writing this report, I found myself reliving many of those memories. While cliche, I do believe I’ll continue to treasure this encounter for many years to come. I hope that reading through this report has allowed you to enjoy that, as well.
I’ve made the best effort I could to narrate the experiences of r/genshinplace during r/place 2022, but as always, there will be some details that slip through the cracks, or details I’ve left out to prevent the document from getting too bloated. Feel free to contact me if you believe it’s important to the overarching story.
I believe I owe you thanks for reading through all this, so, thank you. If you participated in r/genshinplace alongside me, it has been a pleasure. And if not, thank you for taking the time to read through our adventures regardless.
As I’ve said before, I do hope that our paths may cross again. Perhaps in the next r/place. But until then, I wish you nothing but the best in whatever endeavours you may embark on.
Ad astra abyssosque.
- MysticHunterz, current Owner of the GenshinPlace Discord