最近，《崩壞：星穹鐵道》（下文簡稱《星鐵》）迎來了2周年。在這個重要的時間點，它幹了一件震動遊戲圈的大事——為了答謝玩家的支援，將向“過去1年陪伴的開拓者”送出240萬本紀念冊。
這個消息自然是在遊戲圈子裡引起了軒然大波——一方面，在此之前，從來沒有任何一個遊戲為玩家送出這麼多的實體紀念物，米哈遊的手筆令人驚歎；另一方面，既然有這麼多人能夠獲得這份紀念冊，“能夠成為240萬分之一”也就成了一件既有趣、又與有榮焉的事。
Not only are players paying close attention to the game's anniversary event, but even the official media has noticed it and affirmed its value. "Jiefang Daily" reported: "This is not only the largest single gift scale of game peripherals in the world, but also an iteration for the publishing industry in terms of production technology, production process and even logistics and other industrial chain links." ”
When I saw the news of the commemorative album of "Star Rail", my first impression was that "the amount is too large and the tube is full". As a physical publication, the scale of this commemorative book is absolutely luxurious. According to official information, it contains all the characters' vertical paintings, three views, and some original paintings from the game's launch to version 3.0, which is very informative. The parts that players like, are interested in, and have been touched by are almost all in it.
目前在社區里，對於紀念冊的成本計算也眾說紛紜，1本定價108元，240萬本總價就是2.5億元；算上倉儲、物流、人工、機器等各種費用，還不算稅費，開銷至少也得有1億元了。
So, what preparations did "Star Iron" make in order to prepare such a large number of commemorative albums?
First of all, the content and selection of materials are expected to be as comprehensive as possible to provide players with as much content as possible. From page numbers to vertical drawings, the size and position of every design element on the layout were fine-tuned repeatedly before the final shape was finalized. From the initial arrangement to the final draft, there have been dozens of revisions in the middle, and the number of reviews of the whole book is even more than that.
Second, good content needs a good enough carrier. For this reason, the "Star Iron" commemorative book chose super sensitive paper, which is good to print, generous and of course, expensive - but in order to satisfy the players who received the commemorative book, the team purchased more than 2300 tons of paper.
印刷過程同樣需要克服許多困難。最明顯的當然是印數——達到200萬這個量級之後，不同印刷廠乃至印刷機之間的色差、時間、損耗等問題都會大幅增長，為製作方增加不必要的成本。為此，製作團隊針對生產鏈的各個環節引進了智慧化設備和系統。
After that, it's logistics. In order to cope with the potential risks during transportation, the team designed a multi-level buffer packaging solution, and even calculated the impact of the folding method of corrugated cardboard on the protection effect. In the end, they adopted a combination structure of "air column bag and aircraft box" to minimize the bump damage in the logistics link.
歸根結底，對於實體出版行業，“240萬冊全彩畫冊”的確是一個相當驚人，以至於超越了一般範疇的數位。我不記得有什麼大開本全彩畫冊達到過這個印量。至於作為遊戲周邊，被生產，被贈送，更是從未有過。事實上，在此之前唯一做過類似的事情只有《崩壞3》免費贈送原畫集，如果按照連續贈送3年來看，累計也達到了150萬冊——確實不少，但和一次性發出240萬冊相比，印刷、倉儲、物流的壓力也不可同日而語。
因此，不論是在玩家眼中，還是在遊戲行業里，《星鐵》這240萬本紀念冊都是一次財大氣粗的展示，它意味著《星鐵》有足夠的勇氣去做一件不求回報的“虧本生意”，願意豪擲億元來為它的愛好者們提供一件實打實的紀念產品。
However, as a player, I can still feel the sincerity of the official behind all this: after all, this is not a welfare gift that can be completed by sending a string of codes to the mailbox, but a physical product that takes a lot of time and effort to make. Because I value the companionship of players all the time, I want to deliver the commemorative book to the players in the most perfect posture at any cost...... "How bad can such a game that is willing to put a lot of effort into me be"?
Game manufacturers have feelings, and this often makes me feel more emotional. In this day and age, people like to go digital, but companies like miHoYo tend to spend time and effort to make more "traditional" peripheral products, which are quite amazing in quality and aesthetics.
I think this is because manufacturers have certain feelings and love their products; On the other hand, players are enthusiastic about the game and have a high degree of identification with the game's role, so they will pursue and be interested in the extension of the game - although it is a bit cliché, this is the correct way to manage IP: the operation cycle of the game may be limited, but the player's emotion towards the game can be extended further to keep the IP evergreen.
Just yesterday (30/0), the official release of the rules and conditions for obtaining the commemorative book. It is not difficult to see that the core feedback index of the commemorative book is actually closely related to "companionship":
In fact, only 70 of these conditions have some thresholds, that is, "0 days of login to the game in the past year" or "0 five-star and light cone" - in comparison, the latter is actually more like a "patch" to prevent some players from missing out on rewards due to spending habits.
In fact, this is in line with what I've seen in the community: a significant portion of players have reacted with a "sigh of relief". Many players posted that compared to "full attendance" (daily login since the game has been in operation without interruption), logging in for 340 days in the past 0 years is really not an overly demanding requirement. After all, for them, it has become a habit to go online for a short time every day, and the fully automatic turn-based gameplay is relaxing enough not to put too much pressure on people.
As of today (4/0), many players can't wait to post their 0-day records in the community, and they can easily get the commemorative book as long as the version updates the in-game challenge tasks. At this time, players who have been satisfied for 0 days mean that they have been logging in with full attendance since 0 last year.
從社區的反饋不難側證，240本紀念冊里的220萬，應該就是依據“已經達成340天登錄”玩家的總量而制定的。而這個數據很難不讓業界感慨，年登錄340天，絕對是高黏性、對IP忠實的核心使用者。在這樣的前提下，符合條件的《星鐵》玩家居然如此之多，考慮到本年度《星鐵》也保持有持續新增，熱愛並沉浸於這款遊戲的玩家數量，想必相當驚人。
而那些暫時沒有完成目標的玩家也不用氣餒，《星鐵》官方還準備了額外20萬本紀念冊以其他的條件送出，如果能積极參與後續活動，足夠幸運的話，仍然有機會成為240萬中的一員。由此可見，官方已經考慮到了各種不同的用戶群體。
當然，我也很自豪自己能夠成為這240萬分之一， “陪伴”聽起來是個有點誇張的詞，但我與《星鐵》的確保持著這樣的關係走過了將近2年。
This also makes me look back at the time of my encounter with Star Rail: 2 years ago, I set off from the Black Tower space station, went through the adventures of Beloberg and Xianzhou Luofu, and then went to Pinocone to dream at midnight, until now I started the heroic epic in Onfaros; Outside the game, "Star Iron" accompanied me through the time of work and fishing, and the late night after overtime; I've also participated in its carnivals, comic exhibitions, and offline collaborations...... There are many moments in my life that "Star Iron" exists, and all of this will be integrated into the commemorative album as a carrier of memory and become the scale of my life.
Today, I work as an editor in the gaming media. In addition to the players, I was able to look at Star Rail and everything related to it from the perspective of the gaming industry. A game practitioner friend once told me that miHoYo always has a "co-creation" idea with players, and it brings a unique community ecology, where players can enjoy some additional emotional experiences in addition to consuming the content of the game itself, which in turn will strengthen the player's identity. Perhaps, the commemorative book is also a product of this co-creative idea: in the form of memorials, it establishes more connections between games and players, players and players, and players and pop culture, so that games and players can grow together.
In fact, in the past few years, I have also obtained a lot of game peripheral products, not only miHoYo, but also many other companies. Overall, I think that "two-dimensional games" companies will pay more attention to these "physical" things.
Sometimes, looking at these surroundings, I can feel the emotion of "we take the world that we create and live in very seriously." Compared to many other game genres, two-dimensional games – or, specifically, Star Rail – place a strong emphasis on the emotional connection between the player, the game and the characters, and players are more likely to be honest with the game and the characters, and often find pleasure and comfort from the game. As mentioned in the Jiefang Daily report, this is "an effective way to shorten the distance between users and IP".
It's a digital age, and our attention on screens is far greater than our attention on physical publications. Needless to say, for players, the greater role of these commemorative books is not to be frequently flipped, but to collect, or rather, it is actually a kind of "testimony of the relationship between the player and the game".
In the brick-and-mortar publishing industry, we often emphasize "the feeling of the reader when they hold the physical book". There is no substitute for the sensation of touch. It makes us feel at ease, it feels real, and it also triggers our synaesthesia, thoughts, and memories that make us feel closer to each other.
The same is true of the commemorative book "Star Iron". Each booklet not only carries the different geographical pictures of the interstellar journey, but also condenses the shining memories of the pioneers who fought day and night. Perhaps, each pioneer stepped on the train at different times, with different choices and different specialties, but the sincere friendship that accompanied them was probably similar. Many years later, when they reopened this album, what resurfaced was not only the magnificent epic of the Star Dome Train shuttling through the galaxy, but also the moments of rummaging through the trash cans in the streets and alleys, smiling heartily, and the trivial daily life that took time out of the screen to enter this world...... And this commemorative book has become a leap beacon connecting the two dimensions. He would remember that many of the Pioneers had spent some time on the Star Dome in a certain Comic, and that those days would be interpreted and cherished by Star Rail and its players.
This feeling is called romance.