Employee Handbook: Chapter 5

This article contains AI-generated translation.

 Author
 Previous

引言：前几天，网上有流传出米哈游员工手册的高糊截图，因为对内容实在感兴趣，我就保存了下来。最近两天顶着接近马赛克的画质读完可读的部分，几乎泪流满面，对其中的内容深感触动。由于其中的文字内容实在过于模糊，以至于OCR都难以识别，于是决定将其中的内容手打转换为文本，打算长久保存用以激励自己。
Introduction: A few days ago, there were circulating low-quality screenshots of the miHoYo employee handbook online. Because I was interested in the content, I saved them. Over the past two days, despite the nearly mosaic-like image quality, I managed to read the readable parts and tears filled my eyes. I was deeply moved by the content. Since the text was extremely blurry, to the point where OCR (Optical Character Recognition) couldn't recognize it, I decided to manually transcribe the content into text, intending to save it for long-term inspiration.

## 05 Standing on the Shoulders of Giants

MiHoYo有着自己的愿景和理想，同时，miHoYo也不是自命不凡，与社会脱节的。很多公司在一开始的时候都怀揣着改变世界的萌新，却陷入过度的理想化。我们时刻提醒自己，思考清楚理想中的航行路径，思考创新和务实的平衡，反思清楚自己在这个社会上的定位。
miHoYo has its own vision and ideals, but it does not consider itself exceptional or disconnected from society. Many companies, in the beginning, carry the aspirations of changing the world but often fall into excessive idealism. We constantly remind ourselves to carefully consider the path towards our ideals, to balance innovation and pragmatism, and to reflect on our position in society.

### 5.1 Passing the Torch to More People - Part 1

miHoYo绝大部分产品，在立项时，遵循一个理念：把优秀体验的火种，带给更大众的用户。好比生产矿泉水的公司是大自然的搬运工一样，我们也是优秀体验火种的加工者和搬运工。
When initiating most of our projects at miHoYo, we adhere to one principle: to bring the spark of exceptional experiences to a wider range of users. Just like a company that produces mineral water acts as a conduit for nature, we consider ourselves processors and carriers of the spark of exceptional experiences.

前面说了miHoYo的理想和愿景，有些同学可能要问，是不是一下子转而谈论这个话题，有点low？其实，说这件事情并不可耻，我们恰恰认为，追求理想的起点，并非是愤世嫉俗、自命不凡，而是从心怀谦卑和敬畏的学习开始。
Some may wonder why we transitioned to this topic after discussing miHoYo's ideals and vision. Is it a bit out of place? In fact, it is not shameful to address this matter. We firmly believe that the starting point of pursuing ideals is not about being cynical or considering oneself exceptional but rather embarking on a humble and reverent journey of learning.

实际上，很多伟大公司的创造，其原型并非来自这个公司的最初发明，而是这个公司发现了这个潜在的火种，然后以一种更加适应大众需要的产品设计和成功的商业运营，才赋予了这个产品最大的社会价值和商业价值。例如苹果公司最早让PC电脑的鼠标普及，然而鼠标并非苹果发明。但苹果找到了实验室里的这个雏形，发现了它的潜在价值，并且大幅度改良了它的设计和使用体验，让他成为了大众喜爱的产品。类似的，触摸屏也并非苹果最先发明，但是iPhone创造出了基于触摸屏的最好的产品设计。暴雪的《魔兽世界》是一代MMO经典，但是基于任务的MMO体系也非暴雪最先创造，UO (无尽的任务)中已有雏形，但是《魔兽世界》在这个基础上加以改良重塑，成为了集大成者。类似的，其他比如暗黑系列，星际争霸系列等也有自己的前身。其他行业的例子也不少见，例如我们今天看到德国工业是世界标杆，殊不知当年德国工业发展起步时，曾因为学习英国工业的技术，而被英国激烈抵制，后随着在学习过程中的不断提升，德国产品质量甚至超过自己的“老师”，后来逐渐德国制造才成为一个金字招牌。
In reality, the creations of many great companies are not based on their own initial inventions but on the discovery of a latent spark. Through product design that better meets the needs of the masses and successful business operations, these companies endow the products with the greatest social and commercial value. For example, Apple popularized the mouse for PC computers, which was not their own invention. However, Apple discovered the prototype in a lab, recognized its potential value, and significantly improved its design and user experience, making it a beloved product among the masses. Similarly, touchscreens were not originally invented by Apple, but the iPhone created the best product design based on touchscreens. Blizzard's *World of Warcraft* is a classic MMO of its generation, but the quest-based MMO system was not originally created by Blizzard; Ultima Online had a prototype of it. However, *World of Warcraft* improved and reshaped it, becoming the epitome of the genre. Similarly, other franchises such as *Diablo* and *StarCraft* also have their predecessors. Examples like these can be found in various industries. For instance, Germany's industrial sector is now a global benchmark, but little do people know that when Germany's industrial development started, it faced fierce resistance from the United Kingdom due to their attempt to learn British industrial technology. However, as Germany continually improved throughout the learning process, its product quality even surpassed that of its "teachers," eventually making "Made in Germany" a prestigious label.

miHoYo在早期也曾经历过过度理想化的自命不凡的阶段。我们第一个独立设计研发的游戏产品，在设计的时候，就想着核心玩法那必须百分百的创新和与众不同，但后来发现产品做出来用户就是不喜欢，觉得不好玩。在这个产品失败后，我们又反复做了很多尝试。试了很多错，做了很多原型，做出来的体验都不理想。后来我们发现，其实我们所谓“完全创新”的玩法，在早年20世纪80年代的游戏机上出现过类似的原型，只是游戏不出名没人知道。其实从历史上来看，一些优秀的内容，并非是哪一个人特别聪明，从无到有创造出来，而是在创作者和用户群体之间，一个不断积累，制造，迭代的过程中，被“选择”出来的。
miHoYo also went through a phase of excessive idealism and self-aggrandizement in its early stages. When we designed and developed our first independent game, we believed that the core gameplay had to be 100% innovative and unique. However, after the product was released, users didn't like it and found it unenjoyable. After the failure of this product, we made numerous attempts, tried many prototypes, but the resulting experiences were not ideal. Later, we realized that what we called "completely innovative" gameplay had similar prototypes on gaming consoles in the early 1980s; they just didn't gain recognition. From a historical perspective, excellent content is not necessarily the creation of one extraordinarily intelligent individual from scratch. It is the result of an accumulation, creation, and iterative process between creators and user communities, eventually being "chosen."

后来我们反思， 一定要思考清楚自己作为一个公司在社会上的定位。整体而言，公司是一个商业机构的存在，不是研究机构和非营利组织。公司的产品大都有其明确的目标和计划性，并不能承担过多的基础研究探索这样高度不确定性的风险。我们在社会中的定位。并不一定是火苗的最初点燃者，而是应该扮演“发现有潜力的火苗。催生它成为燎原之势”的角色。也就是说并非是去完成所有的基础发明创造，而是应该面向最终用户，有效率的，在合适的时机，生产出足够高品质的，受大众喜爱的产品。
Later on, we reflected on the need to consider our position as a company in society. Overall, a company is a commercial entity, not a research institution or non-profit organization. Most company products have clear goals and plans and cannot assume the high-risk of fundamental research and exploration with great uncertainty. Our position in society does not necessarily mean being the initial igniter of the flame but rather playing the role of "discovering potential flames and nurturing them into a spreading blaze." In other words, our goal is not to complete all basic inventions and creations but to efficiently produce high-quality products that resonate with the general public at the right time and target the end users.

### 5.2 Passing the Torch to More People - Part 2

首先我们要能够发现和分辨出哪些是有潜力成为被更多用户所接受的核心优秀体验。就像之前举的例子，不管是被苹果发现的实验室中的鼠标原型，还是其他一些知名游戏的前身。这些原型和前身也许最开始只是处在研究阶段，抑或只是用户社区或者UGC平台中用户尝试创造的内容，它有可能一开始是在一个很小的核心群体里面特别的受欢迎，但是还没有被更大众的用户所了解和接受。这个时候，就需要去能够判断这里面哪些是将来有被大量用户喜爱的潜力。
First and foremost, we need to be able to identify and distinguish the core exceptional experiences that have the potential to be embraced by a larger user base. Just like the examples mentioned earlier, whether it's the mouse prototype discovered in Apple's lab or the predecessors of other well-known games. These prototypes and predecessors might have started out in the research phase or as content created by users on community or UGC (User-Generated Content) platforms. Initially, they may have gained popularity within a small core group but were not yet known or accepted by a wider audience. At this point, it becomes crucial to judge which ones have the potential to be loved by a large number of users in the future.

同时我们需要把一些门槛比较高的东西，降低门槛，让更多大众用户能接受，这里而包含选择和简化的过程。我们需要分辨出哪些是这个体验里面最核心的点，保留并坚持发扬它，一定要确保这个核心特质不被稀释。同时，往往因为这个原型存在例如太复杂太核心不易于普通用户理解，或者是用户体验不好。产品品质不够好、太抽象缺乏表现等，所以我们需要对其进行改良。比如简化。优化用户体验，提升产品品质，以及，改善产品美术表现和世界观设定等。
Simultaneously, we need to lower the barriers for certain things and make them more accessible to the general public. This process involves selection and simplification. We need to identify the most essential elements within the experience, preserve and promote them, ensuring that these core qualities are not diluted. However, often the prototype may be too complex or too core to be easily understood by ordinary users, or the user experience may not be optimal. The product may lack quality, be too abstract, or lack visual representation, among other issues. Therefore, we need to make improvements, such as simplification, optimizing the user experience, enhancing product quality, and improving artistic presentation and world-building.

例如暗黑就是把nethack的核心的玩法体验拿出来，简化和重新设计到PC上易于操作的玩法形式，同时也给了它当时很好的美术设计。既选取保留了其前身比如刷装备、随机地下城等核心乐趣体验，比起前身门槛又低很多，讨喜程度更高。苹果公司的鼠标也是在原来实验室原型的基础上，提出了很多用户体验角度的设计要求，进行很多的优化改良，才把他做到现在的品质。以我们自己的产品为例，比如崩坏系列的产品和它的前身相比，通常在表现品质、产品内容量、易用性，或是整个产品的体系结构上也都更上一个台阶。
For example, *Diablo* took the core gameplay experience from *NetHack*, simplified and redesigned it into a PC-friendly format, and also provided excellent artistic design at the time. It retained core enjoyable experiences from its predecessor, such as item farming and randomly generated dungeons, but with much lower barriers compared to its predecessor, resulting in a higher level of appeal. Apple's mouse is another example. It was based on the original lab prototype but underwent numerous optimizations and improvements from the perspective of user experience design, resulting in the quality we see today. Taking our own products as an example, the Honkai Impact series has advanced in terms of presentation quality, content quantity, usability, and the overall structure compared to its predecessors.

我们的目标是，一定要能够做到更好，一定要提供极高品质的产品。从某种意义上来讲，学习和山寨的区别就在于，不仅是跟随和模仿，而是基于前人的启发，设计更好的产品，用户永远会记住那个更好的产品。
Our goal is to continuously improve and provide products of extremely high quality. In a sense, the difference between learning and imitation lies not only in following and mimicking but in using the inspiration from predecessors to design better products. Users will always remember the superior product.

### 5.3 Steady Commercialization Approaches

我们通常认为，这个社会，或者说这个行业里面的商业化方式，是以一个比较长的周期来更新迭代的，最快也至少是三五年，长则十余年二十年的时间。
We generally believe that the commercialization process in this society or industry operates on a relatively long cycle, with the fastest iteration taking at least three to five years and sometimes spanning over a decade or even twenty years.

为什么我们认为这个周期这么长？因为往往商业模式的形成和成熟，是一个社会逐渐演变的过程。这个演变过程并不仅仅是哪一个公司、哪一个设计者，多么聪明，想出了一个前所未有的模式。而是整个社会，整个用户群体，形成一些普遍习惯和认知的过程，以及有时候也依赖于一些基础设施的建设。 例如在现在，当国内用户版权意识越来越强的时候，付费单机游戏的模式有时候也是可行的，但是在20年前可能就完全不行。免费游戏的商业模式很成熟，不管是哪个国家的游戏，是不是手机游戏，其内在的最基本商业化方式，大部分归根结底也都是在几种常见的商业模式里面。
Why do we consider this cycle to be so long? It's because the formation and maturation of business models often occur as a gradual societal evolution. This evolution is not solely driven by the innovation of a particular company or designer who comes up with an unprecedented model. Instead, it involves the entire society and user base gradually adopting certain habits and perceptions, sometimes relying on the development of infrastructure as well. For example, the model of paid single-player games may be viable now as domestic users' awareness of copyright strengthens, whereas it might not have worked twenty years ago. The commercial models of free games are well-established, regardless of the country or platform, and they primarily fall into a few common business models.

所以，我们选择商业化方式的时候，通常基于整体偏谨慎的态度。在大部分情况下，我们的产品会优先选择使用，被市场验证过的模式，作为产品设计的基础方向，然后再进行具体的结合和设计。
Therefore, when choosing commercialization approaches, we usually adopt an overall cautious attitude. In most cases, our products prioritize using proven market-validated models as the foundation for product design, and then we proceed with specific adaptations and designs.

同时，在产品设计过程中，我们必须保证，一款产品的商业化设计，是和它的整体设计相辅相成，结合起来不突兀。不生硬的，是确实符合其目标用户的习惯和需要的。这里面往往会有很多细节的设计问题需要处理，我们需要基于追求极致的理念，不断进行迭代打磨。
Simultaneously, during the product design process, we must ensure that the commercial design of a product complements its overall design and integrates seamlessly. It should not feel forced and should genuinely cater to the habits and needs of the target users. This often involves addressing numerous detailed design issues, and we need to constantly iterate and refine based on our pursuit of perfection.

并且，无论是在产品研发还是运营的过程中，我们需要始终保证产品的内容、用户体验和长线运营是放在第一位，而商业化是放在第二位的。因为，为用户创造价值是一切商业化方式的前提，不能本末倒置。其实从另一个角度来讲，商业化的目的，也是为了我们能够形成正向的商业循环，能够有更大的投入到未来的产品和技术研发，实现未来愿景，为用户带来下一代的内容和体验。
Furthermore, whether in product development or operations, we must always prioritize the content, user experience, and long-term sustainability of the product over commercialization. Creating value for users is the fundamental prerequisite for any commercialization approach, and we must not reverse priorities. In fact, from another perspective, the purpose of commercialization is to establish a positive business cycle, enable greater investment in future product and technology research and development, realize the vision for the future, and deliver next-generation content and experiences to users.