One of the top universities in the Philippines recently held a seminar about real-world biological phenomena and used “Genshin Impact’s” withering mechanic in its lecture. The seminar talked about the game’s mechanics and how it reflects real-life biological events.  This isn’t the first time UP Diliman used games as a focal point in their lectures. They previously used “Pokemon” as a reference for biodiversity and even “Assassin’s Creed” and its focus on genetics.

About The Seminar

The undergraduate seminar was held on November 17, 2022, with the topic: “The Withering: Fiction Or Reality? The Ecology Of Genshin Impact Withering Zones. According to a Reddit post by nura_kun, the seminar was open to everybody. In no time flat, the seminar got so overbooked, UP was forced to upload a record of the seminar on its Facebook page. You can watch the seminar through THIS LINK.

About The Withering

The Withering is an exploration mechanic and climate effect in Sumeru, the fourth region introduced in the game which has a lush rainforest and a vast desert. The Withering poses a threat to all kinds of plants and animals in the rainforest and even the lives of the humans who pass through it. Only those who have Visions (people with special elemental powers granted to them by the Gods) can resist its decaying corrosion. The Aranara (forest spirits that look like walking potatoes) call the Withering Marana, which is likely derived from the Sanskrit word maraṇa meaning “death” or “killing”.

It seems like using “Genshin Impact” in educational lectures is becoming a trend. There have been several reports about the game being used as a reference for lecture topics such as a Philosophy teacher using the map of Teyvat to point out how people tend to use the shortest route possible from point A to B by using the waypoints. With gaming becoming the norm and being embraced in recent years, we’ll probably hear more news like this in the future.