Wouldn't it be backwards?

I mean, imagine you're waiting for character A while currently is character B on banner.

Thinking character A is not coming anytime soon and liking character B so much, you use your savings on character B but then comes Drip Marketing and turns out next version comes character A.

Wouldn't knowing who's coming before is more useful?

Lets say character A is on a banner. And a few days later, character B is drip marketed after the start of the new update,

IF your patient on the banner and don't immediately pull. You still have a chance to get the character, but also know to wait and see if theirs better options.

It teaches patience.

Character A B

Wheres Character C

The sooner the better.

^^Character c ya later.

Before. So I know wtf I'm doing.

My vote would be for "before" 100% but I refuse to click on Varesa.

I was hugely disappointed when they did it for Mavuika. Not sure if it started in an earlier version but Mav is when I noticed since I was looking forward to it.

I know leaks are strictly prohibited (as they should be) and hoyo has taken some strict measure to axe them down significantly, but beta still opens a few days before version update and hoyo have not been able to stop beta leaks from spreading. So the drip marketing nowadays has ZERO element of surprise.

Before.

If its after update you already get multiple leaks of the characters shoved in your face, which ruins the surprise element

After. In fact, no pre-announcement at all is my preferred method.

Often, it feels like announcing a character causes current characters to have poorer sales, and my greedy capitalist heart dislikes the result. :)

I can't get used to them A. Doing it after the update, and B. Doing them across multiple days. Maybe I will eventually, but there was no need to change what they've been doing for multiple years at this point.