From Passion to Creation: The Story of Tony and His Dream of a Sci-Fi MMORPG

Tony's passion for gaming started from a young age, when he began learning programming at the age of 7 with the goal of creating his own games. What I appreciate most about Tony is how gaming has been an integral part of his life, beyond just a career. In fact, Tony met his wife while playing a Chinese MMO called Sword Fantasy during he studied in Canada. To take their virtual relationship to the next level, he had to travel for more than 30 hours via plane, train, and car many times from Toronto to Wuhan just to meet his girlfriend, without letting his parents know. It was all worth it in the end, as they are now happily married and still enjoy gaming together as a couple.

His adventure in the gaming industry began soon after he graduated from college. Instead of following the career path requested by his parents, he left his good job and started working as a front-end engineer in the game industry. With time, he transitioned into a game producer and gained practical experience in all positions within the industry, except for art(With the help of AIGC, he plans to unlock this game advancement as well). Tony has worked on various types of games, including social, casual, midcore, and hardcore, but his personal favorite has always been MMORPGs. Despite achieving considerable success in the Chinese game industry, his ultimate dream has been to create a sci-fi MMORPG that could capture the imagination of gamers worldwide, as he has been a die-hard sci-fi enthusiast since a young age.

Tony's belief is that historical games can encourage people to reflect on the past, while sci-fi games can drive human civilization forward. He believes that a single spark of thought in a sci-fi game can lead to significant technological advancements. This concept originates from the various games, novels, and anime that had a profound impact on him. “World of Warcraft” showed him that such a vivid realistic world could exist in virtual. The epic wars in space depicted in "Space Battleship Yamato," "Legend of the Galactic Heroes," and "Five Star Stories" sparked his interest in space opera. He gained a true structural understanding of sci-fi from the novel "The Three Body Problem," and the comic "Doraemon" fueled his imagination with its fantastic inventions. Tony has always dreamed of playing a game that incorporates all of these core elements.

After trying many space-themed MMOs and finding none of them satisfactory, Tony made the decision to create his own. His vision for this game was clear:

1. It would be a Space Opera with a compelling narrative, rather than a simulation game.
2. It would be vibrant and colorful, avoiding the dark and gloomy aesthetic that many space-themed games employ.
3. It would be simple to pick up but hard to master, avoiding unnecessary entry barriers for regular gamers.
4. It would be a fully-realized online game, not just something people play occasionally.
5. It would not only be based on current human understanding of the universe, but also feature imaginative content that inspires exploration of the universe and technology.
6. It would be more than just a game, but rather a community where players could participate and share in the dream.

It seems that Tony's love for sci-fi games has been passed down to his daughter as well. In the fourth grade, she has already developed a keen interest in Sci-fi and games. She has even started learning Python programming language, trying to create her small game. Recently, she participated in an astronomy winter camp, which showed her passion for space and exploration. It is quite possible that when Space Nation becomes a reality, she will be one of the first to join them in exploring the stars.