advance/early chapters : p atreon.com/Ritesh_Jadhav0869
"Oh, okay. My idea is to create a Xianxia-themed game. I recently read a novel that I really liked, and it gave me some inspiration. Just some humble thoughts..." Lisa began sharing some of her concepts.
Alex listened with a calm smile, but his mind was already processing the inspiration Lisa had just provided. Of course, Alex already had his own plans and ideas.
Long ago, he'd wanted to bring his favorite Xianxia series from his previous life—The Legend of Sword and Fairy—to this world.
He'd watched the television adaptations of this franchise many times and played the games more than once, especially The Legend of Sword and Fairy IV. It was his favorite single-player game, bringing him countless emotions. Although he wasn't particularly fond of turn-based combat systems, the characters and story had deeply captivated him.
The Legend of Sword and Fairy perfectly showcased tragic romance and sacrifice, deeply moving him and countless other fans of the series.
Of course, besides Legend of Sword and Fairy, he'd also played large-scale MMORPGs like Sword Net 3. Although not a hardcore player, he understood the games well.
There were too many commendable aspects and creative elements worth learning from and referencing, especially the artistic presentation and aesthetic design, which had fascinated him deeply.
Alex intended to borrow the strengths of Sword Net 3 and apply them to his beloved Legend of Sword and Fairy series, perfectly presenting his former favorite, Legend of Sword and Fairy IV. If possible, he also hoped to eventually present the stories of Legend of Sword and Fairy III and I.
Although he had his own clear vision, Alex also hoped to hear creative input from his employees to gain additional inspiration.
Of course, he also hoped to use this opportunity to get everyone thinking, brainstorming, and exchanging ideas. Otherwise, if he just handed them all the creative concepts directly, they would become dependent and stop thinking critically—completely turning into mechanical executors. For a gaming company that relied on creativity and inspiration to survive, that would be a nightmare.
"Lisa's idea is also very good. Does anyone else have different concepts? Feel free to speak up. Nathan, contact HR to record everything. Everyone who provides an idea in today's meeting will receive a five-thousand-dollar bonus. Everyone who participates in the discussion will receive a one-thousand-dollar cash bonus. If an idea is ultimately adopted, there will be a direct reward of one million dollars!" Alex said.
He didn't believe that money couldn't solve this problem.
"Yes, Mr. Morrison!" Nathan immediately called the HR department and explained Alex's directive.
Under the financial incentive, the employees indeed became more active. Everyone began speaking freely, constantly contributing their creativity and ideas, and started heated discussions around several concepts Alex had highlighted.
At the end of this meeting, the final direction was not decided. Alex asked everyone to return and carefully consider the day's discussion content, and scheduled another meeting for two days later.
After the meeting concluded, Alex organized his thoughts and compiled some of the good ideas discussed that day, then began creating the development document for The Legend of Sword and Fairy.
Second Meeting
Two days later, Alex convened another meeting. After the previous warm-up session, everyone was completely open this time. The discussion was more enthusiastic, and they once again contributed more excellent ideas and insights, which greatly benefited Alex.
At the meeting's conclusion, Alex still didn't finalize the direction and informed everyone to continue meeting the next day.
It was during this third meeting that Alex finally presented the story of The Legend of Sword and Fairy to everyone.
"This is a story concept that I had planners from our other departments develop, based on all the recordings of your discussions over the past few days. I won't mention who specifically. Please review this theme and story, then discuss it freely and openly," Alex said, deliberately not revealing that he'd created it himself.
After all, if they knew he'd written it, they certainly wouldn't dare offer critical opinions. If they thought another planner had written it, the dynamic would be completely different.
Sure enough, after reviewing the story, everyone discussed it enthusiastically. There were affirmative and critical viewpoints, and various opinions were continuously refined during the discussion. New ideas constantly emerged through the debate.
Alex used this method to lead the entire project team through repeated meetings and discussions, ultimately completing the comprehensive development document for The Legend of Sword and Fairy.
This document wasn't only about the wonderful characters and plot—Alex was equally satisfied with the gameplay mechanics and artistic presentation concepts.
Thus, development of The Legend of Sword and Fairy began moving forward on track, and the character concept art and design plans were also largely finalized.
"Mr. Morrison, I've always been curious—who actually came up with the original concept for Legend of Sword and Fairy? I asked several planners, and none of them knew."
That afternoon, Nathan asked this question while having coffee and chatting in Alex's office.
But after saying this, he suddenly had an epiphany and looked at Alex in surprise: "Mr. Morrison... it wasn't YOU who wrote it, was it?"
Alex smiled without speaking, and Nathan's eyes widened as understanding dawned. He immediately gave a thumbs-up: "Mr. Morrison, that was a brilliant move! Everyone genuinely didn't realize it was your concept. They were all so energetic in their critiques, haha! And you—you really weren't afraid of everyone's harsh words!"
"I didn't have a choice. Only this way could I get them to speak their genuine thoughts. Otherwise, Legend of Sword and Fairy wouldn't have been polished so brilliantly!" Alex laughed.
Nathan nodded repeatedly: "I've learned something valuable. Seems I can use this method in the future too!"
A few days later...
"Hey, hey, have you heard? The concept for Legend of Sword and Fairy was actually created by Mr. Morrison himself!"
"What?"
"Really? Is that true?"
"No way! Didn't they say another planner wrote it?"
"I heard Mr. Morrison said another planner wrote it because he was afraid we wouldn't dare offer honest opinions!"
"Oh no, oh no! I hope I didn't say anything too outrageous back then. Oh dear, I think I complained the most fiercely that day!"
"This is terrible! Mr. Morrison won't hold a grudge, will he? I think I also said a lot of harsh things at the time!"
"No way, Mr. Morrison isn't that petty. He deliberately did that because he wanted frank feedback. He's truly a great leader. No wonder he's so successful!"
"Exactly! That's why he can create so many amazing games. Speaking of which, I used to be really intimidated by Mr. Morrison, but I didn't expect him to be so approachable. He's genuinely super nice!"
"He's really incredible. We said so many critical things that day, and he didn't look angry at all. We genuinely thought it was just a proposal written by another planner—we had no idea it was written by Mr. Morrison himself!"
"But I have to say, Mr. Morrison is truly amazing. I used to think he was only skilled with Western-themed content, but I didn't expect him to have such brilliant understanding of Xianxia culture. The story of Legend of Sword and Fairy is genuinely wonderful!"
"Mm-hmm, I already admired him before, and now I admire him even more. He's so successful yet so humble, and he can genuinely listen to other people's opinions. He's really incredible. I certainly couldn't do that!"