If you used to watch Indonesian sinetron (soap operas), chances are, you’re already familiar with the character "Ronaldowati". The bald football prodigy has grown and is now known by her real name, Nona Berlian.

Nona no longer plays in soap operas, as she’s now better known as a gaming influencer and the host of Dunia Games' YouTube channel and the brand ambassador of BOOM Esports.

So, what’s the story behind Nona Berlian’s journey into a gaming influencer? Here’s her story.

Have a Love for Games Since Childhood

In an interview with the writer, Nona Berlian admitted that she has had a love for games since she was 5 years old -- even before she started her role as Ronaldowati on one of the national TV stations. As for her reason, she mentioned that all of her family members share the same interest, including her father. 

"From Nintendo, PlayStation 1, to PlayStation 2, we had them all. So, I have loved games since I was little," Nona said.

Although she always had the time to play games, her mom wasn’t particularly happy with her spending time playing video games. The reason being, she didn’t want Nona to have the same hobby with her older brothers.

"It was fine for me to play games, but my mom wasn’t really into that, she was like "you’re a girl, why would you have the same hobby as your brothers, playing games all the time..." so, I got scolded the most for playing games compared to my other siblings," she said.

Used to Hang Out at Internet Cafes

Who would have thought, while she’s known as a child actress, it turns out that Nona used to spend her time hanging out at internet cafes with her brother (Bio One) every day to play various popular online games at that time, such as Seal Online, Point Blank, and Luna Online.

However, because her parents didn’t want her to go out everyday to internet cafes, they bought her a PC to play her favorite games at home.

"So then our house turned into some kind of internet cafe too hahaha," Nona said with a laugh.

Nona admitted that her brothers were the ones who influenced her to play at internet cafes. Because, thanks to her brothers, she’s introduced to many online games -- not just console games.

Then, speaking of her most memorable game that she would love the most to play it again, Nona said that it’s got to be Celestial Luna, a private server MMORPG by Luna Online. The reason is that she had the most successful character in this MMORPG compared to other games.

Aside from that, another reason why Nona loves Celestial Luna is its adorable graphics compared to other MMORPGs, such as RF Online.

Had a Funny Experience with a Hode

Hode is a term used by gamers to describe men who play games using female characters or ID. However, this has become a misused method for gamers to scam others.

As with most internet cafe dwellers, Nona Berlian has a funny experience about hode. In the interview, Nona admitted that her brother used to pull off this trick to get game vouchers, but using her Facebook as his identity.

"There were lots of boys who sent chats and made some moves on me on Facebook. I immediately shrug it off as one of Bio’s acts," Nona revealed. But, Bio usually responded by giving her characters’ GB.

Used to Have a Dream of Becoming a Chef Because of the K-Drama "Pasta"

Having a hobby of playing video games doesn’t necessarily mean that Nona always had a dream of becoming a gaming influencer. Speaking with the writer, Nona wanted to become a chef, because of the K-drama "Pasta". She also had a dream of having her restaurant and master high-level cooking techniques.

"But, as time goes by, we realize that our childhood dreams were way too big, so when we’re older, it’s getting more difficult. So, it’s fine (to let go of her dream)," Nona replied when asked about her childhood dream.

Nona Berlian’s Journey of Becoming a Gaming Influencer

Before becoming a gaming influencer, Nona first met a talent management, Belly Hariyanto, at work. This encounter was a coincidence, as she was just visiting her friend at the office.

Seeing Belly playing a game of Dota 2, Nona approached her and asked about Belly's account’s MMR. From then on, Nona got to know Belly and got a job offer in her Instagram DM after losing contact for a while.

Along with Belly, Nona promoted the Mobile Legends tournament, MSC 2017, and amassed a large audience.

"The first time I came to an offline game event was MSC. Although I wanted to come to that kind of event, I didn’t have a friend to accompany me because I didn’t have girlfriends who also love games. My older brother also doesn’t like to go to these events. So, it was my first time, and it’s become my occupation ever since," Nona revealed to the writer.

After the MSC, Nona was acquired by Belly as one of his talents and received an offer as Aura Esports' brand ambassador and Dunia Games’ YouTube channel host (after being introduced to Dede Febrian, who was Dunia Games’ event manager at the time).

Doesn’t Have the Interest to Become a Pro-Player

Although she often shows her skills on social media, Nona admitted that she doesn’t want to go pro. According to her, being a pro-player doesn’t only require the skills, but also consistency, strong will, discipline, and the proper attitude.

"Let’s say I’m a good player, I could just be a content creator or a streamer. Being a pro-player not only requires skills, but also consistency, strong will, discipline, and a great attitude. And I’m aware of myself, considering that I get bored easily (playing a single game)," Nona explained her reasons not to go pro.

She believes that being a pro-player is quite demanding, for example, the pressure in the team and the fans who always demand wins.

Because of those demands, Nona doesn’t want to lose the joy from playing games -- thus she decided not to go pro.

However, if she ever gets the opportunity to become a pro-player and receives an offer from BOOM Esports (the Esports team that she represents), Nona believes that she will be a great addition for the Among Us division.

Loves Her Work as a Gaming Influencer

Although it requires her to travel from time to time, Nona sees her job as a hobby. In fact, according to her, traveling like that makes her job as a gaming influencer more exciting -- since she used to travel for shooting.

While now she’s a lot more confident and relaxed doing her job, Nona once tried way too hard to try to impress people as an influencer, such as being consistent in uploading her content on YouTube.

But as time went by, that didn’t help her grow as a content creator. Her work was not satisfying since they were not authentic.

"(It was) like my content was not fun to watch," Nona said.

So, from then on, she prefers to wait for a great idea for her content before making it, to keep the quality of her channel.

Owning a Cafe or Restaurant is Nona Berlian’s Next Goal

To conclude the interview, the writer asked Nona’s next target after becoming a gaming influencer. Nona then told the writer that her next objective is to own a cafe or restaurant -- as per her childhood dream.

She would love to own a cafe for gamers to eat and hang out with a high-speed wifi connection and lots of wall sockets.

"Open a cafe for people to hang out and play games. I’ll provide high-speed wifi, every table has a wall socket, it would be amazing to hang out there," Nona described her next goal.

Well, let’s hope that Nona can realize her dream soon.

So, that was a brief profile of Nona Berlian, who is now a gaming influencer. Stick around for more gaming info and articles about influencers. Make sure to follow Dunia Games on Facebook and Instagram to keep you updated on the latest exciting news and articles. Also, visit our partner, Indozone Game, for more tech and gaming news.

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