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<blockquote data-quote="BruceRCordell" data-source="post: 6837615" data-attributes="member: 6821968"><p>TL;DR I was hired to code an electronic game, but ended up writing print products</p><p></p><p>Long Version:</p><p>I sort of stumbled into it. I was asked several times to write some content for Role Master. I was reluctant at first, since I was still busy pursuing my bio science degree and working the rest of the time in a developmental bio lab. But I finally agreed, and wrote some material that first appeared in Space Master II that described genetically engineered organisms that were essentially super-tech items. I followed that up with a ton of material for Creatures and Monsters.</p><p></p><p>Meanwhile, I got my degree and parlayed my 6 years working in a dev bio lab into becoming a research associate for a start-up pharmaceutical company. (I think my degree itself hardly came into it--it was the job experience. Thank god for work-study programs!). Eventually I was put in charge running our brand new DNA/RNA synthesis machines, each of which required a computer. A computer that was far more powerful than it needed to be to input sequences, and one that was connected to the fledgling internet. This was around 1992-1993. </p><p></p><p>Which means I found MUDS and MUSHS, and lost myself in them, nearly. Certainly I learned to code them. Amazing times. It turns out that around that time TSR was looking to create a D&D branded MUD of their own. They brought me out for an interview and hired me. I quit my job at NeXstar (since bought out by Gilead) and went out to Lake Geneva.</p><p></p><p>However, somehow they decided in that 2 week period that they (they probably being Lorraine Williams, but I'm not sure) didn't want a D&D branded MUD. Probably a story behind that I've never discovered. Anyway, they said, "Well, you can write print products for us? How about you write this title we have coming up called Gates of Firestorm Peak?"</p><p></p><p>And I did write it, and everyone liked it.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="BruceRCordell, post: 6837615, member: 6821968"] TL;DR I was hired to code an electronic game, but ended up writing print products Long Version: I sort of stumbled into it. I was asked several times to write some content for Role Master. I was reluctant at first, since I was still busy pursuing my bio science degree and working the rest of the time in a developmental bio lab. But I finally agreed, and wrote some material that first appeared in Space Master II that described genetically engineered organisms that were essentially super-tech items. I followed that up with a ton of material for Creatures and Monsters. Meanwhile, I got my degree and parlayed my 6 years working in a dev bio lab into becoming a research associate for a start-up pharmaceutical company. (I think my degree itself hardly came into it--it was the job experience. Thank god for work-study programs!). Eventually I was put in charge running our brand new DNA/RNA synthesis machines, each of which required a computer. A computer that was far more powerful than it needed to be to input sequences, and one that was connected to the fledgling internet. This was around 1992-1993. Which means I found MUDS and MUSHS, and lost myself in them, nearly. Certainly I learned to code them. Amazing times. It turns out that around that time TSR was looking to create a D&D branded MUD of their own. They brought me out for an interview and hired me. I quit my job at NeXstar (since bought out by Gilead) and went out to Lake Geneva. However, somehow they decided in that 2 week period that they (they probably being Lorraine Williams, but I'm not sure) didn't want a D&D branded MUD. Probably a story behind that I've never discovered. Anyway, they said, "Well, you can write print products for us? How about you write this title we have coming up called Gates of Firestorm Peak?" And I did write it, and everyone liked it. [/QUOTE]
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