Bob Bates

From the Timequest Manual: SECTION 15 - About The Author:

*In 1536, Henry VIII ordered the dissolution of the monasteries in England. After that, things settled down and stayed pretty quiet for awhile. Then, in 1989, Mediagenic ordered the dissolution of Infocom. Both events had sacrilegious overtones, and both cast legions of faithful followers adrift on seas of uncertainty.

Bob Bates had written three games for Infocom prior to its demise. The first two were Sherlock! The Riddle Of The Crown Jewels, and Arthur: The Quest For Excalibur. The third game expired with the death of the company and sank into an abyss from which it will never emerge.

Hoping to win the 'Henry VIII Memorial Defender Of The Faith' award, Bob co-founded Legend Entertainment Company in 1989 to continue the tradition of puzzle-based adventure games. Steve Meretzky signed up to do a game (providing definitive proof that he truly IS crazy) and the company is finally off and running. Bob likes to think he lives with his wife Peggy Oriani and their son Alex. They have a different opinion, however, and make him wear a name tag on the few occasions when he actually does come home. Nevertheless, he dedicates this game to them in recognition of the sacrifices they made so that it could be written.*

Bob Bates was born December 11, 1953, in Greenbelt, Maryland. He attended the Georgetown University, where he studied philosophy and psychology. His first job after graduating was as a tour guide. After having sold his own private tour company, he dedicated a few years to writing an unpublished novel. In the early 1980's he became fascinated by the growing medium of text adventure games, and joined Infocom in 1986.

Having co-founded Legend Entertainment in 1989 as described above, he designed his best-known adventure games for that company, staying with it until its eventual demise in 2004. Afterwards, he was mostly active as an independent consultant, with the exception of working as the Chief Creative Officer for External Developers at Zynga between 2011 and 2014.