It’s week 1 of Semester 1, and I’m stupidly attempting not one but TWO subjects in each semester this year. The Grand Plan, as it stands for now, is to finish my Grad Dip this year and then decide what to do about further study or not, etc etc. A lot may depend on what happens at work, too, as Victoria has now apparently gone into recession and my bank account knows it.
What I love about studying this course is that it puts a conceptual framework around stuff that I already know and do. Which is not to say that I’m not learning new knowledge and skills, because I am (omg academic writing I had almost forgotten you), but that it has meaning and context for me.
OK, what I really love about this course is that I can write about games in NEARLY EVERY SUBJECT. OMG.
Especially this semester’s subjects, which are “Internet Collaboration and Organisation” and “Internet Communities and Social Networks”. SO MUCH LOVE.
Stewart Woods
March 8, 2013 at 12:49 pm
Hey! Internet Communities!
I know this guy who wrote a book which has a chapter talking about a board game community on the Web called BoardGameGeek – You may have heard of it (and the book)
Melissa
March 8, 2013 at 1:01 pm
Imagine that! I wonder how he managed it. What a weirdo ;P
I am thinking of asking Aldie if I can dive into some BGG user stats – but not sure how easy they would be to extract. I am supremely uninspired about the detail of what I am ACTUALLY going to write about this semester (except, “games” – LOL).
huzonfirst
March 9, 2013 at 12:00 pm
There are a ton of Geek users who I’m sure would be happy to tell you more than you would ever want to know about extracting user stats from BGG, Melissa. Sticking with the always popular theory that all Aussies know each other, John Farrell (friendless) is one fellow who does a lot of stuff with BGG stats.
I hope that your studies go well and while I’m at it, I hope the Bigster is feeling better these days.
Melissa
March 10, 2013 at 7:51 pm
Larry, I do know the lovely Mr Farrell. I’m not sure whether he has the level of detail that I would need, but I will definitely talk to him about it. I’d also prefer to get Aldie’s “OK” before I go playing with BGG data.
Jonathan O'Donnell
March 8, 2013 at 1:23 pm
If the economy is still tanked when you are done here, you could think about picking up a PhD scholarship and drive yourself crazy writing a thesis about games (or BGG) full time. You could even design games as part of your PhD requirements.
I know – I’m an evil PhD-pusher…
Melissa
March 8, 2013 at 1:28 pm
That’s one of the things I am thinking about. Not sure it is as easy as “picking up a PhD scholarship” but I have a topic picked out. Or maybe two or three.
The decision is going to be around whether to stop studying, continue to a Masters (another year full-time after my GDip, I think), or do the full-on PhD thing – which would require a scholarship because even I am not so enthusiastic that I would just leap into six or seven years’ of part-time study – and which would also mean stopping (or very very much curtailing) work. And is therefore a Big Decision.