Time defines genre

Sid Meier spoke at GDC 2012 and said something interesting about how time defines genre [YouTube @ 42m]. It's obvious I suppose, but I hadn't seen it until he said it. A shooter only gives you a split second in which to reach your "interesting decision". A strategy game gives you more information, and more time. Compare Ping Pong and Chess.

Zero qual zone

The advantage of offering courses that do not lead directly to a qualification is that you're ethically free to experiment. If you divide the cohort into Groups A and B and make some change to Group B no-one is disadvantaged. But if you're locked into some framework and you're going to have to get it moderated every time you make a change, forget it - it's too hard.

Leaving the catatonic state

After a long silence borne out of catatonic frustration, a strong feeling I was getting absolutely nowhere, I now feel I can write again; resuming journal entries!