Reflection

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Though this course was very academic and rigorous, playing and thinking about games was a welcome diversion from the demands of my instructional and student course load in this first semester in the program. My group collaborated throughout the semester to make it through the game design process, but we came a bit short in having a game that was complete and as we envisioned. We used Twine and had assigned the game coding and building role to one person, and we ran out of time. Although Twine games are text-based and seemingly easy to create, it requires a lot of coding and is time consuming to troubleshoot bugs. In retrospect, we should have divided this role amongst all of us to pitch in and make it happen.

I used to be a fairly avid gamer, but with my adoption of Mac computers vs PC computers, I lost the graphics and processing power it takes to play games and I pretty much abandoned the hobby. Admittedly, I go back and forth between the belief that games are a waste of time and a useful activity that is beneficial. I've personally experienced extreme devotion of time to virtual pursuits (World of Warcraft) and the influence of MMORPGs on people's lives and relationships. I've also been rewarded for my gameplay - I landed my first teaching gig by playing Guitar Hero (Joan Jett & the Blackhearts' I Love Rock & Roll) at the interview. After having made it through the first interview round to teach a mini lesson, go through a Q&A with my future colleagues, I was given the opportunity to speak a little about myself and then show the administration and faculty my interests in music, technology, and gaming all in one shot. It was risky, but it differentiated me from the rest of applicants.