Wednesday, May 21, 2014

An open letter to the Spring 2014 Game Studio

Late is better than never, and our team shirts are finally ready. I think they look fantastic.


I've assembled a packet for each team member, and in the packet I included a letter, which I am happy to share here.

Thank you for your participation in the Spring 2014 Game Studio. During the semester, it is easy to get caught up in what Frederick Brooks calls the "joys and the woes of the craft." Even the final meeting was just one step in an incomplete journey. 
Now that some time has passed, I think it is easier to reflect on the real impact of the semester. Most of us started out not knowing each other, and certainly, no one knew everyone. By the end, we were a team, each contributing to the creation of a novel and original educational game. This point is worthy of reflection: if we had not come together this semester, The Bone Wars game would not exist. We made a game unlike any other, a worthy software product, from nothing but our imagination and perseverance. 
You will always be a member of the team who made The Bone Wars. I hope that you will continue to reflect on this experience and that it has positive value for years to come. Indeed, from my past immersive learning projects, I know that it can take the span of years to come to understand an experience. 

This brings me to another important point. In addition to being a member of The Bone Wars team, you are a member of a small and exclusive club: Ball State University students who have been a part of serious games scholarship. These students have gone on to industry, to graduate school, and to found new ventures. Each group is unique and unrepeatable, and I cherish the opportunity to learn something from each one. To this end, I thank you for your feedback: your honesty and candor contribute to the improvement of all future projects. A special thanks to those of you who participated in the study: I expect this work to have a significant scholarly impact and, hopefully, to cause ripples that improve higher education in an even broader sense. 
Wear your shirt with pride.

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