An interesting article

[Kaz]

I didn't know this but the Starcraft class is part of Berkley's "DeCal Program". DeCals are student created classes, with the intention that they are going to be out-of-the-box or at least out-of-the-standard-curricula type ideas. They range from 0.5 to 2 credits (0.5?!) and are Pass/Fail. I guess Berkeley digs the notion of involving the student body in the decision making when it comes to what courses are offered. That seems like a decent idea.

As to how people (I refuse to call them "kids") get through 120 credits and can't remember half of what they passed. Well, :confused: . Yeah, it's hard to argue how important those forgotten classes are when they are, ya' know, forgotten, and you get along fine in life. I guess the points of contention are over what "get along fine" constitutes and are they really "fine", properly informed citizen and all. My 2¢.

[Chebasaz]

There's another school with the same program that has a class studying Virtual (World of Warcraft, EverQuest, Second Life) economies... Cool? Yes. The real-world use of such a class is a whole other discussion.

I'm a huge fan of learning. I think everyone on this board shares that to one degree or another. I have no problems with that kind of coursework if it was truly elective, but to have a mandatory amount of elective credits seems.... wrong to me. "We don't care what you take, as long as it equals 30 credits"

I guess my argument is - If you're going to make someone take a course, it should reinforce or compliment their primary degree. At the very least, it should be something with a tangible benefit. Something that actually helps the student to get a job, provide for their family, and beat a fifth grader on national television.

Otherwise, what is college for?

[rickyjo]

There's another school with the same program that has a class studying Virtual (World of Warcraft, EverQuest, Second Life) economies... Cool? Yes. The real-world use of such a class is a whole other discussion.

Again I would like to point out that Game theory is something economics majors usually learn.

"The games studied in game theory are well-defined mathematical objects. A game consists of a set of players, a set of moves (or strategies) available to those players, and a specification of payoffs for each combination of strategies....The normal (or strategic form) game is usually represented by a matrix which shows the players, strategies, and payoffs"

A game like starcraft is just an extremely complex chess board with infinitely more objects and move possibilities and a incomprehensibly larger move matrix.

You can see how seamlessly this idea of mapping cause and effect and all potential outcomes fits into economics. It's all about predicting possible outcomes of economic decisions and circumstances.

So although many folks think of these as just games one must realize that a strategy game can in its most base form be turned into a giant cause and effect matrix useful in many areas of study, most notably econ and math. I should get my econ major friend to explain this more properly. It's the coolest thing, I even skimmed one of his books on the topic and it blew me away. I think that's what these odd video game classes must be all about.