Sorry you feel the no is ridiculous, but there are good reasons for it. There are good reasons for Academy being in person only, it really is interactive and all about face-to-face, both so that the people can learn better and in depth, and so we can check they have learned it :)
As for other, non-Academy style tutorials, making video tutorials takes a lot of time, and that's not something we always have a lot of, with all that is always going on :) We would love to be doing more on YouTube etc. but time has simply not allowed at the moment. It's always on the to-do list though, so when opportunity allows, there will be more tutorials! We'll keep in mind the kinds of subjects you have suggested here too, as well as our usual delves into specific tools that we've done in the past.
On the pricing, do note that the Corona Academy price includes a 2 year license of Corona - that's a large part of the course price right there (pricing, btw, is 999 Euro not British pounds, it's a little less than 880 in GBP). And of course those who attend the Academy directly are mostly looking to start teaching, so that also means the price is just an investment and they get more than that back (for those not looking to teach, attending a course run by any of the Primary Certified or Certified Instructors is a viable option, often with less travel so less expense).
Cheers!