As for your question, I’d say motivate them. Show them the reasons for learning the subjects through experience. Why should they go down that path? That’s the big question to answer for the player. A mechanic may be able to build the engine for a draw bridge, but what does he know about materials, physics, local conditions and so on that are related to the task of building the bridge? This is making related fields of study a part of the design in a player need or quest requirement style. Perhaps a quest or task has several ways to be accomplished. Changing up the ways that the particular task can be accomplished each time could improve the gameplay and encourage players to explore the other paths.

Perhaps a better example is a sailor. In navigation there are several subjects to study; astronomy, map reading, geometry, the sensors like sonar and so on. Each of these are related fields to nautical navigation. Each of those also have their own related fields. The network of related fields shows beneficial paths to follow. It’s also how it works in real life. I started out as a computer science student, thought computer game design would be beneficial (and fun) and then added those to another area of interest, education. While working on team projects, I find going over effective communication to be beneficial, so it gets added in. In essence, the needs of the moment dictate the possible directions of going forward or retreating. Playing with those mechanics should give a natural motivation to the players and improve the game as a whole.

Another way to look at this is layering choices of specializing and generalizing. For instance the main subjects in school include math, science, reading, writing and so on. I choose math and science. In college I looked for a good combination of my skills and abilities in potential directions, which gave me a list of potential paths to choose from. They were specialized versions of math and science. First I choose to specialize in computers. Then I choose to specialize in general game design. This could be a variation on a class, skills or other growth mechanic. However, how you allow players to multi-class and go outside their class is where this gets tricky for balance and gameplay at the MMO level.

Beyond that, I would need to know more about the specifics of the MMO design. The basic motivation pattern of expose, inspire and enable is really the key to me. The rest is just adapting it to the specifics of the game.

Another piece of advice I’d give is to remember that in an MMO, if you allow the player to do something, somebody will do it. Then you are dealing with the social and community aspects of the MMO, which is a whole other area for introducing players to the ideas, but I urge caution in this path. Messing with community dynamics can be far more disastrous than messing with the game in the long run. You are expected to control the game, but the player community can be viewed as the realm owned by the players, not the game designers and developers.

I’m hoping that as the engine gets developed further, it will become easier. At the moment I know they are catering to experienced users, and will eventually transition to making things really easier for beginners. I hear they will be selling an easy-to-use editing tool for people without a lot of programming experience, which I’m looking forward to seeing. But as it stands, “easy to use” is not a phrase I’d use to describe the engine. :p

Thanks for the post. What advice would you have for exposing new players in an educational MMO to different paths they might take, which would have them learn different subjects?