The Daily Grind: What degree best suits an MMO developer?

Until relatively recently, the idea of a degree in game development seemed bizarre. That means that most of today's industry vets didn't start out planning to make games their career. You might expect programming degrees, art degrees, management degrees, creative writing degrees... but you're likely to find stranger degrees by far, marine biology and ancient history among them. That's even true in games journalism. Massively is staffed by pilots, farmers, historians, claims adjusters, clergymen, artists, salesmen, ex-military, radio announcers, teachers, musicians, and yes, even some full-time writers and editors. It's a weird place, and that diversity widens our perspective.

Raph Koster of Ultima Online and Star Wars Galaxies fame recommends that budding game developers acquire a broad education, not necessarily a specialized game design degree. Learn to program, draw, and write, he says, but "don't choose a narrow education. Choose a broad one. History, economics, psychology, art, science. A classic liberal arts education is the best training for a designer."

What do you think -- what degree best suits an MMO developer?

Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!