Thanks Devilyote, you have some good points there. I should clarify that I'm not saying Blizzard's masterpiece is on a level with Leaves of Grass or the Acropolis. It's really not at all that sort of art, any more than Weird Al's musical parodies, or Emmy-winning South Park episodes are. A lot of modern humor doesn't exactly "enlighten," nor is it intended to, but it can make you laugh out loud if your familiar with a lot of the cultural things they're talking about. Sometimes when you reflect on why something was funny, you can actually gain an insight into your life from it. Nonetheless, you can't really compare poetry and architecture with modern comedy, because they're going for totally different effects.

In the same way, WoW is going for yet another totally different effect. It has some breathtaking vistas in it, as well as some funny moments, but all those are really just elements within this "community gaming" thing you mentioned. Why couldn't "community gaming" be art too? In WoW, Blizzard created a space where we all want to get together and have fun -- and if we actually reflect on the experience we're having here, we may find insights into our life from that too.

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