World of Warcraft has hit the creative class hardcore, as detailed by Joi Ito, creative class guru. Joi's latest obsession is his World of Warcraft guild in which he is the mayor of a 300 strong collective of enthusiast soldiers.

Joi describes how he has learned to stay connected to his Virtual Reality world, without necessarily being absent from the real world. Real life enhanced by virtual reality. Rheingold's Smartmobs becoming a reality.

It is easy to dismiss Joi, and his antics. I recently heard a respected technology academic say jokingly "at least Joi has not gone into pornography". But Joi works bottom-up, the appearance of a thing does not deter him; he is not hamstrung by corporate class prejudice. And his description of the real-time remote coordination of 100 strong raid should make any technologist sit up and listen.

Dont miss the video of Joi Ito et Loic Le Meur, les jeux en ligne