During our recent discussion at E3, Jeff Kaplan mentioned how gratifying it was to watch players treat the World of Warcraft beta as if it was an already completed product. As the World of Warcraft beta community waited breathlessly for the Phase 3 patch to be released, it give me a chance to pause and reflect on what it is that's so compelling about an MMO that hasn't even been released yet that many people are willing to forego sleep and food for it. For myself, I'm a person who a mere year ago would have said that he hates MMOs. I'd played a little Ultima Online when it first came out, tried Asheron's Call and EverQuest and never found them to my liking. Despite this, the World of Warcraft beta (and to a lesser extent City of Heroes) is on the verge of consuming my life.