Ars Technica has been invited to Blizzard's campus before, but the early birth of my son scuttled our last trip. But for the second invitation, nothing could keep us away. You've already read the coverage of StarCraft 2 from the meeting, but we were also given a tour of the Blizzard campus in Irivine, California. If you're ever put in the position to see where some of the best-loved PC games in the world are made, you take it.

To put it mildly: we weren't disappointed. The Blizzard campus is a magical place, completely covered with the culture of the company and the art of its games. From statues, to murals, to jokes, this is where you dreamed video games are made when you were young. The campus houses offices, a theater, a museum, a library, a gym, and of course, the games are everywhere. Let's take a look at what we saw.

These are the original oil paintings that were later used as an element in the first World of Warcraft boxes.

A map of the first iteration of Azeroth, including flight paths and ports for both Horde and Alliance.

This is not an actual picture of the server room for World of Warcraft. We were allowed to peek in through a window, but no images. We could not enter the room. Even our guide had only been in twice. What we saw were weather maps making sure things were stable at the data centers around the world. Data and charts flashing on the large screens hanging on the wall. Rows of computers in the middle of the room being tended to by very serious looking people. Millions of players, around the world, all watched and tended to from that room. It was quite the sight. This is simply an artist's interpretation.

Blizzard employs ridiculously talented artists, and their non-Blizzard related work is displayed outside of the cafeteria, including this take on Bebop and Rocksteady from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles