There are elements in the gameplay (in many major titles) that evoke and awaken the need to develop fast and tactical responses. Stimulation of the brain in a game like World of Warcraft can come from number crunching (stats, health, etc.), teamwork and group building (guilds, dungeons, etc.), economics (auction house), and so on.

To say that these are not usable or real world reflective would be laughable. It takes a sharp mind to be successful, truly successful, in World of Warcraft. You need to work as a team to even get to the “big bosses” and even then, it would take many attempts to achieve full armor and weapon sets – or the “best” items. And it’s nearly impossible to complete every given quest in the game (available quests even). The game centers around community – thus, my final point.

The concepts of building a better world – our world – stem from the core of community building. You will need the heroes of Azeroth (as the main example), and their unique skillsets in economics, diplomacy, team-building, mathematics, problem solving and strategy – if you do in fact intend on creating a society that is “utopian”.

Your points are valid, but I think you lack the deeper vision to see value of the individual skills games can force children, young adults and even adults to develop.