In which MetalJim needs your help to see over the next hilltop…

Today’s post will be a bit short since I am in the middle of grading papers right now (yes, this is the time of the year where I actually do work for a living and actually do earn my salary).

Actually, I had planned to use this space to review my new copy of _The Adventurer’s Vault_ for 4th edition D&D, but that got held up in the mail just enough to miss this week’s column.

So, let me ask folks out there for some help…

What are you all looking forward to (gaming wise) in the next few months?

I suspect some folks out there may or may not want to admit that the only REALLY important gaming release scheduled for the next few months is the World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King expansion.

Some of you ornery gamers out there may still be stamping your feet over the still missing virtual tools that were supposed to ship with 4th edition D&D (the character sheet generator is officially in “Alpha” testing – we might even be 30 days away from seeing a “demo” that covers all character classes up to level 3).

Umm, let’s see, there’s a new Magic:the Gathering set coming out in the next few weeks.  It’s called Shards of Alara and features lots of gold-bordered goodness.

What else am I missing?  I doubt Starcraft 2 will come out this year.  The 4th edition Player’s Handbook TWO will ship next March.

As for boardgaming, the big premiere event in Germany is in October in a place called Essen.  Still, it takes quite a few months for the new Essen releases to filter over to the U.S. in suitable English translations.

If no one has anything good to pimp, then maybe we should all stop and smell the gaming roses.  Feel free to nominate a “lost classic” that deserves to be re-discovered.

Obviously, comments are welcome.  That’s kind of the whole point here.  Never too soon to start those Christmas wish lists…