Ralif Redhammer
Legend
According to the Plot Points interview with Ed Greenwood, those are both correct.
Considering how closely Wizards plays their cards close to their chest (and this in turn leads to more speculation like those you list), I suspect if we got a view of what actually is being planned in the years to come, I suspect there'd be a lot of surprises as to what settings are on the agenda.
I think this is just a rumor, but it could well be true. I've tried to find something that confirms it and haven't found anything. Another version I've heard of the rumor is that the owner of the license needs to an FR book every year or so or the rights return to Ed. No idea if any of this is true, although Ed apparently only got $5,000 for handing the license to TSR.
Considering how closely Wizards plays their cards close to their chest (and this in turn leads to more speculation like those you list), I suspect if we got a view of what actually is being planned in the years to come, I suspect there'd be a lot of surprises as to what settings are on the agenda.
Anyway, I'm a little confused by the arguments people make by each creator's link to each setting;
- WotC doesn't touch Greyhawk as the creator (Gygax) has passed and there is no longer a person pushing for it.
- WotC doesn't touch Dragonlance as they are afraid of the creators (W&H) and their power of the brand in public conciousness.
- WotC does publish Eberron, as the creator (Keith Baker) pushed for it to be released in 5E and helped make the playtest document for a 5E version
- WotC's favorite setting Forgotten Realms has a creator (Ed Greenwood) who doesn't do much work for 5E, but he may have a great contract that ensures it keeps getting published, so he's happy with its status.
There's... almost no consistent thread here at all. These are all popular theories on this forum, but it makes WotC look like a very inconsistent organization. I'm not really sure any of these above are actually true, and that there is some completely different ethos for why settings are published (and why others aren't).
I'm curious, when the other two "classic settings" are released whether people will need to change their priors. It would be quite interesting if it was Greyhawk and Dragonlance that are released, that would burst folks' bubbles.