What if WotC just said "That's it."

[Umbran]

Taking thedungeondelver's scenario from the OP one step futher, what if Hasbro decided that WotC just wasn't worth it anymore...?

Well, the OP did ask about the personal reprecussions, and specfically not about the business end of things.

[*]Could you see the D&D rules frozen as is, published in one basic book or as an eternal/final Red Box, and sold under the Hasbro brand with the rest of their games (in Toys-R-Us right next to the other "novelty" games like the Ouija Board)...?

I would expect this to be unlikely. Keeping an item in print costs money, and requires a certain level of sales to maintain. I would not expect a static D&D of that sort to continue to sell well enough to keep in print.

[*]Essentially disband Wizards of the Coast and have a small part of Hasbro themself develop/release small "adventure"/"theme" boxes once or twice a year (like new versions of Trivial Pursuit or Monopoly)...?

D&D is not all that WotC does. D&D does not seem to even be WotC's best-selling line. Disbanding WotC would be killing a lot more than just D&D. So, I'd count this as unlikely, especially given Hasbro's historical reticence to sell off IP.

[*]Limit DDI to the final distilled ruleset, and continue the online service but with no more extra innovation (it just is what it is)...?

Possible, as long as the subscriptions were enough to cover operating and maintenance costs for the service.

[*]End Dragon and Dungeon magazine once and for all...?

If you aren't keeping the D&D game alive, then keeping the magazines alive would be a wombat (waste of money, brains, and time).

 

[ppaladin123]

I keep hoping that WotC will go back and fix the V-shaped class builds that they implicitly admitted were a mistake (the recently canceled Heroes of Spell and Sword promised to start that process). I'd like to see them give the other races the "essentials" treatment (flexible stats, cleaned up abilities). I'd like to see them deliver support for classes (the original assassin, the rune priest, the artificer, seeker) that have been neglected to the point of rendering them under-powered. And I'd like to see them put that all into a a character builder that works. So, if WotC suddenly abandons d&d, I'll be upset....stuck with an edition that has become messy and lopsided and needs some love. I suppose I could fix a lot of this through house rules. I might eventually lose interest and switch to a system that has ongoing support. Thanks to the OGL/SRD, 3.5e can continue to evolve and develop (e.g. Pathfinder, Trailblazer, etc.) 4e would be dead in the water.

 

[Argyle King]

The small "adventure themed boxes" might not be a far fetched idea. As has been posted on several other threads, the new Ampersand column seems to indicate that a lot of the 2011 release schedule is being nixed and there will instead be more board games, tokens, and things of that nature released.

 

[El Mahdi]

...a wombat (waste of money, brains, and time).

I've never heard that one before. I need to remember it. That's pretty cool.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I've never heard that one before. I need to remember it. That's pretty cool.

Memorizing WoMBaT may be...a WoMBaT.

 

[Jorunkun]

My group parted with D&D when 4e was launched. As far as we're concerned, Pathfinder is the new D&D. WotC might as well ... fade away.

 

[Jhaelen]

I think it would be a pity at this point in time. If they had decided 'That's it' right before releasing their Essentials products it would have been bearable. But freezing the game after the changes 'Essentials' brought? No, thanks.

 

[C_M2008]

It would be sad that a game that has been around so long died, so near 40th anniversary too.

But the games would continue I have all the 2e, 4e and WHFRP 3e stuff I need to have games til I croak.

 

[Ourph]

I love 4e. I think it's the best version of D&D (actually any fantasy RPG) ever produced. If WotC said "We're happy with this edition, we're just going to keep producing supplements for the base 4e game from now on." I would be happy as a clam. If they said "We're also going to produce high quality Dungeon Tiles, batttlemaps and cardboard tokens usable with 4e and any other fantasy RPG our customers might be playing.", that would make me even happier.