Once again we have a rumor going that D&D will change hands. The part that is different this time is that the rumor is the entire WotC division is going to be sold and announced at Gencon.

The obvious front runner would be Mongoose since they are likely the only Gaming company large enough to buy out WotC. Also, since they have this "holy grail" thing going.

I heard the very same rumor last year and it never panned out, so who knows.

It wouldn't be too surprising since they've been doing some strange stuff with their trademarks + URLs -- not making good use of strong ones (Wizards, Dragon, Dungeon, Dragonlance) in favour of new/weak ones (Gleemax).

The timing on these press releases suggest this is related to tomorrow's GenCon announcements:

Wizards of the Coast Teams up with Nexon America to Release MapleStory iTrading Card Game

July 31 -- Wizards of the Coast, Inc. (NYSE:HAS) today announced a partnership with Nexon America Inc. to launch the MapleStory iTrading Card Game (iTCG) in the US and Canada in November. The iTCG is a real-world Trading Card Game with codes redeemable for exclusive virtual-world game content–an interactive extension to MapleStory, Nexon’s massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), which is enormously popular with more than 67 million worldwide registered accounts.

Solid State Networks' Peer-to-Peer Solution Selected by Wizards of the Coast

July 25 -- Solid State Networks, developer of high-performance, low-cost distributed content delivery solutions, today announced that leading game developer Wizards of the Coast has selected Solid State's Branded Client(TM) solution for delivering the newest version of its popular online game, Magic: The Gathering Online(R).


More on MapleStory:

QuoteMapleStory is an online adventure game that centers around the “Maple World,” allowing players to combat monsters and develop their characters’ skills and abilities in an immense platform-inspired persistent world. Players, using charming characters, interact through chatting, trading, and playing mini-games while surrounded by vibrant backgrounds. Groups of players can unite in parties or guilds to socialize, hunt monsters, or embark on quests.

MapleStory’s innovative cash shop offers players the option to use real currency to pay for game enhancements, from cosmetic items such as haircuts and clothing to virtual pets that can be trained to sit, stand, and breathe fire. This feature is purely optional and players can try out items prior to purchase in a virtual dressing room. Players create truly unique identities in MapleStory through avatar customizations.

Developed by Wizet, MapleStory is available exclusively for Windows PC via free online download at http://maplestory.nexon.net.

I really hope that Wizards of the Coast will hold up this partnership until the Maple Story people change the name of their "thief" character type. I mean, that's just teaching our children bad morality. They should be "rogues" instead.