If we going to plunge into a Dark Age, I think it would have happened after Diablo. It had huge success, and while there have been some clones, RPG houses stuck to their guns to put out proper RPGs.
People slam Morrowind all day long, and surely it was flawed, but consider this.
Bethesda implemented community suggestions and actively supports their fan base. They released mod tools, plenty of patches, and don't just abandon games after release. They spend plenty of money and time trying to make the best possible game they can make. They released ambitious projects and strive for nothing less than greatness.
There are developers out there that aren't just striving for hack-and-slash games. They are trying to make good RPGs. Troika sure tried despite the flaws in their games. Bioware tries despite the flaws in their games.
I'm seeing a lot of smaller development houses in Russia and Europe with RPG projects, and more and more indie projects. This is not a dark age.