I don't recall who told me this, but apparently there will be some sort of persistent multiplayer in M&B 2.
I'm fairly certain that they've gone on the record in the past to say that the exact opposite is true, and that multiplayer will essentially be identical to native warband's. There will be no co-op campaigns with your friends, no online campaigns similar to strategus, and no character progression to keep everyone at the same level and to give no one any sort of advantage. In other words, it better be real damn fun or someone better make a persistent mod similar to crpg real fast.