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.
It'll be this an nothing more. Persistent weapons... I doubt it. I know I'm a pessimist when it comes to games... but that's just the way it is. Game developers always under deliver what you'd hope they'd do (that is unless it's modders). Modders create the game you want (but that's another story). Real game developers want to (and may have to) make the money. So they usually seem to put bare bones in to the game. They rarely event something new.
The face that M&B2 doesn't have co-op single player tells the whole story. How can they make a 2nd game and leave out the singe most request feature. It'll be M&B1 with better graphics. Sure they'll add some new things like custom weapons... but again, it'll fall short, because it'll only exist in single player. That's the kind of things where game developers blow my mind!
Honestly, since the original M&B game out... I'm not sure I've been honestly "wow'd" by a game. Probably Minecraft falls here. But besides that, I can't think of anything. Sure... there's be good, fun games. But nothing that makes me think... "wow, is something new". Or even better, "wow, this is a complete game". That last statement so rarely happens.
I think the best examples are Pillars of Eternity & the Dragon Age Origins games. They make in-depth single-player games... that they say are predecessors to Baldur's Gate 1 &2. Yet they don't put multiplayer. How in the HELL does a Baldur's Gate predecessor NOT have multiplayer. I heard a Dragon Age head dev once say, "it's a neat concept, they'll have to look into it." How the fuck is it a concept, when a game done it 15 years ago. And I've heard Pillars of Eternity devs & fans say that it would take away from the single player experience. What the fuck! Did it in Badlur's Gate? Fuck no! So just be fucking honest, and say you didn't feel like putting the time and effort into making it a complete "best it can be" game.
Sorry for the side rant. But I feel this will be the same for M&B2... and pretty much any game. Devs rarely want to make a game the best it can be... to truly take the time to make a full complete game. The fact that M&B2 doesn't have co-op single player proves this.
So when M&B2 comes out, I'll look to the modders... like we did to chadz! I know we've given him so much shit over the years! But it's guys like him, that give us the games we truly want to play.
Rant Over!!!