From PlanetBG:


Although Interplay has not officially announced BioWare's Baldur's Gate II expansion pack Throne of Bhaal, an ad for it has appeared in April's Computer Gaming World magazine.

http://www.planetbaldursgate.com/images/news/ad_throne_s.jpg

DOH!

no images, but here's the link

http://www.planetbaldursgate.com/images/news/ad_throne_s.jpg

Yea, we've posted it on the front page.

Bioware is still talking about a "hypothetical expansion" while Interplay is displaying ads for the expansion in magazines.

Gee, I don't know, but I think that Bioware isn't telling us something...

Heh. ;)

that's what I get for coming straight to the forum page....

something tells me if they already have box plans then the expansion is already (at minimum) in thought, so somebody already knows enough of the story line to make a box for it... just my opinion.

I bet they even have a price set for it too....

how's.... $22.95 sound?

to low, more like the normal expansion set prices of all games, $29.99

Another thing about the expansion ad. On it there is a reference to playing a Wild Mage. Well if you've looked through the spell list in Shadowkeeper, you'll see many spells that are not in the game, currently. Alot of them work and have some pretty neat effects. One of them actually reduces your casting speed by one. I think that these are the special abilities of the wild mage. In the official FAQ they did say that they would try to implement the wild mage in the original.

Here's something I founded at avault.com:

Thursday, March 1, 2001 - 11:04 am CT
Baldur's Gate II Add-On Announced
BLACK ISLE Studios and Bioware together announced plans to develop an expansion to the award-winning Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn. Titled Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal, the add-on expands the game with new locations, high-level spells and powerful new characters. Set in the Forgotten Realms campaign world of Dungeons & Dragons, Throne of Bhaal is the conclusion of the Baldur's Gate legend as gamers fulfill their fate as the child of Bhaal.

Characters can reach up to level 40, made possible with a raised experience cap of eight million points, the highest level in an Advanced Dungeons & Dragons computer game. Also included in the quest are over 40 new high-level spells and abilities. The Character Kit will also be included, allowing gamers to create a powerful new character able to cast spells with unpredictable results. Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal is due to ship summer 2001; gamers will need to own the original Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn.

continued:


Yesterday, BioWare announced that an
expansion for Baldur's Gate II called Baldur's
Gate II: Throne of Bhaal is in the works.
Featuring new locations, spells, and
characters, the expansion pack will mark the
surprising final chapter to the Baldur's Gate
series.

To learn more, we spoke to Alan Miranda,
BioWare's producer on the expansion pack.
Here's the Miranda warning.

Daily Radar: Will this be similar to Tales of the Sword Coast expansion, in that it
won't introduce an entirely new ending to BG II?

Alan Miranda: Well, it will and it won't be.Throne of Bhaal will have two sections
to it: an add in section, which is similar to Tales of the Sword Coast that inserted
new areas in the old BG I map, plus, an add in section of a dungeon called
"Watcher's Keep" that will be inserted into BG II. It's a very large dungeon, larger
than "Durlag's Tower."

That will be close to half the expansion pack right there. The other half of it will be
an add-on section with lots of new areas. And that will continue the story after the
events in BGII to wrap up the Bhaal saga.

DR: How many hours of gameplay would you guess this adds to the series?

AM: That's hard to estimate. There are hardcore players that try to finish up really
fast, or people like me who are kind of slow. I think we are aiming for a good
average of around 40 hours.

DR: Will the choices made at the end of BGII, the ones that determine alignment
and character bonuses, be in effect for the expansion? That is, are players stuck
with what happened at the end? If not, where will the expansion pick up?

AM: We have several options. You can take your character or your party from BG
II and import it into the Throne of Bhaal. So the things you mentioned in your
question will carry over, including romances. So if you had a romance with Aerie, it
will keep going; we've planned it all and it will keep progressing.

You can also start a new game from scratch in Throne of Bhaal, but of course
there obviously won't be any save information to carry over there.

DR: Will there be any new monsters added? And since this is possibly going all
the way up to level 40, what the hell will players be fighting?


"Not included in that list is a new NPC, a really cool one
that we're not mentioning right now."


AM: We'll have some new villains in the game, focusing around the two sections,
the "add in," and "add on" sections of the expansion pack. They'll be pretty
powerful, with some minions who are very powerful as well. We are borrowing
some creatures from IceWind Dale right into this.

But I think if you are wondering if there are lots of super-duper new powerful
creatures, there aren't. However, we are scripting some more difficult encounters
to challenge the upper level players.

DR: Will you be introducing any new NPCs that can join the party?

AM: Well, we have all the NPCs from BG II, so if you're starting from scratch you
can summon them in. Close to the start of the game you begin in a stronghold
that sort of resembles the abyss at the end of BG II where you fought Irenicus. So
it's sort of a representation of yourself as you gain these high-level abilities that
you would've gained throughout BG II. And one of the first abilities is the ability to
summon in all these NPCs from BG II.

Not included in that list is a new NPC, a really cool one that we're not mentioning
right now. But, they he isn't necessarily a new face; you may have seen him in
past BG games.

DR: Why conclude the series now? We thought it was going to be a trilogy?

AM: Uh, I guess in effect it is a trilogy. You should probably consider this the final
chapter to that trilogy.

DR: Will any elements of the Third Edition rules be making their way into the
expansion?

AM: No, it's pretty similar to what we had in BG II, that is, Second Edition rules
with Third Edition tweaks.

DR:Throughout BG II, the game tells you that you'll be able to export your
characters to NeverWinter Nights. Will that be the case with 40th level
characters? Or will they have to lose some experience?

AM: Trent [Oster] is probably the best guy to ask about this. I think it is the case
that you can import a character, but the actual level may be separated from him
during the import. I'm not certain on that.

DR: Sound good. Here's the final question. Who would win in a fight, Irenicus or
Gandalf?

AM: [laughs] That's a tough one. I'd place my bets on Gandalf. He survived a fall
down a cavern with a Balrog, didn't he? My money's on him.

DR: Good thinking. Thanks for the time, Alan.

AM: My pleasure.