For me is the one thing to play BG2 cause it's something different.Somewhere i saw that the strongholds will be huge.The fighter's stronghold that is a keep will be same as Candlekeep and you will have army.Ranger will be one like tower with a village.The strongholds increse the quality of the game.
Farewell Drizzt the Dark

You're absolutely right.
And I'm definetely looking forward to the Druid-quest

The whole strongholds thing will be one of the best things in the whole game.

btw, i didn't know they'd be that big, WOW!

I really doubt if you get a Candlekeep sized stronghold for Fighters. I like the idea of strongholds but I think that something that size would require management by the player and that isn't really what the game is about. Probably castles would be much smaller with maybe 20 guards or so.

I'm really excited about strongholds. I don't think the figher keep will be a big as candlekeep but they will be some what large. At least part of a map section. Black Isle said you'd have to manage it to a degree. At least for plot reasons.

It would be very cool for you to be able to actually lead an army in climactic battles, like in the endbattle of the original Dark Sun game (how many remember that one?).
The Dark Sun games were never given the credit they deserved i think.

Now what would be really cool for strongholds is to have siege weapons such as catapults and balistae. I know that this might not work to well but I think that a siege wouldn't seem right without them.

I loved the Dark Sun games. I think that a end battle like that would be extremely cool. As far a siege weapons go don't count on it. It would be cool but it's not going to happen. I don't think that strongholds will be attack openly. By that I mean their maybe hidden attempts to take power from you but it will all be of the cloak and dagger kind.

You can check it out on the official baldurs gate 2 site in the FAQ go to www.blackisle.com (http://www.blackisle.com) and go fromt here. ALso, the fighters keep WILL be as big as candlekeep was, the ranger gets a cabin i think with a village around it, the mage gets a tower with many secrets and i think mages get to create magic items in the tower (quite certain this is official) the bard gets a playhouse and has to direct and rewrite a play then survive opening night or somethin. the thief gets a thieves guild, the druid becomes that grandmaster druid or whatever the highest title you can get. The paladin gets a holy sword and gets to join a paladin order. Dunno what the cleric gets i think its a chapel or monastery. Also the kits get the stronghold that their base class is.

So a fighter gets a castle as big as candlekeep, and a ranger gets a cabin? I know what career choice I'd make if I lived in faerun...

Although the idea is interesting, I only hope that the developers don't make it the center of the game because if they do that they may ruin the game!

Strongholds are not the center of the game. They are not even plot critical. You can beat the main quest without even having a stronghold. And the ranger gets a village with a cabin or tower I've heard both. A whole village or a castle they are close in size.

What I mean is that I don't want to have to do micro-management, and turn the game into a strategy game, an RTS game. I like RTS games, but its not what I'm looking for in an RPG.