[dragon wench]

I was thinking about all of this and a number of things occurred to me:

*First of all, if we are truly serious here, before even continuing further we need to decide on a storyline and structure and then write up a detailed and professional outline. Some might suggest it would be a waste of time to do this before contacting Bioware, however, there is method to my madness. It is very likely that Bioware will have one of two possible responses, at least initially. They will either give a flat-out "No," or they might be willing to consider it if they can see a clearly outlined plan. It would look very good if we forwarded our plan along with our initial proposal because they would be far more likely to see us as serious and committed. Further, Bioware would want to see what we were intending, given the association of their name with the BG series. The fact that this would be an independent production would not matter.... people would still leap to the conclusion that Bioware had something to do with it.
Further, assuming they initially say "No," Bioware might be swayed with a well -written plan.

As far as a story and structure go, the biggest hurdle I can see right now is that some debate exists on whether to continue with the Bhaalspawn saga or start afresh. While I have plenty of warm, fuzzy nostalgia for the storyline and characters of BG2, and in some ways, I'd like to see a continuation, my instincts tell me that it would be much better to create a fairly original story for the following reasons:
> We won't run into complaints such as "Minsc/Jaheira/ etc. would never have said this," or "I never saw the story continuing like this."
> We would have far greater freedom which would allow for considerably more creativity (though we have to be true to the Forgotten Realms setting)
> Bioware is more likely to be amenable to something that does not involve a story or characters they originally had a hand in.

I think that it would make eminent sense to use the IWD series as a model here. We should situate the new story about 100 years after the events of BG2 have concluded. There would be reference to those events so that the player would feel that cozy spark of recollection, but the stories themselves would be utterly distinct from one another.

Finally (for now), I think it would make a great deal of sense to approach Jason Compton and Westley Weimer for advice and suggestions. They are two very important BG2 modders (currently engaged in actually making an Indie game, "The Broken Hourglass"), and Weimer is responsible for creating Weidu upon which so many mods are based.
These two have created some exceptionally high quality, professional calibre BG2 mods, and I suspect, were they willing to impart their wisdom, they would offer invaluable advice and information.