Let me sum up the changes for modding (as far as I understood):
A) Skripting updated to
ToB-Level.
B) Some Fixes and Mods included.
C) GUI can be modded.
A) can be done by using
BGT, B by installing bg2fixpack, tobex and so on and for C) ... I like the
BG2-GUI.
So for me there is no mind-boggeling reason why so many people would start to mod if you still have more or less the same scripting and are in need of edit textfiles and a bunch of
WeiDU-Fu. I also guess that most guys that will buy the game did so before, since if you like RPG, it's unlikely that you would have missed that one game and run through it now and start to think: Wow , this game needs some modding. I'd also dare to say that if you like to play with a game editor, other games like NWN or so (which ship with one) may be more attractive. If it will be that way, I'd guess that a lot of them could be modified to be used in the "older" versions of the game.
Don't get me wrong, it will not hurt for
EE to come out and all, but I don't see the big impact for modding.