I've never played any BG game before, and after starting BG2 yesterday I have some questions.

1- I haven't reached the exit of the prison you start in yet, but so far I have managed to get two of my partymembers killed already :-p

Mainly from rushing in Gung Ho style and thinking to much Rambo I guess.
So are they permanently gone from the game now? The first character that died (I think) screamed 'I can't take it anymore, I'll see you at the outside' and bam, she was gone.

The second character got brutaly massacred and didn't even stand a chance.

So now it's me and that crazy Minsc guy that's left.
Are they permanently gone now?

2- Does it matter if you get your partymembers killed? Is there an infinite amount of fresh replacements available throughout the game?

3- How does the gear work? Stats look kinda weird ... Sword that has 1D8? What does that mean?

4- If you want to play like a solo-evil-minded-mofo is that viable? Can you use your party as meat puppets?

5- Is it worth collecting all the loot you don't need/use to sell it off later? Because my inventories are stacking up quick.

6- Have I been tainted by 'modern' RPGs to much and it is best to flush all my 'knowledge' down the drain?

1. This is tied to your question 6, to which the answer is 'yes'. If you started off this badly in BG2, you really need to put the brakes on and realise that this game will dump you in the gutter at every turn if you try to be a Rambo. The character who ran off is your childhood friend Imoen, and in this level she cannot die -- she's essential to the story -- so you haven't lost her. The second character is gone for good, if by 'brutally massacred' you mean her portrait disappeared from your party roster. That would mean she was killed with massive damage, and can never be resurrected. If her portrait is still in your roster (greyed) then you may restore her at a temple when you have enough money.

2. There are a number of potential recruits throughout the game, but certainly not infinite -- if you're taking party members, look after them.

3. The game uses virtual dice for stats and combat. 1D8 means a single 8 sided dice (1 Dice 8 sided). 2D8 would mean 2 8 sided dice. Most of what you need to know here is in the manual.

4. Yes, you can go solo, but from your initial experience I would say it's not advisable... yet. You may use your party members at meat puppets if you wish. It's your game.

5. Don't collect worthless ammo and weapons, ie. that which you are not using or don't need. Collect only enchanted weapons and armour for selling. Money is tight to start, but you soon have more than you need.

6. Yes.

Edit: Ack... ninja'd

Thank you both :-)

I got BG2 as a gift, and thought it would be doable to play without knowing the events of the first game.

Yes, the second partymember disappeared from the party interface, but she died a warrior's death, no harm done :-p. That's why I got confused, because Imoen wasn't there as well. And when she died I didn't yet change the setting to make the game turn based. So it all happened pretty chaotic.

The manual is probably a good idea, although I can't remember the last time I actually read a manual of a game. In the old days you did that because installing took ages :-p

I never was into D&D games when I was younger, I preferred flight sims etc (Chuck Yeagers Air Combat) Yes, I noticed this after getting 2 partymembers killed :-p
Making it all turn based in the settings is a lot easier to manage the combat. You can pick your position better, get people at range etc.

I chose a fighter class to start with, because it usually is easier (more forgiving?). But I'm actually more curious about a thief class. But is it more difficult to play? Hehe, thanks for saying it mildly.
Olnorton makes a great suggestion saying that they can carry stuff as well.

Oh one last silly question (forgive me), when starting up BG2 you can choose the base game or the expansion. I need to do the base game first right? It's not like Titans Quest Immortal Throne in which the base game gets expanded and has extra content/features ...

Edit: Thought I could mark more than one post as containing answers / solution.

You can play Throne of Bhaal as a standalone if you wish, but it makes far more sense, and is more enjoyable, to go right through from the start of SoA -- at the end of SoA the game immediately takes you into ToB with your current party members and all currently legal gear, in a relatively seamless continuation.

Awesome thank you very much.

I'd recommend to start with BG1 first actually, as BG2's story will make more sense then, and you'll know some NPCs that are carried across a bit better, plus the combat and spell system. But if you don't want to do that, as it's kind of needed to play the game in BG2's engine via easyTutu or BGT, you should be fine to just continue. Take your time in combat and play around with the spells (read descriptions, with right-click on the spell) and you will know better what to use when.

One thing to be mindful of if you allow your companions to die is experience points. All XP you earn is shared evenly between party members, and there are no refunds if any of them die or are dismissed. This means you'll be under-leveled if you're constantly switching party members as opposed to picking a team and sticking with it. For a first playthrough, I'd strongly recommend picking a group of 4 NPC's (leave an open slot; I find the game is slightly easier with a smaller but higher-level party, plus the best NPC companion in the game only becomes available in the expansion pack so keeping an open spot for him is a good idea). I'd recommend playing a Fighter/Thief multi-class if you want to play a thief. This gives you a better balance of combat abilities without too much of sacrifice of your thieving skills. This is actually a very nice combo since the game has too few competent thief NPC's (a grand total of two) so filling the role yourself makes a lot of sense.

Regardless of whether you're playing pure fighter or a fighter multi-class, ensure you have maxed out your strength and dexterity scores! The Baldur's Gate series doesn't use a point-buy system like the later Neverwinter Nights games, and the 2nd edition rules heavily penalize you for having average statistics, so maxing out your relevant ability scores is