Will we be able to veiw other friends characters somehow other than seeing them in person? Also what about half vampire/werewolf
You should be able to see what your friends are doing by bringing up your friends list and if somebody was playing Skyrim you could bring up a spreadsheet of what character, stats and talent points they have.
I also wouldn't mind the Fable II orb approach without joining there game would be a nice alternative to having online co-op.
But i'm certain they wouldn't implement any of this.