My information regarding Basic Roleplaying comes from two sources: first, Chaosium. Charlie Krank, Chaosium CEO was at a convention I run in the summer and I talked to him a lot during the con.
Second, I'm one of the playtesters on the new version of BRP, so I've been messing around with the system in various settings, and obviously there are ongoing discussions between the playtesters, the author (Jason Durall) and Chaosium.
The Chaosium website is quiet on the whole new BRP thing precisely because, until there's a product ready for production and sale, all that will happen is that hopes will be raised and then tons of flak would result if the book was delayed for any reason (forseeable or unforseen). Better to be certain of things like page count, format, release date and so forth and then give timely, reliable, usable and complete info than just raise hopes on speculation.
The system will be called Basic Roleplaying: The Chaosium System. It's the definitve collection of all the various BRP variants there have been over the years: RQ, Cthulhu, Stormbringer/Elric, Elfquest, Ringworld, Worlds of Wonder, etc. All the core mechanics are there as the base system, with LOTS of advice and guidance on scaling the system to suit your genre and playing style. So, if you want a heroic game with lots of crunch and bite, it's easy to create highly skilled characters that have RQ3 strike ranks, Fatigue Points and even Sanity rolls. If you want something more streamlined, then the core system can cope with it.
It's a very complete book, and some areas, such as magic and super-powers, have needed a lot of playtesting and additional work to ensure there's a smooth, workable system. That's part of the reason why BRP isn't out yet; Jason Durall and Chaosium want to ensure they get it right, frame it right, and then release it at the right time. This'll minimise the needs for user-tweaks, house rules, etc (not that that won't happen... happens with every system).
A long winded answer to a simple question!
