The bit I find most interesting is the part about an add-on. I remember someone in rpgdot forums saying how incomplete the dialogue is, particularly with main characters. If you will remember, this harkens back to G2 before the add-on: NOTR. Although a very well crafted game, the first version lacked in many ways that hard-core Gothic fans took note of - eg: incomplete dialogue, map areas underutilized.
This is an interesting analogy and I have thought about it a bit myself.
However, I never thought the dialog in G2 was shallow - a feeling I get about
some of the dialogs and a good number of side-quests in G3.
To me G2 was just as "deep" as G1 as far as the characters were concerened
and its faults were a rushed ending, late game balance, and too much hack&slash
towards the end.
The rift between G2/G1 and G3 is greater, IMHO. No doubt the construction
of the world is sublime in G3 and with some work (mostly in opponent AI)
the combat will be good too. But what is harder to fix is the shallowness
invloved in dialogue, quest, and certain plot elements that to me is
the result of the developers spreading themselves too thin. For the most part the dialogues
and stuff are very "Gothicy" -- don't get me wrong. But they don't
go on as long or are as varied as the ones we saw in G1&G2. And I truly
think this is because they tried to have too many characters, quests and maybe,
just maybe too big a world.
I am level 50 currently and have by my estimates, finished 65-70% of the game.
There are really no memorable
new characters like the people you could
never forget from G2&G1. I also haven't run across any really neat side quests
like the ones in G2 or G1. What about something fun and interesting like the drinking contest? There was just too much to do that focusing on little memorable
details like that got lost in the shuffle.
Granted, every once in a while I will run into a character or some dialogue that will harken back to that old days. And then I will know that PB hasn't lost their magic -- its just gotten diluted with all the stuff such a huge world as G3 needs.
One example of this:
There is a guy that runs a farm on the outskirts of Gelden. In the dialogue he doesn't just dish out some quest for you or ask for help. Instead he talks about how the Orcs seem to have made some deal with the Hashishan and that maybe they (the Orcs) are afraid of them. I know its not very big, but its just little things like that that touch on larger plot & politics that I love. And in G1 & G2 almost every character had something to say about the world or their predicament that wasn't in some way related to giving you a quest. It was just background stuff to add color.
I didn't want this to turn into a review
Even though I have spent a lot
of time in the game, I have only gone about 25% of the main plot. Mostly,
as my play style dictactes, I do most of the sidequests first and then proceed
with the main plot last. At this point I have visited all the cities in Myrtana,
half of the desert, and the Wolf & Fire clans in Nordmar. Haven't seen Xardas
yet.
So anyway, maybe things are more interesting in the MAIN plot and I haven't
gotten to it yet. I keep playing regardless because its still
Gothic and
that means its better than a heap of other stuff out there!!!