Gothic 2 vs. Gothic 2 Gold

[Thaurin]

Hi,

I have played the original first Gothic and loved it to death, but then only got to chapter two of Gothic 2 before I quit. Now I want to start it again, but we have Night of the Raven and Gothic 2 Gold out now.

I saw some reviews telling me how much of the original Gothic 2 has changed and that it was much harder. For that reason the reviewer advised to play the original Gothic 2 first. What I'm wondering is, since you have to start all over again in Gold, what you would advise me-- go the direct route with Gold or would going through the original be better? I figure that all the original content is in Gold as well, and that Night of the Raven is actually a lot better (and bigger) than the original.

It's going to almost feel if I'm playing the game twice (which I hardly do for any game), I fear.

Suggestions?

[Zaratul]

I say - U play G2 Classic and then NOTR - one reason - G3 will be based on G2 classic ;)
And NOTR is realy harder!!! ;)

P.S. Welcome to our comunity! Feel free to post about Yourself in Welcome thread (http://forum.worldofplayers.de/forum/showthread.php?t=124661&page=12)! :D

[Thaurin]

Thanks!

Well, I don't really care for the more difficult part, but isn't the main story the same as the classic in Gold? I mean, there will be a side story, I assume, the expansion pack story, but in the end the core would be the same (but... extended), right?

I just don't want to miss out of Night of the Raven, but I have too little time to play huge games as it is. ;)

[SlamDunk]

I definitely recommend you get Night Of The Raven. It makes Gothic 2 even bigger and, yes, even better. It is harder though because of the extra cost of LP for skill increases.

I have played games since 1979 and G2: NOTR is the best game I have ever played. I have previously avoided saying things like that because I have always had great difficulty to separate just one game that is the best, but with NOTR I can say it with all my heart.

Can't wait to see if G3 dethrones G2: NOTR :)

[Thaurin]

So you're saying, since you didn't spell it out like that, that I could easily skip the classic Gothic 2 without the expansion, and go straight to Night of the Raven? I think I can learn to live with the increased difficulty, but I won't miss anything from the original Gothic 2, I hope...

[SlamDunk]

Nope. You won't miss anything from the original Gothic 2. The add-on content is played alongside the main G2 story line.

[Thaurin]

Okay, that's great. Then it's safe to get the English version of Gothic 2 Gold. :D Although it's pretty hard to get. I don't even think it got released in Europe? It's not even in the Piranha's webshop: they only have the German version.

[elkston]

The difficulty of the add-on is always overstated. Yes, it is more difficult than vanilla Gothic 2. But it is not so difficult as to be unplayable.

You already have experience in Gothic2 and Gothic 1. You kinda know how things work. You'll be okay. Just make sure you specialize your character and try to not be a "Jack of all trades".

[Thaurin]

No, I already got that from Gothic 2... still I do have some difficult decisions to make, like how much to spend on hunting skills or the other professions. Or, how to (or if I should) maximize by waiting for the right time to quaff permanent skill boosters or optimize my skill point spending. Maybe something for another thread, eh? ;) There's also plenty walkthroughs available, anyway. For a game like this, I feel it actually increases the fun.

[WernerTWC]

For that reason the reviewer advised to play the original Gothic 2 first. What I'm wondering is, since you have to start all over again in Gold, what you would advise me-- go the direct route with Gold or would going through the original be better?
Hi and §welcome!

I would suggest you to play first g2 classic and after that the AddOn. That has the advantage that when you after that play NotR then you'll reconize the new things from the AddOn, and that makes the AddOn more joyful, imho.
Furthermore you should play the 2nd game-through in a different way, i.e. you can play g2 as a melee fighter with swords, and then NotR i.e. as a mage, so there will be enough different things.


I say - U play G2 Classic and then NOTR - one reason - G3 will be based on G2 classic ;)
Funny, i never heard a single official word about that. Can you give an evidence, a link? Afaik this rumor is going around here since we discussed it, but again, i never read anything official about it.


P.S. Welcome to our comunity! Feel free to post about Yourself in Welcome thread (http://forum.worldofplayers.de/forum/showthread.php?t=124661&page=12)! :D
You getting old, eh?! :p Didn't you forgot something?! :D ;)

[Thaurin]

Hi and §welcome!

Thanks!


I would suggest you to play first g2 classic and after that the AddOn. That has the advantage that when you after that play NotR then you'll reconize the new things from the AddOn, and that makes the AddOn more joyful, imho.

Heh-- I was already dreading the claimed extra 30 hours of gameplay of Night of the Raven to an already lengthy game. My mind tends to wander and I never finish the game (through no fault of the game itself-- short attention span, I guess ;)). I can see the merit in this (I was very sad that I lost interest when I was at chapter 2, since by then I got to revisit the Valley of the Mines, yay), but I'm still unsure if there won't be too much content that I've already seen. I've never played through any game twice as far as I can remember. Yeah, Gothic is different, though, with its factions.

But anyway, wasn't the Gold version a vastly improved version of the original? (that is, won't my *Gothic 2* experience be so much better with Gold?) Also, I'm already curious about Night of the Raven, since I've seen screenshots and read reviews. ;) Oh, and it finishes after chapter 2, anyway (or so I have read).


Furthermore you should play the 2nd game-through in a different way, i.e. you can play g2 as a melee fighter with swords, and then NotR i.e. as a mage, so there will be enough different things.

Yup, as I said, there is a great deal of content you never get to see if you only play through once. But I didn't ever do it for the first Gothic game! Too many other games and things to do in life, I guess. Hmpf, I'm still undecided. :D

[WernerTWC]

But anyway, wasn't the Gold version a vastly improved version of the original? (that is, won't my *Gothic 2* experience be so much better with Gold?) Also, I'm already curious about Night of the Raven, since I've seen screenshots and read reviews. ;) Oh, and it finishes after chapter 2, anyway (or so I have read).
The gold version isn't "improved", i know that the gold-addon has the version nr. 2.7, "normal" patches goes up to 2.6. But i never heard of improvments.


But I didn't ever do it for the first Gothic game! Too many other games and things to do in life, I guess. Hmpf, I'm still undecided. :D
Well, i coudn't stand to left out one camp in g1, that would mean i didn't know every single spoken line in the game, and i'm courious about every line because of it's great story.
But because of that you played g1 also only once, maybe, just maybe it could be better for you to play all at once (g2+NotR). But still, you would miss some fun, imho!

[Thaurin]

The gold version isn't "improved", i know that the gold-addon has the version nr. 2.7, "normal" patches goes up to 2.6. But i never heard of improvments.

Well, more dialog options, loose ends tied and more possible solutions to quests sound appealing. It's been called the "Director's Cut" of the original Gothic 2. Really scared of missing out on a lot if I decide that it's too tedious to restart with TNotR after I finish Gothic 2, can you tell? ;)


Well, i coudn't stand to left out one camp in g1, that would mean i didn't know every single spoken line in the game, and i'm courious about every line because of it's great story.
But because of that you played g1 also only once, maybe, just maybe it could be better for you to play all at once (g2+NotR). But still, you would miss some fun, imho!

I'm a really undecisive bastard. :D I get your point, but I have a history of never completing a long list of really great games and I really feel bad about it because I do want to finish them and see how they end. I have over 20 games installed on my HD right now. :D Also, I'd lose about 10 hours of play on Gothic 2 if I'd start over, so maybe I'll just ride it out on the old version.

Decisions, decisions... :rolleyes: Can you install both next each other? Maybe I'll get it anyway and try both and see where that gets me. ;)

[WernerTWC]

Well, more dialog options, loose ends tied and more possible solutions to quests sound appealing. It's been called the "Director's Cut" of the original Gothic 2. Really scared of missing out on a lot if I decide that it's too tedious to restart with TNotR after I finish Gothic 2, can you tell? ;)
Maybe we misunderstood each other here, what i mean, if you have the gold-edition, then you have g2-classic and the AddOn. If you play gothic 2 classic from the gold-edition, then there is no difference to the g2-classic what you can buy apart from the gold-edition.


Can you install both next each other? Maybe I'll get it anyway and try both and see where that gets me. ;)
You can install both of them, BUT you cannot exchange the savegames, this means you would have to start and play both games, imho that is not such a good idea. ;)

[Thaurin]

Maybe we misunderstood each other here, what i mean, if you have the gold-edition, then you have g2-classic and the AddOn. If you play gothic 2 classic from the gold-edition, then there is no difference to the g2-classic what you can buy apart from the gold-edition.

Right, well I already have the classic Gothic, but I might buy the Gold (rather than just the expansion), just because I like having a complete package. :D Maybe it's silly and I'll end up with duplicate CD's, but oh well.


You can install both of them, BUT you cannot exchange the savegames, this means you would have to start and play both games, imho that is not such a good idea. ;)

Yeah, that doesn't matter. I'm already playing classic. I just wanted to know if it'd be possible to check out the Gold version without uninstalling classic so I can quench my curiosity. ;) Maybe when that works, I'll stick with classic as a mercenary (I feel I should be loyal to my friends from Gothic 1) and start over with Gold as a mage. Problem is, they say it's excruciatingly hard as a mage... opinions may vary.

Yes, maybe I'll keep Gothic 2 around for some time, but I've also still got Baldur's Gate 2. Another few hundred hours of gameplay, anyone? And then we'll have Gothic 3 in no time, too. Damn it!

[WernerTWC]

Before you install the AddOn, make a backup of the savegame-folder of the classic g2, i am not sure right now if it will overwrite the old saves, i doubt so, but only to be on the safe-side make a backup (just copy and paste it i.e. to the desktop).

[Thaurin]

I was planning to install it in a separate directory altogether, but yeah, I'll probably make a backup too when I install it. Hmm, right now I have a mind to take your advise and just go on with my current (classic) save games. Thanks to all for your insights!

[Zaratul]

Funny, i never heard a single official word about that. Can you give an evidence, a link? Afaik this rumor is going around here since we discussed it, but again, i never read anything official about it.

hmmm... I`m not sure, but I know deffenetly that PB didn`t say about G3 based on NOTR!!! ;) (I`ll have a better search about it)



You getting old, eh?! :p Didn't you forgot something?! :D ;)

Ohh yeah right! :D
@Thaurin - Don`t forget to read our Netiquette (http://forum.worldofplayers.de/forum/announcement.php?f=160&a=55) ;)


hmm... maybe I am going old...§weissnich