Gothic 1 & 2 were great games. I'd suggest anyone who likes Action/RPG's to play through both. I understand that the G2 add-on makes quite an improvement, but I'd recommend knowing a little German if you want to get the most out of it. I'm a little doubtful about how well Gothic 3 is going to do outside of Germany though.
This is because of the bad taste that the whole Add-On affair is leaving in people's mouths. Most American Gothic Fans don't really expect a U.S. release, but they do expect an English language version to be released in Europe, even if the only way to get it is through the purchase of a "Gold Edition" of Gothic 2.
I think that most English speaking fans feel that we've been getting the run around, with JoWood blaming Atari or supposedly handing it off to Koch media or whatever, to explain why it hasn't been published. Since fans were told early on that an English translation had been done, I for one am not buying that excuse anymore either. I've come to the conclusion that the delay is at least somewhat politically motivated, which is a real shame for the gaming community!
You can tell by reading the various bulletin boards that have forums for Gothic 2 that a lot of English speaking fans are getting quite fed up with the whole situation. If I was JoWood, I wouldn't expect a lot of U.S. sales of Gothic 3 if an English language version of the G2 add-on isn't available before Gothic 3 comes out. At least I know that I won't be lining up to buy a copy and have it shipped over.