well, i just beat the game. Overall the game was great, but the ending was a little meh. You finish your final task, you get about 2 lines of dialogue and POOF, game over. Really? Couldn't give me a little more?

For a first time game, they did fantastically.
The ending was indeed rushed... but Gothic success made it possible for international ports and we got Gothic 2 instead.
Then we got a überrushed Gothic 3 (so sad, had they had one more year...) that might have been to the Gothic serie what Ultima IX might have been to Ultima... in a better world.
And a few months ago we got a craptistical Gothic 3 Addon with even more bugs and so unfinished that Dugeon Lords may look like Ultima VII in terms of content compared to it.

Thank you so much Jowood. I wonder how much more you may have made if you had been patient. You wouldn't have gone under thanks to your little side-games.

I have high hopes though for Risen.

Try the mods
www.worldofgothic.com
Most of them are in German though.

It was indeed a rushed ending, but they were aiming towards making a sequel. And the ending made the start of Gothic 2 much more plausible.