I remember in earlier version, it was possible to install Gothic 2 without NotR, but the most recent download has no NotR option.

Help, please? Gothic2 is too frustrating for my ten year old son with NotR installed...

Ah, but it does! After downloading, there is an option to do so as I recall. Check past threads as there has been directions on how to do it several times.

OK, I sort of stand corrected. Not actual directions but points you in the right direction: "Gothic II's increased difficulty is due to installing the Night of the Raven expansion by default but you can deselect this in the installer's options to get the original Gothic II experience." - Arkose, Jun 19, 2013.

Arkose: is there a way to verify that the option no longer exists without buying the game again?

Unfortunately the new GOG installer no longer allows deselecting the expansion in the installer option. The old installer has this option for those that still have a copy of it but it's no longer accessible otherwise.

Gothic II NotR Customizer allows adjusting the numbers for various features, essentially making a custom difficulty level, but I haven't tried it myself so I don't know how it works. Hopefully it could be used to reach a more vanilla level of difficulty (EDIT: changed link to English version--thanks darkpadawan). The new installer includes a Windows 8 fix but I don't think the game itself is a newer version (the fix doesn't change the EXE itself); if you're using Windows 8 you can achieve the same result on the old installer's version by applying the Gothic and Gothic II fullscreen border fix.

I have just downloaded Gothic II Gold today. I also want to play the original game (not the Night of the Raven expansion). Is this possible?

I contacted the support to ask the same question. Apparently it is not possible anymore, for reasons unknown.

The expansion is making the game so difficult I'm considering asking for a refund.

The current version is "2.7"; the other version is 1.32.

That seems significant to me.

I meant the EXE for Night of the Raven, which is identical to the one in the old installer (same checksums); vanilla Gothic II has a different EXE and many other files but as noted it is no longer included in the GOG installer.

Thanks for that, it's no big deal for me as I will still enjoy the game. I have played both Gothic II and Night of the Raven previously and I do prefer the original version. When GOG offered Gothic II Gold at sale price I grabbed it for my laptop.

However the game description does state 'Includes Gothic II and the expansion pack Night of the Raven', so that's not quite factual.

There is a modification that removes NotR: Gothic II Classic Mod
Description says it should work with the English version.

It's not exactly the same, but very similar. Haven't tried it myself.

EDIT:
According to the description, there are following differences between the "real" classic version, and this mod:
-) You can do the Novice quest in Chapter 2, which was not possible
-) several exploits and bugs were fixed
-) There are new ways to defeat the final boss (I'll keep this one vague, so not to spoil anyone)
-) What they kept from the add-on, is that it is harder to climb the city walls
-) There are also some visual effects retained from NotR, magic spells for example
-) They're not sure if there are differences between Classic and the Add-on regarding textures, music and the fighting AI of the monsters. If there are, they're also in this mod.
-) With 1.1 you now get 30% of the price with merchants, as it was in the original (in NotR it's only 15%)
-) They've also reimplemented the possibility to finish the game without joining a guild

The customizer modifies the amount of exp points you gain, so in fact doesn't change the difficulty, but allows a more fast 'level up'.
Although it have multiple options, in my experience I think the 'easy' button is the best option to get a level of difficulty similar to G2 without NotR... maybe a little more easy.

This link is for the english version:

http://www.worldofgothic.com/?go=dlfile&fileid=100

I used notrcustom and hit the "easy" button. This seems a more reasonable experience; I can at least kill a few things now!

Stupid question: is there any way to get Gothic 2 GOG installer (vanilla w/o Night of the Raven addon)?
I searched most of the torrent engines, no luck.
Do YOU (a proud user) have it somewhere on your HDD (cloud storage/etc.)?

From what I gathered there used to be the option to send GoG a message requesting the vanilla version, and they would give you a temporary login to their FTP server where you could download it. I have no clue whether or not this will still work.

Please don't forget to sign this petition:
https://www.gog.com/wishlist/games/gothic_ii_vanilla

Any indication to your sources will be highly appreciated.
I am to book a ticket to support team on my side.
EDIT: ticket#142981 created

I gave my 112th vote.