I'm mostly interested in Gothic 3 but will I miss a lot, story-wise, if I haven't played the first 2 games ?

the story of gothic 3 wont make much sens wether you've played the other 2 or not. the story telling in gothic 3 is horrible.
as you probably know the 3rd game differs quiet a lot from the first 2 and most fans considdered it the black sheep of the series till a darker than black sheep took the cake.

if you are really only interested in the 3rd just play it. if you're looking for a great rpg give the first 2 a try you can still quit them if they don't appel to you.

I like Gothic 3, but Gothic 1 and 2 are really wonderful, I really suggest you to play them in any case.
It's true that in Gothic 3 the plot seems quite indipendent, because there are many changes from Gothic 1-2 to Gothic 3. On the other side, in Gothic 3 you will meet a lot of characters from the previous games (both friends and acquaintances) and, if you don't already know them, you will lose a lot of immersion.
Finally, in the first two Gothic there are some lore informations, which Piranha Bytes put in practice just in Gothic 3 and it's funny playing the games in order, to see how those original ideas were implemented after several years. :)

Gothic 2 with the expansion is widely regarded as one of the most wonderful games of all time. Skipping it isn't the best idea.

I also suggest you play 1 and 2 first. They are really nice games => they are worth to be played => better to play them in the chronological order. As Colmar said, some of the lore exposed in the two first opuses is only unveiled in the third opus.

Hey,

Gothic 1 = A truly masterpiece of its kind (don't start with clunky controls stuff, only newbs do that);
Gothic 2 = An excellent game, and a worthy sequel;
Gothic 3 = An very good, but also a most unfortunately hurried release, and a decent sequel to Gothic 2. I recommend AB and AI on, on a medium difficulty for starters.

My 2 cents. :)

You'll miss some, not a lot. You don't HAVE to play the first games, but they can make you feel more connected to G3 and enjoy it more.

You sound like you're not that interested in 1 or 2, and I'm guessing that's because you don't like how the games look. 1 and 2 are long games, and will take a lot of time to finish each. If the games look too old to you and you don't think you'll enjoy them, then by all means skip them. For me, I've found that playing games I didn't like just for the small amount of lore I would get, was never worth it. Games should feel fun, not like work.

With that said, I personally love 1 and 2, and have replayed them a few times. I also played them when they were new, and don't care much about game graphics. Watch some Lets Plays for 1 and see if make you want to play, or turn you off.

If you have the time and energy, I think they're very good games and you should play them. If you don't, then skip them.