Hereby I would like to introduce you to Stefan Berger, who has worked for Jowood for 9 years. After a lot of persuasion he is ready to take on my questions. Before we start, I already know him longer than any other person at Jowood, and many will have met him at the Games Convention in Leipzig. He has been with the company, just as long as Jowood has something to do with Gothic, so a very long time. He has shared the ups and downs and can certainly answer some questions and shed light on some things. Let's see what I can lure out of him.
World of Gothic:	Can you tell a bit about yourself?
Stefan Berger:	I'm 27 years old and am a qualified vendor. In 2001 I turned my hobby into my profession and I entered JoWooD as a sales assistant. After various positions that I could have in the company, I landed in the Business Development Division, where decisions about future JoWooD titles are made.
World of Gothic:	Then the question of whether and what you play is superfluous?
Stefan Berger:	I play a lot and probably buy a game every day. Meanwhile, I own about 3000-4000 games. I am "allowed" to play a lot of course (although it can also be quite stressful to be obliged to play a game, believe it or not).
World of Gothic:	But surely not all of them? There would be no time left for the other beautiful things in life?
Stefan Berger:	Well, there are some things in life that are more important than games. I am happily married and my wife also works in the same company as me. Together, we are happy parents of a future gamer (already seen playing at the age of 2 ½ on the Nintendo DS). Unfortunately I play most games only for a few hours, to assess their quality and strengths and weaknesses. Now and then it grabs me and then I really play. Currently I play Torchlight, Tropico 3 and Panzer General 2 (the classic game). I am also looking happily forward to "the Witcher 2", which I could have a closer look at, at the E3, and of course Arcania – Gothic 4 as well.
World of Gothic:	How was your first personal encounter with Gothic?
Stefan Berger:	The first time I did read something about it was in the magazine GameStar, in the year 2000. At the time, I was waiting for Ultima 9 Ascension. The Ultima games from Richard Garriott had been my absolute favorite until then, so I was very curious how Ultima 9 Ascension would do against the "German" Gothic. To be frank, I have spent several times more time with Gothic, than with the hyped Ultima 9, which speaks for Gothic. I was totally impressed by the earthy and genuine atmosphere. When I started at Jowood and learned that we will work with this great game, I was of course very happy. We came to the title in a roundabout way, as the former publisher had financial problems. When the game was put on the table in mid-2001, I immediately registered myself as a product manager for the Gothic series. It was immediately clear to me that a lot would be possible in sequels of the game, also internationally. At that time (2002), we sought with the developer for a solution, to publish the game together in the best possible way. We knew the quality of Gothic 1 and were aware of the potential of Gothic 2, which could be turned into a potential hit with good marketing and a strong PR. It was only a matter of time until we signed the contracts with the developers. And what can I say: Gothic has cost me many sleepless nights until today, but I wouldn’t want to miss a second of this time. I learned a lot, experienced successes and failures. But you learn from mistakes and can then avoid them in the future.
World of Gothic:	How were the first contacts?
Stefan Berger:	The first contacts were with the previous publishers of the game. We had meetings together and so were already able to talk about the project in detail.
World of Gothic:	What was so fascinating about the game Gothic, that you wanted to bear the financial risk?
Stefan Berger:	I was fascinated by the incredibly detailed and vibrant game world, the playing depth that was and still is one-of-a-kind, and also the great fan community that was eagerly anticipating a sequel. Also the gaming magazines showed a lot of interest and always asked for new material.
World of Gothic:	What does the world of Gothic mean to you personally?
Stefan Berger:	The world of Gothic including its stories is just terrific. It gave me many wonderful hours of gameplay full of suspense. I was fascinated in particular by the unique characters and their characteristics, which embody that well-known Gothic feeling. All in all, the parts of the Gothic series remain the best RPG‘s I've ever played.
World of Gothic:	Arcania triggers quite controversial discussions in our forums. There are many who speak about, that with Arcania the Gothic world and its uniqueness will be damaged. But there are also voices that want to give the game a chance. Above all, the things that are supposedly Gothic-atypical, are criticized.
Stefan Berger:	Of course, we are meeting a challenge here. On the one hand we don’t want to disappoint the old fans, on the other hand the game should also become an international success. We also want to accomplish that the world takes note that an RGP developed in old Europe can also compete internationally. This year's E3 demonstrated the quality and the huge potential of ArcaniA, the game has received much positive feedback. Of course it is not easy to cope with the expectations of just every player, there are many different perceptions of what makes gaming fun, so we try to find the optimal way. And from my point of view we must stand and face both the national and international competition. It really is a very difficult balancing act, putting together the ideas of the developers, the wishes of the fans and the demands of the market.
World of Gothic:	Thanks for the passionate plea. But now to more concrete things. At what stage are you with Arcania?
Stefan Berger:	Basically, the game is finished. Now it's about tracing errors, to further revive the world, to refine graphic details, just applying all the finishing touches in the game. Not to mention the submission at the end of the day to the platform holders ...
World of Gothic:	You have already shown a few things at the E3. When will we see something of the PC version?
Stefan Berger:	We have only shown the console version at the E3. Of course, we have observed the discussions in the forums and are able to announce an all-clear on various topics. For instance the instant dissappearance of grass at approach is a feature that allows you to see smaller monsters more easily. This feature can be disabled easily in the Options menu... There will also be a demo version of the game. We will definitely not hide from the fans, the game is simply too good for that. And the release is also not that far away ...
World of Gothic:	And what do you have in stock for the passionate collector like me?
Stefan Berger:	There will be a Special Edition. I cannot be more accurate because we are still working on it. We even have more surprises for the players, but more about that in the near future ...
	Translation by bigsnappy Original article by meditate