According to 3D Artist and Marketing Manager Tom Putzki, one of the design team's goals was to make Gothic easy to start and to play. Accordingly, there is no complex character generation process or statistical micro-management. You start the game immediately and how you play determines both class and character development, with the latter being represented visually. By way of example, Tom showed how a neophyte character swings a sword, and then demonstrated a couple of attacks by an advanced one that were much smoother and more complex in execution. Within the game, there are four different guilds available to join.
Warriors are straightforward fighters while Thieves are much more sneaky and crafty.
Each of these offers its own specific set of benefits as well as different tasks that the player can choose to tackle. Gothic can be played in fairly linear fashion by following the main story path, or in a more open manner by undertaking an assortment of jobs and puzzles. Another design goal was to create a believable game world. Tom stated that neither NPCs nor monsters will simply stand around waiting for things to happen. Rather, they will have their own lives.