Overhearing conversations isn't anything new in the CRPG world. You can do it in Ultima VII which was released way back in 1992, which I'd regard as being much more revolutionary than any of the aforementioned games, despite the fact that its an isometric game. Furthermore, it also had NPC schedules where people would work, have breaks, go home or go to the pub and then go to sleep and start all over again the next day.
I'm also enthusiastic about possibly getting my paws on the Gothic games, which I've heard only glowing reports about. However, try not to give away any spoilers on the games if possible - though its good to hear its fans talk about it!
Being the chronlogical obsessive that I am, I'll be playing them in order too as I've done as closely as possible with the Ultima series.
I just hope Oblivion isn't as infuriatingly buggy as my experience of Morrowind was. I suffered far too many random freezes and CTDS - not that it really got too far in the way of the immersion factor.
So what first person game have you decided to go for, Huwge? Any more luck with Arx? Gather your knowledge well and you'll be rewarded!
Cheers,
Cerebrodragon
P.S
Another first person cRPG series I forgot to mention in my initial post were Lands of Lore I-III. I'm actually attempting to make inroads into the second game at the moment, although it is definitely not going to come near to the classic Eye of Beholder like dungeon adventure amalgam that was the original.