*This* is what I feel gave Baldur's Gate and Neverwinter Nights their feeling of expansiveness-- they were essentially attempts at full simulations of their particular regions of Faerun, fully plotting both the cities of Baldur's Gate and Neverwinter *and* their surroundings-- wilderness, towns and all.
Ha! And this is what I call lack of content
Not so controvertial oppinion though - I know of couple people who think Baldur's Gate1 is stronger due to feel of exploration it has.
I take the opposite tack. For me, it's the voids between modules on the BG2 map that strike me as the lack of content-- it would be as if on the BG1 map it only had Nashkel, Ulcaster, Firewine Bridge and Cloakwood Mines with nothing in between. (And at least then half of them would be relevant to the plot!) The first half of BG2 just feels like an unfinished game to me. 
