I think the problem seems to be Lucasart they push companies to relese games so early.
KOTR2 feels rushed at the end seems incomplete in other areas.
Obsidian i feel did the best they could in the time given. Even though they where using the system from KOTR1 there must have been time spent getting the hang of the programs that where used to make KOTR1.
I also rember getting Star Wars Galaxies when it first game out and that as well was incompletewith a lot of bugs ommisions and unbalanced classes. At the time a lot of people blamed SOE for it but since they released EQ2 which had no where near the amount of bugs, problems and didnt have any huge companies breathing down their neck to complete it.
So i think its Lucasarts thats to blame for the state of the game when it was released.