Today, I finally got around to downloading all the patches and updates. At least, I think it was all. I am now running Version 4.1.1.3735951. Until a few hours ago, I was still playing the game in its Release Day version. I was ready to resume my Dark Urge playthrough I started this afternoon. Cue the silence bug. I can only echo the OP: deeply frustrating and disappointing.
EDIT:
I fixed my problem. Not sure what exactly did it. I uninstalled BG3 last night and set about reinstalling overnight. This morning, I launched the game and noticed I was getting an error message on Steam ... something about "Mismatched data" or some such. The error message gave me a path to navigate, which I followed to delete several folders from a few locations. After that, the game works fine now. ::crosses fingers::
I've spent the last hour checking and rechecking previous saves from my first two playthroughs. They all seem fine now. Also, apparently I am still running the updated version: 3735951.
Last edited by Thoronmir; 30/09/23 10:31 AM. Reason: Updated Information