Right. So Troika's collapse validates your point. Should I pull up sales for undertale to supposedly validate mine?
Don't be ridiculous. Troika made a cult classic that did well with critics and reviewed well in general based almost entirely on the strength of its writing and VAs. Ironically the story itself wasn't all that amazing; the writing was just well done enough that it felt much better than it actually was.
Regardless, writing is not hard or insanely time consuming compared to programming nor is it extremely expensive. Voicing the lines would be a significant cost for sure, but no one said they all have to be voice acted. Your PC in Fallout 1 and 2 wasn't voiced either; it didn't stop them from having clever and memorable lines and exchanges (re: the pissed off enclave soldier in 2 when you pretend to be the president and he tells you off). There's a reason I name dropped MULTIPLE games from different studios.
2nd person placeholder looking dialogue is bad and not compelling. That's the bottom line, and as you stated you yourself aren't even defending it. It needs to change. I don't care how Larian does it; I offered a solution, but if they go a different direction that's fine as long as it works. What they have right now doesn't work. It's boring, stale, and cant communicate wit, humor, or any real emotion.
