I'm not sure why I am having such a different experience...
environmental effects aren't even that common in my experience, and you don't have to play with them at all.
Taking away environmental effects would make for an incredibly boring combat in my opinion.
If you didn't see many environmental effects you need your eyes checked. The nautiloid, the bandit camp, the druid camp, the tunnels beneath the druid camp, the tunnels beneath the tunnels beneath the druid camp, the bandit camp, the crypt, and basically every other location in the game are all chock full of explosive items. Pretty much every trap in the game is one of the gas or grease/fire environmental traps. Every time you hit an enemy with any physical weapon, it creates a blood puddle, so if you cast ray of frost on someone it turns into a knockdown effect for at least that one creature (usually more if there's a pitched battle going on). Most of the other infinite cast cantrips also create environmental effects, as do the enchanted weapons.
I wish environmental effects were actually rare, so that you would feel smart for taking advantage of them. As it is, they're a complete no-brainer and they're so plentifully attached to every cantrip and intended battlefield that they usually wind up incidentally coating everything. I think I'm about to try a playthrough were I play a strength ranger where 'explosive oil barrel' is my primary ranged attack.
