One answer to the OPs question. Where are all the normal people?
Dead. They lived in Moonhaven and were all killed. There were also some who were fishermen down by the river. Also dead. The Intellect Devourers killed them. There were some at the tollhouse and at Waukeens Rest. Also dead. Killed by Drow or Gnolls. The only surviving, somewhat normal people are those in the Druids Grove. That's all you get in EA.
That said, it actually makes sense, you know. A bunch of crazy people were infected by Ghaik. Your party is filled with special people who were infected for a special reason. Some crazy stuff is going on with a usurping new Goddess called the Absolute. She is having her minions purge normal people from the land. She is killing off the followers of other gods. Selunes people loved in Moonhaven. She wants the Grove destroyed to kill off Silvanus' followers. There was a person by the river, now dead, who served Umberlee, cause he had a book about her. Even the goblins who serve Moglobiat are being killed off. Over and over again, servants of the other gods are found slaughtered by a new Goddess who wants supremacy.
So, naturally, only the special people, the heroes, are surviving.
Yeah I rather agree with this actually.
Any normal people - farmers, fishermen, etc - might have fled from all this craziness. Whole cities being taken into Hell and back, a Nautiloid ship crashing on the shore, goblins attacking left right and centre, caravans being attacked by gnolls... yeah if I was Joe Average NPC, I'd run away, too. In fact the thought of "where are all the normal folks" didn't cross my mind while playing, given what has happened in the intro and what I learned while playing & asking questions.
The most "normal", peaceful place so far is the Druid Grove. And it has its own issues.
Also, I found BG3 refreshing in that you don't have to start off doing "kill 10 rats" type quests before the story gets going. You crash land, grab companions, then your first quest is a good ol' dungeon crawl, before things start to really get crazy.
I DO agree that the landscape feels a little too squished together... BUT... I also wouldn't want the landscape to stretch on for miles of sameness, punctuated by the occasional random encounter fight. With BG3's combat system, fighting random mobs every so often would become extremely tedious. I appreciate the attention the world designers and artists have put into the BG3 landscape, just as it is. I would want a LITTLE more of it in Act 1 between the quest areas... but not too much!
My husband pulled me into playing BG1 with him recently. He then went "exploring" and dragged me along (while I was learning the decades-old clunky interface) through an entire side area where there was maybe only one monster. Nothing happened. I was bored. The game says "you've travelled for 10 hours" and arrived to the city we were going to, exhausted. It may have felt like good game design at the time, but by today's standards, it doesn't work... for me anyway. (Don't get me wrong, I enjoy hiking, bushwalking, bird-watching in real life, and would spend HOURS in the forest doing absolutely nothing if I could. But in game? I want my adventures action-packed, thanks. And with LOTS of cutscenes and character conversations.
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