I agree that BG3 combat can currently feel slow, but this problem shouldn't be exacerbated with an (optional) increased party size [...]
Except that the amount of time will still be extended, because the turns still take the same amount of time to process. Even assuming a scenario where two party members get attacks back to back, and focus fire and kill a mob, it still takes both turns to do so, it won't be accelerated any more than if the first one kills the same mob, and the second targets someone else. This will vary wildly depending on the numbers involved of course, but in larger combat scenarios, it will definitely extend it out. IF someone is feeling like combat is already too slow, this will compound the issue further.
Let's clarify the "time" we're talking about.
For
Total Combat Time, I agree that the first (and maybe second) turn might take longer because you'll have more participants. But subsequent turns in a combat should be faster, as more party members = more focus fire = more dead enemies, more quickly = less enemy turns* on future rounds of combat. (Asterisks because of Swarm AI, so killing one member of a swarm doesn't save time). Overall, yes it depends. But it's probably a similar amount of time.
For
Enemy Waiting Time (time spent waiting for enemies to take turns), a larger party against an unchanged # of enemies
strictly lower this time, for similar reasons as the above - you kill enemies faster. And this means that you (and/or friends) will spend a larger percentage of the time actually playing, which will make combats
feel less sluggish regardless of Total Combat Time.
For
Multiplayer Waiting Time (time spent waiting for fellow players to take turns), yes this would increase. But, as always, you can still just play with 4 or 2 or 1 players instead of 6. Or yell at your friends to hurry up.
