Ok. So like, played some Kingmaker last night. Get to this random location and start exploring. There's a Nightmare. Fight the nightmare. Find a few random items. Done. What was the point of this location? No quest. No point. Just walk around and fight this tough flaming horse.
Another example. I go to a map location, roam around a little bit, fight a few demons, pick up a few random loots, and done. Again, no real point. It was just to fight some bad guys and get some loot.
BG3. Get to school building. Meet 3 ogres. I can either:
1. Convince them that I am part of the cult 2. Convince them to go against the cult 3. Fight them 4. Drop a roof on their heads 5. Climb up in the rafters and peg them from above
And what's the point? They are part of the evil cult so killing them lessens the number of enemies, if they're dead I can explore the school and find more clues as to what happened to the village, I could potentially gain new allies against my enemies.
Another example. Phase spider matriarch. I can either:
1. Fight her and her minions 2. Sneak into the area and steal the gem from her nest, ignoring the fight completely 3. Shoot her eggs first before the fight, minimizing enemies 4. Grab the gem and jump into the Underdark using Feather Fall 5. Spread out, stealth and snipe 6. Use the web gimmick - though I think it's a bit of an unbelievable gimmick to use, at least more than once, it is still a method to use besides straight fighting
And what's the point? You can gain an artifact for Gale to consume, destroying an evil necromancy book, you can access the Underdark and actually move on with your main quest faster, you can kill something that's been plaguing people in the area. The encounter has meaning. It has purpose. There are multiple potential solutions.
