Your observation here is really good, SK1PTERS, and while I'd love for that sort of thing, I don't think that, fundamentally, the game is really equipped to do any of that. I think that on a fundamental gameplay level, BG3 is not equipped for that sort of in-game social interaction. That's not even truly a fault of BG3 or Larian either, in my opinion. It's simply how games of this type, and indeed many games in general, work and are made. Combat is, as you say, the engine which drives the train, because it's the easiest type of conflict to use to drive a game forward. It's easy to conceive of, easy to comprehend for players. From a gameplay perspective, one conversation functions the same as another. On a deeper level, D&D 5e itself isn't really equipped to bring that kind of thing to the table. There aren't really meaningful social interaction rules, that stuff is left entirely to roleplay, so there's nothing to port into this game. Combat is the system with the most mechanics and so in a video game medium, which puts added emphasis on mechanics, that's the stuff which will exert the most weight. So between those things and the fact I don't get the sense Larian is interested in dialogueand social stuff, I fear that your fear will very likely come to pass.
