I agree about the non-combat options. I have done each of the Thorm siblings and Yurgir twice in one run because I think that they are both fun combat encounters and incredibly good dialogue scenes, so I do have a hard time choosing a route to go. On the plus side, if speech fails the resulting mess is still enjoyable.
Personally, I am in the minority who really don't like blank slate characters and even Durge feels too much like a soulless husk to me. I would have wished they had put a little bit more effort into the Origins-as-Avatars in some situations.
