Jesus titty****ing Christ.
If there is no romance, that doesn't mean all NPCs will automatically be shallower or deeper, it means that instead of taking the time to implement a certain type of relationship, something else will be implemented instead. This could be anything from a new quest, a kraken battle, a new area to explore, or conversations with a NPC concerning the circumference of a troll's genitals. As most of us aren't actually on the development team, we don't know how resources are allocated.
You can stop making the case for or against romance, because that has already been settled. The project lead has stated that they will not be included, because he doesn't think they can do them well with the resources available. It doesn't matter how you feel, the fact is that the person driving the project doesn't have the confidence that romances in PoE could be implemented well and isn't doing them because he wants everything in PoE to be executed well.
If you really want romance, wait for a mod or hope that they are included in PoE2(if it is made). If PoE does well, they may have more funds to put into PoE's sequel and be able to implement stuff they didn't have the resources to do in PoE(like a kraken battle). PoE will be fine, despite the exclusion of romance(or whatever else people are butthurt over). If you don't have confidence in Obsidian to deliver a satisfying game without feature X, then giving them money to make the game was a stupid move on your part.