While playing NWN2 I noticed that:
the clock was running on buffs during cutscenes and long conversations
there was no option to have anyone other than the player character do the talking for the party
I'm hopeful that these issues might be addressed in P:E. It would be very helpful for the timer to stop during conversations and cutscenes so that our preparations don't go to waste. Also, being able to designate someone other than the PC as the party mouthpiece would an excellent option.
Fragile wizards and sneaky rogues have no business taking the lead when dealing with hostile parties unless we can maintain our party formations during cutscenes and conversations. Protecting the P:E equivalent of D&D d4 and d6 characters behind a line of high-hitpoint melee types just makes sense as they're not able to shrug off a beat-down very readily, especially the d4 types. So, Obsidian, please enable us to designate a mouthpiece or maintain our combat formation unless there's a uniquely coreographed encounter taking place that mandates otherwise.