Yea i agree with the others, youre definitly overthinking it all. Just play and relax.

If you really want to talk to all NPCs then do it on an off time or something if you dont have much time to play, run around and see what they say.

Honestly as much as i love FFXII and if you think thats alot of reading, go play Oblivion and read the books and the lore in that game...trust me, that would make your head explode

The one thing i do agree with though is the fact that everyone can be everything in this game and that is one thing that did stress me a bit. I prefer more restrictions on classes, i appreciate the gesture for them to make it customizable. But i also feel that some realism like my caster shouldnt be able to weild a greataxe or my tank shouldnt be able to cast high level magic etc...i just prefer more identifiable characters to that of open ended classes.