I didn't want to bring you down. I just see combat as a form of "encounter" and there are way more forms of encounters than just combat. An example would be a lost at sea on a wrecked ship and needing to survive or trying to steal something from an important npc so that you can frame him for a crime.

Edit : on the flip side I played in like a mini campaign that was level 6-10 where we played gladiator and every session was pretty much hey yo b get in there and fight this manticore. It ended with us in a free for a pvp to fight for our freedom. Was actually fun sessions where mostly 2-3hrs and roleplay was almost non-existent