The only way taverns will become a place to hang out is if you make it a place people want to spend time. Currently the only thing you can do in places like this are collect leves, your main mission and dump stuff on your retainer.

Mini-Games are a good start, but I wouldn't expect to see anything of the type for another year at least. Who knows how long its going to take just to finish implement/fix the basics that still need work or are not even in game.