Perhaps a mix of both might work.
Which si precisely what the thread is advocating for, in the end.
No one is asking to remove the origin stories from the game, if that was someone's guess.
@Cirolle: in other words ""Budget: how does it work?"
And NO ONE is asking you to chose between "good" and "bad" companions. What ridiculous loaded argument to make.
Yes, I agree, which was why I used it as an example, because I feel that your argument is on the same line when you said "Frankly if put in front of the choice of having, say, 16-20 *good* companions in the game and having 6-8 "playable origin" companions of the same quality I know perfectly well which option I would pick."
I used it as an equivalence to your statement, so I would hope it was ridiculous.