Larian obviously shouldn't block off new party members after Act 1, it's something that completely violates the spirit of the franchise, but of course they don't care one bit.
It's the kind of design they're used to and trying to break away from what they're used to, just because they're doing a completely different game, would appear to be asking for way too much. Never mind that there's zero benefit to doing it and that Swen couldn't offer a single good argument for it to save his life, it must be.
