So JandK, I think you make a lot of good points and I agree with a lot of what you're saying. There are some things I disagree with, but I think those things really come down to a matter of taste. The one point I do want to push back on a little is your comment about people wanting their custom Tav to be more special. I have no issue with Tav not being a chosen one or even the idea of Tav not being in charge. (though I think the reason why CRPG characters consistently do end up in charge or special in some way is because if someone else is in charge and stays in charge, it really hamstrings the player's ability to feel as though they're directing the narrative at all. It's not impossible, but it's tough) I do however, think that as things currently stand, our custom character is actually a little LESS special than the companions. They have such big stories and big personalities, and our Tav can't really compete on any plane. There's nothing that makes Tav feel really unique among the group. They all bring a lot of unique stuff to the party (though companion interaction is, in my opinion, unimpressive at this point and fails to capitalize on any of it) but what does our custom character bring to the table? Do we lose something from the actual story because Tav isn't there? If not, then I think that does make Tav less unique in the story, which is a problem for a crpg, especially one based on D&D.
I think the key problem is that our character has no sort of connection to what's going on around them and no way to make unique connections. I think a custom character should, from act one, no matter what class or race they choose, have some sort of unique interactions that the origins can't access. Ideally that would tie into race and/or class choices, but I can understand that making some sort of meaningful, story-spanning things for every race or class would probably be too much. So like, there should be options available to all custom characters that aren't available to origins and that impact the story on the same degree as the origin characters will. It doesn't need to tie into their background, just be something unique that allows custom characters to have a unique, meaningful way to engage with the world and story.
As I write this, I actually am reminded of Dragon Age 2, where your character isn't in charge or special by any real metric. Hawke is a victim of circumstance just trying to get through a difficult time. Your party are with you because your friends, people who have a genuine bond and decide to stick together out of respect if not always fondness. That story works specifically because Hawke is at the centre of the story. The companions you have around you are pretty wild there in many ways. An escaped slave with magical tattoos, a dalish elf who uses forbidden magic, a pirate, on the run from an army she robbed, a mage freedom fighter, just to name a couple. They all have in depth stories and strong personalities, but because Hawke is definitively at the centre of the story and is who we always see things from the perspective of, we never feel drowned out.
