But if you want to limit yourself with long rests, then you're straight up punished by losing out on story content.
This is true. Fortunately I'm not interested in the companions that are available in EA at all and at release I'll most likely go for a custom party anyway, so missing out on their stories isn't a big deal for me.
For anyone who wants to experience their stories though, constant long rests are pretty much mandatory.
I'm unsure how much else I miss with my approach to long rests though, I know the Raphael encounter requires a long rest after acquiring a certain coin. The dream stuff is another thing I'll never experience, since I don't use the tadpole aside from freeing Shadowheart on the Nautiloid. Missing out on that sort of story is bad design, as it has the potential for players to miss out on large parts of the game's overall story.
