Originally Posted by crashdaddy
It's fair to ask whether the origin system ends up a hindrance to the experience of playing as a Tav, of course. But it was a design choice.
I suppose this is my main problem. I personally don't like the origin system as it is. If I'm going to play Astarion as an origin character, I won't be able to detach myself from what I already know Astarion's personality is like and even if I try, I expect the game to force it on me the same way it did in DOS2 and that isn't what I'm looking for in a crpg. I agree with @snowram's sentiment that characters in rpgs often lack a sense of sentience and I'd be much happier if all the resources spent on making each origin character playable had instead been invested in more reactivity that fleshes out those characters as companions. It is what it is.