Originally Posted by Lyzrl
No - they are not. It's only the mirror-thing that now works for them. Which means you can't change race, subrace, background etc. etc. - but yeah: you get to change genitals and hair and stuff like that. If that was what you were waiting for. But customizable hirelings? No. That is not what we got.

Okay, that's kind of what I figured. That's not fully customizable. It's an offered compromise for those that want fully customizable characters. The fact that this it is only a compromise leads me to believe that they never intend to offer fully customizable companions, which means the multiplayer work-around might be the only option for that until some brilliant modder comes up with an alternative.