I dont know how you can say your experience wouldnt be improved if there was more companion content with more interactivity/reactivity.
I simply do not agree with your blanket statement that more is always better and that all things you, I or others miss are because of budgetary reasons or lack of time. In the examples I gave above - the reactions to the Gur and to Nettie - only the conversation with some relevance remained in the game
while the others were canned. I like that. I like the short overheard conversations between the companions better in both cases and I feel it makes the important conversations stand out more. A good cut in my opinion. You can of course disagree and like the longer versions better.
Also I think that a lot of moments that you (or I) perceive as lacking aren't due to budget but to what the authors were most interested in. Sorry if I pan back to Astarion, I just don't have many issues with Shadowheart. During his post-Araj-romance scene he can tell you that he just hooked up with you to use you initially, you can continue the conversation either by telling him how much you care or by breaking up with him, there is no option to express hurt but stay with him. If you stay, the options are cute but a bit shallow. You can open your mind to him so he sees himself with your eyes, a continuation of the mirror motif, but you don't actually get to say how you see him and get a generic reply. This is a pet peeve of mine. Would this have been better with more time? Probably not. There's an interview with Durge/Astarion writer in which they talk about how proud they are about the scene and they focus solely on the portion in which Astarion breaks up with you because you treat him badly. The interview also makes it clear that they are more interested in the disruptive elements of romance and in making Astarion pookie, than it what the player might feel. What the player might think is a foregone conclusion for them, which also explains how restricted the player-character in Astarion's romance is.
So sure I would have loved more banter in act 2 and 3 and I am missing some reactions, but I don't think that "more time and money" is the universal answer when much also comes down to the writers being more interested in some topics than in others. - Which btw is cool.
If you look at what is generally asked for in terms of reactivity, it's things like: Durgetash romance when? The companions are not fawning over my character enough (which is what this thread is about in its essence, also the famous "it was very twee" ) or the players wanting more presents and hugs to give to their companions (I am guilty of that, I want to gift Spawn-Astarion that damn portrait XD ). That the iron flask quest is missing an ending rarely comes up.
As for origins you actually miss out on the things that people find most appealing about them - acting, performances. Them being companions give you opportunity to really understand who they are, at which point you realize that as origin 90% of offered dialogue options you get are totally out of character for those characters. Its not like in Witcher, where all dialogue options make sense for Geralt more or less.
Actually, I don't. Your team consists of four, your character plus three buddies. Unless you kill them, at least half of your gang is stuck in camp and you probably only bother with them when you maybe do their quests. You loose nothing if you pick one of them - maybe the one you interacted with most on your last run - as your Origin, you just get a new perspective on them. (Or at least I don't, you might enjoy spending time in character creation or making up a story for your Tav.) As you said, it's a give and take, you loose them as companions for the run but you get their story as yours, which for me is compelling. I like both Astarion and Shadowheart as companions and I like playing their Origins. In Astarion's case I might like his origin a little better because it offers a more satisfying resolve to his personal quest. In Gale's case it is a little harder, because most of my favourite scenes are his. So he's the only one whom I really miss when I play him. Still, his Origin was a great experience that is dear to me. Could the Origins be improved? Sure. But that doesn't mean they aren't fun the way they are.
I also think the Origin system has benefits because it offers range. If you have one Durge-style player character, there is a chance people don't like their story. Durge for me is pretty boring and I absolutely (ha!) don't like the writing style. But I have 6 other folks, whom I do like, to choose from. So the game can be about a lot of different things (with Astarion killing Cazy and securing your freedom and safety might have priority over taking out the brain) and the "main plot" is just what set your story rolling. And these stories can be varied and maybe a little risky because there are alternatives.
