Originally Posted by GM4Him
Again. Why are you arguing against 6 member party? How does it hurt you?

You can argue all day long that party is 4-6 members, but regardless, they have the ability to do 6, it's in the game, and all they have to do is lift the restriction for the rest of it to make us happy. So why resist? Why argue?
Exactly this.

Originally Posted by Tuco
Originally Posted by Alyssa_Fox
Ok, in your personal opinion, how much content should you be able to experience on your first playthrough?
Let me word it in this way: NO game should EVER deliberately withold content from the player exclusively with the goal of "encouraging multiple playthroughs".
Which is a bullshit goal, anyway. I will play the game multiple times over the years if I enjoy the moment-to-moment experience, not if I'm forced "to go at it three times to see all the companions".
Hell, chances are even at subsequent playthrough I may decide to exclude mostly the same companions for similar reasons.

I played BG2 from start to finish something like 7-8 times over the years and there were character I simply never cared enough to bring along, as there were some other that it pained me to leave out no matter having a larger party or having already played with them.
+1