First I would like to say that I love this game Bethesda and thank you for crafting such a beautiful depth filled world for me to get lost in.

I love companions, they have great personalities and stories to dig through. I love the little comments they make while exploring, I even like it when they judge me by my actions! I have a few favourites (Hancock, Cait, Nick Valentine) I cannot over emphasise how emotionally attached to some of these characters I had become during my play-throughs.

But the problem is some of the perks are imbalanced, and it feels like I'm being punished for playing with a companion that I enjoy the company of, instead of one which will end up giving me a dramatic boost in character power when they idolize me (like Deacon, Macready, Preston).

The more I think about it, the more I think Companion perks shouldn't even exist in this game. It should be your choice, your personality and interest that dictates which companions you choose to affiliate yourself with, not some bonus that you have to work towards.

Anyway, that's my suggestion. Probably the first and only post I will ever make and it will likely be lost in the forums and never seen, but I felt an urge to share this feedback in hoping it might make some minuscule slither of a difference in Bethesda's future design choices.

... Such as ... ?

That already is your choice. Entirely. If you don't want to travel with a particular companion then don't. I only take Danse with me and don't care if I get his perk or not. I've tried them all, dumped them one by one long before I reached full affinity, and settled on Danse as my favorite. The prospect of grinding the others to full affinity just to get their perk sounds odious to me. Ugh.

I do agree that the way the perks are rewarded incentivizes players to max affinity with all of the companions, but players aren't forced to do that. They choose to.

Just play the game with whoever you like, it doesnt really punish you in a singleplayer game. U'll be fine.

What companion perks do you feel make the game imbalanced?

You don't have to travel with ANY companions (aside from possibly a few quests), so it is already totally optional.