I appreciate your reply, and consideration of my post.
While yes their are some missions that are just a text box, I will confess that those are almost always the ones a skip. If it's not voiced, then I just pass it by, and if the text box ever popped up from an NPC, my face would hit my desk, repeatedly.
I do understand the concept of what you are tying to say, and in a way I agree. Like you said we are not in conflict over this, but I do was to reiterate that I don't think that those voiced 'strangers' need to be sacrificed for the sake of the overall plot.
It's strange but the 'kill 10 rats' quest just seems so much better when it's being told to me, as opposed to just ticking it off from a terminal...voice makes a big difference to the smallest of things.
I will say though the prospect of more Companion chatter would be quite nice..I'd love to tease Corso more *ahem* I mean talk to him more.
To me adding your ideas and suggestions to the mighty 4th pillar, and keeping NPCs intact and speaking, would be the ideal solution.