Essentially. I'm not anti-DLC at all but when you release a shoddy game sans closure (at $60, no less) and shore it up with paid DLC, that's pretty bullshit. If they give it away for free (which, considering the Exiled Prince, seems unlikely) that would be better.
But it would make sense, given that DA2 was promoted as taking place over 10 years, but the core game only takes place over 7.
Every statement I've read from Mike Laidlaw indicates that he's just... not a very good designer, even if you take into account all the spin that goes into what he says. Something like this:
The key driver behind (the lack of CNPC customization) was the idea of unique visuals, being able to have Isabela stay Isabela instead of generic rogue put into the same leather armor your character is wearing. It lets us create a visual space between Hawke and the companions. And it gives the companions their own personalities [in the form of] unique body models and animations that are tied to how they idle--simple stuff like Aveline and the way she stands with more of a straightforward stance as opposed to the cocked hip Isabela has and so on. The overall goal there was to keep the companions in a place where they had more personality, but still provide customization in terms of amulets and rings, because having things like fire resistance is important.
You can definitely posit that the lack of CNPC customization is a result of the dearth of dev time that DA2 received, but it's hard to not come to the conclusion that Laidlaw thought his system was a good one. It's one of several things from ME2 that the DA2 devs tried to replicate in a way that misses the point entirely. In ME2, the lack of customization really worked the way that Laidlaw claims it does in DA2, in that the models in UE3 were well-detailed but mainly because
there wasn't really an inventory system to speak of, so it didn't matter. It was neat and economical and worked. In DA2, by contrast, if you play as a mage, the majority of the stuff you pick up is worthless, with all armors being unusable by you
and unusable by your party, resulting in a level of inventory clutter beyond the usual flotsam (and why does Hawke collect so many torn trousers and moth-eaten scarves? Is he/she a hoarder?). It's less pronounced as a fighter or rogue, but the standardized stat requirements act as de facto class restrictions (rogues are weapon-locked just as mages are)
I don't think, given another year of dev time, that issues like that would have been resolved. It's a cheap knockoff of good design that doesn't capture any of the good elements of DA:O
or ME2, despite all attempts.
Also, fire resistance is important in exactly one encounter, in which you fight a dragon.