May not matter for the system as a whole, but a weak spoke is a weak spoke. The weakest will still be the first to break, even if it's not taking any extra burden from its neighbors.

Bought a Marin bike several years ago and started breaking spokes on the rear wheel. After paying for the first two spokes to be replaced, I got tired of spending money and being deprived of my bike for days at a time, so I learned how to do it myself. Spokes continued to break, one at time, until every spoke on one side of the wheel had been replaced. Then everything was good.

Bought a Handspun front wheel. I didn't think it was completely true when I got it, so I straightened it up a bit. I don't think I had any problems with it after that. I might have put it back in stand once during the five or so years it lasted.

Currently running two wheels I got from Taylor Wheels in Germany. I figured that if nothing else, a trip across the ocean would have knocked them out of true, but I put them in the stand and could find no flaw. Less than 6 months on that set, but so far, so good.

Other wheels I've had are ones I've built myself. I don't have a tensioner (plan to get one, though), and I tension by first tightening everything evenly and then by tone and feel. There has been some trial and error. My first wheel went great. My 2nd one took around 3 builds to get the number of crosses and the spoke heads placed where I didn't get breaks. After that, it worked fine. I've only built maybe half a dozen wheels, but they've held up well. I tend to run hub gears, which means I can dish everything pretty evenly, which simplifies things.

So I guess the only experience I have with real factory wheels is the Marin, and the experience wasn't great (no issues with the front wheel, though). I have no idea what the process is for making the Handspun or Taylor wheels, but Taylor in particular feels pretty solid. They may be hand built, but even if not, I think they made a point on their site of mentioning that they use quality spokes. And for me, that has made the difference. No amount of truing and tensioning my Marin wheel helped until I had replaced the bad spokes, and other builds I have done were troublesome until I found a good spoke to use. These days, I would take a chance on a wheel if it had the components I want, like the Taylor Wheels I just bought, but for the most part, my build requirements are pretty specific, so I'm more likely just to make the wheels myself.