My group sees it as a crutch more than an aid to role playing, and we are happy to play without it.
Alingment are not just concepts on D&D universe. Order VS Chaos and Good VS Evil are FORCES in constant conflict. A campaign in mid of a war among devils and demons is far more a chaos vs order than good vs evil,. A LG paladin struggling to chose between "law" or "good" when he is on a L.E. town...
Back on 2e, clerics and paladins could even lose his powers if they step away from their deity's alignment.
That is correct. How does 5e handle fallen paladins?
Paladins aren't alignment restricted anymore, they take Oaths with tenets they need to follow. If they break their Oaths, they become Oathbreakers.
The PHB Oaths are: Oath of the Ancient (preservation of nature sentinel) Oath of Vengeance (they pick a sworn enemies, that sworn enemy is more important than everything else) Oath of Devotion (the classic paladin)
