Divine magic being passed down from deities to their worshippers via clerics/paladins has always been a given in the setting of the Forgotten Realms though, regardless of what edition was in play. 3rd edition had nonreligious clerics and paladins for options as well-it was treated as a setting/dm dependent matter. I know wotc is doing it this way to facilitate other settings and playstyles , but in a Realms game? And treating it as the only option? I was really looking forward to playing a Paladin as I think the divine caster options in d&d have some of the most interesting roleplay interaction potential (both in BG III and D&D in general) *because* of the religious aspect.
Paladins were my main interest in the update going into Panel From Hell, and loading up the game and finding out I couldn't even choose a deity just sucked all the wind out of my sails.
