No, I think it's more there as way to hand players freedom, and also a safety net.
Let's say I'm having Shadowheart along as a cool Trickery Cleric/ Rogue combo. But let's say, storywise, she's converted to say, a Selunite. I can totally see that happen... But if that *does* happen, I'd totally respec her into a Light Cleric dipped in Fighter. You can't really force than unto players; you reached the midgame and suddenly you're a different class with a totally different playstyle. But staying the dark shadowy operative of Shar as a Selunite feels wrong, too.
Now, don;t get me wrong - for my preferences, the narrative leads and I play within those bounds; period. But leaving it to the player isn't so bad here. I find respeccing cheating for myself. BUt not everyone is me. What if I'm not a D&D veteran and I just want to see what the other things do? I can totally get that.
Lastly, if someone wants to abuse that - all the power to them. This kind of comes up in single player most, anyway - as multiplayers wil have far less companion characters running around.
