Quote Originally Posted by Jasdoif View Post
Interesting...so you feel it's OK that the Paladin class only has the avenues of potential customization that the Commoner class has?

Hmm. I think that's where a lot of your complaints are coming from. The article looks to be not about all the characters that can take a class, but about the classes themselves on an abstract level.
Let's look at it from a different angle. Why should playing with a different in-game style necessarily lead to a mechanical effect? You yourself note that a character concept can be represented by a multitude of classes. Likewise the same class can be played with different styles by different characters and bring a completely different, unique flavor to the character and class without altering the mechanics at all.