Lanefan
Victoria Rules
The problem with things like Paragon path and Epic Destiny IMO is that they force players to think way too far ahead at or around the char-gen phase...and that they also put players in the mindset that their PCs are of course going to survive long enough to reach these fine ends.From the get go in 4e in the PHB you were exposed to a Paragon path and Epic Destiny and players may think of their characters in terms of that. Quite honestly the most basic Epic Destiny is the Demi-god (and arguably a very sound choice in the game too - recommended by the handbooks). The game at that point help establish some shared fiction. In some sense even ignoring the mechanics became narratively part of how you defeat the Demogorgon in high level and the like.
It's an extension of the same issue I had with 3e where players would plan out their PC's whole 1-20 progression and development before the end of session 0, and then expect it to happen.
I'd far rather have these sort of things arise naturally out of the ongoing run of play, if they are to arise at all, and maybe get worked into the fiction as the game goes along. Or maybe not - not everyone's dreams come true. In the current game I play in, one of my PCs has a long-term goal of getting a Senate seat or maybe even becoming Empress (it's a quasi-Roman culture) but there's no guarantee whatsoever that any of this will ever happen...and nor should there be, and nor should there be any in-built expectations that it will.
Unfortunately, Paths and Destinies come with - or certainly imply - expectations of success that really shouldn't be there.