"A loss for the game" implies that the cleric is no longer playable, which is in no way true. Even with these changes, I don't think anyone can convince me that the cleric isn't still better than the artificer, ardent, runepriest, or e-druid as a leader simply because of the number of options the class has available.
It's telling that a lot of the complaints point out that clerics can't do as much damage as other leaders; why is that an issue? If you're upset about the changes because you want to do the most damage to the most creatures, perhaps leader isn't the role for you in the first place. If you're upset about the changes because they went slightly too far (i.e. burst 2 turn undead even at epic), that's understandable, but hardly something to have an aneurism over.
Most of the changes seem reasonable to me, and the unreasonable ones are easy to houserule or for WotC to fix.
I'd certainly say that a cleric is still playable, but then any class is 4E is playable. I would just expect that a lot fewer people will choose to play them as a result of all of this. In other words: go team warlord! It wasn't that the cleric was this uber class and now it's been reduced to ruin, rather this was a class that was pretty much in the middle of the pack, and it's been moved downward, and significantly so.
I'd ratchet the hyperbole back a bit if you don't mind: this is hardly the end of the world as we know it, but it does represent a head-scratching change to the game. Of all the classes in the PHB, the one in most significant need of a nerf was... the cleric? Really? Right after the warlord got pass in the updates?
Each of the leaders heals, but then they also bring something else to the table. That was the design choice for 4E which was intended to make the role more appealing to a broader base of players. The cleric minored in control, and had decent area damage. By cutting that back, they're being left with more of the "healbot" persona, which is not something that's a good design decision. If you look back at WotC's own design notes on the leader role, that's exactly what
they said when the edition was launched.
What troubles me is that, perhaps in a desire to evoke a more "classic" cleric image, they're ignoring the notion that a leader should do more than just heal.
I want to take just a moment to address the issue of "when 4E launched, the cleric was a better controller than the wizard," argument. I can see an argument for that (I'd disagree, but I can see that argument). What I'd like to ask is if anyone would say the cleric is a better controller than the wizard
today. I think the cleric does have some controller-esque features (especially turn undead with feat support) but have you actually seen what the wizard can do these days?
Just last week I helped a player join our campaign with a new high paragon wizard. I hadn't seen all of the powers released in the last few months in depth, but when I did, I realized that it's definitely been the beneficiary of the most attention recently. I'd recommend that anyone who thinks the un-nerfed cleric competes in this category had best consult the character builder and come back to us with a report.