Maybe my game preferences are somewhat different from most D&D gamers but as a player or master one thing that would cut all the fun and belief in campaign is a god talking to players asking for a favor or starting a quest.
Gods should talk to players only by angels, by creatures (a raven in that case) or as a presence on their dreams.
When I'm DMing gods are far more distant beings and have their own distant agendas.
When I'm playing and a god show up all I think is "lame"...
Well, everyone has his preferences, but the way I see it:
This is the epic tier. It's the endgame. Here you take your destiny in your own hands and fulfill it. You have the chance to change your world.
To signify this change, I think personal interaction with gods is as important as meeting powerful leaders at lower tiers. It shows how important you have become to the world, what reach your power and name has.
You're not some random dude with a sword or staff, you're on your route to immortality! People will talk of you in poems, sing ballads about you and hear of your adventures even centuries later! Your deeds will become parts of the myths of the world, just like the god themselves are a part of the myths.
Ideally, after you have reached your epic destiny, the setting book itself should need an update.
"In ancient times, mythic heroes assembled on the court of the Raven Queen to defend the departing souls against Orcus, now called the Imprisoned Lord. They traveled the planes, challenging Orcus most powerful servants and allies and finally defeated Orcus in a battle that is said to take days. His soul was imprisoned by the Raven Queen and these ancient heroes, forever trapping his soul so that neither he nor his raw, abyssal evil could ever threaten the world again.
The Demon Lord of Death had found death himself. His place among the Demon Lords is empty to this day, no Demon daring to take his position, no cultist daring to free him. If this should ever come to pass, these heroes will inevitably return to the mortal world, to strike down whoever was foolish enough to try."
(Of course, I am not convinced yet that this is how the campaign will end, but that would be the direction I'd take.)
If I don't want to meet gods in D&D 4, I probably wouldn't play the Epic Tier, or at least create a setting without gods. The gods in a pantheon are basically human(oid)s, they are not abstract concepts like Death or Justice.
An alternative way might to say that the meeting is still merely with an Exarch, Avatar or Angel of Raven Queen that is created in her image.
