Back in my day, you had to be a 9th level Fighter to even become a Paladin. And they didn't have special mounts, they just used regular ones. And Paladins were actually better than Fighters, because there were no such things as Feats, but Paladins, Knights, Avengers, and landed Fighters could perform special combat maneuvers that wandering Fighters could not. And we liked it.
Nightfall, not everyone is dedicated to clinging tenaciously to remnants of previous editions, and would like practical advice for people whose starting point is the current edition of the game.