I didn't care for either the 3.x version or the 4e take. They both treat things as big monsters to kill, and 3.x by design sticks archfiends and planar lords as automatically lesser than gods, and 4e just has them as officially approved things for heroes to kill and gods seemingly sitting in the 'no no you can't fight Pelor' catagory of non-sanctioned monster.
Neither situation is ideal.
Neither situation is ideal
for your campaign. Guess what is less ideal? Someone who
does want to run a campaign culminating in a final battle against a terrible god, and has no rules for fighting Tiamat. Because they have to go and come up with rules for what is probably the most complex foe that will ever see play in their campaign.
Whereas, in the current scenario, all you need to do is not provide the quests that allow your PCs to kill a god.
Now, I don't think the books need to be chock-full of gods to slay. (Especially as just having the stats for a few gives an appropriate balance level to start designing agaisnt with much more ease.) But there are plenty of players out there that do want these stats - I, personally, found them the single most interesting thing in Draconomicon!
Saying that other players should be deprived of them because you disapprove - especially since their presence in no way actually hurts your own campaign - seems rather unfair.
I mean, I certainly understand where you are coming from. I can definitely see preferring a campaign where defeating a god isn't a matter of rolling some sweet crits, but instead requires an elaborate scheme of intrigue and politics as you dismantle their church, turn their worshippers against them, strike their name from the book of records, and eventually, without having to swing a single blow, you watch their earthly power vanish and know they have been vanquished in truth.
But I also like the idea of a campaign where you stand as the champions of light against the darkness, the sole hope for the world's survival, and thus you must fulfill the great prophecies: Forging the Twice-Sundered Blade, restoring the Broken Desert to the lush forest it once was, uniting the seven kingdoms into a single empire, and eventually luring the Lord of Burning Chaos onto the mortal plane during the Great Eclipse, the single moment in which he is vulnerable, and knowing you have a single minute to strike a death-blow with your ultimate weapon, or he will escape, and all will be lost...
...I simply don't see how something like that isn't suitably epic. It is very much in keeping with the lore and legends that D&D has formed around, and it is the route the game encourages - not simply taking out gods like mooks, but making them the culminating battle of a campaign, and one that requires several epic quests simply to make possible.
If they can provide that opportunity to the players that want it, without depriving you of any content you desire (since you can still run your game the way you want it), then that seems like a success that everyone can go home happy with.
