I'd be willing to bet that the deity thing has something to do with elemental alignment. SE has already stated that you can make your character excel at a particular element this time around or be more balanced between the elements if you wished.
In regards to the atheism stuff...you have to take into account the setting. The religious system in Eorzea so far seems very similar to that of Greek/Roman religion. There really was no such thing as "atheism" during ancient Greek and Roman times. At most, some may have believed the gods didn't give a rat's behind about humans. But even then, everyone still took it as a fact that the gods did exist. To believe otherwise would be like saying there was no such thing as gravity. Atheism is much more of a modern concept. Also, in a world surrounded by magic and monsters...it kinda makes little sense to be atheist.
Now I'm not saying it would be unbelieable if they did allow you to not choose a patron deity. That would be fine if they did let you be "atheist" (or rather, agnostic). Mostly just playing devil's advocate
Edit: In addition, the gods may make appearances in cutscenes or something like that. In that scenario, it'll be pretty difficult to play the atheist card xD. We already know the primals have a physical presence in the world and they're god-like beings themselves. Of course, it's still too soon to tell if the Twelve will have a physical presence or not.
In regards to the atheism stuff...you have to take into account the setting. The religious system in Eorzea so far seems very similar to that of Greek/Roman religion. There really was no such thing as "atheism" during ancient Greek and Roman times. At most, some may have believed the gods didn't give a rat's behind about humans. But even then, everyone still took it as a fact that the gods did exist. To believe otherwise would be like saying there was no such thing as gravity. Atheism is much more of a modern concept. Also, in a world surrounded by magic and monsters...it kinda makes little sense to be atheist.
Now I'm not saying it would be unbelieable if they did allow you to not choose a patron deity. That would be fine if they did let you be "atheist" (or rather, agnostic). Mostly just playing devil's advocate
Edit: In addition, the gods may make appearances in cutscenes or something like that. In that scenario, it'll be pretty difficult to play the atheist card xD. We already know the primals have a physical presence in the world and they're god-like beings themselves. Of course, it's still too soon to tell if the Twelve will have a physical presence or not.
