This isn't anything new. Even when there were more religions and more active Immortals, there were still the handful of folks who fell through the cracks. It's the inherent flaw in the empowerment system. Unfortunately, the additional of posted playing times and active / inactive status tends to lead to this expectation that empowerment should not or will not be much of a hassle because hey, the person picked an Immortal that says they'll be there.

I avoid empowerment classes like the plague now. The relatively small number of truly active religions just doesn't work out well for me, especially once you filter out all the incompatible stuff for a given build. I'd like to play them, but I don't because I know the design of empowerment will be too much of a nuisance.

I really wouldn't mind seeing more druids, shamans, and paladins walking around because empowerment isn't required. I do like the fact that healers require empowerment, however, since they can sway cabal dynamics and PK so drastically. The fact that they require empowerment simply keeps the numbers down and all but eliminates "throwaway" healers.