I agree that lockpicking still has problems, especially with the scarcity of lockpicks (the soap + key thing is an issue because soap is rare too). I did note the legion camp chests are now locked, although I have not progressed far enough to see if there are other chests around which are now locked that weren't in previous patches.
In the
previous lockpicking thread some people called for things to break of you force the chest open, and others complained that if stuff broke, that would be forcing them to spend points into lockpicking. (The alternative suggestion that lockpicking instead granted BONUS items was rejected for the same reasons.)
It is true that no one likes losing loot and items by destroying chests, and that may be one reason why it isn't in.