In the end - no one is forced to actually use the waypoints.
I am 35 years old by now. Played so many games I can't even remember.
My sensitivity to stuff is fading, sadly.
Even tho the passion remains.
But just walking even longer around because its more realistic?
Naaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah.
Come on. This stuff is not important.
Every game is kinda supposed to be like a Movie right?
How would you feel if you watch LotR for example and Aragorn or Frodo have to "backtrack" a 10 times between each kind of "camp" for selling just because they picked up so much stuff and cannot carry any more?
Please don't.
No one wants to see that in a Movie.
There are certain aspects of any kind of game which are just annoying, but they have to be done so that WE the players know WE are vigiliant, we notice stuff and we are badass.
Even if that one thing is to just crouse through a sh°tload of boxes and whatever containers, for one more magic scroll, or the cool weapon we are gonna using for the next 2 realtime days.
Backtracking. Pffff.
It can be nice, yeah.
But in most games, nothing unexpected happens.
And it can grow tiresome pretty quickly.
The waypoints do not just offer convenience, they also break the game on many counts. Did you steal something? Teleport away instantly before the mobs have a chance to look for you. Started a fight in the goblin camp and now the entire area is hostile, and you are surrounded by enemies? Waypoint away. Priestess gut imprisons you, you manage to break free and now are stuck in a small room with an ogre outside? Naaah, just waypoint away.
Of course for a story mode this is not a problem, players using the lowest difficulty do not care about the game much, mostly the story, so breaking the mechanics of the game like that with another game mechanic is fine. But anything above that? Yeah, waypoints need restrictions, the easiest one is that you need to be at a waypoint to use a waypoint.
A game should not break its own design so blatantly, which is what waypoints in their current state do. That being said the hags lair already restricts waypoints so it is pretty clear to me Larian will not leave the system as is.
Edit: And no, games are not supposed to be like a movie, really far from it, some games and some rpgs do try to look like a movie, but if all games intended to emulate movies they would all ''play'' like Heavy rain, Detroit become human or until dawn.
