Thanks to everyone for the friendly responses. Now that you've pointed out to me that this has been an ongoing discussion for years I feel like maybe I was a little too rash to make this redundant post
No worries, I think we're all happy to have another opportunity to vent our frustration at the stealth system! More voices complaining about it also can't hurt, though as folks have said at this point with the game releasing in less than three months, I can't imagine Larian have not already decided what they're doing for good or ill.
Unlike some, the fact we didn't see improvements in EA hasn't (yet) dented my optimism that we might see something better at release. Stealth was so broken in a way that seemed to require a significant overhaul of a number of ways the game works that, even if Larian did want to change it, I wouldn't be surprised if it took a long time to get working well enough for them to want to show anyone and wasn't ready for release at the time of the last patch in December last year. But they've had six months since then, plus whatever they were already working on before the patch but decided not to include in it. I'm still braced for disappointment (and inability to satisfyingly play a stealth character), but don't think there's yet reason for total despair!
Either way, not all that long to wait now until we know for certain.
