Goblin Squad Member
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After having spent nearly the entirety of my first Alpha Weekend tinkering with a Rogue, I came away from my experience with a few takes on the the above mentioned mechanics.
Stealth: After having found that I couldn't get in melee while coming from behind a mob, I was a bit frustrated. After Mr. Dancey reiterated the GW design philosopy:
I've said it before and I'll say it again: In d20 -> Pathfinder, there is no backstabbing.
Rogues get their Sneak Attack bonuses by attacking targets that are vulnerable. The primary method of making them vulnerable is to flank them, or to inflict a condition on them that makes them vulnerable.
We are staying true to this game mechanic. The objective of a Rogue is not to approach psuedo-invisibly and deliver a crippling alpha strike against an unaware opponent. The typical objective of a Rogue is to engage with a partner, get the target flanked, and make a series of attacks with Sneak Attack damage. The partner's objective is to keep the target in a condition where the Rogue's Sneak Attack will be applied.
I understood what they were going for and why I couldn't just cruise up behind Monsieur Ogre and drive a pointy bit of steel through his back.
That being said, with the current formulae being used for stealth:
((Perception - Stealth + 300) x 0.15% + 10% ) x normal viewing distance
you're likely to never get closer than about range 15-20. I think this is great as a median coverage, but could perhaps be modified to allow for ambient lighting, terrain, weather, or if the mob is being approached from the front or rear arc as a bonus or penalty to the +10% in the formulae, while preventing anyone from ever getting within melee range. I'm fine with not being able to backstab, but I'd certainly love to be able to squeeze through a tight spot of mobs at a choke point, or slip by guards in/into a town, if the conditions were right for me to do so. On the flip side, I shouldn't be able to get close enough to chuck a spear in open terrain without being spotted at least @ 50-75% view range if all I've got to hide behind is a nice spot of low grass and some very small rocks UNLESS the viewer is a/ blind, b/ deep into a cask of Warstein Ale*, or c/currently distracted by some partially momentous event OR I've got a/ magical advantage, b/greatly exceptional skill and equipment and a VERY, VERY great amount of time to close the distance at somewhere between a snail's and sloth's pace, or c/ a distraction affecting my target. There also needs to be a definitive set of actions that instantly breaks stealth, such as combat or gathering(I'm sorry but a pick clanging on stone or pitching over a rusty shield to gander what's underneath isn't exactly stealthy) and in my Alpha experience to date, gathering doesn't break stealth, and it should.
Take all of that together, add in perception & the mini-map, and we should have a mini-map that doesn't display stealthed characters until their stealth breaks, an opportunity to add perception boosting feats(i.e. Sixth Sense, Eagle Eye) and perhaps some situational modifiers that might help a sneak-thief steal into an enemy town and do a wee bit of mischief after the trebuchets start raining stones on the luckless populace. At least, I hope that is where PfO will take us.
*All Rights Reserved. A Product of the Warstein Brewing Company, Callambea, Golarion. Please drink like a dwarf.