Fallout 3 had it a little better, though. The higher the difficulty of the lock, the higher your lockpick skill needed to be if you wanted to pick it.

Still, that minigame was incredibly easy.

Anyway, why can't my Orc bash open that flimsy chest with his great big axe?

When faced with a lock, do you lockpick it or use a spell on it?

And on a side note, anyone know if there are going to be open very hard lock spells in skyrim, now that custom spellmaking's no longer available? if its not..and there's no skeleton key available..I'LL DIE.

Yes, I never understood the Oblivion system, where you weren't excluded from difficult locks if you lacked security skill. In Morrowind, a formula tested both your skill and the quality of your lockpick against the difficulty of the lock, and you had to pass that before you could even try to open the lock. You could be quite skilful, and still not have a good enough lockpick for the lock.

Anyway, why can't my Orc bash open that flimsy chest with his great big axe?

And you're welcome to it. It's your game.

My opinion is that the mini-games (persuasion and lockpick) are meta-games. They violate the concept of role-playing. Any player can learn to pick any lock, regardless of the character's skill.

In combat, I may trigger the action, but my character's skill set determines how effective it will be. If my character is a novice with a shield or bow, then fatigue will affect what he can do, and how long he can do it. If he is advanced, he will be able to jump higher, dodge effectively, shield-bash, disarm, etc. He will also hit harder, if he is experienced.

It is not exactly the same thing. It's completely different.

The auto-pick button is actually the lock-picking anolog of clicking the mouse to swing the sword. You're telling the character "do this," and the character does it, within the limits of his skills.

And that's just my opinion.

Anyway, why can't my Orc bash open that flimsy chest with his great big axe?

I'm betting Skyrim's version of locks in general will be completely a new system.

Skyrim will use a system similar to the one used in Fallout 3

I'm great at lockpicking and persuasion, though I could do without the mini-games. Sadly I am not so great at hitting things with weapons and spells. I'm sure my characters would vote for a dice roll and take me out of the picture!

So.... why even play the game if you want to be ruled out?

...
Anyway, why can't my Orc bash open that flimsy chest with his great big axe?

If it seems that I want to be ruled out, I’m afraid I expressed myself poorly. That’s not at all what I meant.

Are you asking why I play Oblivion? It's entertaining. Or why I play the mini-games instead of having the characters cast spells? Some characters don't use Alteration or Illusion. I hope that answered your question.

I'm terrible at lockpicking, it's basically how fast can I mash the X Button.