In oblivion, I kind of hated the security skill.

Not because it was hard or anything, I actually found lockpicking really easy. I could pick very hard locks at the beginning of the game. I usually only busted one pick on the very hard ones, and that was all. I even went through the DB, Thieves Guild, and main quest with just the picks from the tutorial.

In Morrowind, I actually had a reason to level up the security skill.

I know that its probably to late in development for Beth to change it, but how would you want it?

I was fine with Oblivion's. If the lock picking is so "innovative" that I need to stress over it, i'll just pass over most locked chests. Example: Fallout's computer hacking was "innovative," but obnoxious. I didn't want to spend minuets trying to unlock every terminal, so I skipped it all together.

Edit: The Morrowind way was also in Oblivion, for those who choose to auto-attempt

Yeah, but lock picks were expensive in OB, and why waste so many lock picks if I can just solve it on my own?

I hated lockpicking in Oblivion and never mastered it (and was less than impressed as a then-newbie when I got the infamous misleading advice to give the Skeleton Key to martin as part of his ritual <_<) so I hope they'll take a new approach. It's since been done better elsewhere anyway, such as FO3's take on it and an interesting variant in Two Worlds II. Although a minor part of the game in some respects, it's likely to be something that we come up against often so I'd like something different; i.e. better.

You don't need to say this--it's a given.. Of course it's probably too late, and even if it wasn't they wouldn't listen to what you have to say. Get off your high horse.

Anyway, the Oblivion way was fine thought a bit easy after just a little practice. It could be tweaked in some small way to improve it.

Not really, honestly. In Morrowind you didn't break your pick if you failed to open the lock. That said...

I dunno. Of the "minigames" from Oblivion, I think I liked the lockpicking the best, but I don't know if I'd like it back in its pure form or not. I do know that I don't really want Morrowind's lockpicking methodology back - I mean, I love Morrowind, don't get me wrong, but a clearly die-roll-based system would be a bit jarring in a game that has moved away from the RNG as a method of determining success. I don't really have any idea what I'd offer for a third option, though.

This. I spent a lot of time using auto-attempt . . . worked for me. Or spells. Spells worked and you skip that silly mini-game. :shrug:



Really? I always found a kazillion on dead bandits, goblins, in clutter . . . and in the chargen dungeon. Sure I used them quickly, but I can't recall every having to buy them (before installing mods).

I only started buying lockpicks after I installed mods that changed the game start and I found myself with none at the beginning of the game.

~ Dani ~

I want it the oblivion way because I feel it relied more on player skill. I loved the fact that you could unlock a very hard chest from the beginning with low security skill, and one pick if you were good enough. The only change I would want is for it to be in real time instead of time freezing when you start lock picking.

fallout 3 had the best minigame out of bethesda's creation- but i wouldent mind different types of locks

and i want values that arent multiples of 25

I hope they add option to bash locks, like that mod for Oblivion.

Both were great in there own ways, although I think an entirely new lock picking platform is going to be underway. I agree on the difficulty on Oblivion and how easy it was. Botom line Skyrim needs to have a new and more compllicated lock picking system.

The Fallout 3 way.

But shouldn't it be about your character's skill? Maybe I'm biased because I have no aptitude for Oblivion's lockpicking system, but I figured it should represent my character's abilities rather than mine, or rather the lack thereof.

I think Fallout 3 had a better system than either Morrowind or Oblivion. Oblivion was the worst though, as the character skill didn't really matter at all. And this is a RPG, the character skill should matter to some extent.

So,
MW = 100% character skill
OB = 100% player skill
FO3 = 50/50 character/player skill (well, reasonably close to the middle in any case)

I see where your coming from when I was first playing Oblivion I svcked at lock picking until I found the trick to it. I can see the benefits of having it just rely on player skill like in Morrowind, just like there are disadvantages. Like having to wait god knows how long before you can come back to that specific lock, and finally open it.
It still annoys me that in Fallout 3, and New Vegas that I needed 100 points in lockpick to open a specific lock, when the whole time it was the same damn mechanism that I could open in a second.

Lastly, in a way the lock picking system does represent your character abilities. The higher your security skill the easier it gets imo, just like when your security skill is low its a bit harder(most of the weights dropping after a single mistake). Plus you have alteration spells as a back up.

pretty much what I was going to suggest.

The fallout 3 way. You know, where it actually has something to do with how you actually pick a lock?

Never liked the hard cap system in Fallout, don't see why an expert can't even attempt a master level lock, sure it should be difficult, and use a fair few picks, but not to be given any chance? Works for game progression reasons, doesn't make sense compared to RL in my opinion.
And why do people say OB's system was pure player skill, use the auto attempt, pure character skill. I personally ( opinion again of course ) liked the idea behind both OB and FO's minigames, but the difficulty curve needs to be much, much steeper depending on character skill.

I want it to have lazers!

OT: In MW you picked locks by waving a lock pick at the lock. Not really very interesting. In OB at least they tried to make it fun.

This.

Soem kind of minigame, but it shouldnt be possible to do a level 100 lock at lvl 1

Start with: Mafia 2.

Add: character skill affecting the size of the sweet spot and how fine your control is (somewhat done in Oblivion)

Add: different types of locks (Betrayal at Krondor) that open with a standard key type.

Add: different types of pins/wafers that require different tools to pick

Allow: mixing and matching of sub-components of a lock.

Add: multi-stage traps that require something other than an allen wrench to undo (Return to Krondor)

mix, adjust the character/player skill to be fun, place the locks in sensible locations, and polish.

I would just like to select a lock and if they are both skilled and /or lucky enough to open it, then they open it. (IE. 100%PC skill; as it should be, in an RPG ~IMO)

Optionally, they might damage the lock, or damage their tools.

One thing I do not like, is a 'skill threshold', where if the PC's skill is above a certain point... they magically open any lock rated for that threshold ~as though they could never make a mistake, or that the lock itself ~specifically, might not be rusty, or dirty, or worn, and otherwise tricky to open.

Oblivion let you pick a lock that was beyond the PC's ability ~which makes no sense, and was basically an exploit/cheat.

I actually disliked how lockpicking was done in oblivion, as I never needed to raise the security skill it was supposedly based upon. I was able to pick every pickable lock in the game. I never had to buy lockpicks as they were in heavy abundance, and i think I broke maybe 1 or 2 picks throughout my playtime of the game which was about 3 years... I dont mind that player skill can be involved, but I would prefer the lockpicking system to be difficult. Have you ever tried picking a lock in real-life? It is actually pretty challenging, and a lot of it relies on the material of pick used... Oh well. We get what we get.

If anyone has played the Thief series then they will know what I want lock picking to be like in Skyrim. In Oblivion it was like a tapping mini game which did not seek to be realistic in any way. I would really like them to have a form of lock picking that looks real instead of being another "mode" or unrealistic "mini game".