I finally got around to playing Oblivion...but I'm stuck after 30 minutes of playing.

I got to my first Hard door, but I can't figure out how to pick the lock. I move my mouse to one of the tumblers and pop it up, but the mouse doesn't respond until the tumbler drops back down. When I do finally get control again, I can't control it properly. It either moves too far along the lock or doesn't move at all.

Please help... I really want to play this game, but I've been all over the internet and everyone just says to "Get the Skeleton Key." Really? Do I just not bother opening anything until I get it?

Just use the Auto-Attempt option. I can't be bothered manoeuvring the lockpick myself, so that's all I ever use.

You might just break all of your lockpicks, using Auto-attempt on a Hard lock, if your skill is low.

Go visit the Tower Stone, south of the IC Waterfront, at night. You'll get the Warden's Key spell, which opens a Hard Lock once a day.

Lockpicking is annoying in Oblivion, at least they fixed it for Skyrim. I always used the Auto-attempt button. Just make sure you raise your skill or you'll break a lot of picks.