I'm guessing the implemented the lock-pick skill just for that, but, what do I know.

Well, I don't like the fact that you can't make an attempt at all in Fallout 3 with low skill. In Fallout 1 and 2, you could attempt it regardless of your skill, but at low skill level you had the chance of jamming the lock instead.

On a side note:

Remember in the G.O.A.T., one of the answers was "trade a hoodlum for his cherry bomb and blow open the door."

I actually thought this would be an option in the game, affected by your Explosives skill.

Would have been nice to have another option besides Lockpick and Science.

I remember being able to shoot through some doors, and sledge your way through others.
(FO1/2)

I think the system here is a lot better, I mean, it makes sense that once you have earned your skills you should be able to use them. On a side note, for the "You gotta shoot em in the head quest", to get the last key from the last mercenary, is the only option you have to pick the Very Hard Lock?

While both have their pros and cons, I like Fallout 3's better. It's much easier and you can pick every single lock in the game with one bobby pin if you're careful.

Oblivion's was TERRIBLE. When I saw that they changed in FO3, I was jumping for joy. Well, not jumping, but I was happy.

It might be a good change compared to Oblivion, but not very good compared to Fallout 1/2, IMHO.

Oblivion's horrid RPG-antithesis of a minigame made it so that any character I created was able to open the hardest lock in the game, as soon a the chargen screen closed. Not because of any RPG oriented character skill check, but because I have minimal ability to pick up auditory clues and have basic hand-eye coordination.

Fallout 3's system at least limited me to what my characters were skilled enough to do.

No-contest-first-punch-thrown-after-the-opening-round-bell knockout for Fallout 3 in this contest.

LPing in Oblivion is the same thing as that stupid chat spin wheel thing..god I hated that thing. Just not as bad or boring as the spin wheel.

I personally preferred Oblivion's because the higher your skill, the slower the tumblers making getting the skill up actually worthwhile. For FO3, its just get it up 25 points so you can open the next set of locks, but i cant tell any difference in the difficulty compared to your skill level besides the force option, which takes a serious set of balls to use.

I think the two systems are pretty much the same. The different look and feel seems appropriate for their settings.
I don't like not being able to try to open a lock that is above your skill level, though. Even an astronomically small chance to pop one would be better than the current system.

I chose the FO3 system. Even at 100 lockpick skill i sometimes break picks on average locks. OB's system was way too easy once you became an expert let alone a master.

Not to mention the Skeleton key.

oh god i hate Oblivion's system.It is one of the most aggravating aspects in any game.

Bringing back threads from long ago is called nemocracy, which isn't allowed.

In Oblivion I could open any lock with security skill of 5 easily, making the skill completely pointless. So I prefer FO3's system.

But over FO3's system I prefer a character skill+chance based system, like Morrowind's.

Why bring a thread thats 9 monthes old back

Good question.