I believe there should be an attributes tab, a skills tab, and a professions tab. Professions don't have to be combat skills, they don't have to help in combat skills, they are meant to help your character, but not necessarily get "stronger." Mercantile is a skill not because it is related to combat, but because bethesda found it to be a more useful mechanic in the game. THEY CANNOT include every single skill in the game. They could how ever have professions which help you level in other ways such as crafting, mining, fishing, hunting, and other things. They would make you more famous rather than make you stronger, earn you money rather than skill points, You could live as a villager through this system... but your non-combat skills, or job skills, or professions, or hobbies, or whatever-the-heck you want to call them do not have to be skills. They could be included in the game without being put in the skills tab. I don't see whats so hard about that idea.
Now instead of yelling about what I just said, why don't you give ideas for Professions or something like that, if the name of the topic has something to do with skills though, it will start a flame-war
Proffessions should be an underling of a skill such as: Fencing is under blades which is under strength or Strength>Blades>Fencing
Skills should govern professions in the way that attributes govern skills. Increasing your professions would help advance your skills... In fact I think they should overhaul the whole system like so:
Atributes are no longer completely based on race, they are based on your skills. They all start at 30, except luck, which will be 40. When you pick a major skill it increases it's governing attribute by 5. In this way you could start with a strength of 65 if you chose, but your other attributes would all be low. You gain bonuses and minuses to your abilities in 5s, 10s, 15s, and 25s. You gain certain abilities based on a backstory your provide through a set of choices in character Generation. You gain points to your attributes every level, but you no longer choose which attributes increase, or by what, they increase based on what your skill increases were.
Skills level up as they did before, for the most part. When used, your skill increases. When you reach each ranking (25, 50, 75, 100) you must have a profession of a certain ranking to advance to the next skill ranking. Example. Blades at level 25 requires you to have a profession under this skill. 50 requires you to be skilled in at least one profession. 75 requires mastery of one profession or skilled in two professions. 100 requires mastery of all professions. Each level would give a bonus, as before, but the bonuses would seem much more well earned.
Professions level up as you use them. They level at a somewhat slow pace, but much faster than skills do. (Skill may take 50 hrs real time to master, while profession may take 5 hours real time to master). Professions increase your notoriety(infamy), fame, and other things. When you are skilled in a profession, you can use your professional ability to do things that others cannot. Your luck ability levels up based on your mastery or skill in professions. Each skill will have 3 professions under it.
Suggestions are welcome and I will edit my first post around your replies since people don't like to read replies.