QFT, i always used the "Morrowind lockpicking mod" for Oblivion that did exactly that, and other mods for Fallouts that made it character skill -based.

Oh, and rule of thumb for Bethesda's games: The better it's locked the less valuable the loot inside. Unlocked containers have the best stuff. Still applies to Skyrim

I disagree. I like the game to some extent, but I really think that the outcome of the game needs to have a lot more to do with character skill. Not only that, but I think there needs to be more than one type of lock. Right now, every lock in Skyrim is the same, they need to have 3 or 4 different games, possibly with different perks.

Also, Mage and Warrior alternatives for lockpicking would be nice. Right now all 3 classes have to use Lockpicking, which is annoying.

i spent so long perfecting my ability to master oblivion's locks and then they just use fallout's system for skyrim...what a waste
Also they should have kept "unlock" spells for the mages and maybe characters who have high strength could smash locks at the risk of damaging the contents

all im saying is i know many people who simply cannot get the hang of lock picking. i almost get passed the controller every time one of my friends can't pick a lock. holnestly i have 0 perks ever in lock pickingm, and i can unlock master locks on a level 1 character with less than 10 picks

The sad thing is,levelling the lockpicking skill,and filling the lockpicking perk tree,should have been absolutely critical to the success of any thief build.With the lockpicking perk tree being largely redundant there is little to differentiate between a thief and other stealth builds such as an assassin.

I would personally fill the lockpicking perk tree if i were to play as a thief just for roleplaying purposes but as it stands it's more beneficial to ignore it completely in favour of sneak+combat skills.

It was a bad design decision to relegate it to it's current form.

Yes.
IRL lock picking is really hard. If you don't know what you're doing, you will jam the lock - forever.
But let's also not forget about another little planet called: Earth. I know. I hate it too. But, see, on this crappy and boring planet - live lawyer beasts. If they catch wind that the video game industry is teaching kids how to pick locks, steal everything and fence it - consequence free? It'll be ugly.

I open most expert/master locks in 2-3 picks. It just isn't a difficult minigame. The most I ever have to use is 5. Never buy lockpicks either. You find so many of them it's a nonissue. I like opening master chests and finding 5 lockpicks and 70 gold. What did you decide, I'm going to put my lockpicks away in safe keeping in case I lock myself out of my...oh wait...crap.

Seconded, highly recommended. http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=219

The lock "mini-games" in all the Skyrim is just stupid; just like in Oblivion and Fallout 3. Maybe lock picking is reasonable for a sneak thief character, but it sure doesn't for a barbarian! The best solution is a skeleton key mod or just use ~ unlock.

then, you guess lucky every time. because at low skill levels if you pick to go right when it's left there's no way to get it in 2-3 attempts every time. it's not skill, it's guessing correctly. the distance between the pick zone is VERY small on master locks at low skill levels.

and, that fact is just one part of the problem.

the lock pick mini isn't hard or creative or rpg-relevant. it's wasted time and grinding.

how bout some creativity and game advancement and more meaningful and fun gameplay innovation?

It's difficult for some I guess. I can usually get a run of the entire lock with 1-2 picks. Usually you hit the right area before the first pick breaks though.(Unless you've been holding the pick too long while probing)

I can actually tell how many clicks it needs to go(If I know the direction towards) based on where it stops at once i'm in the zone.

it's super ez for me, but, the point is that you're guessing the entire process.

i'm very good at it and recognize that a sharp click with little or no pick movement means you're in the sweet spot. and, that a hard rattle with obvious pick movement means your outside it.

it's ez and a waste of time, and, insanely enough, often reward-less.

Heh. I actually think lockpicking in skyrim is harder and more difficult then lets say oblivion x) lockpicking there was soo easy..
But maybe you are more skilled at lockpicking then me.

It is too easy, yes, especially the moment you start having too many picks to care. I open any difficulty of lock and things only get easier as I level the skill. If you're in a pinch with only a few picks you can just save/reload.

So yeah, I strongly recommend not putting any perks into this tree. Biggest waste possible.

If the lock reset after each attempt then it would be very difficult, but it doesn't. Each pick is another attempt on the same lock, which is realistic at least (since locks don't magically reset themselves to another value when your pick breaks in real life).

I agree with this 100%. Exactly how I go about doing it.

But they should have magical substitues for at least Expert and lower level locks.

I don't think the minigame is too easy, although its rather easy to gather huge stacks of lockpicks and, since they are weightless, carry a thousand and open every lock in game. Other thing is, when venturing among bandits, enemies in general, you can lockpick and keep on the screen even if you break the picks... but if theres a friendly npc and it sees you, then the minigame is interrupted. A true real time picking would be awesome and very perk demanding.

I just wonder how many people honestly think "Oh, goody, another chest/door/etc. lock to pick!", when they happen upon their 2,759th one... if yer still excited about [censored] around with them by that point, then my hat's off to your inexhuastable enthusiasm for that mingame.

It got unforgiveably old to me around lock# 1,382... or was it 1,389? Somewhere in there....

http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=219

The only cool perk in lockpicking is where you find more loot. But no I don't put points in

Endeed, locked chests are very annoying, but the potential loot compel us to open it, carry lockpicks etc. I hate whenever I break a lock, really... yet I've hardly spent one single perk on the lockpicking tree(well maybe on my very first character). Other thing I find rather useless is the pickpocket tree, the majority of NPCs carry nothing other than apples and silver rings... by the time you can steal good stuff and have the perks for that, you're already rich... no use to pickpocket them anymore. The whole thievery business demands an overhaul, good if you are on pc, there are mods for that... but for consoles... is wait on Beths effort.

Actually for me it's because it's too easy. Both in Oblivion and Skyrim, the mini-game is so easy that I can get through master locks without trying when I'm low level. And given how much Skyrim loves to rain lockpicks on you, I never have any trouble getting through locks.

At least with Oblivion, the Auto Attempt gave some semblance of a meaningful character skill. Harder locks would chew through your lockpick stash like nothing if you were low level, thus required managing your lockpicks. Attempting a hard lock before the character's good enough would risk depleting your lockpicks, so you wouldn't be able to open any lock thereafter if you failed, unless you're lucky enough to run across some more (and even then, you could still fail with those new lockpicks).

In Skyrim there's no such thing, so once you, the player, get the hang of the mini game, the skill becomes useless and it's based all on you. If you as a player can't fail, there's never any risk to your character for trying. You can't play a thief taking chances because the character's skill level means nothing as long as you, the player, can get through the lock.

I would prefer to see a system that is less dependant on player skill, and more on character skill.
Morrowind had a system that wasnt intrusive or annoying.
Also, mages had the option of opening a lock with a spell, and in Daggerfall warriors could bash a lock.
I would like to see all three of these ways to open a lock, all of them based on character skill, not player skill.

The "reward" depends even from your character level from what i've seen.

I agree that the possibility to "break" a lock and specific spells for mages (like older Tes) were essentials


however,in Skyrim we have a stone that allow you to open one lock a day,better than nothing

This..
The thing with the lockpicking game imho is that it will either be a gamer attribute (you as the player are either good at it or you svck at it).
Another problem is that skill increase (but this is more of a mechanic which is applyable to every skill in Skyrim) doesn't matter that much.
If one doesn't infest in lockpick perks, a master lock will still be a lock with a very tiny sweet spot..

So I can agree with either a skill check for locks, a different mechanic all together, or a return to the oblivion mechanics (with auto-try)

How about removing the mini game period and just have it rely on skill only, like it should be.

When you add a mini game you remove the character skill and put it in the hands of the player with a controller.

I think you shouldn't be able to pick any locks without having a perk related to it. And the chest loots should be much better.

And the same applies to pickpocket skill. I hate the random chance design. It should be just that you either can or cannot pickpocket an item based on a hidden value checked against your pickpocket skill and perks. And also only light items like gold, jewelry, notes, keys and so forth. No weapons, no armor, no pickaxes and the like.