How will spending time crafting, lockpicking, and using Speechcraft (I know they have removed pick-pocketing) take away from an EOS characters abilities?

Now that there is PVP, people are going to be making optimal builds etc. I assume having a level 50 with maxed out lockpicking and speechCraft will be a joke in PVP? Have they or are they planning on changing the way this works?

You don't level up by leveling skills but with experience

So when I pick a lock, I can put that experience gained in any slot... but if I put it into better lockpicking is my character screwed?

I'm pretty sure you can unlock EVERY skill, EVERY talent available to you, etc if I recall correctly. The 'optimal build' is dependent on your stats/armour/the skills you put on your hotbar and their synergy, I think.

You don't get any points. Picking locks levels your lockpicking skill. I'm not sure if you get any experience for picking locks but even if you do you have to go to old ruins and bandid camps to find those locks to pick. The leveling up process is designed to be like in every other MMO of this style. You level up by killing things and completing quests. There are probably ways to get to max level without killing anything and leveling your combat skills, I heard someone did that in wow during WOTLK by doing only crafting and collect x items quests where he didn't have to kill anything, but that will most likely take months.

Nobody can say that for sure now.

All I can say is that I reaaally hope that I don't have to have "the best build" to be part of PvP.

I don't play for beeing a badass. I play for fun, adventure and escapism.

I have enough competition in RL.

I never understood classical-mmo-players on that topic...

I think ZOS is kind-of aware of that...

Kazaloo, me too! I hope I can be a cloth wearing, destruction/two handed with alteration type player. Where I look so weak, wear a hood, and still totally dominate!

My understanding is that your character levels through exp gained, and your skills/abilities level seperately also through exp gained, essentially also letting you continue to use exp after reaching the level cap to continue to improve your character.

Problem is people like min-maxing. I do too; I like to be the best I can in a game, that's what I enjoy. That said I refuse to play really boring builds for the sake of it. But yeah, there'll never be perfect balance and there will always be "the best build", but hopefully they balance it well enough so you're not disadvantaged too badly and there is a matter of skill - which, judging by the actual combat mechanisms, I imagine there will be.

If I remember correctly about the infos that has been released about skills in ESO:

You can continue to improve Combat-Skills even after you reach the max level. So whatever you do with Non-Combat-Skills regardless if they gives experience or not, you will always be able to max out your Combat-Skills by training (aka keep using) them

The combat skill balance in ESO is done by the limit of skills you can have active at the same time. ( 5 + Ultimate Skill), so there is no Master-Of-All issues about combat skills

I totally respect that, and who wants to play this way - I am totally fine with that. I will never beat somebody like that face-to-face and that's fair.

I am still pretty sure they will find a way of playing both ways, i.e. hardcoe-PvPer will storm a castle, people like me can help supporting/save it while it is defended...sth like that.