UESP Forums

Something I've always found curious was why your character couldn't improvise lockpicks out of stuff they find lying around. Oblivion and Skyrim practically shower you with lockpicks, which is not only unrealistic but also kind of odd given that lockpicking in real life would be quite difficult to master, as it is in Oblivion. It seemed odd to me that even with the introduction of crafting your character couldn't just get a small bent metal object, or craft one out of a throwaway piece of iron junk. That way picks could be as hard to come by as in Morrowind without really breaking game balance.

I think that's what you're supposed to assume the character is doing in Arena and Daggerfall since it seems they always just have a lockpick on them at all times.

Sounds to me like the reason lockpicks are so easy to find is because your character is crafting them from bits of iron and wire you find inside a chest.

I always found lock picking easier on the console versions because of vibration. Tactile indication of what you're doing makes it so much easier than just staring at a screen. It's like phoning in to someone else how to pick a lock. If you can't really feel it...


Back on the original post, I too often go back to playing Oblivion (and Skyrim) on the 360 over my laptop, but lately, that's because I've been playing to entertain some family rather than any other reason. It's much easier to gather around the living room and stare at the TV over squishing around me to look at my laptop screen, nice improving mods or no.