User blog comment:Mr.Sleeping/SKYRIM: Confirmed Skills/@comment-72.152.153.39-20110729091814

Considering the skill merging they've done over the years, I would think security, which I don't believe has been confirmed yet, would be combined with sneak if possible, which is confirmed.

Alchemy is under stealth because A: they ran out of room under magic, and B: poisons may play a larger role in Skyrim than they did in Oblivion.

Mercantile could possibly be merged into speechcraft, which leaves two openings. Considering they removed acrobatics and athletics, perhaps there will be a new skill combining all athletic feats, maybe even including climbing and the like (skills that once existed in Daggerfall).

You're also forgetting the possibility of new skills. To more integrate the players into the game, and improve upon the rather weak base for stealth and archery in past installments of the game, they might include a skill revolving around survival or hunting.

Though personally, I somewhat miss the older skill lists. Losing backstabbing and critical strike in the shift to Morrowind wounded the stealth players greatly. I've only achieved a true critical strike three times in Morrowind. Oblivion brought back critical damage while sneaking, but took from us unarmored which I loved, as well as further skills such as medium armor, enchant, and specific weapon skills, consolidating long blade and short blade into merely blade, and blunt and axe into simply axe, while tossing spear altogether.

With the rise of one-handed and two-handed, I eagerly await TES: VI's skill list, including such gems as: armor, weapon, magic

Streamlining is fine, making the game less complicated and easier for players to intuitively jump in and get immersed is an excellent goal, but at the same time, having a character that can be completely customized also involves having the option to actually specialize in something, and have the investment's rewards be realistic. I cannot see my character quickly jabbing giants in the shins with a rusty dagger for weeks on end, mastering the one handed skill, suddenly wield a mighty hammer and explode a dragon's cranium with a deft overhand blow.

Similarly, when exploring a deep cavern while rather down on my luck, incapable of repairing my armor, I feel that if I've been hit a few dozen times while nearly completely uncovered, I should learn a thing or two about unarmored combat. I tended to leave pieces of armor off in Morrowind because I enjoyed the asymmetrical look, and had an absolute abhorrence for helmets. Over time, I would gain slow levels in unarmored and it felt right. It felt real.

My apologies for the wall of text.