Pickpocket skill list?

The thing is that stealing is kind of PvP, only without actual fighting (ideally). It's a bit of a thrill, it's a crime committed against another player's character. Even if they don't find out because you succeeded the steal check, you fucked with somebody and there was a chance that it would backfire and lead to conflict. It's actually one of the only ways you can really fuck with somebody codedly without actually attacking them or using debilitating spells. There's something immensely satisfying and surprisingly exciting about stealing someone's valuable shit.

Burglarizing an apartment is completely tedious and non-interactive. I mean, technically there's a chance that the guy who lives there is home or comes home during the break-in, but let's get real. I've played two reasonably long-lived burglars and simply never had that happen. Apartments are empty 95% of the time and you can always knock first and ask for Amos if someone opens.

Pickpocketing is much more interesting and interactive. It's better gameplay and better for roleplay, and while people can be really shitty towards thieves, I think most players would prefer to have something stolen from them over having their apartment robbed -- and consequently left unlocked for as long as you're gone, potentially a couple of RL days, often resulting in you finding it completely empty by the time you return. And for all that we've established how poorly people handle theft, a master pickpocket is still something that will impress other players more than a master burglar. Who the fuck ever gave two shits about a master burglar? It's not an accomplishment in any way.

Even aside from all that, I also just prefer the pickpocket guild. Burglars don't get scan, can't branch parry, and don't get good enough at peek/steal anyway to genuinely have both types of crime covered. Backstab also caps too low to be worthwhile. Although they get poisoning and pretty good throwing, you can't turn a burglar into a good fighter. The guild isn't good enough at PvP that I would ever care to try to PvP with it, and breaking into apartments is such a shitty, limited thing to specialize in.

A pickpocket can actually become a pretty decent fighter, certainly to the extent of beating up gith and not-yet-badass fighter PCs. With a parry cap of 45 (and it's easily branched, you only need to raise dual-wield by 20 points from its starting value) and the option of using bludgeon weapons, not to mention a good chance of rolling AI agility even if you go str>agi, you can turn a pickpocket into an entirely decent combatant. And that's my experience from before the advanced subguilds, it should be even better now.

If you plan to do stealthy semi-PvP shit - not necessarily PKing but stuff like spying, robbing, helping others PK by stealing someone's weapons before the gank - scan is invaluable. I don't think I would ever try to do anything like that on a guild without scan. You leave yourself so open to getting countered and ambushed, or just unable to pull something off because the other people involved are hidden.

For an all-around character, I genuinely prefer pickpocket if I'm not feeling like embarking on the much, much greater task of training up a ranger, warrior or assassin. You can do a lot of cool shit with a pickpocket. Your combat skills cap around the level where fighters plateau anyway, and only a tiny fraction of PCs advance beyond that point. You're the only class besides warrior that can get parry without investing 20+ days of sparring first (you can do it in like two days). You have a very unique ability in master peek+steal, especially now that you can open people's containers. You have a relatively unique ability to directly fuck with other PCs without actually attacking them.

I'm not saying it's a powerful class, but people tend to write pickpockets off as useless and pointless. I think they're great.

I don't think it's that much lower. Or, rather, I don't think the others start all that high. There's a difference but it's minor. I joined the Byn with a pickpocket and was beating new warriors after about a week. I had also branched parry by then and probably maxed it, but this was before visible skill levels. Offense and defense are easy to raise when they're low because you can just miss all day. This is also why there's nothing special about getting a 20 point boost to a weapon skill at creation, those are the easiest points to gain. It's the 40+ territory that starts to take real time and effort.