How about visible rank insignia awarded to guild/clan members that could be attached to any cloth or armor and visible when that cloth or armor is worn.

Each guild or clan could have a set of distinct insignia that would be different from other guilds.clans and would award their members of higher ranks to show their distinction from oether members.

Low level could have no insignia or a common insignia for the guild/clan that would identify the owner as a low rank member of the guild/clan.

Thus you could know the guild/clan of an NPC and his/her rank in that guild/clan in a glance if you knew the meaning of that insignia, and there could be books on the subject for each guild/clan.

Of course, some guild/clans would not want to reveal their identity, so they would not have such visible marks on their members, but others would have them and wear them with pride.

As for player characters, whenever you reached a significant rank in a guild or clan you could be awarded with such an insignia that you could attach to any cloth or armor and it would show on the specific place of that cloth or armor.

You could remove that insignia any time you liked and attach it to another armor, and if you sell the armor with attached insignia to a vendor, the insignia would be automatically removed from the armor and added to your inventory, ready to be attached to another armor.

In some more formal/strict guilds/clans, when attending official guild/clan gathering or private meetings, you should wear your insignia in order to be able to join the others, or in order to avoid chiding from other members, kinda like the imperial legion in Morrowind.

When you advance in rank in a guild, you are told to give in your old insignia, and a new one is given to you, and if you are expelled from a guild, your insignia is taken from you.

All in all, it can be a mark of distinction in the world of Nirn, and should be worn with pride, and in some quests could be checked to result in a specific branch of the quest line different from whether you had not worn your specific insignia.

So what is your opinions on this matter?

Edit: here are http://www.williamscully.ca/gallery2/d/12525-2/WSL_rank_insignia.jpg http://historyscoop.files.wordpress.com/2007/03/army-insignia.jpg that I dag out of the internet.

I think that's quite a good idea. Having a Fighter's Guild insignia on my shield would be great if I can join the Fighter's Guild, and it would emphasize the Guild's hierarchy, so that higher ranking members can stand out from the rest of the members even while wearing the same style of armour. (If NPCs have insignias, that is.)

If NPCs would respond to your insignia (impressed, or perhaps disgusted if they hate your guild), that would be even better.

However, perhaps reaching the highest rank would allow you to gain the benefits of wearing the insignia even if you are not wearing the insignia, since you should be well-known enough by then.

The characters would look like an arlequin by the end of the game.

I could see this for particular factions. Maybe a distinctive surcoat to wear over armor or a cape..but both may be difficult to implement. Some could have less obvious signs, like a ring or amulet.

Or ahttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f4/Bagramyan.jpg

Of course no one will force you to wear more than one at a time - and the idea itself is good (and definately more practical than the armor requirement from MW's Legion...)

Yes. I've been kickd out of guilds so many times...

Could be interesting, I'm not quite sure how they would apply something like this, but if it does come it would certainly be a cool little addition.

Tabards, armbands or faction shields spring to mind. Heck, maybe even something to fit on your http://www.outsideleft.com/i/stars/halloweenpet6.jpg

Heh, but that mount would perish under our weight. :biggrin:

But nice ideas especially the horse.

It's a great idea, and maybe they can give you a few display options for the symbol.

I love this idea! When I first read it I thought of wearing it around on your nices coat, and going to the local fancy tavern, drinking wine and mingling with the other members of the city. It would just make me feel much more important, If it isn't added, someone should be made to mod it in.

I like this idea. Maybe one emblem at a time could be worn to prevent the player from collapsing.

I'm really hoping you can join various Nordic clans or even start your own, like the recruitment in Assassins Creed Brotherhood, and it would come with its own set of quests to upgrade your village. I'm hoping for a headquarters like http://www.tamriel-rebuilt.org/?p=conceptart§ion=15261 (the first 2) and your own mead hall!!! WOOOOO!

That would be cool, the ability to add insignias on armor and clothes. A customization system like in APB(all points bulletin) would be cool, even cooler if you could add tattoos especially like on nords ofc.

While playing Mount and Blade, I noticed that our flag picture was added automatically to the back of any shield that we used.

That was a nice touch, and I hope to see something like that in Skyrim.

Now that we know that there is no character classes, character ranks in guilds, factions and clans can be more important to define who characters really are, and thus a form of insignia for those factions for their ranking members can be a good idea.

What, are there no character ranks in guilds? I'd like a source to that statement.

OT: I like the idea. I would also like ranked guild clothing/armor.

Sorry, bad phrasing:

Now that we know that there is no character classes, so I think that character ranks in guilds, factions and clans can be more important to define who characters really are, and thus a form of insignia for those factions for their ranking members can be a good idea. :whistling:

I like it. Should of course depend on the guild how obvious and what the thing is, but good idea :goodjob:

Yes, some guilds would like to keep out of sight, but on the other hand, you might see the higher member of some guilds or clans, wearing those insignia in their body proudly to show their high rank in there.

True that. Look at gangs, they're known criminals, but they wear there patch loudly and proudly (unfortunately).
However, Guilds like DB shouldn't have this, if they do, you could automatically be charged for murder.

Yes, some factions could be marked as undeworldian and be hidden from the outside world.

...

As the result of looking at the problem caused by removing of the classes and the titles that they attached to you to be called by others, I thought that this problem can be solved by gaining ranks in guilds, factions and clans.

Fellow faction members, would always call you by your rank in their faction, but if you wear the insignia of another faction, and it is much more important than your rank in the current faction, they might choose to call you by your rank as shown by your worn insignia, and their tome might offer a bit of false respect as this is a high rank of another faction.

The people that are not in any of your factions, would call you by your most important faction rank title that is known to the local population, or if you wear an insignia on your body, they would call you by the rank title that is shown by your worn insignia.

This would also cover the problem offered by OP of http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1161081-character-titles-and-classes-in-aid-of-roleplay thread.

Maybe guilds like the Dark Brotherhood or the Thieves Guild should indeed have insignias - but very discrete. Like a tattoo or a ring, maybe a belt?

Unless you do it for sheer psychological terror.

Imagine your some poor gate-guard, you hate your job, the pay kinda svcks and there are no health benefits. As you are watching the road you see a figure dressed in black robes and flaunting the insignia of an organization you've only heard about, and all you've heard is pure death. The chill in the air would be unimaginable...

which gives me a though for Radiant AI.

Such titles and insignia flaunting would have far more effect on the poor gate guard than say the seasoned captain of the guard. Titles would be used for influence and intimidation.