Im thinking in terms of the first rank being a new recruit.
They might not care about your abilities and just expect you to train them.
Some guilds could be different.

In Oblivion, the mages guild's associate rank was really like, "you like magic, but your not a mage yet"
Like Erthor, who should have been an associate. He wasn't really much of a mage, he dabbled in it, but had no real skill.
So for the associate rank, at least here, there isn't a need for requirements because they expect you to train into your position, and it would make sense in this instance

Then again, the dark brotherhood probably cared about your abilities even at a low rank. So I guess it would be guild dependant.

I think to enter a guild should have requirements.Once in the players actions and the storyline should the determining factors.

I can not see how skill requirements are more immersive.

Raminus "Mannimarco is slaughtering the mages that refuse to join him we need someone to stop him."

Player "I will stop him"

Raminus "Hrmm it seems your potions last a second to short and your fireball is slightly below what we require."

Player "I am the Champion of Cyrodil I can handle this for you."

Raminus "We have our standards,If you would like you can use our facilities to get that extra second that we require for someone to help us not die you are more than welcome to."

So being the head of the Mages Guild while having extremely poor magic skills is fine? As the head of the guild you are supposed to be better than everyone else and be able to teach others what you know. How can you do that if your own magic skills are so poor that you have to rely on other skills to make up for them?

Mannimarco doesn't attack the guild until you are ready.
Besides, we all know if the mages guild were that desperate, they would hire the fighters guild like everyone else.

Or Traven would go down there and pull off some awesomeness of his own, we all know he only killed himself because he wanted an excuse to quit, that soul gem didn't do anything for you!

This might sound odd but...

For those who say things like "it doesn't make sense that I'm in the Mages guild and I never casted a single spell"... isn't that your fault? I mean, you're doing it. Just because the game allows you to, it doesn't mean you should if you're against the idea. It's a sandbox game which allows you to play however you want, whenever you want and you can play differently each time... and you're asking for restrictions?

I'm also curious to know who actually DOES that. You know, someone who said "I'm going to play a hardcoe Barbarian that lives on his instincts and brutally hunts down bandits with his warhammer. Lets do that Mage's guild quest line!" It's one thing to complain about a mechanic (or lack of thereof) that you're experiencing and another story altogether to just complain about some possible scenario... and if the latter is true, then what difference does it make whenever a system like that is implemented or not?

I'm pretty sure there are no rules in Monopoly that states: "One cannot steal money from other players while they're not looking"... but do you do it? God, I hope not. *hides his Monopoly money*

Now, to answer the question, would I like to have restrictions in the guilds ranking system? Certainly! Just not specifically in the way Morrowind did it. I would actually enjoy to be challenged within my own guild. You're a fighter and would like to rank up? Prove yourself worthy and fight against the best! None of that "Your skill is not high enough" thing. You know, if we're fighting for this immersion thing, might as well do it right.

TLDR: If it doesn't make sense, why are you doing it? Why are you deliberately disrupting your own experience?

Just like in Monopoly there has to be "Rules" to abide by when playing an RPG. Those "Rules" need to make sense so that when you "Role Play" it makes sense. Sure, I can force myself to have skills in Oblivion to make it in a Mages guild, but I know I don't need them. That breaks the immersion and ruins the Role Playing for me. Where is the incentive for me to Role Play if there aren't any rules to follow?

I do not recall being tasked to teach a class as archmage.

Patton led an army. Was he the best tank gunner,best shot with a rifle,best at calling for artillery strikes in the army? ...no.What he was best at was leading men with those skills.

Lee Iacocca led Chrysler back from the brink of financial ruin. Was he the best at designing vehicles,was he best at assembling them,was he best at marketing them?...no.What he was best at was leading men and women with those skills.

Do you see a pattern forming?

So yes being the head of the mages guild with extremely poor magic skills is fine with me.

Those are great examples, but I disagree. In my opinion you have to know what you are doing to actually lead someone in that skill set. I have a problem with people being the head of a company without actually know how to do the things in that company. The example with Patton is a good example but really doesn't apply, as leading an army has more to do with strategy than knowing how things work.

We are talking about RPG's, video games. I have a major problem with being the head of a guild and not know a thing about that guild, it breaks the immersion for me. This game is supposed to be all about immersion.

Fair point.I am not not opposed to skill checks ala Morrowind .

I would just prefer that the storyline and your actions play a greater role than an arbitrary set of numbers.Two skill requirements would be enough for me.One to enter said guild and one to access the higher lvl questlines.Neither should be overly difficult to attain. IE two skills at 20 to enter 2 at 70 to gain access to the higher lvls.

When everything is easy, and everything is possible, then nothing really feels like an achievement. Getting to the head of the Fighters guild shouldnt be a question of wading through 5 quests, should need to complete some difficult missions, and have the stats, or perks to back up your credentials.

For the love of Azura yes please.

Ah! But aren't you not supposed to use [O]ut [O]f [C]haracter information when you role-play? Like you said, there are rules to abide and Monopoly has them just like Oblivion has rules... some rules (like the one I mentioned and the one that we're discussing in this thread) are enforced by the players own beliefs and morality.

Just do what feels natural. That's what I do and I've been told that I'm an excellent RPer.

Just so that there's no misunderstanding, I would like guild rank restrictions.. just not with skill level requirements.

I'm going to RP in Skyrim as the Moneybag

What did you have in mind?

I think having skill restrictions make perfect sense. If you need a strength of 70, it wont break the immersion if you are told, "Sorry, you don't have sufficient strength to merit the respect of the guild". At which point, you go outside and kill things while Eye of the Tiger plays in the background, and return a better man. You wont need to look at your stats once.

Idk about attribute restrictions because the Fighter's Guild would probably include all major fighting styles so a good marksman could fit in there too. But there could be other kinds of tests. For the Fighter's Guild it could be some kind of sparring match or other test of skill. For the Mage's Guild you could have to magically open a chest or do something like that.

I think the restrictions we saw in Morrowind were perfectly fine, they were broad enough to encompass all skills the faction considered important, and attributes if I remember correctly.

But I think you are on to something, demonstrating your mastery of a craft...
Perhaps there would be trails for gaining some ranks...

I am for REASONABLE guild requriements. I.E. I think it makes perfect sense that, in order to become Archmage, you should need to be a master of at least one school of magic, maybe two, or master in at least one, and expert in at least two others. But you should not have to be master of all the schools in order to lead the guild. You should be an uncommonly skilled and powerful Wizard, but you should not be required to be the all knowing guru of all magic in Nirn.