Officer requirements
First and for most I am not sure if this is the correct section or this topic but I did my best to pick an appropriate one.
Anyways, lately I have looked at a lot of guilds wiki pages and I found something interesting. A lot of guilds have playing skill requirements to obtain high ranks such as officer and/or guild master. I don't see why people would do this and I am encouraging any guild with these requirements to change them. I understand I have no control over others actions and I am only giving a suggestion and asking for clarification on something. Officer is meant to be like a guild moderator and guild master is a highly trusted admin of the guild. However I don't think some guilds understand this and they have done otherwise.
To explain my point, I could be the best Spiral Knight in the world with everything I need, all 5* everything with maxed UV's and I have a load out for every single mission to make it easy as possible. I also could be the most skilled player along with having the best stuff. So I can march on into a guild and obtain officer and/or guild master with ease. Then I could choose to wreck havoc and mess up the guild (I would never do this, this is just a "what if") and then the owner of the guild would have a mess to deal with.
This could all be prevented if people chose officers and guild masters based off their ability to work with people and be a moderator for the guild. This would give trustworthy people power in the guild and prevent accidents like said above. I am fine with guilds who have both social skills and playing ability requirements, but it is silly to only have playing skill tests.
Let me know what you think of my post.
You are very much right. I agree that it is up to the owners discretion and that a guild like that is slightly disorderly.

"if people chose officers and guild masters based off their ability to work with people and be a moderator for the guild. This would give trustworthy people power in the guild "
I dont knwo where you have been but most serious guilds are based on thrust, while being 5* is a secondary requirement.

If you want to be an officer, you have to attend Police Academy.

I much prefer a guild that ranks on skill and not personal bias or seniority. But I wish there was at least one more rank.

Here is the ranks and promotions post from our website (http://lionheart-sk.forumjap.com/)
Advancement in the guild depends on your competency and attitude as a player. Other things we look at are: 1) time spent in the guild, 2) maturity in words and behavior, 3) contributions to both the guild and Spiral Knights community, 4) reputation as a player, 5) quality of your gear, 6) ability to successfully complete various missions.
Recruit – You will be a recruit for your first week while we get to know one another. NB (note well) - Attempts to deceive the GMs or officers, whether intentionally or unintentionally, about the length of time you have been in the guild will result in a 1 week delay of your promotion.
Member – You will be a Member for another week. We desire that our members have registered on the guild website and demonstrated a familiarity with our Guildlines. After 2 weeks in the guild, you will be eligible for promotion to Veteran.
Veteran – In order to qualify for promotion to Veteran, you must have a good mix of 4* and 5* gear and the skills to match it. Basically, a vet should have 4-5* gear and be able to lead a party of 2 through a Tier 2 boss mission without dying. A Guild Master or Officer will do a run with you if it is your desire to showcase your abilities for a Veteran position. Feel free to contact one of us if it is your desire to do so. Please remember, we will continue to value your presence and friendship just as much if you remain at the Member rank.
We have a vet test for 3 reasons.
First, it allows newer players to see who can help them thru their missions, which is part of what our guild does.
Second, although originally there was no plan to have any skills tests whatsoever, players seem to expect and want some kind of skills test for this rank.
Third, it creates a talent pool from which we select our officers.
Officer - Veterans who have been in the guild for a minimum of one month and have demonstrated exceptional qualities and maturity in the 6 areas above will be eligible for promotion to Officer. The Guild Master will approach you about possibly becoming an officer, so please refrain from asking to become one. You will be someone that we have come to trust, which takes times. Promotions to Officer rank will occur infrequently.
With promotion to Officer comes a few new powers and responsibilities. You can now use officer chat (/o) and you will have the power to invite players into the guild at your discretion. Although you will also have the power to remove players from our guild, that is an action that only Guild Masters will perform, and only when absolutely necessary. No one will ever be casually removed from the guild. Finally, you will be expected to administer the Veteran test from time to time.
Officers are an integral part of managing the guild's daily activities as you work with the other leaders of the guild to carry out the vision of its founders. You will be able to offer suggestions and give input more directly and readily. You will be expected to be a role model and mentor for other members.
Guild Master – There are currently no plans to add to this rank.

"but most serious guilds are based on thrust"
"thrust"
*COUGH*
For the most part, the 5* requirement is to show your experience and level in the game, not to mention to set a standard/example for the lower Recruits.
'Tests of Skill' are usually disguised attempts to judge character as well. Just because they want to see you in action on a run doesn't mean they're just looking for your skill level, they'll also be assessing your attitude and reactions to problems.
Just because there are gear requirements on the Page doesn't mean they are the only thing. Most Guilds prefer not to list them, I think because then we'll get pretenders. Not to mention it's just plain easier to assess someone when they don't know what they're being assessed on.
My Guild for example has a requirement that you be Vanguard before attaining Veteran Rank. That's just because it shows game experience, but they also keep an eye on behavior. If they don't make the cut, they're not going to get the rank.
From there, Officer is based on trust and social ability. Not to mention they have to be Veteran first, so that's a lot of judging they have to do.

Things I would consider for an Officer to have.
1. Skill
2. Game Exp (knowing how things actually work)
3. Trust
4. Maturity - Can explain things to players without having to threaten them or cuss them out.
5. Time in guild - Maybe 1 month at least? (This is probably factored on how new your guild is and how much in need you are of trained higher ups.)
Though there are other things to consider also. From personal history I got promoted to an Officer in a guild rather quickly. (I didn't ask for this or even the promotions.) I helped people do SL runs in the guild and could offer advice for weapons etc. Though once I got that rank as quickly as I did a Vet had a temper tantrum and tried to start a fight with me. Instead of humoring the people I simply got up and moved on with my SK life.
So there is more than just looking for certain things in your Officers. You also got to consider if any other players will have a tantrum if someone newer gets promoted over them even if the newer person fits the qualities better.
One last thing. You should avoid making a guild with max number of GMs and officers. There is no reason to have like 12 officers and 10 GMs in a guild. (I can't remember the max you can get with a fully upgraded guild hall anymore)

Totally agree :3
Lockdowns guilds like Celestial vanguards for example I believe they only look for Damage and equipment to gain promotion.

Nota bene means "note well", "pay attention" or "take notice".

In every guild I've been in, the GM awarded officer positions to his/her closest friends that were very active in the guild. Veteran Ranks however were almost always skill based requirements.

Veteran Ranks are the highest ranks attainable before getting serious powers (to invite/kick and whatnot) and there isn't much difference between what a new recruit and an experienced Veteran can do with the guild. Thus why most of the times you see skill/gear based requirements up to Veteran.

I got Officer in Hydra before I even hit 4 star ^^
But that's kind of cheating because it was on an alt and I've had plenty of experience with this game that is evident by the way I talk.

Copy-pasted off the Knights of Equestria wiki page
Rankings
- An overview of what you can expect from a guildie; it is not a specific categorization of a role nor should you feel obliged to meet a "role." -
- Recruit - They've just started, or are new to the guild. Get to know them! Returning members may likely skip this rank.
- Member - Established members of the guild, consisting of the bulk of the guild. A colorful cast may lie here.
- Veteran - Time-tested players, who have been with the guild for a long time. Your go-to reliable members.
- Officer - Has capability and dedication that warrants their position. If there's something you need pertaining to the guild, go to them!
- For Officer promotions, general member feedback is taken into consideration. -

People are ranked by their skill sometimes because, for some guilds, guild LD matches are really important and they need the proper peeps to do it so they may win. However, for the most part, I agree with the OP.

From Psychodestroyer
'Tests of Skill' are usually disguised attempts to judge character as well. Just because they want to see you in action on a run doesn't mean they're just looking for your skill level, they'll also be assessing your attitude and reactions to problems.
This is exactly what's happening most of the time, I've watch a lot of vets try to go Officer and while some could do FSC alone, they were not trust worthy because we do some background check-up. Specially on a small community like SK (on another server, like the french one's), everybody know each other, it doesn't take long before knowing who were in which guild and why he left and if he tried to scam or anything... You don't go from Recruit to Officer in a week, it takes time and people get to know you.
Being an officer in most guild means having more responsibilities than usual. When the Guild Master are not there you are their right-hand man and you decide everything. You are also an important part of the guild by helping people around to get cr (doing FSC with noob basically) and doing SL to gear up your guild vets (even though you don't want to nor need to).
A lot of people just want the officer part to publish in design mode, buy furniture and go through off gates but there's more than that...

@Night-Rove
That is exactly why I despise Lockdown guilds. I'm not trying to sound stereotypical here but most Lockdown guilds think being good in Lockdown means getting a buttload of damage. I was in Exiled Force and they got mad because we lost but I didn't capture because I wanted to stay in the guild so I tried to get high damage.
They were mad at us for losing after that and said "Y'all need to improve." or whatever.
That's what happens to damage pricks. I hate being in Lockdown guilds like that, they only test you for damage. If they tested me for captures then maybe I would've been in a Lockdown guild.

@Spold yup people think damage is pro. But no it's not, Lockdown players like Vanbamf are really good at capping.
Van Often brings shock weapons like kilo and shock bombs and people would get frustrated and yell at him. Anyways I am more after caps than damage now so I spam kilowatt pulsar to stall the other team.

It's like military. Your combat skill can only take you so far up the ladder. Beyond a certain rank, you need to know things other than combat skill, things like logistic, politics and technology.
So it's not unreasonable to have skill test for promotion in guild rank. But it shouldn't be the only requirement for the administrative ranks (Officer and GM). When you are at that level, you need other skills such as people's skill (how to talk to people, how to handle troublemakers, how not to get the guild into trouble with Three Rings), financial skills (no resources, no guilds) and management skill (how resource gathering is done, how to resolve conflict of interest, scheduling people for runs, etc).
I think OP is asking to remove the skill test component because he doesn't fully realize the full list of skills that are needed to keep a guild running. The relevancy of combat skill becomes smaller as you climb higher, but that doesn't mean you can ignore the combat component.

I've been in quiet a few guilds when I was active before finally just staying in a private guild. I often asked myself how some people ever reached Officer because the things I saw were 1. Bad attitudes or 2. Lack of actual game knowledge. Besides combat skills I would factor the most important traits an Officer should have like this.
Major:
1 Good Attitude, friendly towards people, can communicate with others without having to resort to threats or cussing them out, etc
2. Game knowledge. Knowing why things happen, how to train others that need to also learn more about the game, etc
Minor:
1. Combat - It always makes thing looks better when you have a player that wont die 500 times in a FSC run. (Not because of lag either)
There is obviously more things that are good to have for traits and obviously not every guild will agree on what they want in a person, but I would like to think of these as just general guide lines for most serious guilds.

Well, my guild (In the Jelly) has a slightly different criteria compared to a few of the guilds here. I've only gotten up to Veteran, but this is the criteria from my experience.
Recruit: Obviously, this is the first rank you get when joining a guild. The time you spend as a recruit varies for different players.
Member: You will get promoted to a member after a minimum of 3 weeks. In that time, the guild masters/officers/veterans should know you quite well. If any inappropriate behavior is witnessed, you will either 1) Be given a warning 2) Stay as a recruit 3) Get kicked from the guild
Veteran: To get promoted to a Veteran, you must first contact an Officer or Guild Master. You will have to complete a FULL Tier 3 Arcade Run (from Emberlight to the core). After completing the wrong, you will have to submit an application to either a Guild Master or Officer about WHY you want to become a Veteran.
Officer: I'm not quite sure yet myself ^^ Haven't reached this point yet :P
If a guild gives officers their ranks based on their skill level only, then they are just slightly disorderly guild.
But this is all on guild masters' discretion. They paid for their guild, they control whatsoever they want, let them be. Let guild masters do whatever to their guild, sooner or later they might have to rethink certain stuff. All part of learning.