I was thinking about capes for GW 2 and the more i thought i said "hey... what if capes worked like heraldry?" each individual player could have their own custom cape.... while they could still be in a guild. Some mark would remain (perhaps a clasp or other mark on allegiance) to show status within a guild. What do you guys think?

A clasp is waaaay too small and wouldn't really look much nor be particularly identifying. As armours are so different and can be dyed a great many colours, a guild's cape is kind of like its uniform. One of the positive things about a uniform is that it promotes a sense of belonging to an organisation (be it a school or the scouts).

Perhaps if GW2 has a similar heirarchy system within guilds to GW, it might be nice if there was an option for guild leaders and officers to have a different coloured cape (but with the rest of the design the same) - but while not all my characters wear their cape, it would feel wrong to me if it was different to the rest of the guild.

that isn't entirely what i mean but it does make a point...

perhaps one part of the cape would be required to keep a similiar part on it...

also about only certain members having specialized capes.. that would be un-fair on its own..

In the ages when knights wore Heraldry each knight had his own mark... this would work the same way

example:
Original Guild Cape:


Personal Heraldry:


And thats only loosely

yeah thats an ok idea i guess, but it would mean that the guild could only be recognised for ite emblem and with a popular emblem it could be a bit of a problem

like I said... thats still only loosely... the idea is that each member was their own unique cape... heck they don't even have to use the same symbol... the guild tag would still be present