Damn right that there should be consequences: the first time I played Divine Divinity, I flatly refused to join a Guild. Consequence: got stuck. I think that choosing what Guild you join, should have consequences on your interaction with other Guilds.
Exactly. You shouldn't have to join everything, that also affects roleplaying. Some good characters might not want to be in the Thieves Guild for example...
Agreed.
One thing that annoyed me at the time was the impossibility of playing a truly 'good' character. You need lock picking - it's an essential skill - and if you don't join the Thieves Guild you are not going to be able to complete a fair number of the normal quests. I wouldn't mind that so much if there were equivalent guilds for 'good' characters but there are not.
Still love DD, don't get me wrong, but I would have liked a bit more freedom in terms of the actual role playing options.
