[savaze]

I'm just wondering if people felt that there were mandatory skills every player needed...

My thoughts so far:
Social skills:
How could someone get past the age of two without developing some Con?  Maybe they were raised by wolves?! 
How could someone get through their teen years without Negotiation, Intimidation, and/or Etiquette?  Maybe they were isolated and home schooled?!
Combat skills:
How could any male grow up without Unarmed Combat?  I've never met a man that didn't get in a fight at least once in their life, usually during puberty, darn that testosterone.
Physical skills:
How could a child not have gained some of, if not all, the Athletics Group (at least coastal dwellers are extremely likely to know how to swim)?  Were they cloned or jacked into the matrix their whole childhood?!
Technical skills:
I don't know a kid that hasn't over abundantly colored/drawn as much as they can, and most kids sing too much, though it's not always great listening unless you're an ork.  Would that qualify as Artisan?
For the future being so technically immersed wouldn't kids know a good deal about some aspects, probably all, of the Electronics skill group?  I know a 2 and a 4 year old that know more about computers and navigating them than my parents.

Well those are my late night meanderings... Maybe some of these thoughts involved developmental growth, but others would surely constitute skills.

[Sid]

Different worlds, different lives. Sure, there are child militia in some regions, but it's not the standard as I know it.
If the kids you know learned how to pull a con, focus on drawing skills and master basic unarmed techniques ... well, not all do.
I'd put kid level skill grades down to defaulting with attributes. Sure, some can do some things at a slightly higher mediocre level, but average kids aren't displaying anything approaching professional level skills in defaultable skills - and won't need non-defaultable skills at that age.

Computer, Etiquette, Dodge / Gymnastics, Perception, Pilot: [Groundcraft] and assorted combat skills are what I'd pick for universally useful shadowrunning skills, with other skills becoming more or less useful depending on how you run for a crust.

[Redwulfe]

I like the idea behind everyman skills, but I think most of them are simply defaults on regular attributes. growing up many kids fought but only a few fought with skill the rest just flailed there fists about and hoped to hit something. Or at least that was my perception of the events. I also knew kids that didn't know how to fight at all but with a two minute instruction they could throw a simple punch and dodge a bit. this however would not be unarmed combat 1, it would be finally being able to use it untrained. teh things every kid picks up growing up is mainly the ability to use most of the skills in the game untrained, i.e. it allows them to default.

If you kept someone in isolation with no ability to do anything but sit in silence and perhaps walk around, they would not be able to use unarmed combat untrained, they could not default. They wouldn't have any clue or concept about what a punch was or how to even basically defend themselves. the things we pick up as we grow up allow us to default. I now plenty of people who don't know how to drive, and many adults without drivers licenses. I live in NYC, most people take public transportation, not drive themselves. Before that I lived in Illinois where that would have been unheard of but allot of people did not know how to swim. who knows what the future of shadowrun is like on these regards. In a Plex I would actually expect less people to know how to drive even at the default level. most people would just tae public transportation or use the autoguide on their car and connect it to the grid to get from point a to point b.

just my 2 cents,
Red

[Fortinbras]

I don't consider being able to lie a Con skill, nor is not screaming obscenities at the Queen an Etiquette skill. Con is knowing the ins and out of how people think to fool them into making the decision you want and believing that decision was their own; like this. Knowing not to act like a jerk in a biker bar isn't Etiquette, but being able to identify social structure and quantify what the groupings of individuals in a confined space means about their hierarchy is.
Subsequently, having gotten in a fight in high school doesn't give you a 1 in Unarmed combat. Watch an average policeman take down a guy twice his size in less than a second and you'll understand how much Unarmed combat the average person doesn't have.
There is also a difference in knowing how to swim and knowing how to swim properly. Most kids can draw, but they cannot draw on a professional level. Most of them don't even know the basic of contrast on a color wheel.
As far as computers, I'm using a computer right now, but I have no clue how it works. If my computer breaks down, all I can do is turn it off and on again and make sure it's plugged in.

A skill of 1 represents the lowest level of professional training, not the lowest level of competency. Someone with a Con of 1 has had training or professional experience in how to con someone, but they aren't good enough to be a professional at it yet. Think of it like an apprenticeship.
Most basic competency is a default skill.

[Pathica]

nor is not screaming obscenities at the Queen an Etiquette skill.

A) Quite funny, made me smile. 

B) What is 'basic etiquette' to some folks varies widely, I have these nephews... 

[Frostriese]

All those "How could" question are easily answered by the fact that people have those skills. At 0. 0 means the average skill of an everyday person in this or that field. It takes negative qualities to not have those skills!

And on another note I would say I did grow up without ever getting into a full-out physical fights. Friendly blows among friends is another thing, of course, heh.

[Critias]

All those "How could" question are easily answered by the fact that people have those skills. At 0. 0 means the average skill of an everyday person in this or that field. It takes negative qualities to not have those skills!

Exactly.  The defaulting rules exist for a reason.  Yes, lots of people can float and flail their arms for guidance -- but how many trained swimmers are there, compared to people that just splash around in the water when it's hot outside?  Yes, lots of red-blooded young men get into a fistfight, but how many of them actually know what they're doing instead of just relying on being a little stronger/tougher/faster/madder than the other guy? 

[savaze]

I understand that everyone is going to have a different childhood with different skill sets involved, but I'm just trying to think it through based on knowing kids.  I just looked at the rating chart and it still seems that 'normal' kids (very interpretive) pick up certain skill sets.

Rating 0 Untrained
The general baseline of knowledge shared by society. This is not incompetence; it is the standard level of untrained knowledge held by any Joe Average
Athletics Example: Has played catch with friends in the backyard.
Firearms Example: Point the barrel, pull the trigger.
Technical Example: Can send an email, browse a Matrix site, or store data on a commlink.
Social Example: The typical man on the street.
Vehicle Example: Basic operator’s license. Can get from here to there, but can’t handle driving in adverse conditions.
Knowledge Skill Example (Academic): High school student. Screamsheet-level of knowledge.
Knowledge Skill Example (Street): Never visited Seattle before, but can find it on a map.

Rating 1 Beginner
Has done this a few times. Can handle some easy tasks, some of the time.
Athletics Example: Little League/Pop Warner skill.
Firearms Example: Shot some tin cans with a BB gun a few times.
Technical Example: Hobbyist.
Vehicle Example: Weekend off-roader. Seasoned driver with low insurance premiums.
Knowledge Skill Example (Academic): High school graduate.
Knowledge Skill Example (Street): Visited Seattle on a few trips.

Rating 2 Novice
Has a solid grasp of the fundamentals, but shaky on more complex yet still routine procedures.
Athletics Example: High school athlete.
Vehicle Example: Air Force Academy cadet, go-gang initiate.
Knowledge Skill Example (Street): Moved to Seattle one or two years ago.

Maybe this completely falls under the 20 questions of who you are and why...  I know most of the people I played with didn't flesh out their characters too far beyond what was on the sheet.  Usually a quick paragraph explaining who they are, but it always makes me wonder...

[savaze]

Sometimes I think there are skills that don't default that are listed as they can, like swimming.  I was a life guard growing up, played water polo through college, and when I went into the Army I went through the 'helicopter dunker' course (combo of basic swimming, basic SKUBA, basic survival equipment use, & how to egress a helicopter that has crashed in a large body of water). 

Every single person I've ever encountered that didn't have some formal training weren't comfortable and struggled in water they couldn't easily stand in.  Dog paddling isn't a natural instinct in humans even if it's very rudimentary.  When I did life guard training one of the things we had to do was learn how to fight underwater (wrestling mostly and how to knock someone out to save their life) and I've used those skills many a times while try to save someone who was, or could have been at risk for drowning.  When people go under panic kicks in with adrenaline and shock and I've seen guys almost drown their spouses, and vice versa,  to try to stay afloat.

Assuming that people have a '0' level in swimming is a mighty leap in most of the US, let alone the world.  Maybe I just threw in an easy negative quality...

[Catadmin]

Mandatory skills for ALL my characters:

Dodge
Perception
1 physical combat skill (that's minimum, but it might be low dice. Some characters get more skills and more dice.)
First Aid (stat varies depending on the character)

Other than that, everything else depends on the character type, history and background. Dodge, though, is my # 1 requirement and I just don't understand people who don't take that skill.

[Angelone]

Infiltration
1 ranged combat skill
1 close combat skill
Etiquette (which is an ackward looking word)

[Sid]

You mean awkward?

If my computer breaks down, all I can do is turn it off and on again and make sure it's plugged in.

I'm surprised this is the only other mention of Computer skill. Given the general horror stories of tech support and observing my own family's interactions with technology, I'd put that level of skill above defaulting.
We bought an emergency services comm unit for that other gm acronym (my grandmother) and recently had a blackout. For three hours this machine verbally told everyone in the house that it had no external power source. After two hours, there were discussions starting - to either throw it outside or otherwise physically disable the irritating voice permanently.
It was obvious to everyone that this engine of distraction would talk on it's own battery until power was restored, and I assumed someone would have thought to look at the machine itself to stop this. Before ordering a new unit, I decided to wipe the layer of dust off the LCD screen - finding a handy little message that said, "Please press OK".

My family didn't physically express their technophobia that day.
This was three adults that otherwise have no issues with computer access for email and internet - provided nothing goes wrong and everything is laid out for them sequentially. Foiled by an LCD screen message while listening to a voice recording that didn't tell them what to do.
Not sure I'd want to be in that position when my life is on the line.

[LonePaladin]

Consider how defaulting on computers would work in different eras.

• 2070: Sue gets up in the morning. Her house commlink detects her increase in activity, and accesses her Matrix feeds. Holographic projectors in her vicinity show her the latest news headlines, lets her know her P2.0 score has dropped by 3.8, and that she has four messages, with an invitingly large button that says "Press here to view your mail". She reaches out, taps the button, and her e-mail pops up.
• 2040: Sue gets up in the morning. Her newsfax has a blinking red light; she's too bleary without her morning soykaf to think about pressing the button. She turns on her desktop computer, then accidentally deletes the icon for her e-mail reader.
• 2010: Sue gets up in the morning. She turns on her computer, then gets up to go make coffee while it starts up. She forgets which command she needs to type in to read her e-mail (remember, this is SR 2010).
• 1980: Sue gets up in the morning. She turns on her computer, to be greeted by nothing but "C:>". Vaguely remembering that "dir" means something, she tries that. She decides to see what "command.com" does; when nothing happens, she decides it's useless and deletes it.

[Kontact]

In 2060s, you control your computer by thinking about things.
It's pretty hard to make that anything but intuitive.

It's not like you're using a Microdeck operating system here...


As to swimming, hell yeah, dudes should be drowning left and right.  Heavy gear/armor, dense bodies, and never seeing a swimming pool or a body of water that wasn't full of poison or mega-sharks, does not make for people who mix well with water.

[CanRay]

It's not like you're using a Microdeck operating system here...

Actually, you might.