Since this came up a few times in this post and is still kind of vague:

Can the team please clarify what the purpose of rank ups are as far as your intention with the ranking system? I understand there's an element of IC change of responsibility, but it sounds like per what you've described here that OOCly it doesn't come with any additional benefits, at least not in regards to the plot or specific followup.

While I get in a sense where you guys are going with this and that all players deserve a chance to get their hands in the pot given some creativity, I think it would be helpful to be far more clear on what ranked character players should expect from their choice to submit for a promotion, as far as what they may or may not be able to do within the game environment or what differences they may expect interaction with the city, the npcs, etc. This might help alleviate some concerns with current ranked characters or those of us wanting to pursue rank at another time.

Someone more eloquent than me could probably add to this, but I'd personally feel better having this made very clear.