Suggestion - degrading ranks

I've run a search and I don't see a thread of a similar ilk.

I've seen a thread where a Cmdr'S Elite combat grade is causing them issues.
I've seen threads where people hit Elite and then have nowhere to go.
Hitting Elite and then taking a break means a steep learning curve for combat when you return.

Elite shouldn't be a fixed goal it should be a way of life. An Elite grade should require maintenance. If you don't maintain a skill you lose it. This should be the case especially for combat. If you gain Elite and then don't fire your weapons for five years are you an Elite combat pilot? Quite obviously not.

If you do not top up your combat rating then it degrades. This simulates loss of skill due to advances in ship load out, technology, and evolution of tactics.

Those that retain Elite status become masters of their craft. This is how skills work in the real world.
 
I too like the idea of degrading ranks, although the logic of the OP only works for combat Elite (and tenuously for trade)

If you don't go exploring for a period of time, does you knowledge of space really diminish? Explorer Elite ranking really equates to 'I have seen x number of stars, of y% of the galaxy and recorded by findings in a central journal.

Trading Elite - the ranking shows that you know how to trade goods between planets, how to make a profit, how to work the markets. If you stopped trading for a bit, would that knowledge stop? - possibly, you could argue that markets move, change, fluctuate etc so if you stopped trading, your knowledge of these routes would get rusty.

Combat - easy to justify the need to keep the ranking current
Trade - tenuous, but could be argued either way
Explorer - would need to work on justifying this one.

...

On a different note, when the OP title was degrading ranks, I thought it was referring to Federation / Alliance ranks.
I don't understand why these simply increase. I would have expected that any military worth their might would have tiered hierarchy, with only a set number of post at each position.

Progression would be currently as deployed with promotions being counted as field promotions only. Each week (Thursday reset?) all promoted and existing pilots in a certain rank would be assessed to confirm that they are 'fit for duty'. I.e. The eventual number of commanders in a certain rank aligned percentage-wise to a hierarchy structure.

Pilots that have not been active in a particular faction for a while would be demoted a rank, losing associated privileges.
You would need to work out some form of coefficient formula to ensure upcoming 'active' commanders were treated on an equal footing to established commanders. (Faction points averaged over the past 4 weeks).

It's a thought
 
+1.
I understand some people will be for it, some against it; pseronally I think a systm similar to the Powerplay Ranks could work well. You put in X effort to maintain Elite in one of the three, in return for benefits. I think the main point would be a cap on how much the rank can degrade, similar to the drop from Allied to Friendly.
 
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