I agree with you that ranks are just cosmetics and it is not a need unless one like to earn by joining signature bounty. The higher the rank users has the higher pays the user will get and that is the reason why other users wanting to rank up. As I have metion earlier that other users had rely to it due to pandemic with no stable means of income.
Which ever it is about ranks, it's very effective as it imbibes in users the need to understand certain concepts not just about the forum but also Bitcoin and Altcoins including how the cryptosphere operates. It's just a decoration with some benefits really but very effective.
I don't really know what the forum was like and from what I've gathered from reading articles here about that era, it seems the ranks came based on posts regardless of quality and at times, they were just given. In this regards, I guess a lot of users back then with the knowledge of how the ranks are just given would just create alts each and every time they don't get the desired ranks, filling the forum with needless account IDs.
With regards to OP, it's a carefully crafted concept based on users understanding which is not wrong in itself but then, would be helpful to redefine the forum and it's core system to new users. It's encouraging.
