Note: this suggestion isnt about improvements to the current ranking system, nor about changing it.

This suggestion main focus is to make a new ranking system that make players naturally want to make improvements to the community as a whole.

the first step to implement this is to make players able to change their rank between MCMMO based ranking system to the new ranking system
example: [Duke] o_v_0: hi world >> [newRank] o_v_0: hello world
second step, which isnt a necessary one but would be fun, is to be able to hover over a player nickname to see some of their statics like when they joined the server, their MCMMO rank, the new system rank, their MCMMO level, their username instead of /realname and many more fun features! however, this isnt the main topic of this suggestion :D

now to the main topic, The Alternative Ranking System! this isnt the final name of the new system, mainly because I didnt figure out a name yet...
the main idea of this system is to give players community-given ranks and the process is as follows:

o_v_0 is a very good boy and is known in the community for that(this is a lie) > o_v_0 has made many great projects and contributions to the community(this is also a lie lol) > some players from the community (that arent o_v_0) make a forum post saying why should he be given a rank(for example a rank named: contributor? I didnt make any rank names), community votes and if at least 25 players upvoted that forum post(and if upvotes were more than 2/3 of total votes) that player forum will be discussed between helpers and moderators since they are the staff representors in the community and they know the player base better, finally if helpers and moderators agreed admins would have the final say on giving the player that rank.
the ranks will not have any in game effects, but will help the community in many ways.
the ranks are supposed to be given to a few players only.

Why this suggestion help the community?
1. positive focus: new and old players will do their best to help the community and potentially warn a juicy community title
2. discouraging toxicity: players would try their best to avoid toxicity so their enemies wont down vote them
3. rank revocation: a player that got that title can still have that title revoked, that prevents an old contributor from becoming toxic later on like how some old donators get banned because they become toxic to staff
4. democratic element: I love democracy, I love the republic
5. nice features: the main feature in this suggestion may be rejected, but some like hovering over the player name to see stats is nice to have(and easy to implement too!)

Common issues that people might mention :
1. abuse of the voting system : a nation leader that is very toxic tells his people to vote for him, this is easily combated by helpers and mods involvement in making the decisions
2. complexity in moderation: the current way of getting the rank has many steps and with an increased community size the 25 players needed to vote become small, this can be solved by increasing the number whenever needed, and since the forums are made from players to players, they will tell a helper or a mod when a player reaches the needed requirements, essentially automating the system using free labor(the players)
3. rank inflation: too many players might be able to get that rank, therefor, some very very high standards must be present when helpers and mods make their decision
4. a player becomes toxic if rejected : 1 toxicity is illegal, 2 if that player became toxic then s/he shouldnt have gotten the rank which further justifies the rejection
5. constantly reapplying: there will be a 6 month cooldown where a player cant have another forum post open for them to get a community rank
6. vote blocking: intentionally down voting someone to make them lose, for a player to gain such title, they are supposed to achieve great feats and make great contributions that even enemies wouldnt down vote them, "enemy" and "ally" are flexible unmeaningful terms in ccnet, many players have friends that are "enemies" and many nations leaders still see their "enemy" leader as a friend even if they fight in ccnet

a message to other players who read this: I have been making this suggestion for a while now, and it is my first ever suggestion, I know there might be many mistakes in it and I would appreciate if you, my fellow friend, would correct me in the replies, some areas that I was unable to figure out are: names of ranks and the system, all the names I came up with were cringe. how would the system be implemented if staff ever agreed? should there be feedback for rejection? or would that be an unneeded load on already busy staff team. should there be a dedicated forum for this only? just like the news forum.