First post in like a year - wew
I kind of read the opinions in this thread, but the following is really just based on my own opinion. I'm not addressing or referring to anybody specifically in this thread - I just wanted to put my two cents in for the hell of it.
I'm in favor for that change to streamline the ranks into one "Retired" rank, but I never really thought much about my retirement rank. I stepped down intending to separate from the community. I didn't have the time to be involved anymore, and I didn't think it'd be fair to hold any power in the community if I couldn't dedicate time. The fact that I have a recognition rank itself is nice and it's a neat little reminder that "I did something!!" in the community.
In regards to the current structure, despite my previous statement above, I like the "new" division between HG, Veterans, and LG. I find the current recognition ranks a little more distinct. It gives me a general idea of what my contribution meant to the board making the decision. That may or may not be something others like, but I feel like it's a clear statement that I contributed xyz to the community and it was recognized at this level for it. Originally, when I stepped down, I was given HG. I heard about the rank restructuring for "retired" staff, and I came back to find myself at Veterans. Being completely honest, I was happy to see that. I definitely didn't contribute as much as a lot of the old board, and old AOs but I put a lot of effort in establishing a foundation for what I was tasked to do. I thought about SG during my time as AT a lot and tried really hard to improve the QoL for our competitive scene. I see traces of my old template for the current scrim event which is really nice. The fact that I left something behind is something I am proud of, since I really did enjoy and love my time here at SG. Being given the bump from HG to Veterans gave me the feeling that the board saw something similar. I left behind a little more than others.
Most of the complaints seem to be from LGs being pushed down to Veterans. At the end of the day, I have no right to really give an opinion on this. I can absolutely see how you would take it as a demotion, since the rank change comes with a clear change in recognition and ultimately powers, but I don't know what it feels like since I did not get affected in the same matter. Nevertheless, I don't see recognition ranks as something that should be considered "promotions/demotions." The restructuring just gave me more of an idea of how the board viewed what I contributed to the community. Whether that's a step forward or back, that is what I view these ranks as.
I always viewed those who stepped down as those who just don't have time anymore to contribute. It made no sense to me if you were stepping down to get away, just to return after a short period of time (I know Caution put a public statement about this a long time ago too). There were some legends that still played around the servers a lot and enforced the rules when I first started playing here years ago. They were really cool guys, but I didn't really see why they would stay legends instead of returning to being a SA. They were active and part of the staff even though their rank suggested being "retired." If it was to cherry pick when to enforce the rules, well that doesn't seem to be what it was intended for at all so that doesn't make sense either to me. It was confusing at first because I didn't see their name often around the forums and other parts of the community, but they eventually tagged up suggesting they were admin.
On the servers, I could never really tell the difference between a HG and a Reg. This might just be because I didn't really care that much about it. Even legends, I only knew they were legends when they spoke in admin chat or tagged up with an unfamiliar name. Some sort of addition to distinguishing the retired staff on the servers would be nice I suppose. I briefly joined the community meeting yesterday and I think this was talked about but I didn't catch any of it so I'm not sure.
Ultimately, whatever decision gets made, I'm fine with it. I like the way it's structured now, but if it makes others happy, I am completely fine with it being one rank as well. I don't log in enough for it to have any impact on me, but I'll always appreciate the fact that I actually have something still in this community that I put so much time into. Honestly, if they decide to take that away from me, that's fine too. I left, but I'll always fondly reminisce about a certain timeline here at SG that I was active in.