I try to display my idea:
Instead of a fixed rank for a fixed sum of skillpoints, why not implement a dynamic system, which derives the appropriate rank from the individual skills. An example (Agriculture, Biology, Engineering, Geology - A, B, E, G)
ABEG = 0-0-0-0 -> Trainee
ABEG = (5..10)-(<5)-(<5)-(<5) (like: 10-3-2-0) -> junior Agronomist
ABEG = (<5)-(5..10)-(<5)-(<5) (like: 4-8-2-3) -> junior Biologist
ABEG = (<5)-(<5)-(5..10)-(<5) (like: 0-0-6-4) -> junior Engineer
ABEG = (<5)-(<5)-(<5)-(5..10) (like: 4-4-4-6) -> junior Geologist
...now lets see, what if a player has two favorite skills. The ones higher than 5 are now written in bold letters.
ABEG - junior agricultural Scientist
AB
EG - junior Agriculturist
ABE
G - junior Xenoagronomist
A
BEG - junior Bioengineer
A
BE
G - junior Xenobiologist
AB
EG - junior Geoengineer
...ok, now we have some hard working player here, who excels in three fields:
ABEG - junior harvest Specialist
ABE
G - junior terraform Specialist
AB
EG - junior supply Specialist
A
BEG - junior fabrication Specialist
...and finally that guy, who never logs off
ABEG - junior Omnitech
...and the same for "master ...", "expert..." with higher numbers
advantages:
- you can derive the highest skills of the player from his title (maybe for future addons where skill level affects the result of the operation/product?
)
- you don't have to "do everything", to get higher rank
- people with a higher rank should usually "know" more about that field (like: procedures, harvesting times, how-tos ...)
disadvantages:
- adding new skills multiplies the effort to maintain the rank-matrix.
- to prevent ending up as "Omnitechs" there should be a skill decay implemented - you don't use a certain skill, then it goes down.