How do ranks work?

Your rank (Swab, Deck Hand, etc.) is determined by the amount of time you're actively browsing and posting on the forum. These have rust-colored gear icons (more for higher ranks). Rouge Ætherlord and Immortal ranks have orange-colored gears, and are the two highest ranks.

Being a higher rank does not give anyone the right to "lord it over" any other user -- administrators can and will "repair" the rank of anyone who thinks the title is anything more than a bit of fun.

There are some special ranks (Moderator, Governor, Administrator) that have additional privileges. Moderators can move posts, delete spam, and so on. Governors can pretty much do anything except change site settings, and Administrators can do whatever they wish.

There's also an honorary rank Hero of the Realm, denoted by a single blue gear. This rank is awarded posthumously to forum members who have contributed significantly to the larger Steampunk community.

The rank of Swab has some simple limitations that are meant to counter abuse by spammers; most notably, Swabs cannot send private messages. Spend just a few hours using the forum, and you'll be promoted to Deck Hand -- and you can use all the forum features.