By having some form of indication (such as an XP graph) is wrong.

A reader can't help but be biased, overlooking an acolyte's post for a (seemingly) better pontiff's.

A reader would also have less faith in Saint So-and-so if they had an error.

No offense, but just because a user has a high rank doesn't mean they should have prescendence. Hypothetically speaking, suppose a Perl 6 programmer recently joined, his or her PerlMonks level would be low, being a "newbie," but does that accurately reflect his or her knowledge?

By having any publicized indicator of your rank would do a disservice to all monks.

John J Reiser
newrisedesigns.com