You know, I actually signed up for a PM on TORC because my post count was about to go up and I didn't want to be a "shield-bearer", being a pacifist and all. So I became "chocolate bearer". It kind of grew on me, so I guess I'll keep it for now, until I come up with something more snazzy.
As for the ranks question - I don't really care about all the little swords and boobs and such. It is nice to know join date and post count, but after the first few swords, the little symbols didn't mean that much to me under my name, and they don't necessarily sway my opinion about others. Some highly respected posters have low postcount. And some highly respected posters have high post count.