I think the ranks are more important than you're letting on. When there is an emergency situation and the chain of command needs to be established quickly, it helps to not have to faff about with asking everyone their ranks when some people might already be engaged in combat or there might be people spamming up the group chat. Keep the ranks. If anything, make them compulsory, because its annoying to have to ask people who don't include it in the name.
If you want a shorter tag, I see no problem with just O|Rank.Name.Surname or O|CV-Shipname for capital ships. Short and sweet and frees up five letters for longer names. Most of the ranks are just three letters anyway and the help they give in a pinch is well worth the sacrifice.
Quote:Dublin Miner: I am Gallic admiral earning money in Bretonia.
