People forget that this is a Survival MC Server with a Basis In Pirate Style/Oriented PvP. What I did when I was ranking: was I just ignored the ranks. When I first ranked up it was literally a shock to me.. I played the  server and just kept the ranks out of my mind: so as I just played MC I ranked up too… most of the rank req. are simple things that can be gotten without really wanting too; kills,exp, blocks broken/placed… if you think about it: you get all those things easily when your playing Survival MC. So just try not to dwell too much on the ranks..